Kyle Roberson recognized at the Great Plains IDEA Annual Conference for innovative ideas to promote Family and Consumer Sciences Education
Family and Consumer Sciences Education assistant professor Kyle Roberson, Ph.D., was recently recognized at the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (Great Plains IDEA) Annual Conference with the Great IDEA Award. This award recognizes best practices and innovative contributions by faculty, staff, and administrators who work with Great Plains IDEA.
The Great IDEA awards acknowledges individuals who positively impact Great Plains IDEA programs and students. Roberson was recognized for leading the Family and Consumer Sciences Education (FCSE) team in their use of Twitter. Under his direction, they created a hashtag, posted frequently, and have used this platform to form connections with students and professionals in the field. The award credits Roberson for his promotion of the FCSE program through social media.
“I had volunteered to create, build, and post frequent content to a new Twitter page under the Family and Consumer Sciences Education, Great Plains IDEA name and programs,” Roberson said. “After the page was created, as a team we also applied for and received a $1000 marketing grant to promote several Tweets this academic year.”
The award represents his passion for wanting to grow the program to reach more students and provide leadership across the FSCE program. Roberson appreciated that others recognized his contributions to promote the FCSE program. He gives credit to fellow staff and faculty members that have worked with him in the FCSE program.
“I believe the award was only possible because of the support I have had from my peers and partnering universities,” Roberson said. “One of our specific program goals is that we all share in each of our successes regarding our work with GPIDEA, whether those are awards, grants, publications, or presentations. My success is our success as a team and vice versa.”
Karen Alexander, Ph.D., serves as the Family and Consumer Sciences Education program chair. She says the program is pleased that Roberson has received this recognition. He has been essential in creating the Twitter account and hashtags to reach optimal engagement.
“He has helped the FCSE program faculty recognize the value of social media, especially Twitter, in marketing our Great Plains IDEA graduate program,” Alexander said. “He also trained the faculty and encourages us to tweet and retweet to reach more people and inform them of the need for family and consumer sciences education.”
Dorothy Durband, Ph.D., serves as the associate dean for academics and faculty in the College of Human Sciences. She says Roberson is highly engaged in the FCSE program and has been valuable in promoting the program.
“The College of Human Sciences is fortunate to have Dr. Roberson as a faculty member,” Durband said. “His use of social media to engage FCS professionals and future students will enhance the recognition of the program and its expert faculty.”