OLC ACCELERATE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- Founding President of OLC
A.Frank Mayadas, founding president of OLC, is a prominent education innovator in online learning and has served as a Senior Advisor to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 2010, advising the Foundation on its continuing grants in the Anytime, Anyplace Learning Program. From 1992 to 2009, he serves as a Program Director at the Foundation, helping craft the Foundation's grantmaking strategy in online learning, globalization, industry studies, and career choice in technical fields. Prior to coming to the Sloan Foundation, Dr. Mayadas spent 27 years at the IBM Corporation. Dr. Mayadas received a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell in 1965, and a B.S. from the Colorado School of Mines in 1961.
Job Titles:
- Educational Researcher and Publishing Coordinator
- Researcher and Publishing Coordinator for the OLC 's Research Center
Andrew Swindell serves as the Educational Researcher and Publishing Coordinator for the OLC's Research Center where he works with scholars, teachers, practitioners, and industry experts on how online, blended, and digital learning can help promote universal access to quality and inclusive education for all people, everywhere. Andrew's other research interests include how education systems can better promote digital and information literacy, Global Citizenship Education (GCE), and Education in Emergencies (EiE). Before joining the OLC, Andrew worked as a foreign aid practitioner, a classroom teacher in Myanmar and Thailand, and a teaching fellow and researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He holds a Ph.D. in Social Sciences and Comparative Education from UCLA, a M.Ed. in Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum from the University of Missouri, and a B.A. in Economics and Religion from Bucknell University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Assistant Vice President, Membership and Sponsorship
Brenda Weiss-Pesta is the Assistant Vice President, Membership and Sponsorship for the Online Learning Consortium. She is responsible for the relationships with new and existing sponsorship partners and building opportunities to share their products and services with valued OLC members and the OLC online learning community.
Prior to joining OLC, Brenda was a sales manager in the educational technology industry working with both higher education institutions and K-12 districts in the northeast. She has been active in her central Minnesota community as a chairperson and a volunteer on youth related projects and is a member of her local planning and zoning commission. Brenda has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Northwestern College.
As Service Desk Manager, Cesar managers the day-to-day customer service arm of the organization for both internal and external stakeholders. His work spans end-user technology environments and troubleshooting as well as the documentation of policies and processes that ensure OLC Members and staff receive best-in-class customer service across all of our technology platforms and services.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Conferences
Christine Hinkley has worked in sales and marketing for over 25 years. She currently serves as the Online Learning Consortium's Senior Director, Conferences & Events. In this capacity, Christine, in conjunction with the Director, Conferences and the Conference Services Manager, provides direction and leadership toward the planning and implementation of OLC's two annual conferences, plus other major events. Formerly, Christine assisted with OLC's conferences as part of her duties as Business Development Manager at The University of Central Florida's Division of Continuing Education. Christine's sales, marketing, and business development skills were honed through the years in the transportation and medical fields, where she served in various sales and product management roles for Roche Molecular Diagnostics, Baxter Scientific Products, REMEL Microbiology, and CF AirFreight. Christine is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a B.B.A. Business Administration - Marketing.
Job Titles:
- Instructional Designer
- Instructional Designer at the OLC
Cindy Schanke is an instructional designer at the OLC where she provides instructional design, course development, and educational technology expertise within the OLC Institute for Professional Development. In 2000, she got her start in the eLearning field for government and industry, and in 2013 she began working as an instructional designer in higher education. She joined OLC in 2021 after serving Elizabethtown College as the Assistant Director of Online Learning. She holds a Masters of Science degree in Instructional Technology from Bloomsburg University and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Lock Haven University.
Job Titles:
- Customer Service Representative
Clarise began working with the Online Learning Consortium in the fall of 2016. You'll find her in many places where customers connect with OLC, most notably in the chat room, adding a personal touch to virtual communications. Clarise is always happy to help, whether guiding customers through a registration process, answering questions, or resolving concerns quickly.
Previously Clarise spent 20 years in customer-facing roles in the hospitality industry, working for an airline company in reservations and in their private club. She's also served as an assistant librarian and an office manager. Clarise has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Emmanuel College.
