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CORVALLIS, Ore. – Two Oregon State University information technology professionals were honored by a regional higher education computing consortium this week for creation of a program that provides quick online training tutorials to help faculty and students answer technology-related questions.

OSU’s “Technology Across the Curriculum” (TAC) program earned the 2009 Hugi Excellence Award for Academic Technologies from the NorthWest Academic Computing Consortium. The group comprises colleges, universities, and other non-profit organizations in the Pacific Northwest and nearby areas, and the Hugi Award is its highest honor. OSU’s TAC program was honored along with other efforts from the universities of Idaho and Montana.

The award from the consortium recognizes a TAC program called the Generating Education Mastery System that provide “just-in-time” online training, allowing “TAC staff more time to engage faculty in broader questions and strategies to improve educational quality without bypassing the critical role of providing how-to instructions to meet immediate training needs.”

TAC is led by Associate Director Jon Dorbolo and Project Manager Mark Dinsmore, who accepted the award as part of the consortium’s 2009 Chief Information Officer Summit at the Salishan Resort at Oregon’s Gleneden Beach. 

“TAC was created five years ago to provide our campus with technology support and development, and the approach to create online tutorials has proven to be a remarkably effective way to provide assistance to our users,” said John Greydanus, head of OSU Media Services, which includes TAC. “The leadership of Jon Dorbolo and Mark Dinsmore has been critical in bringing this approach to life, and we’re gratified to see their work recognized by our peers.”

The award carries with it a plaque and recognition within the information technology departments of the 34 member campus and organizations that comprise the consortium.