Then my dean asked me to join what was then called the Assessment Committee. How little I knew! Since that time I have been part of three major overhauls to our campus structure and leadership: 1. developing new campus teams, 2. department realignment, and 3. the reinvention of assessment and curriculum processes.

So why is this announcement so uplifting to me? I am not an IT person, nor am I an educational technologist. I am simply an end-user benefitting greatly from the transformative work that has been done in that arena. I have had the privilege of working with two of the award recipients: Mustafa Sualp, CEO of AEFIS, and Ozgur Yogurtcu, AEFIS Chief Technology Officer. While I cannot claim to understand how they make the magic happen, I have a deep appreciation for what drives them to do this work. I have witnessed first-hand their desire to support and improve the resources that facilitate quality in education.

“And don’t forget to do your assessment – we don’t want any of our programs to be out of compliance!” This sentence makes me cringe. This used to be the assessment culture on my campus.