Northeast Iowa Community College’s DIID team honored with D2L Excellence Award at annual conference

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

The Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Department of Instructional Innovation and Design (DIID team) was recently honored with a 2025 D2L Excellence Award at the D2L Fusion global conference held in Savannah, Ga. The award recognizes innovative educators and institutions that use D2L’s Brightspace platform to transform learning experiences and drive student success.

The DIID team received the award for the design and implementation of the Accessibility Hub, a custom-built Brightspace course developed in partnership with Accessibility Services at NICC. The Hub streamlines accommodation tracking, documentation and communication, making it easier for students and faculty to access and manage support services.

In addition to receiving the award, the team shared their expertise by delivering five presentations during the Fusion conference:

• Learning Over Letter Grades: Leveraging Outcomes and Competency-Based Strategies to “Ungrade”

• Ditch the Detectors: Leveraging Brightspace to Encourage Authenticity in the Age of AI

• Oral Assessment in the Age of AI

• The Accessibility Hub: Using Brightspace to Provide Accommodation Letters & Other Accessibility Services 

• Pathways to Mastery: Leveraging Brightspace Automations for Competency-Based Education 
  
  

“This award reflects the DIID Team’s strategic collaboration across the College,” said MJ Dachelet, Executive Director of Instructional Innovation and Design. “The Accessibility Hub is just one example of the innovative solutions the team is developing to support our students, advance the NICC mission and amplify the work of our faculty and staff. In addition to supporting program areas with Open Educational Resources and expanding our Z-degree offerings, we’re also rolling out several competency-based education (CBE) programs in the coming years. Through creative API programming and custom widget design, we continue to push the boundaries of how our LMS (Learning Management System) can be used to improve student engagement and success—while also leading efforts to ensure the ethical and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in learning environments.”

To learn more about the 2025 D2L Excellence Award winners, visit: https://www.d2l.com/newsroom/d2l-announces-2025-excellence-awards-winners

Pictured in group photo: NICC DIID Team members Jordan O’Connell (Instructional Designer), Travis Hunt (LMS Administrator), MJ Dachelet (Executive Director), Shannon Brenner (Instructional Designer), Marilee Mai (Faculty Support Specialist), and Caleb Feuling (Instructional Systems Support Specialist) received the D2L Excellence Award alongside Interim College President Dave Dahms.