Howard Community College’s innovative use of technology and collaboration with students and faculty earned the college the Silver Maryland Performance Excellence Award.

“The college [employs] technology to meet the instructional needs of its diverse student populations, to support its business processes and to extend the college’s outreach to the school and business community,” said Randall Bengfort, the college’s director of public relations and marketing for the college.

Yearly surveys and comments from students and faculty also helped improve services and processes on campus, such as dining and class registration, he said.

The annual Maryland Performance Excellence Awards have been given out since 1983. University of Maryland, College Park, and U.S. Senators from Maryland choose the winners. The highest honor is the U.S. Senate Productivity Award, followed by gold, silver and bronze Maryland Productivity Awards.

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The U.S. Senate Productivity Award this year went to Baltimore-based nonprofit Chimes, which offers educational, residential and vocational programs for adults, children and seniors who are disabled.

Howard Community College, a publicly funded two-year school serving 22,000 students, won bronze awards in 2002 and 2003.

The college submitted self-assessments and applications reviewed by teams of examiners who judge organizations based on leadership, planning and human resources, among other issues. The executive board determines the winners.

“Award applicants set goals for themselves that are measurable against similar organizations within that same field,” LaWanda Burwell, chairwoman for the Maryland Performance Awards Program’s executive guidance board, said in a statement.