Honoring Innovation and Excellence in Our Global Client Community
Past Winners
We’re proud of each Catalyst Award winner and their journey, and the ways in which they have each championed innovation at their respective institutions. Below is a selection of past Catalyst Award winners across different years in each of the categories. We hope their stories inspire you!
2023 Winner
Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Office of the Provost - Dr. Ala Al-Fuqaha and Mohja Jerbi
HBKU embarked on a transformative endeavor to instill a culture of assessment and foster an environment of continuous improvement. By leveraging Anthology's Rubrics and Outcomes platforms, HBKU took significant strides in collecting meaningful data and making informed decisions across various academic areas. Building upon these early achievements, HBKU will continue to expand its utilization of Anthology, adopting Planning and other tools and integrating them into the university's strategic initiatives. This ongoing integration ensures that assessment practices remain at the forefront of HBKU's approach to enhancing student outcomes and refining teaching strategies.
2023 Winner
Keiser University - Online Division, United States
The Online Division General Education Team - Sherry Olsen, Marcel Laronde, Neha Prakash, and Daniel DiStacio
Anthology's Outcomes have revolutionized Keiser University's assessment process. Implementation of these tools has improved assessment efforts and led to the creation of a process that has grown from a few disciplines to a university-wide effort. The ubiquity and ease of use of Outcomes has allowed the standards and processes we created to serve as a guide for the university to follow. During implementation, this process has been instrumental in revising our assessment plans for the future, and it also stands as a model for other institutions seeking to meet and exceed the standards expected by accreditors and the institutions themselves.
2022 Winner
Danville Community College, United States
Center for Organizational Excellence & Data Analytics (COEDA): Cory Potter, Justin Nichols, Mark Rutledge, and Tamela Adams
The Center for Organizational Excellence and Data Analytics (COEDA) recently adopted Anthology® Planning, utilizing best practices that help cultivate and sustain a collaborative culture of assessment and strategic planning where results are used for continuous improvement efforts. The teams' work improved effectiveness by infusing the college's strategic planning efforts with professional development opportunities, providing leaders of the college with confidence in developing objectives, tracking progress, and providing documented evidence. The COEDA team also infused Anthology Planning into its COEDA Nexus (internal SharePoint site).
2023 Winner
Eastern Kentucky University, United States
EKU Online BSW Social Work Practicum Team - Professor Pam Black, Dr. Caroline Reid, and Mary Henson
In the undergraduate social work practicum experience, Eastern Kentucky University students are working to facilitate and create change for marginalized communities targeting social, economic, and environmental injustice. Guiding students through this experience online is a collaborative effort by the campus community, student community, and professional community. Through the practicum experience, students are impacting many different aspects of their communities from drug rehabilitation to child and family services. Agency staff evaluations rated 97% of students as ready for beginning social work practice.
2022 Winner
Saudi Electronic University, Saudi Arabia
College of Health Sciences : Dr. Mohammed Almohaithef, Dr. Salah Alshagrawi, and Dr. Bussma Bugis
As part of its role in community engagement, SEU provided free access to the National Security Health Program for more than 2,600 students across the kingdom. Under the supervision of the Saudi Health Committee, the program aims to cover the shortage in the healthcare system, in line with the Saudi Vision of 2030. The program targets unemployed youth to prepare them with knowledge to work in this field. All graduates of the program are now employed in government hospitals. By offering the program on Blackboard® Learn, SEU facilitated communication between trainers and trainees from all over the kingdom through discussion forums and other tools.
2022 Winner
UniCesumar - Educação Presencial e a Distância, Brazil
Canais: Tiago Lorenzo Stachon and Mara Michela Silva Gomes
Thinking about people becoming more negative in their lives, the online unit at UniCesumar decided to launch an 1800 hour (two year) course called The Science of Happiness free of charge, expecting these scientists to multiply their knowledge by helping others to discover their purpose and be happy. Admissions and communication with those interested were possible using CampusNexus CRM. More than two million emails were sent and 450,000 people were reached, with an open rate of 27%. Expecting initially to offer 500 scholarships, UniCesumar had to increase this number to 1000, as more than 12,000 applications were received, proving the demand and impact in the community.
