WCET 31st Annual Meeting
 
Wednesday Speakers
Renee Aitken
Director of Assessment and Accreditation
CSU Global
Renee Aitken started her career in training, developing, and teaching in the highly technical world of telecommunications. With a B.A. in English literature, an M.A. in organizational communication, and an M.S. in telecommunications management and engineering, she moved from teaching to management. After earning a Ph.D. in higher education, she has focused on accreditation, online learning, student success, assessment, and research at the university level. Aitken is a passionate advocate for doing things right the first time.
 
Diane Auer Jones
Principal Deputy Under Secretary
U.S. Department of Education
Diane Auer Jones is the Principal Deputy Under Secretary, Delegated the Duties of the Under Secretary and Assistant Secretary for Post-Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Diane has a diverse background in higher education, having spent the first 10 years of her career serving as a biology professor at the Community College of Baltimore County, and later working at Princeton University and Career Education Corporation. Diane also has an extensive background in science and education policy having worked at the National Science Foundation, for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, and for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She served as the assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the Department of Education during the George W. Bush administration. Prior to rejoining the Department of Education, she served as a senior policy advisor to the Secretary of Labor and focused on workforce development issues, including the expansion of apprenticeships in the United States.
 
Brenda Boyd
Senior Academic Director, Program Services
Quality Matters, Inc.
Brenda Boyd currently serves as senior academic director, program services, for Quality Matters. She leads the professional development team, oversees the quality assurance department, and is responsible for the regular updating of QM Higher Education Rubrics. Boyd holds an M.S. in education from Capella University and is a WCET Steering Committee Member.
 
0Kelley Brandt
Director, eCampus Program Planning
Boise State University
For over ten years Kelley Brandt has had the pleasure of leading a wonderful team of Boise State University professionals dedicated to the completion of administrative functions related to academic, instructional, and student support services for all online classes (2,538 sections in 2017-18). The university’s eCampus Expansion Initiative has kept the team busy as they collaborate with academic departments to develop new, high-quality online delivered academic degrees and certificates (39 as of fall 2018). Brandt has worked on program feasibility research, financial modeling, multi-institutional consortiums, state authorizations, and accreditation. Outside of work, you will find him playing fetch with his wife’s two Borgie dogs (Border Collie and Corgi) who replaced their two sons who grew up and left the nest.
 
Niki Bray
Director of Academic Innovation & Student Success
University of Memphis
Niki Bray currently serves as the director of academic innovation & student success for the School of Health Studies at the University of Memphis. Passionate about students and determined to see every student succeed; Bray enjoys conducting workshops and giving talks on how to increase student engagement, improve learning through the use of simple technology tools and easy-to-implement active learning strategies which can be used in every modality (online, face-to-face, and blended), as well as the development and effective implementation of adaptive learning.
 
Thomas Cavanagh
Associate Vice President of Distributed Learning
University of Central Florida
Thomas Cavanagh, Ph.D. is vice provost for digital learning at the University of Central Florida. In this role he oversees all classroom technology and the distance learning strategy, policies, and practices of one of the nation’s largest universities. He has been recognized with a number of awards including WCET’s Richard Jonsen Award, an IMS Community Leadership Award, the USDLA Outstanding Leadership Award, and been named an Online Learning Consortium Fellow. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and often consults with other institutions regarding their digital learning strategies. He is active in the higher education community and serves on a number of national advisory boards. Cavanagh is also an award-winning author of several mystery novels.
 
Kristen Chorba
Curriculum Development Specialist
University of Arizona
Kristen Chorba is a learning and innovation designer for the University of Arizona’s Digital Learning office. She has a Ph.D. in educational psychology from Kent State University and has developed and taught workshops on peer mentoring and graduate student instructional design.
 
