Professor Tom Betts is the recipient of the 2022 Community-Based Teaching Award from �鶹��. The award recognizes significant academic community engagement that promotes effective learning in partnership within the church, community organizations, agencies, or business. Betts was nominated for his dedication to experiential learning through community projects.

His nomination letter noted the following: 

“Since joining Calvin in 2009, Tom Betts has been a leader in the School of Business through his commitment to Experiential Learning through Calvin Action Projects (CAP). He is the lead instructor for Marketing 301 and 302 and in both courses, community projects are a key part of the pedagogy. Teams of students work on semester-long projects with businesses and nonprofits from the community to do research and develop a marketing strategy for how to reach their constituencies more effectively. The deliverables at the end of the semester are a verbal presentation to the client and a written report. Many of these student recommendations are implemented by clients and frequently result in internship and employment opportunity for students.”

“Doing these projects takes a lot of time and energy, but students learn more by applying the principles from the courses and it has real-world impact,” said Betts. “Students consistently say the projects are a highlight of the class.”

Betts has worked with more than 65 different organizations and facilitated almost 400 community-based student projects. Businesses include Celebration Cinema, Hudsonville Ice Cream, Hulst Jepson Physical Therapy, Wolverine Worldwide, and Zondervan. Nonprofits include the American Red Cross, the GR Red Project, Comprenew, and Evergreen Ministries, among others.

Betts was recognized on Friday, April 22, at the �鶹�� Awards and Tribute Dinner.