2023 Winner
University of Miami, Division of Continuing and International Education, United States
The Ally Rapid Remediation Team - April Macadangdang, Alexa Rimart, Ron Rodriquez, Cate Dowman, Brianna Basanta, Nick Armas, Maite Saico, and Hanna Fife
The Ally Rapid Remediation Project, led by April Macadangdang at the University of Miami's Distance Learning Institute, showcases a strong dedication to student success. The learning design team prioritizes accessibility and inclusivity in course content. Leveraging Anthology® Ally, they successfully remediated over 160 courses in just one semester, implementing over 4000 content fixes. An impressive 85% of courses now meet accessibility standards, with a 60% conversion rate to alternative formats. Despite the challenges of remote work, April and her team emerged as leaders in accessible course design, setting a precedent for creating inclusive learning environments.
2023 Winner
University of Phoenix, United States
Accessibility, Equity and Inclusion Department - Robert Becker and Kelly Hermann
The Accessibility, Equity & Inclusion department of the University of Phoenix has leveraged Anthology® Ally for the web and for the LMS in several ways to support the development and implementation of accessible materials across all digital environments. Beyond the traditional scope of using Ally to review, remediate, and share accessible materials, the team has included data from Ally in curriculum and program reviews, website revisions, and inclusive content audits to note insights that can be gained by analyzing usage data as well as accessibility metrics.
2022 Winner
The British University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dr. Tendai Charles, Director of Centre for Research in Digital Education
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Tendai Charles explored a variety of options for supporting students with special educational needs (SEN) as they encountered their first experience of studying alone in an online context. He determined that Anthology® Ally was the most advanced tool available on the market, so he began an awareness-raising campaign at the British University in Dubai (BUiD) to encourage students to make use of it. Faculty were also trained on how to create digitally inclusive didactic materials. Hence, since 2020, BUiD has been one of the leading universities in the MENA region for supporting SEN students with online and hybrid learning.
2023 Winner
American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Office of Advancement - Dr. Imad B. Baalbaki, Lina Jazi, Salma Oueida, Justin Tessier, Claudia Sarrouh, Samar Nassar, and Susanne Lane
Using the Anthology® Encompass suite of tools, the American University of Beirut (AUB) Office of Advancement organized the AUB4Beirut Run, a global initiative to mobilize alumni and friends to raise urgently needed funds for community outreach. The run was organized for the first time only weeks after the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020. Over one weekend in September 2020, alumni chapters, individual alumni, and friends of AUB ran, walked, hiked, and cycled to support the people of Beirut, Lebanon. Due to the impact of the inaugural run, runs were also organized in 2021 and 2022. The run is now a yearly staple of AUB's alumni engagement and development programming.
2022 Winner
Mary Baldwin University, United States
University Advancement
The Advancement Team at Mary Baldwin University shattered Day of Giving records on March 17, 2022. The $466,043 raised bested goals for the day and eclipsed last year’s total by almost $50,000. The money supports the Empowers Fund, which focuses on unrestricted student-centered priorities like scholarships, academics, and programming. This annual day is a key component to the Empowers Campaign, a $50 million multi-year comprehensive campaign. The Advancement team leveraged their Anthology® Encompass tool to build a dynamic giving day site, create template emails, conduct and track challenges, and more.
2022 Winner
KU Endowment, United States
Annual Giving and Communications & Donor Relations Teams: Kerry Glasgow, Bridgett Walthall, Victoria Sickinger, and Michelle Keller
KU Endowment's annual renewal program has seen incredible growth over the last three years as the KU team has used data to inform their solicitation strategy for this group of donors. Leveraging a Giving Form for donations and email tools for email marketing within Anthology® Encompass, the team executed an impactful campaign that grew support significantly.
2023 Winner
Greenville Technical College, United States
Lee McMinn
Lee McMinn has been instrumental in Greenville Technical College's implementation and adoption of Blackboard® Learn Ultra Course View. He held many workshops, training sessions, and one-on-one meetings with faculty across the college to assist in the move to Learn Ultra. He has been actively involved in the Blackboard Learn community, focus groups, one-on-one meetings with the product design team, and the SC BUG group. Lee played a critical role in the successful rollout at GTC with amazing results in student success. Lee has also played an integral role in providing monthly updates as new features in Learn Ultra are released.
2022 Winner
Northern Illinois University, United States
Jason Rhode, Matt Parks, Susan Smith, Nick Choban, Daniel Ihm, Therese Arado, and Stephanie Richter
Northern Illinois University (NIU) conducted a comprehensive learning management system (LMS) review during the 2020-2021 academic year. While faculty usage and satisfaction with Blackboard® Learn were high, the university had not formally evaluated the LMS in a number of years. The team developed a thorough, comprehensive process that included extensive input from faculty, staff, and students on the features they desired in a modern LMS to support innovative teaching and learning. The result was a robust and rigorous review process that was inclusive, transparent, ethical, future-proofed, and grounded in NIU’s culture and context.
