Dr. Mark Sarver of eduKan delivered the afternoon session on opening day at NUTN 2012 entitled “Innovating Assessment while Assessing Innovation” where eduKan was also honored with the 2012 NUTN Institutional Achievement Award.
eduKan, a consortium of colleges in Kansas, was honored with the 2012 NUTN Institution Achievement award at the 2012 National University Telecommunications Network (NUTN) 30th Anniversary Conference in Kansas City, MO, where eduKan’s CEO, Dr. Mark Sarver, was also invited to speak on Innovation opening day. The National University Technology Network is a networking and professional development organization for innovative leaders in the advancement of distance education headquartered at the Dallas County Community College.
Dr. Mark Sarver Receives NUTN 2012 Institutional Achievement Award for eduKan
The NUTN Institution Achievement award recognizes an institutional member of the National University Technology Network (NUTN) for effective use of technology in teaching and learning and/or organizational administration (or administrative operations) that is exemplary, demonstrates leadership and commitment, and advances the field as an institutional model.
This year, eduKan was the honored recipient of the 2012 NUTN Institution Achievement Award with Honorable Mention going to Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI and Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA. Past winners include Dallas County Community College District, Dallas, TX, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and Washington State University.
Award criteria for receiving this prestigious award includes (1) Organizational Commitment, where the institution uses technology in teaching on and off campus, involving administrative leadership, faculty, and support staff and utilizing goal setting processes; (2) Quality of Offerings of technology improves learning, access, faculty, student satisfaction, and organizational operations; (3) Effectiveness where the institution’s technology-assisted offerings enable faculty to teach large numbers of high-quality, online, blended or technology assisted courses with a high degree of student satisfaction and academic success; and (4) Advancing the field with programs or processes that have been exemplary, emulated and have substantially contributed to the advancement of teaching and learning through the effective use of technology.
“We are honored to be recognized for our technology advances at eduKan,” said Dr. Mark Sarver, CEO, eduKan. “The rigorous criteria and competition from other members up for this award was staggering, and winning this award means so much to our staff of six in Great Bend and to the six colleges that are the heart of eduKan.”
Dr. Sarver, eduKan’s CEO, was also present during the three day conference and gave an energizing presentation entitled “Innovating Assessment while Assessing Innovation” where he discussed how eduKan changed the way they were doing course assessment using data and analytics. Last Fall, eduKan started offering courses with digitally embedded content in partnership with Pearson where they not only found this was the best way to engage students but they were also able to track and measure how the students and the faculty were engaged. The data collected allows eduKan to proactively assess each course and locate any weakness so it can be redesigned to ensure successful student outcomes. Dr. Sarver also shared how eduKan is using analytics from the data collected on not only course assessment but student/faculty interaction and how this makes a dramatic change for the future success of online education.
About eduKan
eduKan provides access to quality higher education, including ESL courses, via college degrees, certificates, and individual courses, with affordable online classes. eduKan was founded in 1998 as a cooperative effort between member colleges to offer courses via the Internet. eduKan’s consortium schools are all accredited Kansas learning institutions with excellent reputations and long histories of providing degrees in traditional settings, as well as through online courses. eduKan Consortium member institutions are: Barton Community College, in Great Bend; Colby Community College, in Colby; Dodge City Community College, in Dodge City; Garden City Community College, in Garden City; Pratt Community College, in Pratt; and Seward County Community College/Area Technical School, in Liberal. For more information, please visit http://www.edukan.org.
About the NUTN Network
Headquartered at the Dallas County Community College District’s R. Jan LeCroy Center, the National University Technology Network (NUTN) is a consortium of higher education institutions and provides a networking and professional development arena for the advancement of teaching and learning in the distance education field. NUTN members represent a widely diverse group of innovative leaders in the advancement of teaching and learning. For more information go to: http://www.nutn.org.
