Judy Ashcroft Honored with International Futures Award
DIIA Director Dr. Judy Ashcroft received the International Futures Award for Exceptional and Innovative Leadership in Continuing Higher Education this spring from the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA). Dr. James Davis, left, and Dean Cindy Kirk, right, presented Ashcroft, center, with a certificate and sculptural piece at the UCEA annual meeting in Boston on March 31.
The award honored Ashcroft for meeting or exceeding several criteria, including exemplary leadership. “The kind of leader of continuing higher education that [people] point to when illustrating the best in the field,” according to the UCEA Web site.
Ashcroft was recognized, among other accomplishments, for her efforts to strategically combine three UT Austin centers (the Center for Instructional Technologies, the Center for Teaching Effectiveness, and the Measurement and Evaluation Center) into one academic service organization, the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment (DIIA). This integration better serves the UT Austin community by offering coordinated instructional services that improve teaching to transform learning. The DIIA initiative is the first of its kind, forging the path for other universities looking to accomplish similar goals.