Richard Bischoff receives Friend Award for leadership in online ed alliance



Richard Bischoff receives Friend Award for leadership in online ed alliance

17 Apr 2019    

Richard Bischoff, associate vice chancellor for faculty and academic leader success in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, was honored with a 2019 Friend of the Great Plains IDEA Award. He was celebrated for committed leadership in the academic alliance.

The honor came at the annual meeting of the Great Plains IDEA on April 1, 2019, in Kansas City, Missouri. Beth Doll, interim dean of education and human sciences at UNL, nominated Bischoff.
“I have observed Rich over the years in his many GPIDEA roles. Often, he was acting behind the scenes or in small, private conversations,” said Doll, “. . . I am quite certain that he has been instrumental in making GPIDEA a highly successful, continue consortium through his dedication to excellence and equity and his uncanny ability to pull together different minds into a common collaborative plan for action.”
Marjorie Kostelnik, UNL’s senior associate to the president, worked with Bischoff for Great Plains IDEA programming when she was a UNL dean. She said, “It is this big picture thinking that characterized Rich’s contribution to the Great Plains IDEA—spending long hours in faculty-led curricular meetings, first in youth development and later in early childhood as well as other great Plains IDEA programs, with the aim of creating not merely distance courses, but distinctive programs that would serve students well regardless of delivery mode.”
Bischoff became chair of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies at UNL and participated in administrative decisions relating to five Great Plains IDEA programs while continuing to teach Great Plains IDEA courses. As department chairs became increasingly important to Great Plains IDEA success, Bischoff helped define the university department chair role.
Great Plains IDEA brings together faculty from accredited universities to offer high-quality online academic programs cost-effectively. UNL participates in eight human sciences programs and five agriculture programs through the consortium. Seventeen accredited member institutions and two accredited affiliate institutions share responsibilities to offer 11 online degrees and 15 online certificates. To take part in the inter-institutional programs, a student chooses one partner as a home institution for enrollment, transcript and graduation.

Congratulations, Richard!


Child, Youth and Family Studies