Staff Sets the Bar HIGH

BY JANE BROOKS

Ira Winston
Ira Winston (EE ’80, GEng ’83) is modest, if nothing else. Asked about the best part of winning the 2001Models of Excellence Award,Winston, who heads up information technology operations for three schools, responded that he learned enough about the nomination process to nominate Helen.

That would be Helen Anderson, Senior Director of Computing and Educational Technology Services for Penn Engineering, and this year’s winner of a Model of Excellence Award. But then again, the precedent was set for a staff person to achieve this distinction back in 2000 when Siddharth M. Deliwala, manager of the Instructional Laboratory for the Electrical and Systems Engineering Department, received the award.

The Penn Models of Excellence program was designed by the Division of Human Resources to meet the goals of the President, Provost and Executive Vice President to “honor, award and celebrate outstanding staff member contributions to the University and to provide models of outstanding staff member accomplishments to emulate, while supporting the values of the University.”Models of Excellence are nominated for recognition by their peers, colleagues and managers for their outstanding contribution to the University’s teaching, research and service missions.

Siddarth Deliwala
In the first year of the program, The Models of Excellence award recognized Siddarth Deliwala (Drexel, MS EE ’95) for the creation of a first-rate Electrical Engineering Instructional Lab. His work was responsible for modernizing University laboratory facilities by expanding the use of technology as part of the students’ learning experience.

Deliwala arrived at Penn in 1996 and recalls “there was little integration of lab with the course work because the labs couldn’t keep up with the complexity of the material being taught.” The next four years, under Deliwala’s direction, saw the modernization of the EE labs and total integration with PCs. The result was that much more complex labs could be offered to more students and also be introduced much earlier in the engineering program.

Of his award, Deliwala remarked, “I felt very surprised because I was completely unaware of being nominated. I was really delighted. It’s an excellent recognition and nice to be appreciated by all the ranks of the University. Usually these awards go to someone running a big department. I don’t have that kind of structure. I just report to the department chairman.”

Ira Winston, on the other hand, answers to many people. Winston began his career in the School of Engineering in 1983 and rose through Penn’s information-technology ranks to become Executive Director of Computing and Information Technology for the Graduate School of Fine Arts, the School of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He was selected as a Model of Excellence for his “innovative and proactive leadership in managing the academic computing needs” of the three schools. Under his leadership, these schools have been able to pool computing resources and apply technology developed in one school across multiple schools. Winston not only directs the academic, research and administrative computing needs of the schools, he leads their computing strategic planning, oversees their separate computing budgets, and serves as a primary contact for technology-related vendors and grants agencies.

How did he feel about being selected as a Model of Excellence?
“ For me, it was more like a lifetime achievement award,” says Winston. “I’ve been here for 25 years working on infrastructure, which is not usually that visible. The award is usually given for a single project but mine was the result of a body of work. I was really touched by the award. I appreciated the fact that the deans of the three schools took time out of their schedules to get together and nominate me for this.”

Helen Anderson

Anderson received the Model of Excellence award for her leadership in implementing a web-based course management system for the entire University. The new software system enables faculty to integrate technology into many facets of their teaching. She worked with consultants to select the correct tool to meet the varying needs of a diverse campus environment and the wide range of technology skills among the faculty. After leading a successful pilot experience within Penn Engineering to test Blackboard Course info, Anderson devised an approach for introducing it into other academic environments on campus. Eventually, she transitioned responsibility of Blackboard from Engineering to the Library but she remains an important resource for its maintenance.

How did Anderson react to her “fifteen minutes of fame?”
“ It was an overwhelming experience,” she says. “I got an enormous amount of attention and it was a great honor. I had worked on the project with lots of people and I heard from so many of them.” She’s on to other projects now but there’s no doubt that Helen Anderson, like her winning peers in the School of Engineering, is naturally hardwired to achieve. In fact, it appears that the School’s faculty and staff may be inherently “engineered” for excellence.

Why so many winners from SEAS?
John J. Heuer, Ed.D.,Vice President for Human Resources, explains, “Each year, the Models of Excellence University-wide recognition program receives many excellent nominations from across the campus. The support and promotion of the program by Administrators and Deans in recognizing the valuable contributions of their staff is a key driver of the process. Dean Glandt has been proactive in encouraging nominations and in inspiring his staff to stretch for innovation and excellence. I’m not surprised that this type of advocacy produces a large number of winners.”