Innovations in Online Learning Awards Presented at Annual Conference

The Innovations in Online Learning (IOL) Awards have been established to recognize individuals within The University of Texas System who have achieved excellence in the field. The 2010 annual awards were presented at an evening dinner as part of the Innovations in Online Learning conference in Austin on Thursday, May 27th.

The Outstanding Online Learner Award is presented to an online student enrolled in one or more online courses in the past year. Recipients will have made significant contributions to their online classroom. The 2010 award was presented to Carissa Sucato, a graduate student from UT El Paso.

The Service/Support Award recognizes an individual or team from the support side of online learning. From course development staff to registrars, financial aid staff to advisors, the recipient must have demonstrated a commitment to providing quality service to faculty and/or students. This award is presented to a staff member or team involved with online learning who have demonstrated innovative service or support to the field. The 2010 award was presented to UT Permian Basin's REACH Program Center Course Development Team: Director Oneita Burgess, Dr. Sailaja Athyala, Anita Chavez, and Jennifer Lee.

The Project/Course Award recognizes a project, course, learning object, multimedia document that has demonstrated original use of technology and/or design. The 2010 Project/Course Award was presented to Dr. Gene D. Schroder from the UT Health Science Center at Houston.

The Faculty Award is presented to a UT System faculty member or teaching assistant who has made innovative contributions to the field of teaching in online education. Recipients will have utilized inventive techniques in presenting learning materials and/or teaching their online course. The 2010 award was presented to Dr. Rebekah K. Nix at UT Dallas.

The Outstanding Visionary in Online Education Award is presented to an exemplary member of the online learning community. Designed to honor visionaries within the UT System, the recipient will have made significant contributions in areas of leadership, research and publications, in addition to successful administration of online education, all with an eye to the future. The 2010 Outstanding Visionary award was presented to Dr. Rodger Marion at the UT Medical Branch at Galveston for his significant contributions to the field of online education.

Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations to the 2010 awards and congratulations to all of the recipients.