A team from the UNM Organization, Information and Learning Sciences (OI&LS) program was recently recognized by a national research group.

Gary Smith, Julie Sanchez and Audriana Stark were awarded the 2017 Robert J. Menges Award for Outstanding Research in Educational Development by the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD). The award was for their proposal “Instructors’ Conceptualization of Course Design and What Matters in Faculty Development.”

POD is the national higher education faculty and organizational development association. The peer reviewed award is given for quality of the research question, design, data analysis and discussion of the results; alignment with the POD Network’s mission; and value to advancing the field of educational development, among others. The Committee commended the proposal for its rigorous research and its potential impact in the field. The award will be presented at the POD Network Conference in Montréal at the end of October 2017.  

Smith is both a professor in the OI&LS program and assistant dean for faculty development at UNM’s School of Medicine. Sanchez is the assessment coordinator for University College, while Stark is a doctoral student in the OI&lS program.