Colette A. Chelf, Ed.D. serves as Director of Grants for the Online Learning Consortium where she scopes and manages a diverse portfolio of grant funded projects. She brings over 20 years of experience to OLC as a project manager and learning strategist in educational, corporate, and government sectors. Colette's entrepreneurial spirit guides her work focusing on transformative change through creative problem-solving and teamwork. She is passionate about providing educational opportunities to all learners by building strategic partnerships to develop and scale inclusive educational resources and services. She holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and a M.A. in Communication from Western Kentucky University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Kentucky.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chief Academic Officer and VP of Learning
Dr. Angela Gunder is the Chief Academic Officer and Vice President of Learning for the Online Learning Consortium (OLC). In this role, she is responsible for gathering, curating, and leveraging the intellectual capital created by and disseminated through OLC. Prior to her position at the OLC, Angela served as the Director of Instructional Design & Curriculum Development for the Office of Digital Learning at The University of Arizona, managing and mentoring the team that builds the fully-online programs for the university. Her decades-long career as a designer for higher education informs her instructional design practice, where she leverages her expertise in web design, usability, visual communication, programming, and standards-based online learning. From 2013-2021, Angela was an Associate Editor for the Teacher Education Board of MERLOT, and the recipient of the 2018 MERLOT Distinguished Service Award, the organization's highest honor. Since 2010, Angela has served as a technical and project lead for three different STARTALK Grants from the National Security Agency, supporting technology literacies and innovations in the world languages classroom. She is also the recipient of two Online Learning Consortium Effective Practice Awards for the creation of a framework for personal learning networks, and for the creation of exploratory installations of education technology, respectively. In 2019, Angela was named an OLC Fellow for her dedication to service, innovation, and scholarship in support of student success in online learning. Angela is an online instructor for The University of Arizona School of Information, teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses on instructional design, digital media, web design, and gameful learning. Her research focuses on open remix practices, open culture, digital literacies, narrative digital learning practices, and emerging technology for language acquisition. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Fine Art from Fordham University, a M.Ed. in Education Technology from Arizona State University, and a Ph.D. in Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies from The University of Arizona, where in 2020 she was named an Erasmus Scholar by the College of Education for her commitment to the college, the university and to the community.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Professor and Executive Officer for the
Dr. Anthony G. Picciano is a Professor and Executive Officer for the Ph.D. Program in Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is also a member of the faculty in the Education Leadership Program at Hunter College, the doctoral program in Interactive Pedagogy and Technology at the Graduate Center, and the CUNY Online BA Program in Communication and Culture. He has forty-four years of experience in higher education administration and teaching and has served as a director of computer services, dean, vice president, and deputy to the president at CUNY and SUNY colleges. He has been involved in a number of major grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, IBM, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In 1998, Dr. Picciano co-founded CUNY Online, a multi-million dollar initiative funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that provides support services to faculty developing online and blended learning courses.
Dr. Picciano's major research interests are school leadership, education policy, online teaching and learning, data-driven decision making, and multimedia instructional models. Dr. Picciano has conducted three major national studies with Jeff Seaman on the extent and nature of online and blended learning in American K-12 school districts. He has authored or edited numerous articles and eleven books including Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology, 5th Edition (2010, Pearson), Data-Driven Decision Making for Effective School Leadership (2006, Pearson), Distance Learning: Making Connections across Virtual Space and Time (2001, Pearson), and Educational Research Primer (2004, Continuum). In 2012, he published a book with Joel Spring, entitled, The Great American Education-Industrial Complex: Ideology, Technology, and Profit, (Routledge). In 2007, he co-edited a book on blended learning with Chuck Dziuban entitled, Blended Learning: Research Perspectives and has just published (2014) a new version of this book entitled, Blended Learning: Research Perspectives, Volume 2 (Taylor/Francis). He is currently writing a new book with Chuck Dziuban, Charles Graham, and Patsy Moskal entitled, New Pedagogical Frontiers: Conducting Research in Online and Blended Learning Environments.
Dr. Picciano has been on the Board of Directors of the Online Learning Consortium (formerly the Sloan Consortium) since 2001. His activities have included serving on the planning committees for the Annual Conference, the Annual Workshop on Blended Learning, and the Symposium on Emerging Technologies. Lastly, he has been an associate editor of JALN since 2002 and has edited five special editions. In 2010, Dr. Picciano received the Online Learning Consortium's National Award for Outstanding Achievement in Online Education by an Individual.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Vice President for Teaching and Learning at Howard Community College
Dr. Carl S. Moore is the Vice President for Teaching and Learning at Howard Community College. Formerly the Associate Vice President for Learning and Engagement at the University of the District of Columbia and Certificate faculty in Temple University's Teaching Higher Education Certificate program, he also currently serves as a teaching faculty for USC's Equity, a board member for the Online Learning Consortium, and a Middle States Commission on Higher Education peer evaluator. As a certified StrengthsFinder Coach and MBTI administrator, Carl frequently serves as a consultant on leadership, assessment, inclusive teaching, and faculty development. Over the course of his career, he has created and instructed a variety of face-to-face, hybrid, and online modes. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media, a Doctorate in Urban Education from Temple University, and a Masters of Arts in Educational Policy and Leadership from the Ohio State University in Higher Education Administration.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Vice President
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Assistant Vice President of Learning
Dylan Barth is the Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Learning and a Co-Director of the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL). Dylan provides strategic vision and oversight for professional development, research and publications, and the Quality Scorecard Suite at OLC. He has 20+ years of experience teaching in higher education and 12+ years working in faculty and instructional development. Dylan holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with an emphasis on masculinities in contemporary post-apocalyptic fiction.
Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Ciabocchi currently serves as associate provost for academic affairs at Adelphi University. In this role, she oversees all curricular offerings, working closely with each of the University's deans, faculty and administrative offices to implement, manage and revise the curriculum, including interdisciplinary offerings. She also serves as the primary Adelphi University liaison with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), the New York State Education Department and the U.S. Department of Education.
With more than 25 years of experience in higher education, Liz most recently served as vice provost for digital learning and executive director of online learning and services at St. John's University, where she led academic initiatives to develop digital learning strategies for programs offered in fully online and hybrid formats. Prior to her time at St. John's, she served in various roles at Long Island University, such as associate vice president for online learning, and also in areas including instructional technology, academic planning and academic affairs. She previously worked at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and the New York College of Health Professions.
Author of two book chapters, Liz has published peer-reviewed journal articles and has presented her research on leadership and e-learning in higher education and other topics at dozens of conferences. Her teaching experience includes graduate-level courses in St. John's University's School of Education and undergraduate courses and graduate thesis supervision at the New York College of Health Professions. She has been extensively involved in committees and evaluation teams for Middle States reaccreditation and has held board and committee positions with the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), which named her a fellow in 2015.
Liz earned her EdD in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University; a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from New York Chiropractic College; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Scranton. She holds certifications from the OLC in Online Teaching and Leadership in Online Learning.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- President of Motlow State Community College
The Tennessee Board of Regents recently appointed Dr. Michael Torrence as the president of Motlow State Community College. The college has campuses in Smyrna, Tullahoma, McMinnville and Fayetteville, Tennessee. President Torrence will assume office at Motlow on May 1, 2018. Torrence is currently assistant vice president of academic affairs at Volunteer State Community College.
Dr. Torrence has 11 years of experience in higher education administration and nearly 23 years of full- and part-time teaching experience. He has spent his career embracing the use of technological literacy as a platform to increase student engagement and success. He has served as the Co-Chairperson for TNeCampus and as a Tennessee Board of Regents statewide team leader for the integration of Emerging Technology and Mobilization in the areas of Gaming, VR, AR, and MR into teaching and learning. Dr. Torrence has trained faculty, students, executives, and community members and developed immersive curriculum focused on STEAMB (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art/Aviation, Mathematics, and Business) for all grade levels and has utilized these platforms for teaching undergraduate and graduate students in his own classes, where VR and entrepreneurship is a norm.
Currently, he is researching and developing a platform for OER with support from Hewlett-Packard and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He earned a doctor of philosophy degree, with a major in exceptional learning, at Tennessee Tech University, and master of arts and bachelor of arts degrees at South Dakota State University, both with a major in English. Michael is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serving as a senior airman from 1992 to 1996.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Assistant Professor at the George Washington University
Dr. Paige McDonald is an assistant professor at the George Washington University (GWU) in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership.
Paige is an educational researcher who has focused on how to integrate technology into health-professions education to achieve pedagogical goals, with a particular emphasis on blended learning design. At GW, Paige teaches courses on complexity science, knowledge translation, and implementation science and innovation leadership in an interdisciplinary, blended PhD program on Translational Health Sciences.
She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on blending for higher levels of learning, reflective practice, collaborative learning and knowledge integration. Within OLC, she has previously served as a conference program chair, track chair, reviewer, and guest editor for Online Learning.
Job Titles:
- President
- Director for the Digital Learning Impact Evaluation
Dr. Patsy Moskal is Director for the Digital Learning Impact Evaluation in the Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Since 1996, she has served as the liaison for faculty research involving digital learning technologies and in support of the scholarship of teaching and learning at UCF. Patsy specializes in statistics, graphics, program evaluation, and applied data analysis. She has extensive experience in research methods including survey development, interviewing, and conducting focus groups and frequently serves as an evaluation consultant to school districts, and industry and government organizations. She has served as a co-principal investigator on grants from several government and industrial agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Gates Foundation-funded Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC). Patsy frequently serves as a proposal reviewer for conferences and journals, also serving on the editorial boards of the Online Learning journal, Education Sciences and The International Journal for the Scholarship of Technology Enhanced Learning, in addition to serving as a frequent reviewer for NSF IUSE and SBIR/STTR proposals and DoE proposals.
In 2011 Dr. Moskal was named an Online Learning Consortium Fellow "In recognition of her groundbreaking work in the assessment of the impact and efficacy of online and blended learning." Patsy is very active in both EDUCAUSE and Online Learning Consortium (OLC) conferences. She serves on the EDUCAUSE Analytics & Research Advisory Group and co-leads the EDUCAUSE Evidence of Impact Community Group. She currently serves as Vice President of the OLC Board of Directors, serves on the OLC Research Advisory Council, and is a special issue editor for the yearly Online Learning special issue on OLC conferences. Patsy has co-authored numerous articles and chapters on blended, adaptive, and online learning and is a frequent presenter at conferences and to other researchers. Her latest edited book (2021), with Picciano, Dziuban & Graham, is now available: Blended Learning Research Perspectives, Volume 3.