Kevin Corcoran
Executive Director, Digital Learning
Connecticut State Colleges and Universities
Kevin Corcoran is the executive director of digital learning for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities System. Corcoran is responsible for the development and support of system-wide strategies for the effective use of digital learning tools and content that focuses on quality standards and practices, student engagement, accessibility and affordability. Corcoran co-founded the Northeast OER Summit and the Open CSCU Library Network. He currently chairs a CSCU system-wide Open Education Resources council as well as the WCET eLearning Consortia group. He received his B.A. in English from the University of Connecticut and his M.B.A. with a specialization in technology management from Walden University.
 
Larry Cox II
Instructional Designer
Virginia Tech
Larry Cox currently works as an instructional designer at Virginia Tech and has been working in instructional design (ID) for approximately five years. Cox completed his M.A. in instructional design at Virginia Tech and is currently working towards a Ph.D. Prior to working in instructional design, he worked as an information technology network and system administrator. Outside of work, you can usually find him gaming, rock climbing, weightlifting, or enjoying a good beer.
 
Jennifer Daines
Program Chair for General Education
Colorado Technical University
Jennifer Daines serves as program chair for General Education and Psychology at Colorado Technical University. A former Air Force officer, she has over 20 years’ experience leading teams and managing programs. Her passion lies in serving veterans and other non-traditional students and in exploring ways to impact learning and drive completion. Daines earned her B.S. in English from the U.S. Air Force Academy, her M.A. in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and her Ed.D. in Higher Education and Organizational Change from Benedictine University.
 
David Dannenberg
Director, Academic Innovations and eLearning
University of Alaska Anchorage
David Dannenberg is the director of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Academic Innovations & eLearning (AI&e). Reporting to a senior vice provost, he leads UAA’s efforts to innovate teaching through the use of instructional technology. In this role, he oversees the instructional design, eLearning/distance education, professional development, online student and ePortfolio Services.
 
Van Davis
Principal
Foghlam Consulting, LLC
Van Davis is principal at Foghlam Consulting, LLC where he helps colleges, universities, non-profits, and policymakers understand where higher education is heading and how to navigate that future. Davis has spent over 20 years in higher education as a faculty member, academic administrator, policymaker, and consultant. Most recently he served as associate vice president for higher education policy and research at Blackboard Inc. Prior to his time at Blackboard, he served as director of innovation at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board where he was responsible for the development of competency-based education programs, distance education policy, the development of the state's adult degree completion project, course redesign, and online faculty development. Prior to the Coordinating Board, Davis spent a decade as a professor of history and an academic administrator.
 
Justin Dellinger
Associate Director, LINK Research Lab
University of Texas at Arlington
In addition to his administrative role in the LINK Research Lab, Justin Dellinger actively engages in research on digital teaching and learning. His current projects focus on learning analytics' adoption and policy, organizational leadership, institutional change, and multiple-pathways learning. He serves as an instructor in the Learning Analytics Series in edX. Prior to his current position, he worked as a research coordinator and as an instructional designer/programmer. Dellinger has taught in both K-12 and higher education, and is currently a K16 educational leadership and policy studies doctoral candidate.
 
Mary Ellen Dello Stritto
Assistant Director of Research
Oregon State Ecampus
Mary Ellen Dello Stritto is the assistant director of research for Ecampus at Oregon State University. She earned a B.A. in psychology from SUNY Geneseo, an M.A. in psychology from Appalachian State University, and a Ph.D. in social psychology from Claremont Graduate University. Her background includes a specialization in quantitative methodologies, survey design, and statistical analysis. Her role as assistant director involves the design and implementation of research studies on online/distance education. She manages and oversees statistical analyses for the research unit. Dello Stritto also directs the research fellows program for faculty and edits a yearly white paper series.
 
Nathaan Demers
Director of Clinical Programs
Grit Digital Health
Nathaan Demers is a clinical psychologist with experience in a variety of clinical settings ranging from neuo/burn ICU’s to college counseling. In addition, he has experience implementing behavioral health programs at the state, regional, and national levels with the WICHE Behavioral Health Program. Currently, Demers is the vice president and director of clinical programs with Grit Digital Health, a purpose-driven organization living at the intersection of behavioral health and technology. Here, he leads a team developing platforms that reduce stigma, provide psychoeducation, and personalize resources to facilitate student well-being and success.
 
