Jun Zou, associate professor of the LSU School of Interior Design, received a 2016-17 Happy Award from the LSU Center for Community Engagement, Learning & Leadership. CCELL bestows this award annually to celebrate the accomplishments of those who have gone above and beyond in the field of service-learning.

Zou was honored for incorporating service-learning opportunities into her design studios. Most recently, Zou’s spring 2016 interior design studio worked with the community of St. James Place in Baton Rouge to create programming and designs for four senior living spaces. Janet Dewey and Cori Lanclos, assisted living counselor and life enrichment manager at St. James, attended the students’ mid-term and final reviews to offer feedback and select five projects that were presented to St. James Place administrators and President and CEO Tom Farrell.

“This was an interesting interactive project for us, and the students’ work was great on many levels,” Dewey remarked. “They got a dose of reality thinking about what they’d want for their own parents and grandparents.”

The studio project was of particular interest to Zou, whose research investigates senior living solutions for the United States and China, incorporating universal design concepts and daylighting strategies.

“The students had great opportunities to develop their design skills by working with a ‘real’ client while, at the same time, providing their design services to the senior living community,” stated Zou.

Zou and the other CCELL Happy Award recipients were honored at a reception at Tin Roof Brewery earlier this spring.

CCELL promotes community engagement by serving as a clearinghouse for service-learning pedagogy and community partnerships; promotes scholarship by informing and helping to coordinate planning, research, pedagogy, and assessment associated with service-learning and civic engagement; and enhances student learning and leadership skills by facilitating service-learning and related student initiatives. Visit lsu.edu/ccell for more information.

Read more about the St. James Place design project at id.lsu.edu.