Elisabeth Stucklen is an instructional designer in the Online Learning Consortium's Institute for Professional Development, where she provides course design/production and facilitation support for the Instructional Designer Certificate Program and serves as the instructional designer in the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL) program. She has worked in online higher education and instructional design for over 17 years. Prior to joining OLC, she worked as the senior instructional designer at Mount Washington College (MWC) in Manchester, NH, where she was responsible for creating new online courses, providing training and support for faculty, and assisting the director in monitoring the course development process. Before MWC, she worked at Lesley University providing professional development and course design assistance to faculty. In addition to her role with the OLC, Elisabeth also teaches online for Brandeis University in their Masters in Learning Experience Design program and has served as a mentor in the Educause ID2ID cross-institutional peer mentoring program for the instructional designer.
Elisabeth holds a Masters of Science in Instructional Design and Technology from Emporia State University and a Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication Technology from Lesley University and is a graduate of the 2020 cohort for the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL).
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Board of Directors
Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D serves as the Chief Executive Officer at the Online Learning Consortium. In this role, she provides the strategic direction for the organization and supports the development of key projects and programs to support OLC members. Dr. Mathes has 25 years of experience in both public and private education where she has continuously supported digital learning initiatives. In addition, Dr. Mathes is the author of the ICDE Report Global Quality in Online, Open, Flexible and Technology Enhanced Education: An Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (2019) and co-editor of the OLC Quality Scorecard Handbook: Criteria for Excellence in Blended Learning Programs (2017). She continues to write and present on key topics in online, blended and digital learning.
In her career, she has been instrumental in working with start-up initiatives as well as leading growth in institutions with an existing technology enhanced program. She has also served as a consultant, providing recommendations to institutions on steps to take to implement best practices in online education. Her recent work has involved collaborating with higher education associations and institutions internationally to support the global adoption of best practices in online learning.
Dr. Mathes holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also has earned a Master of Science degree in Business Education and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications from Illinois State University.
Job Titles:
- Certified Public Accountant
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Board of Directors
As the Chief Financial Officer at the Online Learning Consortium, Jenny Brown is responsible for all of the organization's financial activities, including budgeting and forecasting, accounting, audit, internal controls, treasury and investment, and taxes. She also supports the organization's strategic direction and informs key stakeholders of the financial health of the organization.
Prior to joining the OLC, Ms. Brown spent 18 years at KPMG serving the public accounting industry. For the past five years, she served as a Director in KPMG Business School - Audit as a member of the Learning Experience Design leadership team, managing those responsible for creating learning and development material for KPMG's U.S. audit professionals. Before that, she audited multinational public entities, working both in the United States and Germany.
Ms. Brown is a certified public accountant. She holds a Master in Professional Accounting degree from the University of Texas -Austin, McCombs School of Business, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with concentrations in Accounting and Finance from Trinity University. She is fluent in both English and German.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Job Titles:
- Accountant
- Staff Accountant
Prior to joining the OLC, Jonathan has worked as an accountant in the logistics, healthcare, airline, and consulting industries for the past twelve years. Jonathan has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accounting from Texas Tech University.
Job Titles:
- Director of Professional Learning
As Director of Professional Learning, Josh guides the strategy and operations of OLC's Institute for Professional Development. He has over twelve years of higher education leadership and instructional experience. He has also published and presented widely on higher education practices, pedagogical research, and interdisciplinary scholarship. Josh holds a Ph.D. in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design from Clemson University and an M.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
As Partnership Manager, Jovan works to promote OLC's resources and services, helping our members get the most use from their membership and working with potential members to highlight how OLC can benefit their organization and professional advancement. Jovan will be responsible for sales outreach in the east driving membership and institute sales. Jovan resides in Tennessee and is coming to us with a background in strategic technology sales, college admissions administration, as well as K-12 education. Jovan is a graduate of Arizona State University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with her degree in Education. She states, "Simply put, I am a hard-working mom & wife who loves life, people, learning and laughing." Her zeal for networking and sensitivity to digital transformations drive profitability and forge mutually valuable relationships everywhere she goes. When not working, you will find Jovan with her family involved in the local community through ministry, cooking, foodie and dog-loving adventures.
Job Titles:
- OLC Sponsorship Manager
- Sponsorship Manager
As the OLC Sponsorship Manager, Julie is responsible for cultivating relationships with new and existing sponsor partners to offer opportunities that showcase how their products/services can benefit the OLC member community. Prior to joining the OLC team, Julie accumulated more than 22 years of experience in sponsorship/exhibit sales, and trade show management in both the publishing and long-term care industries. She appreciates the value of professional associations and is passionate about helping others make mutually beneficial connections.
Job Titles:
- Instructional Designer
- Instructional Designer With OLC
Kaitlin Garrett is an instructional designer with OLC and she is responsible for supporting the Advanced Online Teaching Certificate program. She has worked in higher education for 7 years with a focus on learning management systems and distance education.