Maura Devlin
Deputy Chief Learning Office
The American Women's College of Bay Path University
Maura Devlin has 15+ years experience in higher education working with non-traditional students. Since joining Bay Path University in 2006, her roles have been in teaching, advising, student and career guidance, and academic program administration. In her current role as Deputy Chief Learning Officer, she is responsible for academic programs, curriculum development, academic quality, and student learning. She has an abiding interest in education’s role in socioeconomic mobility among the underserved and is an advocate for data-driven strategies to achieve this mission.
 
Cheryl Dowd
Director, SAN
WCET
Cheryl Dowd is the Director of the State Authorization Network (SAN)for WCET and Cyber Fellow for WICHE. Dowd directs the activities and research for institutions and other related organizations to understand and manage regulatory compliance requirements for the out of state activities of the institutions. As Cyber Fellow, Cheryl is developing relationships with national education and security agencies to develop institutional data protection and privacy resources and training opportunities to share with the WICHE community.
 
Luke Dowden
Chief Online Learning Officer & Associate Vice Chancellor
Alamo Colleges District
Luke Dowden is the chief online learning officer and associate vice chancellor of academic success at the Alamo Colleges District. Through Alamo Colleges Online, he leads and supports capacity building initiatives at all five Colleges so they may gain a greater market share of online learners in their respective service areas. Before joining Alamo Colleges Online, Dowden founded the Office of Distance Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2010 and served as its director for eight years.  Under Dowden’s leadership, the Office of Distance Learning earned the 2013 Online Learning Consortium’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Development for Online Teaching. In 2014 Dowden received the inaugural recipient of the Online Learning Consortium Bruce N. Chaloux Award for Early Career Excellence in Online Education.  
 
Lindsey Downs
Assistant Director, Communications, Community, and Social Media
WCET
Lindsey Downs has a background in Communications, Marketing, Instructional Design, Higher Education, and Educational Technology. She holds a M.Ed in Adult and Higher Education and a Certification in College Teaching from Montana State University and is a certified Instructional Designer. Downs' interests include teaching with technology, effective classroom facilitation, training, higher education policy, and classroom design. When not enjoying her work, she spends time in beautiful Helena, MT with her husband, new baby, and boxer dog Piper. You can follow her adventures on Twitter @lindsey0427.
 
Brittany Dudek
MLIS Library Coordinator and Chair of CDHE OER Committee
Colorado Community Colleges Online
Brittany Dudek the current chair of the Colorado Department of Higher Education Open Educational Resource Council and the library coordinator for Colorado Community Colleges Online, where responsibilities include managing library services and OER.
 
0Megan Eberhardt-Alstot
Learning Designer
CSU Channel Islands
Megan Eberhardt-Alstot is a learning designer for teaching and learning innovations at CSUCI.
 
Spencer Ellis
Director of Educational Innovation
Colorado Department of Higher Education
Spencer Ellis currently serves as director of educational innovation at the Colorado Department of Higher Education, with primary duties focused on expanding OER and open education.
 
Susan Fein
Instructional Designer
Oregon State Ecampus
Susan Fein is an instructional designer at Oregon State University’s Ecampus. She has eleven years of experience in higher education, plus more than twenty years experience providing project management, training, and curriculum design services for adult learners in the corporate sector. Fein holds a B.S. in business administration with a minor in marketing, an M.A. in organizational management, and an Ed.M. in educational psychology. She is a passionate advocate for online learning to provide access to all who desire a quality education, regardless of personal circumstances or life constraints. Fein's research interests focus on active, adaptive, and blended learning to increase student persistence and success in STEM disciplines.
 
