July Gritty Award Winners: Dhaval Gandhi and Chris Sutherin

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 15:52:19 -0400
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Collaborative Impact

The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) at UMBC has honored two of its exceptional team members, Dhaval Gandhi and Chris Sutherin, with the July Gritty Award for their groundbreaking work in transforming the creation and enrollment process for Blackboard.

Revolutionizing Digital Learning Infrastructure

In a significant technological breakthrough, Gandhi and Sutherin have dramatically improved the Blackboard course creation and enrollment process, addressing long-standing challenges in digital course management.

Behind the Scenes Innovation

Chris Sutherinled the initial phase of the project, completely restructuring the course creation workflow. "The legacy system was inefficient," Sutherin explained. "Over 85% of faculty were requesting separate course sections, which created significant administrative bottlenecks."

Technical Innovation

Chris demonstrated remarkable technical prowess by:

- Redesigning the course creation and enrollment process

- Resolving complex data transfer challenges between PeopleSoft and Blackboard

- Creating a new infrastructure that addresses previous system limitations

Key Improvements

- Implemented a one-course-shell-per-enrollment approach

- Reduced student course access wait times

- Improved course roster accuracy

- Enabled future opportunities for grade export and data alignment

Project Highlights

- Rebuilt course creation process infrastructure

- Collaborated extensively with Blackboard administrators

- Developed a more modern and efficient integration system

Complementary Technological Solution

Complementing Sutherin's work, Dhaval Gandhi developed a custom web form that allows instructors to:

Innovative Solution Development

Dhaval created a transformative custom web form that:

- Displays instructor teaching schedules

- Allows instructors to select course merges

- Generates CSV files for streamlined course management

Process Enhancements

- Simplified course merge request procedures

- Integrated data from PeopleSoft, Blackboard, and RT

- Enabled faculty to disable unused courses

- Reduced manual administrative work

Transformative Impact

The project represents more than a technical upgrade. It fundamentally reimagines how technology can support educational administration, reducing manual processes and improving overall user experience. The collaborative efforts of Chris and Dhaval have significantly:

- Improved technological infrastructure

- Enhanced user experience for faculty and students

- Streamlined administrative processes

- Demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills

"What makes this achievement remarkable is how they've turned complex technical challenges into seamless, user-friendly solutions," said an Instructional Technology team member.

For all of your exceptional efforts and commitment to excellence, we are proud to present Dhaval and Chris with the July DoIT Gritty Award. Congratulations!

The DoIT Community & The DoIT Gritty Committee

Erica D’Eramo

Ada Crutchfield

Andrew Shebest

Anthony Finneran

Carlos McKinney

Daniel Loftus

Dave Souder

David Toothe

Debbie Michaels

Dondre Hatef

Josh Abrams

Khalil Alston

Matt Baker

Nick Beech

Peter Ariev

Susan Biro