Prior to joining OLC, Kaitlin was a module coordinator at the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine. She assisted first-year module directors and faculty teams with the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional materials used in both synchronous and asynchronous environments.
Kaitlin holds a MA in Educational Leadership (Higher Education/Student Personnel), a graduate certificate in Instructional Design and Technology (e-Learning), and a BS in Psychology from the University of Central Florida.
Job Titles:
- Secretary
- Director of Academic Affairs
Kate Jordahl is the Director of Academic Affairs and Consortia. In her new position, Jordahl provides leadership and coordination for the CVC-OEI Consortium, including curriculum integration, enrollment management, and academic standards. She also oversees the implementation process for colleges joining Consortium and coordinates various governance groups. She comes to this position after working at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills for 19 years as professor and administrator. Jordahl served faculty lead on the Foothill College OEI Implementation Team and as Foothill College Faculty Representative to both the OEI Consortium and the OEI Common Course Management System Selection/Implementation Committee. In addition to being a Peer Online Course Reviewer and online faculty mentor, she designed and facilitated the Foothill College Online Teaching Certification Course (OTC).
Job Titles:
- Director of Global Events for OLC
Katie Fife Schuster is the Director of Global Events for OLC. In this role, Katie provides direction and leadership for the logistics and planning of OLC symposiums, the IELOL program, and IELOL Global program. Prior to her current role, Katie held the position of Director, Conferences & Events for OLC, where she worked in conjunction with the Senior Director, Conferences & Events, and the Conference Service Manager towards the achievement of OLC's annual conferences. She has also been OLC's Director of Online Learning and the Director of Publications. She has experience from her years in the publishing industry prior to joining OLC and holds a BA from Tufts University in anthropology and Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Professor of Educational Leadership
Kaye Shelton, Ph.D. is a Professor of Educational Leadership in the Center for Doctoral Studies in the College of Education at Lamar University. Previously as the Dean of Online Education for Dallas Baptist University, she led the development and ongoing operations of their online education programs with over 55 majors and degrees offered fully online. She is certified as an online instructor, teaching online since 1999, and also an online education consultant. Winner of the both the Blackboard and eLearning exemplary online course awards, she has published over 40 articles and book chapters in the field of online education, including a co-authored book entitled An Administrator's Guide to Online Education. Dr. Shelton was also awarded a Sloan-C Effective Practice award for her research on the Quality Scorecard for the Administration of Online Education Programs, the John R. Bourne award for Outstanding Achievement in Online Education and the NCPEA Morphet Dissertation award. Dr. Shelton has been involved with research in online education since 1997 and has spoken at numerous conferences and workshops and advised peer institutions regarding the creation of an online education program and best practices for teaching online and faculty support. Recently, Dr. Shelton has been involved in the national and international use of the OLC Quality Scorecard for the Administration of Online Programs as it has been adopted by institutions in Latin America. She is also an Online Learning Consortium Quality Scorecard program evaluator and teaches workshops regarding its implementation.
As the Director of Research, Kristen guides the strategic vision for the Research Institute and OLC Press and operationalizes research opportunities for the OLC. She cultivates partnerships with ed ucators, sponsors, and practitioners to drive innovative research pertaining to digital, blended, and online learning. Kristen has taught for over ten years at the collegiate level, with expertise in learning support (face-to-face, hybrid, and online), writing st udies, writing centers, and adult literacy. Her research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and edited collections focused on online writing instruction, accessibility, and healthcare communication. Kristen holds a Ph.D. in Rhetorics, Communication, an d Information Design from Clemson University, an M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of South Florida, and a B.A. in English (Professional and Technical Writing) from the University of South Florida.
Job Titles:
- Member Renewal Manager
- Membership
Laurie provides expert guidance and assistance to OLC members to ensure the successful utilization of their membership benefits and ease in the process of renewal. Laurie brings her many years of experience in sponsor and conference attendee relationship support and works closely with the OLC membership team to ensure continuous high-quality membership offerings and communications. Laurie graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Job Titles:
- Director of Community Strategy and Engagement
As the Director of Community Strategy and Engagement, Madeline (Maddie) Shellgren serves as the lead innovator, designer, and project manager of the OLC's portfolio of online engagement opportunities. Known for her love of storytelling, play, and all things gameful, Maddie thrives on facilitating and designing meaningful ways for people to connect, learn, and grow together. Within the OLC, she has served on steering and operations committees for several of the organization's conferences (including as Technology Test Kitchen and Innovation Studio lead, as well as Engagement Co-Chair) and has had the distinct honor of being the mastermind behind the OLC Escape Rooms. She looks forward to continuing supporting OLC community building efforts, is committed to sustainable, equitable, and anti-oppressive ecologies within education, and is genuinely excited to leverage her interdisciplinary scholarly and professional backgrounds as she helps lead the OLC towards truly innovative and transformative models for what's possible for online and digital engagement. Maddie joins the OLC from Michigan State University (MSU), where she has served as the lead on numerous student success initiatives related to instructional design and technology, accessibility, and equity and inclusion. Over the past eleven years, Maddie has dedicated her professional life to teaching and learning related initiatives and has strategically sought out opportunities that give her a multi-dimensional perspective on teaching and learning, including working as a Standardized Patient training medical students, serving as Program Director for Teaching Assistant development, taking lead on a number of cross-institutional educator onboarding and professional development projects, and teaching across online and face-to-face contexts. She most recently worked as an Assistant Rowing Coach for the MSU Varsity Women's Rowing Program. There she was given the opportunity to help redesign a community from the bottom up, story the team's new journey together in fun and multimodal ways, lead in the co-construction of community expectations and norms, help ensure alignment across a variety of stakeholders and initiatives, and develop and operationalize strategic structures for long-term sustainability (such as entirely new social media, marketing, communications, and content management strategies). She had the privilege of seeing the impact of her human-centered and equity-oriented approach each and every day as the team reimagined what it meant to be a Spartan on the MSU Rowing Team. With her move to the OLC, she will continue on as a volunteer coach, still supporting these efforts and the team, and is excited to get back on the water.
