Deb Hinchey, M.P.H., has earned the University of Vermont Office of Community-Engaged Learning's Outstanding New Service-Learning Faculty Award.

Hinchey, senior lecturer and director of the Public Health Sciences program, was nominated for contributions to community-engaged teaching in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, both as a faculty member in her department and as a leading advocate for evidence-based teaching practices college-wide.

Hinchey's uniquely developed public health service-learning capstone promotes the significance of service to communities and encourages involved students to think critically about community assets, identity, and power. Students in the course team with community partners to identify problems and develop and implement solutions.

Students describe Hinchey's style of instruction as both supportive and challenging. Of particular note are her use of scaffolded projects and critically reflective assignments that deepen student understanding and support them in becoming thoughtful practitioners of public health.

“The quality and breadth of students' accomplishments and the positive impact they have in local communities under Deb's guidance is remarkable,” said Paula Deming, endowed professor and associate dean for research and faculty affairs in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Hinchey became a University of Vermont Faculty Fellow for Service-Learning in the spring of 2019, just one semester after she joined the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, launching a transformed Health Sciences capstone course and forming 16 formal community partnerships for 90 students in two short years. Hinchey also developed the “Introduction to Public Health” (HSCI 021) course, which introduces students to civic engagement and the principles of community-based learning through the lens of equity and public health. She serves on the CELO Advisory Committee, where she contributes to the work of community-engaged teaching University-wide.