The Collaboration Recognition Program at Lasell University was launched in 2021 as an opportunity to acknowledge students not just for their academic performance in a particular course, but for collaborative behaviors that are the key to success in professional environments. This semester, 32 students were honored with a Collaboration Recognition Award.

Courses that integrate the program into their curriculum ask students to nominate their peers for the Collaboration Recognition Award at the end of the semester for exemplifying superior skills sharing ideas and useful information, communicating in a professional manner, and cooperating in a way to ensure success. These skills are frequently prioritized by employers but can be difficult to assess based on a candidate’s resume; the award is one way in which students can articulate their successful demonstration of those traits.

Professor of Art and Graphic Design Stephen Fischer and Lasell Village resident Parker Small conceptualized the program based on a model that Small previously implemented at the University of Florida (UF) College of Medicine, where he taught for 34 years. Employers of those UF students found the model to be a valuable assessment of the graduates’ competencies beyond technical know-how. At Lasell, Small and Fischer piloted the Collaboration Recognition Program in each of the University’s five schools of study with immense success. In 2021, five courses utilized the model; as of this semester, 25 were part of the program. Fischer hopes to double the number of courses involved in the upcoming fall semester.