As Partnership Manager, Mary works to promote OLC's resources and services, helping our members get the most use from their membership and working with potential members to highlight how OLC can benefit their organization and professional advancement.
Prior to joining OLC, Mary has over 25 years in strategic sales and account management partnering with higher education and K-12 institutions with a focus on exceeding customer experience and engagement. She is passionate about making a difference. Her goal is to empower everyone to reach their full potential. Mary looks forward to working as an extension of your team to support your efforts in reaching your online learning goals. Mary attended her local technical college and was focused on Industrial Technology, learning valuable skills she was able utilize with her employer at that time Cray Research Inc.
After hours, Mary can be found enjoying the great Wisconsin outdoors. She is obsessed with the sport of volleyball and has coached and currently officiates. Her family owns and operates apple orchards, so if you are looking for a good apple pie recipe she can help. The last couple years, she has been blessed with 3 grandchildren and is always looking for the opportunity to spend more time with them.
Mary Niemiec served as the Associate Vice President for Digital Education and Director of University of Nebraska Online for 10 years until her retirement in 2021. She has worked in higher education, continuing, online and blended learning for more than 30 years. She has been on the Board of Directors for OLC for 8 years and served as President for two years. Mary was named an OLC Fellow in 2011.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Education Leader
Melissa Vito is a recognized higher education leader with over 35 years of experience in public higher education. She served as both Senior Vice President for Enrollment and Student Affairs and Senior Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives and Student Success at the University of Arizona, retiring in July of 2018. She began consulting full time working with several large public institutions in developing a plan for fully online programs and with selected ed tech companies providing thought leadership. Currently, she is serving as the Vice Provost for Academic Innovation at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
A transformational leader, she has earned a reputation as forward-thinking and team focused. Under her leadership, she initiated and developed University of Arizona's online programs which launched in Spring of 2015 and was recognized by UPCEA in Spring of 2019 for the Innovation in Transformation Award. While at University of Arizona, she also co-founded the Gender Based Violence Center; co-coordinated efforts resulting in University of Arizona's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution; envisioned and developed the Think Tank learning center, Arizona's first comprehensive academic support area for students; and reimagined Career Services, linking a commitment of student engagement for all undergraduates and student leadership into a comprehensive four-year experience for students.
Her consulting at University of Texas at San Antonio to assist in building a plan for developing fully online programs, led to a longer-term commitment to lead the development of this program and to lead the newly established division of Academic Innovation. This work in building the division along with a growing infrastructure for fully online programs made UTSA's move during the pandemic to remote and online learning relatively seamless. Several of the programs established by Academic Innovation during the pandemic have received national recognition including the Defining Moments interdisciplinary project and the initiation of Faculty Champions and Points of Contact.
She speaks and writes frequently, including contributing a chapter to NASPA's newly released book Online & Engaged (March 2020). Her areas of expertise include leadership, career development, digital literacy, online education, and campus emergency response, among other areas. Recognized nationally by NASPA as a Pillar of the Profession, she has also received the ACPA national award for Excellence in Practice, the Tucson's 40 under 40 Mentor of the Year Award, the National Association of Fraternity and Sorority Advisors Kent Gardner Award for Excellence, the Salpointe High School Hall of Fame and has recently joining the Online Learning Consortium Board of Directors.
She earned a bachelor's in Journalism and English; Masters in Higher Education and Counseling both from University of Arizona and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director
- Assistant Director, Conferences
Mirna Castaneda-Tinney is the Assistant Director, Conferences for the Online Learning Consortium. She joins the OLC with over 20 years of experience in event coordination. Previously with the California Community College system and before that with 18 years of experience in sales & marketing working for a variety of Los Angeles based television stations including ABC-7, FOX-11, KCAL-9, KCBS-2, and KTLA-5. She currently lives in lovely Vista, CA with her family.
