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McGinnis Receives AAFCS Distinguished Service Award

By Sara Tantillo posted 08-20-2018 11:59 AM

  

2017-2018 AAFCS President, Jacqueline Holland, CFCS-HDFS, (left) presents Gay Nell McGinnis (right) with the AAFCS Distinguished Service Award during the AAFCS 109th Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.


Alexandria, Va. – August 20, 2018 –
The American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) honored its 2018 Distinguished Service Award recipients at a ceremony during the recent 109th Annual Conference & Expo in Atlanta, Georgia. Among those selected for the prestigious award was Fort Worth resident Gay Nell McGinnis, CFCS-Retired, a deeply committed AAFCS member who has proven to be influential to the field of family and consumer sciences.

Throughout her remarkable career, McGinnis has been well-known for her spirit, servant leadership, creativity, and vision. She has both advocated for and modeled her belief in the importance of bringing individuals and groups together that have a shared need and mission to collaboratively develop mutually advantageous solutions. With multiple degrees from the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University, she has served in numerous professional roles, ranging from effective classroom teaching in the Lubbock Independent School District to statewide oversight of all family and consumer sciences education in Texas through her role with the Texas Education Agency in Austin to directing credentialing and professional development programs at AAFCS.

McGinnis’s impact on family and consumer sciences education in Texas resulted from her leadership in providing statewide program improvement efforts, professional development programming, curriculum development initiatives, and teacher certification initiatives. Her leadership in coordinating Texas universities to jointly provide a statewide distance education program to increase student access to teacher education preparation and address the teacher shortage has served as a state and national model for almost two decades.

McGinnis made an enduring impact on the AAFCS organization through her 11 years of service as the division director of credentialing, education, and research, where she led critical initiatives. She implemented design changes to the Annual Conference & Expo, transitioned AAFCS to a new Association Management System, gained recognition from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation for the AAFCS Accreditation program, designed the Virtual Professional Development program, established new professional-level credentials (Certified Personal and Family Financial Educator and Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator), and helped to develop the Pre-Professional Assessment and Certification (Pre-PAC) program for credentialing secondary/post-secondary level students and employees.

In addition to the AAFCS Distinguished Service Award, McGinnis’s contributions to the field have also been recognized by establishing an FCS Teachers Association of Texas scholarship fund in her name and honoring her numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Award from Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.

The other AAFCS 2018 Distinguished Service Award Recipient is Dr. Jan Bowers, CFCS.

 

About the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS)

Based in the Washington, D.C., area, AAFCS is the only association for family and consumer sciences students and professionals across multiple practice settings and content areas. For more than 100 years, AAFCS has focused its mission on providing leadership and support for professionals whose work assists individuals, families, and communities in making more informed decisions about their well-being, relationships, and resources to achieve optimal quality of life. AAFCS members provide research-based knowledge about the topics of everyday life to help create healthy and sustainable families. These topics include human development, personal and family finance, housing and interior design, food science, nutrition and wellness, textiles and apparel, and consumer issues. AAFCS members are located nationwide, and include educators, administrators and managers, human service and business professionals, researchers, community volunteers, and consultants who develop research-based information and deliver programs on essential skills to help individuals and families be better prepared to live, work, and succeed in today’s complex and diverse world.

 

Field of Family & Consumer Sciences

Family and consumer sciences (FCS) draws from broad and diverse disciplines to develop and provide content and programs that help individuals become more effective critical thinkers and problem solvers.  Through discovery and delivery of research-based knowledge, FCS professionals help individuals and families develop essential skills to successfully live and work in a complex world. Professionals in the field are uniquely qualified to speak on many critical issues affecting individuals and families, such as maintaining a healthy lifestyle, wisely managing personal and family finances, and creating supportive relationships with family members, friends, and co-workers.  They are located nationwide in a variety of practice settings, including secondary schools, universities, government agencies, and businesses.

 

For more information, please contact:

Gwynn Mason
Sr. Director, Communications & Marketing, AAFCS
703-706-4613
gmason@aafcs.org

 

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