Dr. Marsha Youngblood, associate director of the Center for Academic Success (CAS) at The Universities at Shady Grove, is this year's winner of the Kendall Award for Outstanding Service to Students. Through the generosity of dedicated supporters Cliff Kendall and his wife Camille, USG has established this annual award to recognize faculty and staff who have performed exceptionally in supporting student success.
Dr. Youngblood has made it her mission to see that students at USG have the necessary study skills to reach their goals and achieve their dreams. Under her guidance, CAS offers innovative learning strategies for students, including workshops on speed reading and time management along with the very popular Guided Study Sessions led by high-achieving students who work with their classmates in challenging subject areas.
Dr. Youngblood is certainly not afraid of challenges. In 1977, she, her husband Jack and six-month-old daughter, Sarah, set out on an extraordinary 14-year adventure to teach English overseas in India, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. In 1991, the family was evacuated during the first Gulf War and settled in the Washington, D.C. area. She has lived in Silver Spring for the past 12 years. Her experiences overseas gave Dr. Youngblood a wide background in multi-cultural life, one that has served her well here. "Shady Grove is known for its diversity - I love it. The students have so much to offer - it's terrific," she says.
Working with USG students, she says, is the capstone of her career. "All of my experiences come together here at Shady Grove. I'm very happy about the Kendall Award - it says our model is working. We're able to touch a lot of students," she says. In fact, 55 percent of the daytime undergraduate population across all nine academic institutions at USG has come to the Center for Academic Success to improve their study skills.