The Teaching Center would like to congratulate Vita Santa Pastorius, senior instructional designer, and Lisa Votodian, survey assessment manager, for earning a 2023 Teaching Center Staff Excellence award!

The staff awards program began in 2017 and is a peer-driven recognition of team members who exemplify the values of the Center, demonstrate a positive attitude and commitment to responsibilities, and make above-and-beyond contributions to the University.

In her collaborations with colleagues, faculty, and project partners, Santa designs engaging courses on tight deadlines and establishes trust and understanding among all stakeholders. Her work is a remarkable reflection of the Center’s mission and values, encompassing expertise in instructional design and technologies, assessment of student learning, and superior service to Pitt faculty. She has a proven track record of facilitating complex projects with multiple constituents and many moving parts. Santa served a critical role on the CUPID Project, an asynchronous curriculum for Health Sciences educators, and is deeply admired by the committee of staff on this project (who often cite her expertise and look to her for advice about growing the project beyond Health Sciences). Santa was instrumental in the onboarding of several new Pitt Online team members this past year, orienting them to the University and establishing herself as a mentor for new colleagues.

As survey assessment manager, Lisa has been instrumental in leading several projects that have enhanced how schools collect and interpret student feedback. She was a leader in developing a standard core question bank for the office of measurement and evaluation of teaching [OMET]; she proposed, piloted, and rolled out key formative assessments like the midterm and pre-course surveys; she created a repository of resources designed to help faculty learn how to access, interpret, and analyze OMET results with consideration for issues like implicit bias; and her collaborations with schools and departments have resulted in OMET questions that better align with the school’s definition of teaching effectiveness. Lisa is that rare colleague who makes her teammates elevate their own contributions and she does so by example, with a light touch, and an affability that is always encouraging.

Please join us in congratulating Santa and Lisa for earning a 2023 Teaching Center Staff Excellence Award!