As a Board member college of the League for Innovation, each year Sinclair identifies an innovation worthy of national recognition through the League. This year’s Innovation of the Year is “Pioneering Online Science Labs,” nominated by key developers Shan Huang, Marigrace Ryan and Vandana Rola.

This project exemplifies Sinclair Community College‘s motto, “Find the need and endeavor to meet it.” Sinclair students expressed a need for fully-online degree programs. However, the lack of online science courses prevented the completion of the AA and AS degrees online. The faculty listened and met the need by developing fully-online Astronomy and Biology lecture and lab courses. The courses have been extremely successful – enrollment has increased and success rates mirror those of the traditional classroom. Students have learned and are very satisfied with the experience.