WCET: The Cooperative advancing the effective use of technology in higher education.

2007 —
As a professor, Norman Coombs learned the power of using educational technologies while teaching history at Rochester Institute of Technology.  Since 1993 Coombs, who is himself blind, has led EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information), a nonprofit organization devoted to teaching educators about accessibility techniques for educational technologies. He is an outspoken advocate for adaptive technologies and the use of universal web design principles to meet the needs of disabled students, as well as a mentor to those coming up in the field. Though officially retired, Coombs continues to teach online seminars on adaptive technologies and policies.

2006 —
In 1989, Sally M. Johnstone was named the first executive director of WCET.  Under her 17 years of leadership, WCET grew from an vague idea for cooperation among the 15 WICHE states to a membership organization that is recognized both nationally and internationally.  Dr. Johnstone has authored dozens of articles, book chapters and major reports on distance and distributed learning.  Dr. Johnstone’s special areas of expertise include: the effects of the integration of technology on higher education institutions and system organizations, collaborations, quality assurance issues, project development and evaluation, open educational resources, and generally supporting WCET members in the planning for and implementation of eLearning.   In August 2006, Sally left WCET to become the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Winona State University.

2005 —
As the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and the Director of the UT TeleCampus for the University of Texas System, Darcy Hardy has built an award-winning collaborative model for providing centralized service and support for the delivery of e-learning.

Darcy is a recognized leader across the field of online learning. She was a founding member of the Texas Distance Learning Association. From 2002-2003, Dr. Hardy served as the onsite host for the Institute for Managing and Developing e-Learning (MDE), presented by the WCET. She is also a member of the WCET Steering Committee, representing the Southern Caucus. In October 2003, Darcy Hardy was elected president of the United States Distance Learning Association.

2004 —

At the 2004 WCET Annual Conference in San Antonio, Steve Crow, executive director of the Higher Learning Commission, was awarded the Richard Jonsen Award. Steve has been an innovative force in the acceptance of distance learning by both the traditional higher education community and the accrediting community. In addition, Steve has made major contributions to both WCET and the field of distance learning. He was instrumental in the creation and adoption of WCET's Principles of Best Practice for Online Degree Programs. He has given generously of his time to WCET, serving as the chair of the Steering Committee in 2002 - 2003 and chair of WCET's Executive Committee 2003-2004. He also created a track for WCET sessions at the Higher Learning Commission's annual conference. Steve's work in this area is seldom recognized, so WCET is especially honored to present him with this lifetime achievement award.

2003 —
Bob Albrecht is the 2003 recipient of the Dick Jonsen Award in recognition of his significant contribution to the educational telecommunications community and to WCET. Bob served universities in Montana, Oregon, and Colorado. While he was working on academic technology issues for the University of Colorado System, WCET was formed and Bob became one of our first Steering Committee Chairs. He has helped the organization many times by stepping into to facilitate a discussion, workshop or recently, even a staff retreat. When Colorado 's Governor Romer needed a co-leader for the Western Governors' University, Bob agreed to the assignment. When he tried to retire, EDUCAUSE enlisted his services and he also agreed to serve as a WCET Senior Advisor.  It is an honor to be able to recognize Dr. Bob Albrecht's career of service to the field of higher education.

2002 —
A highlight of the 14th Annual Conference was the presentation of the Richard Jonsen Award to Muriel Oaks of Washington State University (WSU).

During her 32-year career, Muriel has worked hard to build bridges, find common ground and promote collaboration among groups with disparate needs and agendas. At WSU, she launched distance degree programs, pioneered the Washington Higher Education Telecommunications System (WHETS), and helped actualize WSU's branch campuses. Frequently called to serve in a national capacity, Muriel has both chaired WCET's Steering Committee and served on WCET's Executive Committee.

2001 —
At its annual conference in November 2002, WCET announced Robert Threlkeld as recipient of the Richard Jonsen Award for outstanding service to the educational telecommunications community.

Bob retired as dean of learning and technology at California State University, Fresno in summer 2000. Previously serving at the University of Maine and Cal Poly Pomona, Bob was involved in nearly all aspects of distributed learning throughout his career. Bob served as academic dean for WCET's annual Institute for Managing and Developing E-learning (MDE) and currently serves as a senior associate for WCET, consulting on projects.
  

2000 —
WCET announced David Lassner as the 2000 recipient of the Richard Jonsen Award for outstanding service to the educational telecommunications community.

David is the director of information technology for the University of Hawaii and is responsible for computing, telecommunications and instructional technology support for the statewide system of pulic higher education comprised of 10 campuses and five education centers on six islands.

David is a founding member and past-chair of the Western Cooperative and is active in other national and international organizations, such as the Internet Societ, Internet2, EDUCAUSE, the Sierra Club, the Pacific Telecommunications Council, and ThinkQuest. David has also been active with national funding organizations like NSF and NTIA helping to get money into the hands of technology innovators. David offered the University of Hawaii servers to host the WCET listservs for many years.
  

1999 —
Charlotte Farr, director of distance education at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), was named the 1999 recipient of the Richard Jonsen Award for Service to the Educational Telecommunications Community at the 11th annual meeting.

Farr has been an outstanding advocate for distance learning at the University of Wyoming and then at UNLV. She has given freely of her time to colleagues in both of these states and to others in the WCET membership by assisting in the development of solutions to common problems, sharing training resources, and pushing policy discussions.

1998 —
WCET selected John Witherspoon (left, in photo) of San Diego, California, as its first recipient of the Richard Jonsen Award for Service to the Educational Telecommunications Community. The award was present to Witherspoon at the Western Cooperative 10th Annual Meeting.

During his many years of service to the distance learning community, Witherspoon has made major contributions to the field including:
• Serving as the founding Chair of the Western Cooperative's Steering Committee;
• Serving as the first principal executive for television for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Public Radio;
• Serving as the first president of the Public Service Satellite Consortium;
• Directing The Pacific Dialogue, a forum for pacific region interests in telecommunications;
• Assisting in the design and implementation of the Western Governors University;
• Teaching students both on and off campus in innovative ways as a professor of telecommunications at San Diego State University; and
• Authoring two major publications for the Western Cooperative and contributing to many more.

In presenting the award, Dick Jonsen said "I can think of no other to whom I would have so much pleasure in presenting this award. John has truly been a leader in outstanding service to the higher education distance learning community for more than a decade."