Each year, the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) awards one Robert Griffin Award for Long and Outstanding Service. This year, it went to Jon Mladic, Director of Teaching and Learning Resources at Blackhawk Technical College.
“I was surprised and deeply, deeply honored to receive the Robert Griffin Award,” Mladic said. “CRLA has met my evolving professional development needs at every stage since I entered higher education in 2008 and continues to challenge me to grow.”
The award is named after Robert Griffin, the first president of CRLA who, along with other founding members, drafted the constitution for the organization, Mladic explained. It is the highest honor CRLA bestows and recognizes an individual with at least 10 years of service within the organization. He was nominated for the award by the organization’s board of directors.
“It was an incredible honor, and–because it is the last award they announce at the opening ceremony of the conference–it was particularly meaningful because my wife and many colleagues who have helped me grow over the years were in the room,” Mladic shared.
How it started
“I joined CRLA when I was working on earning International Tutor Training Program Certification for our tutoring program at my past institution. I went to the conference and found it to be full of practical information that I was able to immediately apply in my learning center,” Mladic explained.
Then he joined the Learning Assistance Center Management Special Interest Group where he participated in a three-hour preconference session that provided perspectives from diverse professionals and institutions on a common topic. He did this for a few years and, eventually, began leading this Special Interest Group. This work prepared him to serve as Professional Development Director, he said.
“Once on the board, I ended up serving alongside three colleagues I got to know through that original involvement in the special interest group and two I got to know by serving on the board of a state chapter for a different organization,” he said.
Time on CRLA board
Mladic was a member of CRLA’s board of directors from February 2018 until Nov. 22, 2025. He served as professional development director from 2018 through 2022. After that, he was elected as president and served from 2023 until he left the board.
His work as Professional Development Director involved collaborations with CRLA members, special interest groups, partners, and vendors. His work starting a new CRLA chapter in Japan, which is thriving today, was a highlight, as was helping CRLA navigate some quick pivots in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
During Mladic’s time as President, which included one year as President-Elect, one year as President, and one year as Past President, he helped create five new roles, revamped job descriptions for the President-Elect and Past President roles, and launched a Conference Committee that took over conference planning duties from the President-Elect and Past President.
In April 2025, Mladic gave the keynote speech at the 2025 CRLA Heartland Conference at Northern Iowa University.
“I very much enjoyed that experience–especially getting to know many dedicated CRLA professionals from Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma–and I would love to have that experience again,” Mladic said.
“At the conclusion of my term as president, I gave the presidential address at a plenary session of the conference that recapped these shifts and pointed to a vision for our next steps forward,” he shared. “During my time as president, I was also able to begin a new award: CRLA’s Outstanding Professional Development Activity Award. For the past two years, through this award, CRLA has recognized exemplary professional development activities offered through the professional development branch of the organization, namely local affiliates and special interest groups.”
As Mladic ended his term as president, CRLA closed its fiscal year with a $37,000 surplus for the year. The organization takes any reserves and reinvests it to benefit members.
Looking ahead
“Last year was the inaugural year of the CRLA Great Lakes chapter (which encompasses Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio)–our local chapter. I plan to be active in supporting this chapter’s leadership as they continue the great momentum they have started. My roots in CRLA have always been in learning center management, so I will likely become more active in the learning assistance center management special interest group,” he said.
Mladic has also been considering serving as CRLA’s representative on CAS, the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education and has plans to continue mentoring others.
“CRLA has an upcoming conference in Chicago, so I am sure I will have some interaction with the conference committee as they plan activities for that host site. I have enjoyed serving as a professional mentor for new professionals in the field, and I will continue doing so in the future,” he said.