SIOUX CITY | Three Morningside College faculty members and one academic program have received the Dr. William C. Yockey Assessment Awards, which annually recognize outstanding efforts to improve student learning at the Sioux City school.

Faculty members who received awards for general education courses they teach were Dr. Jessica Pleuss, assistant professor of psychology, for her Child and Adolescent Psychology course; Dr. Chad Leugers, assistant professor of biology, for his course Principles of Biology; and Dr. Greg Guelcher, professor of history, for his course 20th Century World History.

The Morningside Political Science Program received a department/program award in recognition of their efforts to assess and improve student learning. Political science faculty members include Dr. Patrick McKinlay, and Dr. Lillian Lopez.

A $2,500 cash prize is included with each award, which covered assessment of student learning conducted at Morningside during the 2012-2013 academic year. Dr. Joel Frederickson, associate dean of institutional assessment and accreditation and chair of the Psychology Department at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., served as outside evaluator for the awards.

The family of the late Dr. William C. Yockey, a 1949 Morningside graduate and a chemistry professor at the college for more than 30 years, established the awards in his name.