Steven McGahan, assistant director for technology and instructional design specialist for UNK’s eCampus division, received the University of Nebraska Board of Regents KUDOS award Dec. 3.
KUDOS awards recognize university staff for their professional expertise, service and “superior dedication” to UNK and University of Nebraska. It is the university’s top staff award.
McGahan was hired in 2003 as UNK’s first eCampus instructional designer.
His supervisor, Director of eCampus Gloria Vavricka, credits his “innovative training ideas, his enthusiasm and knowledge of online education, and his gifted skills as a teacher” as significant factors in the UNK program’s growth from just a few offerings in 2003 to its current level of 40 programs.
McGahan’s responsibilities include: working with faculty in Natural and Social Sciences and Fine Arts and Humanities to design and develop courses; consulting faculty in online teaching strategies; developing multimedia for online courses; and teaching online courses for the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology.
In his role as assistant director of eCampus, he has taken on responsibilities such as writing the eCampus strategic plan and coordinating its Academic Program Review.
McGahan has also implemented new programs such as UNK’s eLuncheons, where faculty and staff share the latest online technology and teaching pedagogy; eCampus Faculty Online Training, a 10-week course on the basic skills of online teaching; and he currently is developing an advanced online teaching course called eCampus Online Instruction Certification.
He also volunteers as a judge for UNK’s annual Phi Beta Lambda competitions, History Days and forensics tournaments; serves on the eCampus Faculty Senate Advisory Committee; has presented at several national and regional conferences; and has had his work published in scholarly resources.
McGahan was recognized and given the KUDOS award at the Board of Regents meeting, which was attended by UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen, Regent Kent Schroeder, NU President Hank Bounds, his parents James and Martha McGahan, Vavricka and colleagues Julie Saalfeld, Olimpia Leite-Trambly and Karen Premer.
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Congratulations to my friend and classmate from the class of 2001, and the first 5 Multimedia Graduates. Very much deserved!
Congratulations!! To my fine nephew. You have done WELL! 🙂