{"id":134715,"date":"2026-08-17T01:58:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=134715"},"modified":"2026-08-14T12:48:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:48:40","slug":"gold-u-elker-keeps-students-at-center-of-course-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/08\/17\/gold-u-elker-keeps-students-at-center-of-course-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Gold U: Elker keeps students at center of course design"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As an instructional designer in the College of Public Health, April Elker spends her days moving between syllabus design, assessment design, Canvas builds, video production and faculty consultations \u2014 a mix of work that shifts by the week, which is exactly what she loves about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It&#8217;s definitely a mix of work depending on what we have going on,&#8221; said Elker, recipient of UNMC&#8217;s Gold U Award. &#8220;Sometimes I&#8217;m editing videos. Sometimes I&#8217;m writing scripts. Sometimes I&#8217;m building Canvas spaces. It&#8217;s different every day.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She was hired at the college to standardize its Master of Public Health core curriculum, a high-volume, accreditation-linked project she counts among her proudest. She&#8217;s since turned her attention to the Master of Health Administration program, building in more authentic learning opportunities to better prepare students for their professional paths, and she&#8217;s helping shape a new bachelor&#8217;s degree with an emphasis on rural public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Colleagues describe Elker as someone who keeps the student experience at the center of every decision, while also protecting faculty from burnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I still remember all the experiences I had in my programs, and it helps me guide our faculty,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to have an exceptional student experience, but I also ask: \u201cis this realistic and sustainable for our faculty to implement?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That includes pushing faculty to rethink how they measure student learning. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t have to be a 10-page paper,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You can do things like concept mapping, policy briefs, and other activities that students might actually do in public health practice.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elker has spent 14 years at UNMC, starting in alumni relations before moving through academic affairs and landing at the College of Public Health. Along the way, she says she&#8217;s had the opportunity to work with a number of exceptional women leaders \u2014 none more influential than Peggy Moore, her supervisor during seven years in e-learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;She helped me continuously grow in that role,&#8221; Elker said. &#8220;She&#8217;s actually who connected me with Dr. McMillan for my current role, so I&#8217;m just grateful for that. She&#8217;s why I am where I am.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Accepting individual recognition still feels a little unusual to her. &#8220;All my projects are in collaboration with others,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have a really wonderful team in the Office of Teaching and Learning, and really brilliant faculty partners.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Public health instructional designer was honored at the Aug. 13 Regents meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":134716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"92430,71328,43552,22182,128741,112499","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-inside-unmc","topic-unmc-community","department-academic-affairs","department-college-of-public-health","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","author_override-sarah-hankin-unmc-strategic-communications"],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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