2022 Winner
Botho University, Botswana
Blended and Distance Learning Team: Ravi Srinivasan, Subhashree Ravi, Tidimalo Pence, Nametso Mogome, Brighton Banda, and Lesego Lefatlho
The Blended and Distance Learning Team distinguished itself as a market leader in Botswana. This was done by coming up with groundbreaking innovative solutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic under the initiative dubbed “Breaking Walls”. The initiative involved leveraging the technology provided by Anthology and underpinning those digital capabilities with an adaptive e-pedagogy. The ultimate goal was to enhance student recruitment and retention.
2023 Winner
Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao (MMCM), Philippines
Dr. Flora Mae Cabacungan-Yparraguirre, Mr. Cesar Glen A. Josio and Mrs. Gerlyn O. Amores
The MMCM High School Department's E-Tutor Program sought to give assistance and aid to students with difficulty in understanding concepts and problems related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Microlessons were crafted and uploaded in Blackboard® Learn Ultra, focusing on difficult topics which the students access with corresponding assessments. The online Live-Doubt Solving conducted by STEM teachers on a weekly basis allowed for interactive participation and sharing on how to solve difficult mathematics and science problems and calculations. The Tutorial Sessions (individual or in a group) were also done online by STEM teachers.
2023 Winner
University of South Carolina, United States
Ambra Hiott, Jamie Ayres, and Megan Colascione
The University of South Carolina’s goal has always been to utilize Anthology® Engage as a hub for student engagement. Staff within the Leadership and Service Center partner with other offices to highlight Engage as an easy first step in a student's journey toward finding their place at Carolina. Staff members work with campus partners to generate buy in for Engage by showing real-time data that supports its use with students, as well as demonstrating the streamlining benefits it provides for administrators. Through a shared goal of propelling the student experience forward, the Leadership and Service Center continues to maximize the Engage platform at USC. Engage provides the center with the ability to interact with students, connecting with them effortlessly.
2022 Winner
Coppin State University, United States
The Visionaries
With innovative, multi-faceted strategies, Coppin State University, an HBCU, digitally transformed business processes and optimized student experience by implementing Anthology® Reach, Anthology® Apply, Anthology® Succeed, and Anthology® Occupation Insight. The strategy encompassed implementing a web services sync between Reach and the student information system; improving the application and request for information pages for an engaging applicant experience; imploring change management principles to increase adoption; and implementing Occupation Insight to transform curriculum to reduce gaps between skills acquired through courses and skills expected by employers.
2023 Winner
University of Kentucky, United States
Office of Student Organizations and Activities
The University of Kentucky Office of Student Organizations and Activities (SOA) hosts an annual retreat for leaders in six major fee-funded student organizations. The retreat was a multi-day program of activities and workshops, but students shared that it was challenging to make time for the retreat due to classes and other responsibilities. With that feedback, SOA reworked the retreat into a series of short workshops, two short informational programs, an involvement competency meeting, and Anthology® Baseline and Anthology® Engage evaluations during the year. SOA enrolled all student leaders in a path on Engage to track progress, involvement, and development through the new retreat experience.
2023 Winner
Keiser University - Online Division, United States
Sherry Olsen, Marcel Laronde, Online Division Academic Deans, and Online Division Faculty
Students at Keiser University can take their courses in different modalities: face-to-face, hybrid, or fully online. We developed robust advisor dashboards for faculty and deans to support data-driven decision making, which led to the development of more effective and accurate strategies that significantly improved student achievement and success. Combining data from Anthology® Student and Blackboard® Learn into Analytics for Learn provided the innovative use of student data and analytic tools to track student progress and in identifying at-risk students early on. This led to an increase in student satisfaction, retention, and completion rates.
2022 Winner
University of Pretoria, South Africa
High Impact Modules Project Team: Prof Gerrit Stols, Dr. Juan-Claude Lemmens, Dr. Sanet Haupt, Detken Scheepers, and Dolf Jordaan
The High Impact Modules Project team at the University of Pretoria implemented effective course evaluation practices that resulted in improved student outcomes and quality of teaching and learning. The purpose of this project was to provide a holistic review of a selection of courses, with targeted interventions to increase the pass rates of the course. Blackboard Analytics for Learn data and qualitative course reviews were used to understand the specific issues that impact on the performance of a course, namely in terms of curriculum, assessment, policies and practices, support services, communication, students, and lecturers.
