UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s John Ellenberger earned a national award from the Education Advisory Board (EAB) for his behind-the-scenes work on the Starfish platform at Penn State.
Ellenberger, a programmer/analyst with the Division of Undergraduate Studies, was recognized at EAB’s CONNECTED22 conference, in Orlando, Florida, where he earned the company’s Excellence in Technology Administration Award.
EAB’s Excellence in Technology Administration Award recognizes an individual who has shown exceptional dedication to improving their technology configurations and best practices, and who goes above and beyond in their commitment to student success through the help of EAB technology.
“EAB’s recognition of John Ellenberger speaks volumes to ways that John and numerous other individuals across Penn State tirelessly provide a high-level of dedication to solving technical problems and ensuring that Starfish users are well supported on a daily basis,” said David Smith, associate dean for advising and executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies. “Our ability to provide the Penn State community with access to Starfish would not be the same without John. I am absolutely delighted that he was selected by EAB to receive this award. He is an amazing individual that shows up every day as his genuine self, is collaborative, and is always trying to stay ahead of any problem. John is nothing short of an asset to Penn State.”
This is the ninth year in a row that EAB has recognized outstanding achievements in student success. Awardees are chosen from among the colleges, universities and individuals that use Navigate, EAB’s student success management system, or Starfish, the student success platform EAB acquired in 2021.
Starfish is Penn State’s student success platform that connects students to people and resources, simplifies communication with the people who support students, and provides a key link between support services critical to student success. It provides infrastructure for advising notes, academic progress reports, and academic reviews at Penn State and is locally managed by the Division of Undergraduate Studies.
At Penn State, more than a half million meetings have been documented through Starfish to date. Along with millions of additional Starfish notes, these records narrate students’ experience and their holistic engagement with learning at the university.
“I could not have won the award without the support of the DUS Starfish administrators and my colleagues at Penn State,” Ellenberger said. “After the award was presented at the conference, many colleagues and people at EAB congratulated me. It was heartwarming and left me feeling appreciated and respected for my knowledge.”
During the conference presentation, EAB staff praised Ellenberger for his expertise and problem solving.
“John is an extremely knowledgeable tenant admin who has experience in every aspect of Starfish,” said Grace Ubersax, associate director of Technology Partner Services at EAB. “There’s really nothing that John hasn’t troubleshooted or brainstormed alongside our team.”
“I cannot think of a Starfish admin who is more deserving,” said Veronic Wooten, associate director of Technology Partner Services at EAB.
The Division of Undergraduate Studies is part of Penn State Undergraduate Education.
