Education Designer Russ Porter Named a 2020 President’s Award of Distinction Recipient

Kent State University at Ashtabula’s instructional designer Russell Porter, MSN, RN, BSC, has received a 2020 President’s Award of Distinction for demonstrating exceptional performance in advancing the strategic goals of the university. Dean and Chief Administrative Officer Susan J. Stocker, Ph.D., made the announcement on a campus-wide Microsoft Teams meeting on Dec. 3, 2020.

“Russ Porter’s continuous leadership, support, and dedication to Kent State University, its students and faculty is excellence in action and worthy of recognition,” said Dean Stocker. “He is most deserving of the President’s Award of Distinction in 2020 because of his selfless response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  His tenacity, patience, kindness, and countless extra hours of work to support the educational mission of the campus and University epitomizes what is good, bright, and hopeful in these unprecedented, challenging times.”

The President's Award of Distinction was created as a recognition program to reward staff members who have demonstrated exceptional performance in advancing the strategic goals of the university during the previous fiscal year.

Nominees for the award must demonstrate exceptional performance in living the university’s core values and/or advancing the priorities of the Strategic Roadmap to a Distinctive Kent State. Performance can be, but is not limited to, actions, initiatives, achievements, service, leadership or projects.  Award recipients were selected by President Todd Diacon and receive a $1,500 award. Russ is the third member of the Kent State Ashtabula staff to receive the honor since its inception in 2009. Director of Business Affairs and Operations W. David Schultz won the award in 2009 and Academic Laboratory Manager Gary Misich was a recipient in 2019.  

“I have read (President Diacon’s) letter several times and I am still in total disbelief,” Porter said. “It is truly an honor to receive this award and I want to thank Dean Stocker and everyone involved that nominated me for this special recognition. I am at a loss for words at the moment, but so proud to be part of an organization that feels more like a family than a place of employment.”

Porter has been with the Ashtabula campus for nine years and in his current role since 2017. As an instructional designer he provides assistance to faculty with course design and pedagogy. He develops online courses and provides faculty support with the Learning Management System (LMS) and offers faculty instructional technology training.   

“In the pre-pandemic world, the Ashtabula Campus would nominate Russ for this award for his ongoing dedication and the overwhelming positive impact he has on the campus community,” added Dean Stocker. “In the post-pandemic world, we nominate him for his extraordinary leadership and tireless efforts to support faculty and students to ensure academic continuity through these unprecedented times. Likely some instructors would not have been able to continue teaching after March without Russ’s intervention. He single-handedly enabled many instructors to bridge technology deficiencies to keep on teaching so students could keep on learning.”

From the arts to the sciences and from healthcare to the humanities, Porter supports the instructional design needs of a diverse array of Ashtabula campus faculty and courses -- over 100 instructors each semester in over 50 distinct disciplines. In addition to design expertise he provides technology support and IT troubleshooting which is not typically part of a designer’s position. 

Since March, Porter has worked tirelessly for countless hours to ensure all faculty were supported. He provided templates, training, advice, and guidance at all hours and on weekends. Some of the biggest challenges involved guiding instructors with limited IT skills to ensure their courses and students did not get left behind. In preparation for the fall semester he worked with nursing and allied health faculty to redesign on-campus labs to provide a safe and effective learning environment to support those accredited programs.

For more information on the President’s Award of Distinction, including past recipients, visit www.kent.edu/president/distinction.

###

POSTED: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 09:29 AM
Updated: Friday, December 9, 2022 01:26 PM
WRITTEN BY:
Kent State Ashtabula Communications and Marketing