Transform Mid-Atlantic Honors NDMU Professor with Regional Service-Learning Faculty Award

Dr. Leslie Korb Recognized for Integrating Academic Learning with Community Engagement in NDMU’s Innovative First-year Experience Program
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By: Sabrina Miller, Content Strategy Director


BALTIMORE, Md. – A Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) professor and coordinator of NDMU’s first-year experience course has been named the recipient of a regional service-learning award by Transform Mid-Atlantic (TMA).

Dr. Leslie Korb, associate professor and the department chair for the Business & Economics Department, received the Alan G. Penczek Service-Learning Faculty Award in the category of four-year private colleges and universities.Presented annually by Transform Mid-Atlantic, this prestigious award honors faculty from TMA’s regional member institutions who demonstrate exceptional leadership in connecting academic learning with community engagement. Dr. Korb was recognized for her innovative redesign of NDMU’s first-year experience course, NDMU 100, which helps new students develop the skills needed for college success while also learning the importance of service in the community.

Under Dr. Korb’s leadership, NDMU 100 was transformed into a model of service-learning in action. Students were given options of different opportunities to fulfill their required 10 hours of service. During the fall 2024 semester, 78 freshman built essential academic and life skills—such as goal setting, time management, effective communication, and financial literacy. In the spring, they applied those lessons by designing and teaching 15-minute interactive sessions to middle school students from Tunbridge Public Charter School and Walter P. Carter Middle School, both located along Baltimore’s York Road corridor. The service project took place on the NDMU campus, involving students from the two middle schools, over two days in April 2025.
 

NDMU 100 - April 2025 Service Project
  • Female student wearing light blue NDMU t-shirt stands in front of a table with children facing her
  • Female student stands in front of a group of seated children
  • Male student stands at a table with other seated male students in front of seated children
  • Female student wearing NDMU shirt smiles as she sits at a table across from a child
  • A group of male students wearing NDMU gear stand or sit in front of a blue curtain and speak to a group of seated children
  • A group of students wearing NDMU gear stand in a line and smile
  • Female student wearing light blue NDMU t-shirt stands in front of a table with children facing her
  • Female student stands in front of a group of seated children
  • Male student stands at a table with other seated male students in front of seated children
  • Female student wearing NDMU shirt smiles as she sits at a table across from a child
  • A group of male students wearing NDMU gear stand or sit in front of a blue curtain and speak to a group of seated children
  • A group of students wearing NDMU gear stand in a line and smile


The program’s success has been celebrated by faculty, students, and community partners alike, with both participating middle schools requesting to repeat the collaboration. Dr. Korb’s attributes the success of NDMU 100 to all the course instructors: Yishka Chin, Damali Olukayode-Heath, PJ Lombardo, Geoffrey Delanoy, Danielle Ballard, and Mari Rapela Heidt, as well as Alexandra Dodson for her art project. Dr. Korb also thanks Yetta Nowak, director of service and community engagement, for coordinating these service projects for the students.

Together, their dedication to blending rigorous academic preparation with meaningful service has redefined the first-year experience at NDMU and serves as a powerful example of how education and community partnership can work hand in hand to inspire lifelong learning and leadership.

Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.

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