Job Titles:
- Coordinator of the Quality
- Quality Scorecard Suite Coordinator
Phil Denman serves as Coordinator of the Quality Scorecard Suite for the Online Learning Consortium where he leads quality assurance programs related to online, blended, and digital learning. He brings over 20 years of experience to OLC, including 15 years spent as an instructional designer, initially helping launch UC Berkeley's first two fully-online Master's degree programs, then spending 10 years at San Diego State University. During this time, he held concurrent roles with the California State University Chancellor's Office, serving as Campus Coordinator for the Course Redesign with Technology initiative leading faculty to implement high impact practices to improve student success, as well the Faculty Lead for Quality Assurance where he developed programs to evaluate and improve online and blended learning. Outside of higher education, Phil has also held roles in product development, marketing, and broadcasting. He holds a M.S. in Education from California State University, East Bay and a B.A. in Communication Arts from Allegheny College, a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Ralph E. Gomory became the President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1989 after a long and distinguished career at IBM where he was responsible for IBM's research division for almost 20 years. During his tenure as Sloan President, he led the Sloan Foundation into numerous fields relevant to major national issues. The Foundation supported pioneering work in the field of online learning before there was even a public Internet, and then supported its growth so that by 2009, more than 3.9 million people were enrolled annually in online courses in higher education in the United States. He was instrumental in the conception of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C), now the Online Learning Consortium. In December 2007, Gomory became President Emeritus of the Sloan Foundation and joined NYU as a Research Professor. Dr. Gomory is well known for his mathematical research and has been awarded the National Medal of Science and many other awards in addition to eight honorary degrees.
Job Titles:
- Director of Technical Operations
Robert Pope oversees technical operations at the OLC. He directs the development of all OLC web properties, mobile apps and systems integrations. He has a degree in computer and electronic engineering technologies CEET.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- New England Director of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement
Sandra currently serves as the New England Director of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement, where she is a respected expert on eLearning initiatives. Ms. Doran is working to fully develop a platform for six states within the NEBHE Compact to enter into the reciprocity agreements for authorizing individual colleges and universities to provide postsecondary education courses and programs through on-line or other distance modalities.
Ms. Doran also serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ. Sandy had previously served as the CEO of Castle Point Learning Systems, a Stevens Institute educational technology start-up. The company developed a SAAS platform which provides an instructional infrastructure for calculus, enabling students and teachers to develop a more robust foundation in higher-level mathematics.
Sandy is passionate about the power of transformational educational tools to accelerate learning. Technological advancement has significantly outpaced the capacity at which educational institutions can accept and implement these new tools and it is therefore essential that comprehensive programs be developed to fully integrate and support these tools in the learning environment. Ms. Doran believes that bridging the current gap by integrating technological tools into the curriculum is one of the keys to significantly improving student success.
Job Titles:
- Instructional Support Specialist
Job Titles:
- Director of Human Resources
Suzie Reed joined Online Learning Consortium in a part-time bookkeeping capacity and eventually became a full-time member of the Finance team as a Financial Analyst. Her responsibilities include day-to-day bookkeeping, payroll, reporting, and analysis. Suzie has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from Salem State University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Senior Scientist
Tanya Joosten, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist, the Director of Digital Learning Research and Development, and advisor to the Provost for innovation projects at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). She is the PI and Director of the National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancements (DETA) and has been recognized for her work as she guides strategic digital learning efforts across the globe.
Currently, Dr. Joosten leads DETA working to support students' success and access through identifying key research-based practices - learning, instructional, and institutional practices - with particular attention to students who are first generation, poverty affected, racially minoritized, and/or impaired or disabled. Through the development of the DETA Research Toolkit, Tanya advances and supports innovate methodologies and encourages the replication of research across institutions. DETA's efforts are supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the Spencer Foundation, Online Learning Consortium (OLC), the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET), and the University of Wisconsin System Administration.
Dr. Joosten has a background in the social sciences hailing from the field of communication. Her notable keynotes include eLearning Asia, ITC eLearning Conference, and SACS COC President's event, and her ideas have been highlighted on plenary panels at the UW-Madison Annual Distance Teaching and Learning conference and the OLC International Conference for Online Learning. You can find her ideas and work cited in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Forbes, U.S. News World and Report, and more. Recent interviews with Dr. Joosten are available on ResearchInAction and TOPcast available on iTunes. Her book on social media is available from Wiley Publishing, she has authored numerous articles, chapters, and encyclopedia entries on human and social interactions and digital learning, and she often writes invited blog posts and magazine articles for organizations, such as EDUCAUSE, WCET, Inside Higher Ed, and Pearson.
Dr. Joosten previously worked as the Director of the Learning Technology Center leading faculty development and engagement initiatives, pedagogical and technological innovation projects, core learning technology oversight, and blended and online program development.
Terry Di Paolo is Vice Provost of eLearning at Dallas College (formerly Dallas County Community College District). He has been with Dallas College since 2014 and served as an academic administrator in multiple roles leading major strategic projects associated with major academic transformation, academic technology and quality in online learning and teaching.