Angela Félix
Chair, Languages
Rio Salado College
Angela Félix is the chair of languages at Rio Salado College. In addition to teaching Spanish and Linguistics, she has served in numerous faculty leadership roles at the district, state, and national levels. Félix has published and presented on such varied topics as adjunct faculty development, adult heritage Spanish speaker pedagogy, and learning outcomes assessment, and she is currently working on a research project that promotes transparency and accountability in post-secondary language programs.
 
Eric Frank
Vice President and General Manager
Acrobatiq by VitalSource
Eric Frank was the founder of Acrobatiq prior to its acquisition by VitalSource in 2018. Acrobatiq is an adaptive courseware and data platform spun out of a research project at Carnegie Mellon University. Previously, Frank co-founded and served as President of Flat World Knowledge, the world's first commercial OER textbook company. Flat World Knowledge’s groundbreaking open digital textbooks have been used by more than 1,000,000 students worldwide since launch. Prior to starting Flat World Knowledge, he ran marketing for a global division of Pearson. Frank is a frequent speaker at conferences on the topic of innovation in education, and his work has been covered in the outlets including the New York Times, Wired, US News & World Report, Fast Company, NPR, Time, the Washington Post, and others.  Frank serves as an advisor to the Center for Education Technology in Tel-Aviv.
 
Myk Garn
Assistant Vice Chancellor for New Learning Models
Board of Regents, University System of Georgia
Myk Garn is an academic innovator and strategist with over 30 years of experience developing, deploying and leading college and state system instructional, operational, organizational, policy and strategic models. He is a committed academic change agent, focusing on the development and deployment of new instructional and educational operations with an emphasis on competency-based, student-driven, and advancement-by-mastery models. He emphasizes the roles of faculty and needs of students throughout his work. His experience includes strategic planning, affordability, emerging trends, disruptive innovation, quality standards, governance, accessibility, and accreditation.
 
Laura Gogia
Senior Design Strategist
iDesign
Laura Gogia is the senior design strategist for iDesign, an instructional design company that partners with higher education institutions to create digitally enhanced learning experiences. She leads research and design innovation initiatives as well as special projects. Gogia has a doctorate in educational research and evaluation, and a medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.
 
Diane Goldsmith
Director, Office for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning
University of Rhode Island
Diane Goldsmith is the director of the Office for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (ATL) at the University of Rhode Island. ATL includes the office of faculty development, online education, student learning outcomes assessment, and the academic testing center. Prior to coming to URI, Goldsmith was the executive director of the CT Distance Learning Consortium. She has also served on WCET's Steering and Executive Councils.
 
Michael Goldstein
Co-Chair Education Practice
Cooley LLP
Mike Goldstein is a partner in the Cooley Business department and co-chair of the firm's higher education practice group. He was the founder and co-chair of the higher education industry practice at Dow Lohnes, which merged with Cooley in 2014. Goldstein has been a pioneer in the development and rational regulation of higher education in general and online learning in particular, and in the creation of innovative approaches to combining the resources and interests of the non-profit, public and for-profit postsecondary communities. He has served on numerous panels and committees on a variety of higher education issues, including as an expert member of the UNESCO-CHEA Task Force on Degree Mills and as a member of the National Advisory Panel for the enactment of the State Authorization Reciprocity Act. In 2014, Goldstein was honored with the WCET Richard Jonsen Award, which is given annually to a WCET member whose career has been committed to improving postsecondary educational programs and services through innovative uses of technology. He has been named in Best Lawyers in America for Education Law and recognized in Washington, DC Super Lawyers for Schools and Education.
 
Lorna Gonzalez
Instructional Designer
CSU Channel Islands

Lorna Gonzalez, PhD, is an instructional designer for California State University Channel Islands. She is also faculty in the School of Education, where she teaches credential courses on Secondary English Methods and Literacy Across Content Areas. She is interested in ways that emerging educational technologies offer affordances for online, blended, and technology-supplemented learning experiences, and she believes in privileging the human teaching and learning experience in course design.

