Written by ITS Campus Engagement, Jim Phillips and ITS Communications Coordinator and UCSC Legal Studies Student, Jane Tobias.

ITS continued its tradition of acknowledging exceptional achievements by individual staff and teams at their annual awards ceremony on August 13. The event, which attracted 190 ITS staff members, was held via Zoom at their ITS All Hands meeting.

The Instruction Amplification award is new and honors an individual ITS staff member who demonstrates leadership and collaboration in support of advancing the instructional mission of UCSC. Delivering best-in-class technology-enhanced education is a strategic objective of ITS.

Expanding Remote Instructional Support

Leslie Kern received this year's Instruction Amplification award for her numerous achievements over the past year and, notably, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The remote learning world that we now find ourselves in has called for a tremendous investment in instructional technology products and services. Kern's leadership made the difficult transition to fully remote instruction possible by expanding and improving tools and support to meet the needs of faculty and students.

Describing what an honor it is to receive the award, Kern emphasized that "it has been an extraordinarily challenging year for instruction overall, and many people in ITS responded. Our success in supporting the instructional mission is the result of everyone's efforts."

Thinking of the momentous year ahead, Kern remarked that, "as we look forward to more rapid technology iterations to support richer online learning experiences and as demand grows for new ways to understand student engagement, it's great to have broad-based support across ITS."

Kern's commitment to advancing instructional services and support plays a vital role in allowing UC Santa Cruz to deliver a world class education to students near and far.