MERLOT Awards: Service to MERLOT - 2004 Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Award is reserved as MERLOT’s highest honor.  The recipient of this award demonstrates the vision that brings MERLOT members together to create the MERLOT Community and our services.  Recipients of this award have exemplified, through their vision and leadership, the highest values MERLOT holds.  The recipients of this award are selected by the previous winners with consultation from MERLOT management. 

The second recipient of the Distinguished Service Award is Jessica Sommers of the University System of Georgia. She is the Director of Academic Innovation, Advanced Learning Technologies, in the Office of Academic Affairs, Board of Regents.

Until her retirement this year, she had primary responsibility for Systemwide faculty development activities focused on incorporating technology into instruction. She served as liaison for collaboratively developed online degree programs, such as eCore, WebMBA, WebBSIT, WebBAS, etc. She also served as State Coordinator for SREB's Electronic Campus.  
 
Previously, Dr. Somers served as Assistant Director for the Center for Educational Technology in the College of Education at the University of Georgia. She also spent four years as an Education Instruction Specialist contracting with IBM Corporation for the development of multimedia educational products.  
 
In 1995 Jessica Somers received her PhD in Instructional Technology from the University of Georgia. She also earned BBA and MBA degrees from the University of West Georgia.