Sioux City, Iowa—Dr. Kelly Chaney, dean of the Sharon Walker School of Education at Morningside University, has been named a 2026 recipient of a NetVUE Grant to Individuals for Vocational Exploration. The award recognizes Chaney’s work helping students discover purpose and calling through their education. 

The grant is administered by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) through its Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). This year, CIC awarded more than $325,000 to 22 individuals across NetVUE member institutions, supporting projects that expand scholarship, conversation, and teaching on vocation in undergraduate education. The program is made possible by the support of Lilly Endowment Inc. 

Chaney’s project reflects a belief at the heart of the Sharon Walker School of Education: that learning should prepare students for more than a job. Her work encourages students to see their education as a path to purpose. That vision connects directly to Morningside’s mission of cultivating a passion for lifelong learning and a dedication to ethical leadership and civic responsibility. 

Chaney’s project, Called to Serve, is a vocation-centered experiential learning initiative that integrates service, reflection, and inclusive practice within Morningside University’s teacher preparation programs. Through a new strand of courses and a formal partnership with Camp High Hopes—a regional nonprofit serving individuals with disabilities—students engage in experiential learning at Camp High Hopes and may also elect a full semester internship of adaptive recreation and community-based service. The project encourages students to explore vocation as a commitment to human dignity, ethical responsibility, and community flourishing, and the project generates new pedagogical models. Called to Serve strengthens Morningside’s mission while contributing a replicable model to the broader NetVUE network.

The NetVUE recognition places Morningside among a national network of colleges and universities committed to guiding undergraduates as they explore and discern their many callings in life. For students in the Sharon Walker School of Education, the grant will help strengthen programs that pair meaningful classroom learning with real questions about meaning, service, and vocation. 

Chaney’s award is part of the second set of grants offered during the program’s first year, bringing the total to 39 Grants to Individuals for Vocational Exploration awarded nationwide. Her selection highlights the caliber of faculty leadership at Morningside and the university’s ongoing commitment to preparing students for lives of purpose.