The O’Banion award recognizes exemplary practices aimed at furthering student development in community colleges. O’Banion, a past president of the League for Innovation in the Community College, is also one of the most recognized and esteemed leaders of student development in higher education in the United States. Only the most outstanding proposals are selected to give presentations at the NCSD conference where the winners are designated as Gold, Silver, and Bronze recipients. Programs given these awards are deemed outstanding because they are highly innovative and model best practices in the field, and because the evidence of effectiveness includes compelling results over time.
Smith, director of advising and assessment at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, was recognized with a “Gold” O’Banion award for a presentation she gave on the College’s Master Advising Center. Smith has worked WKCTC since 1984 when she was hired as a radiography instructor. She has been coordinator of the radiography program and allied health division dean.