Jason Rhode, who earned his master's in Curriculum and Instruction from SPU in 2003, was recently recognized with the 2013 Blackboard Key to the Community award for outstanding leadership in online teaching support. Rhode, director of Distributed Learning at Northern Illinois University, was among just 23 leaders nominated. Worldwide users of Blackboard, a wide-ranging suite of educational software and learning management tools, made the final selection. Rhode has served at NIU since 2004, developing training programs for that university’s faculty with a focus on technology and online instruction.