Terry moved to Texas in 2012 having spent over a decade as an academic at the United Kingdom's Open University. With an interest in the intersections of technology and biography in the non-traditional student experience, Terry's career has straddled both academic affairs and student success.
He is a specialist in online learning and teaching and draws on his experience as a social scientist to innovate in the higher education space through an equity lens and a focus on inclusive solutions.
Job Titles:
- Digital Marketing Manager
Tyler McKinney is a creative media enthusiast with a background in broadcasting. She attended San Francisco State University where she developed the writing, editing, and digital media skills that allowed her to hold positions in social media management, radio, television production, and entertainment news.
Before her professional career began, she held the Social Media Manager position for the San Francisco State University radio station, and was an officer for the College Students in Broadcasting club on campus. These roles developed a deep appreciation for community, and connection.
She has worked in production on shows such as "Dr. Phil", "The Real", and "Entertainment Tonight", managing talent and producing television content. Tyler worked as an Entertainment Host and Journalist from 2018-2020 interviewing celebrities and creating digital content while managing her own personal YouTube channel.
Her passion for production and creation has led her to her current position as a Digital Marketing Manager for the Online Learning Consortium where she manages the OLC's digital brand.
Job Titles:
- Director of Marketing and Communications
Veronica Gonzalez Hoff is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Online Learning Consortium. She is responsible for marketing and communications strategy, public and media relations, and the brand identity of OLC.
Prior to joining OLC, Veronica was the Communications Coordinator for the Division of Student Affairs at Texas A&M University. Over the last decade, she has held various marketing and communications positions within the higher education industry. She brings her expertise in public and media relations, social media strategy and content development, and website content management.
Veronica is working on her Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership through Sam Houston State University. Her research examines how student affairs functions utilize social media and other digital spaces as an extension of their services to support and build digital community with students. She also holds an M.S. in Publishing from the University of Houston-Victoria and a B.A. in Communications with an emphasis on print journalism from the University of Texas-Pan American.
Vickie S. Cook recently accepted a new role at the University of Illinois Springfield as the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment & Retention Management and is a member of the UIS Chancellor's leadership team. For the past 10 years she has overseen Online Learning through the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service, Continuing and Professional Education, Office of Engaged Learning, and Center for Faculty Excellence and served as a member of the Provost leadership team. Cook is a Research Faculty member for the UIS School of Education in Educational Leadership.
She has also served in the capacity of Vice President of Innovation and Strategy and Dean of the School of Education for Greenville University in Greenville, IL. She served at Kaskaskia Community College in Centralia, IL for 14 years in various roles finishing her time there as Dean of Continuing Education and University Alliance.
Vickie publishes in journals and has written several book chapters regarding the intersection of capacity building through leadership. She is an advocate for innovations in learning strategies and has provided many faculty and staff professional development sessions in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Hong Kong. Her research interests focus on generational learning, multi-generational teaching in the online space, comparisons of Generation Z and Generation Alpha expectations for learning. She has served on various editorial boards, and on the board for higher education organizations in the fields of Continuing, Professional, and Online Education.
She was recognized as an OLC Fellow in 2017 and as a University of Illinois System President's Executive Leadership Fellow in 2017.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
As SJSU's provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, Vincent J. Del Casino Jr. serves as a key member of the university president's leadership team with primary responsibility for ensuring academic excellence in undergraduate and graduate studies as well as a continual commitment to research, scholarship, and creative activities that benefit all students and society at large.
At the University of Arizona, Del Casino provided leadership and administrative oversight as the campus redeveloped central spaces for student support activities; re-organized its central administrative areas; increased online enrollment and program offerings; and enhanced student success and retention. With more than 18 years of academic and administrative experience in higher education, he also served as professor and chair of the Department of Geography at California State University, Long Beach.
Del Casino is a prolific writer and researcher who authored the book Social Geography: A Critical Introduction. He has also edited, co-edited and co-authored multiple other books and published dozens of articles and book chapters on topics ranging from health, robots and robotic technologies, cartographic theory, and tourism, in the context of geography. His numerous commentaries on higher education have been published in The Evolllution and Inside Higher Education, including "Machine Learning, Big Data and the Future of Higher Education."
Prior to earning his doctorate in geography from the University of Kentucky, Del Casino received his master's in geography from the University of Wisconsin and bachelor's in international relations and East Asian studies from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Partnership Management
Zeren Eder has over 20 years of experience in higher education and has been designing, developing and facilitating online and blended courses since 2005. Prior to joining OLC in 2010, Zeren worked as faculty in various institutions teaching and designing face-to-face, blended and online courses. Currently, she is the Assistant Director of Partnership Management.
Zeren holds a BA in Education with emphasis in English, MA in Linguistics, and ABD status in English Literature . She is also alumna of OLC's Online Teaching Certificate, and IELOL (Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning) programs.