Fanshawe College is proud to announce that Karen Klee, professor and coordinator of the Developmental Services Worker (DSW) program, has been awarded a bronze medal in the Outstanding Educator category of the 2023 World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics (WFCP) Awards of Excellence. The awards, which recognize best practices from national and regional associations of colleges spanning six continents, were presented Tuesday, April 25 at the WFCP 2023 Congress in Montreal.
Karen was eligible having received the Colleges and Institutes Canada Gold Leadership Excellence Award for Faculty in April 2022.
“Karen embodies Fanshawe’s efforts to unlock the potential of our students and the communities we serve,” says Fanshawe President Peter Devlin. “Karen is an enthusiastic and innovative educator who demonstrates a strong commitment to student success. I am very proud of Karen and thank the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics for this recognition.”
Karen worked as a nurse consultant in the developmental services sector for 20 years before joining Fanshawe’s School of Community Studies as a full-time professor in 2013. She has been an early (pre-pandemic) adopter of eLearning tools and strategies – including blended learning, interactive H5P applications and a “flipped classroom” delivery model – into her courses to enhance student engagement and comprehension.
Karen has had a substantial impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. While DSW programs at other colleges shifted to all virtual learning and placements, Karen and the DSW team worked with community partners and students to ensure authentic experiences both in the lab and in placements; advocating strongly for DSW graduates at Fanshawe to have authentic experience working with people with disabilities before graduation.
Outside the classroom, Karen chairs a provincial committee focused on recruitment and retention of skilled support workers in the field of developmental services.
“Karen is humble and reflective of her teaching practices and continually pushes herself to explore new technologies and approaches to improve the delivery of her courses and eagerly shares what she has learned with colleagues across the College,” says Sandra Fieber, associate dean, School of Community Studies. “She also exemplified the selfless nature of her profession by returning to frontline care with a community living organization early in the pandemic.”
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