Washington, D.C. ~ The Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) is pleased to recognize and honor Kristi Blabuam, Doug Falk, Doug Holmes, Susan McCrackin, David K. Moldoff, Michael D. Morris, Rick Skeel, Francisco Valines and Jennifer Kim with Outstanding Service Awards. With decades of experience, voluntary service and participation at every level within PESC, each was previously honored with Distinguished Service Awards.
“The collective knowledge this group brings to PESC, along with the contributions each has made over many, many years that benefit students and the education community, are truly invaluable,” states Michael Sessa, PESC President & CEO. “Interacting with PESC has become a right-of-passage and these individuals represent the best of the very best.”
KRISTI BLABAUM, SYSTEMS INTEGRATION ANALYST, ASCENDIUM; REPRESENTING NASLA
Kristi currently serves on the PESC Board of Directors as Treasurer and as Change Control Board (CCB) Chair. Kristi was first elected to the Steering Committee of the Standards forum for Education in 2009, and then appointed CCB Chair in 2010. In 2011, she was appointed to the PESC Board of Directors and has served as Treasurer since 2020. Kristi wrote and led the development of the Student Loan Portfolio Standard and participated in the development of Common Record and CommonLine, also PESC Approved Standards, and all financial aid initiatives within PESC. Ascendium is a PESC Data Summit Sponsor, and Kristi first received PESC’s Distinguished Service Award in 2010.
DOUG FALK, VP & CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, NATIONAL STUDENT CLEARINGHOUSE
Doug currently serves on the PESC Board of Directors. First appointed to the Board of
Directors in 2005. Doug served as Board Chair from 2015-2019. He has led and/or
participated in almost every PESC Group including PESC’s Data Privacy Task Force, GEO
Code & EdExchange. Doug helped write and participated in almost every PESC Approved Standard; and National Student Clearinghouse is among the largest users of PESC Approved Standards, including for student financial aid. National Student Clearinghouse won PESC’s 18th Best Practices in 2016 for Extending the Capacity of Higher Education to Scale the Output of Verified Workforce-Ready Graduates. National Student Clearinghouse is a current Diamond Sponsor, and Doug first received PESC’s Distinguished Service Award in 2017.
DOUG HOLMES, MANAGER, ETRANSCRIPTS, OUAC
Doug currently serves as Canadian PESC User Group (CanPESC) Co-Chair. Doug coauthored OUAC’s Model of an Electronic Standardization Initiative: Ontario Universities Electronic Transcript (OUETS) System winning PESC’s 1st Best Practices in 1999, making him one of PESC’s longest volunteer participants. OUAC is also among the largest users of PESC Approved Standards. Doug was appointed CanPESC Co-Chair in 2017 and has served as CanPESC liaison to ARUCC. He first received PESC’s Distinguished Service Award in 2014.
JENNIFER KIM, DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP SERVICES, PESC
Jennifer currently serves as Director of Membership Services at PESC. She joined PESC
in 2005 when PESC offices were located at One Dupont Circle in the National Center for
Higher Education. She has been instrumental in the development and production of PESC Data Summits held April and October each year with responsibilities ranging from hotel contract negotiation and management to registration and all social media, to all meeting and audio-visual logistics. Jennifer supports all Member communications and dues processes; and represents PESC at industry events, including AACRAO, GDN, & STATS-DC of the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
SUSAN MCCRACKIN (RETIRED), SR.DIRECTOR FOR FINANCIAL AID METHODOLOGY, COLLEGE BOARD
Susan currently serves as Steering Committee Chair of the Standard Development Forum for Education. First elected to the Steering Committee of the Standards Forum in 2009, Susan was then appointed as Chair in 2010. She first received PESC’s Distinguished Service Award in 2013.
DAVID K. MOLDOFF, CEO & FOUNDER, ACADEMYONE
David currently serves as PESC Board of Directors Chair. First appointed to the PESC
Board of Directors in 2003 representing SCT Corporation, David continued on the Board in 2005 representing AcademyOne, and has also served as Board Treasurer. He has led and/or participated in almost every PESC Group including GEO Code & EdExchange & represented PESC in the Rome Student Systems & Standards Group (RS3G). AcademyOne won PESC’s 17th Best Practices in 2015 for Automating Reverse Transfer for the State of Tennessee and won PESC’s 12th Best Practices in 2010 for SC-TRAC Transfer & Articulation Center. AcademyOne is a current PESC Diamond Sponsor, and David first received PESC’s Distinguished Service Award in 2009.
MICHAEL D, MORRIS. SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER IN TEST, ACT
Michael currently serves as PESC TAB Chair and JSON-LD Task Force Chair. First
appointed to the PESC TAB in 2008 as Chair, Michael has supported the development and production of every PESC Approved Standard, has written several critical PESC Technical Specifications (XML Technical Specification and PESC Compliant JSON), serves on the Standards Forum for Education’s Steering Committee, and with 40+ years experience, is leading PESC on JSON-LD. He first received PESC’s Distinguished Service Award in 2010.
RICK SKEEL (RETIRED), PRODUCT MANAGER, ELLUCIAN
Rick currently serves as JSON-LD Transcript Development Workgroup Chair. First elected to the Board of Directors in 2005 representing AACRAO (University of Oklahoma), Rick returned to the Board over his career representing the Kuali Foundation and Ellucian. He served as Board Chair from 2021-2022, with 40 years experience wrote and/or participated in almost every PESC Approved Standard, and first received PESC Distinguished Service Award in 2017.
FRANCISCO VALINES, DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL AID, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Francisco currently serves on the PESC Board of Directors. First appointed to the Board
of Directors in 2007 representing NASFAA. Francisco continued on the Board in 2009
representing Florida International University, served as Board Chair from 2010-2015, and serves as student aid expert and invaluable resource with 40+ years experience. He first received PESC’s Distinguished Service Award in 2016
About PESC Awards
Many volunteers from the PESC Membership and education community have helped shape PESC into the strong organization it is today. Based in openness and transparency, together we support a neutral and welcoming environment with a seat at the table for everyone. The success of PESC is due primarily to the valuable output (from white papers to development, approval and maintenance processes of standards) all produced through workgroups and committees that are staffed and run by these volunteers. Certain individuals, who exemplify these values and who have performed for PESC above and beyond the call of duty, are recognized by PESC each year with Distinguished Service Awards. PESC Distinguished Service Awards serve as our opportunity to say thank you for being a leader and for making a positive impact on education.