2023 Winner
Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna, Philippines
Dr. Roel C. Rodrigo, Dr. Ramachandra C. Torres, and Mr. Donn Enrique L. Moreno
Mapua Malayan Colleges Laguna is committed to transforming students into globally competitive professionals through an enhanced learning environment. Faculty members have harnessed the features of Blackboard® Learn Ultra to revolutionize course design and delivery even in the most challenging subjects, such as mathematics. Instructors leverage the system to modularize content, administer assessments, monitor performance, and conduct virtual classes and office hours. With LTI integration, students are immersed in a dynamic multimedia-rich environment, unlocking new dimensions of learning. MMCL's courses prioritize learner experience, accommodating hybrid-flexible modes.
2023 Winner
School of Medical and Health Science, Bangor University, United Kingdom
Mrs. Gill Roberts and Mrs. Heather Bloodworth
The challenge for the team at Bangor University was to engage experienced supervisors to teach and assess nurses across Wales completing a distance learning general practice nursing module. As a result, a TDM and a Blackboard® Learn Ultra distance learning module were developed. The expected goal was to provide a bilingual learning environment which assisted in competency development and provided a forum for supervisors across the region. The Learn sites utilized a unit approach to teaching and learning, supported by a range of digital teaching technologies, augmented and layered with “live:” synchronous formal and informal academic supervision sessions.
2022 Winner
University of Illinois Chicago, College of Dentistry, United States
Predoctoral Implant Program: Dr. Cortino Sukotjo, Dr. Judy Yuan, Dr. Fatemeh Afshari, and Dr. Michael Spector
The progressive predoctoral implant program (PIP) uses the Blackboard® Learn platform to serve as a repository to benefit the student’s educational experience and enhance high-quality patient care. The comprehensive web-based platform facilitates and enhances learning beyond the classroom. This pedagogy is instrumental since it breaks geographical and time boundaries and is timely, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The impact of the PIP has benefited three major stakeholders through the integration of Blackboard Learn into the program: the student learner, the community, and the educational mission.
2023 Winner
PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Belgium
Center for Digital Learning - Kristiaan Mesens, Wouter Hustinx, and Vincent Vanrusselt
The University of Applied Sciences and Art PXL reinforces and enhances the digital competences of students and educators by a three-forged initiative. First there is a self-scan digital competence for students and educators which measures the level of digital literacy. The underlying support packages of the self scan are integrated in Blackboard® Learn Ultra. Secondly, there is an asynchronous professional development strategy in Blackboard Learn Ultra. A team member obtained a certificate from the Blackboard Academy to achieve that. The final piece was accomplishing qualitative blended learning-courses with a rubric using objective criteria within the functionalities of Blackboard Learn Ultra.
2023 Winner
Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University - ITDL, Saudi Arabia
Dr. Abdulaziz Aldaej, Dr. Yousef Alharbi, Dr. Yasser Badr, Mr. Abdullah Alanazi, and Mr. Abdullah Mahdy
The Information Technology and Distance Learning Deanship (ITDL) at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University supports faculty in the development of their skills and knowledge in educational technology. Their program enhances faculty members' proficiency in using Blackboard® Learn, benefiting approximately 2,800 instructors and improving the learning experience for students through the application of e-learning techniques. The program also assists faculty in transitioning to online teaching and learning. Overall, the ITDL's training program has been highly beneficial to faculty members, empowering them to effectively utilize Blackboard Learn and enhance the learning experience for students.
2022 Winner
Teesside University, United Kingdom
Digital Transformation Team (SLAR): Ann Thanaraj, Paul Durston, Chris Cooper, Emma Bradburn, Simon Patterson, Russell Smeaton, Caitlin Timlin, and Stephen Waterhouse
Achievements of the institutional-wide professional development initiative to embed digital teaching excellence resulted in a 96% overall satisfaction rate, with 91% of staff feeling confident in using Blackboard® Learn Ultra to generate significant improvements in vitutal learning environment (VLE) utilization in terms of pedagogy-led, inclusive learning design and a more digitally competent/fluent staff body. It was a gamechanger for the learning experience offered to students through integrating Anthology® Ally into the VLE. Also, it resulted in buy-in from senior management in schools to collaboratively expand the learning ecosystem beyond conventional spaces, bringing about mindset changes and improved confidence in staff.
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