Nursing professor honored for teaching

Fri, June 22, 2007 |

Dr. Kristen Mauk, an associate professor of nursing, has been named recipient of Valparaiso University’s prestigious Caterpillar Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The Caterpillar Award is presented annually to a committed and effective Valparaiso professor who displays proven excellence in engaging and empowering students, in using innovative methods of teaching and in enhancing the personal, intellectual and spiritual growth of the students.

Other nominees for the award were Dr. Teresa Bals-Elsholz, assistant professor of geography and meteorology; Lanie Steinwart, instructor in communication; Dr. Sandra Strasser, professor of information and decision sciences; and Dr. Jeff Will, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Dr. Mauk is one of the nation’s leading experts in gerontological nursing, and her 2006 textbook, Gerontological Nursing: Competencies for Care, was the first to be based on competencies for care developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing. She has written three other books: Gerontological Rehabilitation Nursing (winner of The American Journal of Nursing’s 1999 Book of the Year award), Congregational Health and Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice.

Her students regularly engage in service learning activities as part of their coursework. This spring, nearly 70 Valparaiso nursing students who were enrolled in one of Dr. Mauk’s courses on caring for the elderly visited retirement and senior centers throughout Northwest Indiana and presented sessions on heart healthy diets, stroke prevention, fall prevention and the secrets of successful aging.

Dr. Mauk is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences, and serves as an educational consultant for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. In 2005, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses.

The University’s Committee to Enhance Learning and Teaching selects the recipient from nominations made by students and other members of the campus community.