The Utah System of Higher Education’s (USHE) newly created
biennial Alan E. Hall Innovation for Undergraduate Student Success Award in its
first year is honoring winners from eight public institutions, including two people
from Salt Lake Community College.
Suzanne Mozdy, associate dean of SLCC’s Mathematics
Department and Jason Pickavance, director of Educational Initiatives at SLCC,
are being recognized for their efforts with SLCC’s OER (Open Educational
Resources) program to make affordable online resources more available for
classes like pre-algebra, calculus, trigonometry, college algebra and
statistics. “The math department believes strongly in the movement toward
affordable education, and the small contribution we can make is by making
textbooks affordable if not free,” said Mozdy.
Suzanne Mozdy and Jason Pickavance
The awardee or team at each USHE institution receives
$10,000, half of which is designated for advancing the innovation being
recognized. Utah entrepreneur and investor Alan E. Hall, founder of Tempus
Global Data, is funding the award for staff and faculty seeking to further
initiatives designed to improve undergraduate success. Hall also founded
MarketStar Corporation, the two nonprofit organizations Grow Utah and Grow
American and, together with his wife Jeanne, the Hall Foundation, dedicated to
helping low-income and impoverished people.
