Alumnus to be Honored with Award at EDUCAUSE Conference
by Pamela Batson (July 2008)
Dr. John Nworie ’04 is the recipient of the 2008 EDUCAUSE Quarterly Contribution of the Year Award. Nworie, a Ph.D. graduate from the College of Education’s Instructional Systems program, is the director of the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning at Fayetteville State University, a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina system. He was selected for the award based on an article he co-wrote with Dr. Michael J. Albright, associate professor and director of Online Learning at Dakota Wesleyan University.
The article, Rethinking Academic Technology Leadership in an Era of Change was published in the January-March 2008 issue of the peer-reviewed journal. In their research, the authors identified a lack of senior administrative positions in higher education that provide strategic leadership and direction for the broad spectrum of instructional technology services and initiatives. After conducting a study on several college campuses, they recommended the establishment of a senior academic technology officer (SATO) to serve as a visionary, leader, director, planner, facilitator, collaborator, catalyst, advocate, change manager, and evangelist to coordinate all applications of instructional technology in meeting the institution's academic goals.
“I am thrilled about the recognition and award. When we wrote the paper, it was not with the intention of being recognized. We were merely sharing with colleagues the issues we were deeply concerned about. Those issues being the need for senior leadership to be more involved in the use of technology to support instruction,” said Nworie
The award is given by EDUCAUSE, a non-profit association whose mission is to “advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.” EDUCAUSE distributes this quarterly practitioner’s journal “about managing and using information resources in higher education. Articles published in the magazine are referenced in such national indexing and abstracting services as ERIC, Computer Literature Index, and Higher Education Abstracts.”
Along with Nworie and Albright, EDUCAUSE will honor recipients of the Leadership Award and Catalyst Award at its annual conference in Orlando this October. The recipients will also be asked to participate in special conference sessions to share their experiences.
