A Purdue Online student support leader and a Purdue Communications faculty member have won major awards for supporting and teaching continuing education students in the online space.
The awards are for achievements in the Central Region of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPECA), North America’s leading organization in the field of distance learning, professional, continuing and online education. UPCEA’s Central Region covers 14 Midwestern states and three Canadian provinces.
The awards are to be presented at the regional conference Sept. 28-30 in Columbus, Ohio. The UPCEA Central Region awards program recognizes “the hard work and innovative ideas of staff, students, and faculty from the various institutions within the region.”
Lindsay Roberts, director of student experience for Purdue Online, has been selected for the 2022 UPCEA Excellence in Student Support Award. The award recognizes an individual who has provided outstanding leadership and service in a student support role to continuing education students in the UPCEA Central Region.
Debra Brittain Davenport, a lecturer in the Brian Lamb School of Communication, has been selected for the 2022 UPCEA Excellence in Teaching Award. This award recognizes an individual who consistently demonstrates excellence in teaching credit or noncredit continuing education programs and mentoring learners.
Roberts started her career at Purdue in public relations for the Athletic Department. She’s supported distance learning, professional and continuing and online students in a variety of roles at Purdue and the University of Evansville, including managing the Krannert weekend MBA program and as associate director of Purdue’s former distance learning unit.
Her Purdue Online Student Experience staff of nearly 60, most of them working remotely, supports students from their initial exploration of Purdue’s online offerings to graduation. Nominators cited Roberts’ implementation of online admissions and recruiting teams to aid students in exploring and tapping their options, as well as a student success team to assist them along their educational path.
“Lindsay strives to make everyone feel engaged and participate in making Purdue Online an environment for success,” wrote Emily Warter, senior manager process improvement and training and one of the Purdue Online leaders who supported Roberts’ nomination for the UPCEA award. “She loves to talk about her alma mater and loves it even more when she can assist students in experiencing Purdue. She is committed to Purdue and bringing Purdue into our students’ homes through online learning.”
Chris Martin, executive director Purdue Online operations and student experience, said Roberts “demonstrates a laser focus on what is best for the students across the complete student journey.”
Roberts listed listening to online students and understanding and addressing their diverse needs; hiring and supporting staff members who are focused on the success of online learners; and collaboration with campus partners – from the registrar and bursar to faculty, colleges and departments – as key elements for success.
Davenport was nominated by Bart Collins, professor and director of graduate studies in the Brian Lamb School of Communication. She joined the Lamb School in 2014 and is a previous two-time recipient of the Online Graduate Outstanding Faculty Award. She has taught for more than 20 years and she also leads a branding and marketing company with offices in Phoenix and Los Angeles. She brings that real-world experience into the classroom to elevate student learning, and to help students hone their professional skills.
“Dr. Davenport’s expertise and commitment to education has played a critical role in teaching, course design, and mentorship in our graduate program over the last eight years,” Collins said. “She is easily one of our consistently highest rated lecturers, and we are not surprised her contributions are being recognized by UPCEA.”
Davenport teaches a variety of online branding, advertising, marketing and public relations courses. Her students range from recent college graduates to seasoned executives and entrepreneurs.
She highlighted engaging with students frequently – and teaching with humility and grace – as key elements for successful online teaching.
“Let them know that you find their posts, ideas, perspectives, and assignments interesting,” Davenport said. “Professors can learn a great deal from their students. The classroom should be a collaborative environment that stimulates critical thinking, information sharing, experimentation, and inquisitiveness for everyone – including the instructor. Creating an environment of mutual respect fosters trust, engagement, and meaningful discourse.”
She said it also is important to stimulate student thinking and learning by offering information and experiences outside of core materials – links, videos, peer-reviewed articles, and other resources that students can learn from now and bookmark for future reference.
Writer: Greg Kline, Purdue Online, 765-426-8545, gkline@purdue.edu.