DELTA’s Dan Spencer Receives University Award for Excellence
In June, NC State announced 12 university wide recipients of the 2023 University Award for Excellence. Among this year’s awardees was DELTA’s own Senior Research Scholar Dan Spencer, who was nominated in the category of Customer Service. This category recognizes someone who provides exceptional service that meets the needs of the customer and adds value to the customer experience.
The Award for Excellence is the most prestigious honor bestowed upon non-faculty employees at NC State. This award recognizes the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of individual employees, above and beyond an employee’s normal job responsibilities. Recipients are also eligible to win a Governor’s Award for Excellence.
Spencer was also awarded the Provost Unit Award for Excellence in March 2023, which made him eligible for this university wide award.
This year colleges and units nominated 278 employees for Awards for Excellence recognition. Of those employees, 55 won Awards for Excellence at the college and unit levels. A committee then selected the 12 university wide winners from among the award recipients at the college and unit levels.
Other DELTA colleagues were recognized earlier in the year with the Provost Unit Awards for Excellence, including Human Resources Consultant Angela Hallman in the category of Human Relations, and Classroom Support and Learning Spaces Coordinator Jiakaira Dixon in the category of Spirit of North Carolina.
According to his nomination, Spencer exemplifies a commitment to assisting faculty as well as his DELTA colleagues in conducting empirical research that advances digital education, specifically studies that inform what DELTA does to help students succeed at NC State.
Spencer also shows an unwavering commitment to helping faculty fulfill their digital education research and publication goals. He has taken the lead on the time-intensive task of assisting principal investigators with rigorous research design, data collection and data analysis gathered over the course of several semesters. Spencer helped NC State faculty successfully copublish papers and present at peer-reviewed professional conferences. He has also co-published two papers with his DELTA colleagues and has presented at two academic conferences.
Director of DELTA Research and Analysis, Traci Temple, added that a majority of Spencer’s work happens behind the scenes. “Winning the University Award for Excellence brings to the forefront Dan’s quiet and humble commitment to helping faculty and students succeed and his dedication to improving digital education for all,” Temple said.
Spencer’s support clearly helps faculty and his colleagues further NC State’s high standards nationally and internationally.
“I was proud to be recognized for my work facilitating research and excited that it placed a spotlight on the efforts of DELTA staff and faculty to share their knowledge and work with the wider academic community,” Spencer said.
