Outstanding Service Learning Award

Dr. Melissa Sullivan-Walker

Assistant Professor, Educational Theory and Practice, COE

Dr. Melissa Sullivan-Walker is a dedicated and passionate faculty member, teaching in MSUB’s Special Education program for the past six years. She is also the director of MSUB’s Learning Clinic, a service-learning program that is connected to a course she teaches on individualizing curriculum for students with disabilities. Local K-12 students with disabilities come to the Learning Clinic to receive high-quality, low-cost tutoring.

Since she began teaching, Sullivan-Walker has been working to expand the Learning Clinic and improve the experiences for students. One of her primary goals of expansion is to make the Individualizing Curriculum course more accessible to students at other universities. As a leader in special education teacher preparation in Central and Eastern Montana, MSUB prepares many special education teachers that go on to teach in Montana public schools.

Students from other Montana institutions can complete their special education endorsement at MSUB and become licensed special education teachers. However, many primarily take online courses, which posed challenges for the Learning Clinic. To address this issue, Sullivan-Walker created virtual Learning Clinic field experiences for students, extending the clinic’s reach to other areas of Montana.

Sullivan-Walker’s hard work and dedication to meet the needs of both MSUB’s pre-service teachers and students with disabilities in the region, and her work on the Learning Clinic is exceptional. Her commitment to quality education and student success makes her a well-deserving recipient of the MSUB Outstanding Service Learning Award. Her nominator shares that “MSUB has a gem in Dr. Sullivan-Walker because of her commitment to engaging and effective service-learning experiences for our students.”