Harford Community College Employees Named NISOD Excellence Award Recipients

Harford Community College is proud to announce its recipients of the annual National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence Awards. Honorees for 2024 are Dr. Nena Craven, Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Kelvin Harrison, Student Development Specialist.

NISOD’s Excellence Awards were established in 1991 to provide community and technical colleges with an opportunity to recognize individuals demonstrating an outstanding commitment and contribution to their students and colleagues. Since then, more than 30,000 recipients have been honored with the Award.

Dr. Nena Craven has been teaching sociology since 2010. Before arriving at Harford Community College in 2016, Dr. Craven taught sociology at Delaware State University, an HBCU in her hometown of Dover, Delaware. Dr. Craven is passionate about social equality and is an active member of the Diversity, Inclusion, Culture, and Equity (DICE) and Safe Zone committees and is a faculty advisor for the Rainbow Alliance student organization.

Kelvin Harrison has more than three decades of service in student affairs at both two- and four‐year institutions, a journey that has been his life’s work, passion, and achievement. It was a natural transition from student peer assistant to academic advisor as helping students in the collegiate environment was the right fit for Harrison. He is proud of the many lives that he’s had the privilege of advising, mentoring, and providing positive influence in regarding their educational goals. Harrison said he is honored beyond words to be the Harford staff recipient of the 2024 NISOD Excellence Award.

Excellence Award recipients were recognized during NISOD’s annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, which was held May 25-28 in Austin, Texas. Excellence Awards recipients receive a unique silver medallion engraved with the University of Texas and NISOD insignias and adorned with a burnt orange ribbon.