Dover-Foxcroft native receives USM Outstanding Faculty Involvement Award

    PORTLAND — Professor Tracy Michaud Stutzman, who grew up in Dover-Foxcroft and now is part of the faculty in the Tourism and Hospitality Program at the University of Southern Maine, was recently honored for her community engagement work there. She was selected for USM’s Outstanding Faculty Involvement Award.

Michaud Stutzman

    “I am touched and honored to be selected for this award. Community service has always been a big part of my family and is something that is natural for me to incorporate into my classes at USM. There is such a strength when students apply their learning to real world projects. Many times we learn as much from the community as they gain from having us work on their projects,” Michaud Stutzman said.
    Each year students, staff and faculty make the decision to go above and beyond the normal expectations and become involved in the USM community outside of the traditional classroom setting.  USM being a metropolitan university, values this involvement. Michaud Stutzman’s involvement at USM has made a tremendous impact in the community and state.
    Her students have conducted research on the Portland First Friday Artwalk, created dozens of a Community Tourism Plans for Maine and New Hampshire towns, created and managed an annual campus-wide Multi-Cultural Food Festival where her students interview English-as-Second-Language students about foodways in their native countries, cook recipes together and share the food with the community in order to foster appreciation of diversity on campus.
    In May she will bring 20 students to Bermuda in an innovative partnership with AAA and Holland America cruise lines to host cultural events for the cruise passengers and learn about the tourism industry there. She is also working on an online Destination Training program for the Maine Woods in partnership with the Maine Woods Consortium. Her commitment to making USM a better place by connecting with the broader Maine Community is something that is greatly valued, appreciated, and recognized in this award.