6 Individuals Receive Honors

MADISON, WI (July 26, 2023) – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, is pleased to recognize the recipients of this year’s awards, presented at the Distance Teaching & Learning (DT&L) Conference and Summit for Online Leadership and Administration (SOLA+R). 

Award recipients were honored today at the DT&L and SOLA+R conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Paired for the first time this July 25-27, DT&L and SOLA+R bring together all the elements of the online enterprise in a holistic way for a comprehensive learning experience.

“I’m proud to celebrate the work and achievements in online education demonstrated by all of this year’s award recipients,” said Bob Hansen, CEO of UPCEA. “I want to particularly recognize Ray Schroeder. Ray is the most prescient thinker I know, in any field, always helping others understand a future that sometimes only he sees, and he is so deserving of this award.” 

The recipients of this year’s awards are as follows:

UPCEA Leadership Award for the Advancement of Digital Learning

The UPCEA Leadership Award for the Advancement of Digital Learning recognizes the lifetime achievements and professionalism of online and digital learning practitioners. Awardees have had long and distinguished careers, advancing the cause of online and digital learning in postsecondary education. Award recipients have elevated the field, advanced scholarship, demonstrated intellectual curiosity, and embodied a pioneering spirit, through both academic and more publicly available publications, research, advocacy, and mentorship. The award is not necessarily given each year. Future awards will be known as the Ray Schroeder Leadership Award for the Advancement of Digital Learning, in honor of this year’s inaugural award recipient. 

Recipient: Ray Schroeder, UPCEA Senior Fellow & University of Illinois Springfield Professor Emeritus

 

Shauna Schullo Award for Best Distance Teaching Practices

Between 2007 and 2009, Shauna Schullo was the Director of the Distance Education Certificate Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as the Workshop Chair for the 2009 Distance Teaching & Learning Conference. After we lost Shauna to breast cancer in 2009, the Schullo Award for Best Distance Teaching Practices was created, which recognizes DT&L presenters whose sessions contribute significantly to the practice of distance education.

The Schullo Award recipient is selected from the presentations given at the prior year’s Distance Teaching & Learning conference. 

Recipients: “Ditching Surveillance Technology & Learning to Trust Our Students,” Lea Wood and Kari Lane, University of Missouri

 

UPCEA Outstanding Service in Postsecondary Instructional Design

Instructional Design is necessary for the development of engaging quality teaching and learning experiences across a wide variety of modalities and contexts. The UPCEA Outstanding Service in Postsecondary Instructional Design Award recognizes outstanding service to the field of instructional design in one or more of the following areas: modeling and disseminating research (via workshops, webinars, conferences, papers, etc.), best practices, innovative methods, and/or mentorship, all for the betterment of the instructional design community. This award celebrates the connective power of instructional design professionals within the learning design process, chiefly their role in highlighting the critical need for educators of all roles to work in partnership in support of student success.

The UPCEA Outstanding Service in Postsecondary Instructional Design Award is part of UPCEA’s Association Awards program. Nominations for Association Awards are accepted in October/November, and recipients are selected and notified in February.  

Recipient: Holly Fiock, Purdue University

 

The Mildred B. and Charles A. Wedemeyer Award for Outstanding Writer/Scholar in Distance Education

The Mildred B. and Charles A. Wedemeyer Award for Outstanding Writer/Scholar in Distance Education honors those who build on the legacy of pioneers in the distance-education field. The award honors Professor Charles Wedemeyer—scholar, researcher and distance education innovator—who led a distinguished career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Department of Continuing and Vocational Education. A scholar before his time, Dr. Wedemeyer recognized the strengths of multimedia approaches and helped others to see how media attributes could be assessed and utilized to maximize learning outcomes.

The award also carries the name of his life partner, Mildred. While Charles wanted to recognize outstanding distance-education scholars, based on contributions to the research literature in the field of distance education and training, Mildred believed that practitioners also deserved recognition. For this reason, the award has a dual focus, recognizing in alternate years outstanding distance education scholars and practitioners. This year’s award is focused on research and scholarship, and was selected by the editorial team of the American Journal of Distance Education from authors published in the journal whose work significantly advances the discipline of distance education. Wedemeyer Award recipients receive a modest honorarium, processed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from the Wedemeyer endowment.

Recipients: Liane She, Stanly Community College & Florence Martin, North Carolina State University – Systematic Review (2000 to 2021) of Online Accessibility Research in Higher Education AJDE 36-4

 

# # #

About UPCEA

UPCEA is the online and professional education association. Our members positively impact millions of lives by continuously reinventing higher education. We advance the professional field through cutting edge research, professional development, networking and mentorship, conferences and seminars, and stakeholder advocacy. Our collaborative, entrepreneurial community brings together decision makers and influencers in education, industry, research, and policy interested in improving educational access and outcomes. Learn more about us at UPCEA.edu and follow us on Twitter @UPCEA.

 

 

 

CONTACT:

 

Molly Nelson, UPCEA Vice President of Communications, [email protected]