 
Shannon Riggs
Executive Director of Course Development and Learning Innovation
Oregon State University Ecampus
Shannon Riggs serves as executive director of course development and learning innovation for Oregon State University Ecampus. In this role, she supports Oregon State’s land grant mission by providing leadership and direction for course development and learning innovation throughout the division. Active nationally in the field of online education, Riggs regularly presents at conferences and has written for publication about online course development, faculty development, leadership, and innovation. She is currently serving a three-year elected position for the Quality Matters Instructional Design Association leadership team and a three-year elected position on the WCET Steering Committee. She is the author of "Thrive Online: A New Approach for College Educators" (Stylus, 2019).
 
Steve Rothenberg
Project and Product Implementation Manager
CCCOnline
Steve Rothenberg has been with the Colorado Community College System for over 10 years, and teaches project management at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado. Rothenberg joined Colorado Community Colleges Online (CCCOnline) in 2015 as an instructional designer and moved into his current position as project and product implementation manager in 2016. He holds Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, as well as Master's Degrees in education and computer information systems.
 
Terri Rowenhorst
Director of Membership Services
The NROC Project
Terri Rowenhorst works closely with the members of The NROC Project, a community fueled by the belief that everyone is entitled to an education, regardless of their financial or social circumstances. NROC member institutions represent secondary and post-secondary leaders, teachers and learners cooperating to develop and share digital resources and tools to impact college and career readiness. Learn more at http://theNROCproject.org .
 
Cyndi Rowland
Director, WebAIM; NCDAE
Utah State University
Cyndi Rowland is the founder and executive director of WebAIM and the National Center on Disability and Access to Education both housed at Utah State University. Since 1999 she has focused on research, tool and resource development, training, and policy initiatives for web accessibility in education. The work of both WebAIM and NCDAE are viewed as important resources in web accessibility. Both groups have a rich history of research and product development to benefit the broader community and an inclusive web. WebAIM is consistently in the top eight Google returns when searching for “web accessibility”, where there are typically millions of returns. Rowland has engaged in her accessibility work at top tier national and international levels. Examples include sitting on the U.S. Section 508 refresh committee, and working on initiatives out of UN organizations. Examples include the ITU and UNESCO where she was an invited expert to assist in the creation of global guidelines for online distance education. Accessibility plays a role for UN Member States.
 
Ken Salomon
Partner
Thompson Coburn LLP
Ken Salomon has spent his entire legal career in the public and private sectors in Washington, DC. He has helped clients in a variety of areas—including e-commerce, higher education, technology, telecommunications, health care, and intellectual property—develop and implement winning lobbying strategies by crafting and implementing innovative approaches to affect the formation of public policy in the U.S. Congress and the administration. Salomon has handled other major government relations projects, including securing the change to federal law to enable e-learning students to receive federal financial aid. He was a professorial lecturer on international telecommunications at the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies for several years. In 2015, Salomon was elected a member of the ethics committee of the United States Olympic Committee.
 
Christina Sedney
Director of Policy Initiatives and State Authorization
W-SARA
Christina Sedney is the director of Policy Initiatives and State Authorization at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) where she manages the Western State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (W-SARA) and works on a variety of topics including policy approaches to serving underrepresented student populations, higher education governance issues and needs assessments, and policy solutions for adult learners. Prior to WICHE, Sedney worked for international nonprofit Teach For All and completed a fellowship with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. She also held multiple roles with the AmeriCorps program City Year, from classroom-based corps member to project manager on their public policy team. She holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley.
 
Caitlyn Shelby
Associate
Cooley, LLP
Caitlyn Shelby works with postsecondary institutions, K-12 school,s and the companies that collaborate with them to develop practical solutions for nuanced challenges. She advises on matters involving accreditation, state authorization, professional licensure, and the provision of online education, and monitors legislative and regulatory developments in these areas to advise clients on how best to navigate a changing landscape. During law school, Shelby interned with the Office of General Counsel at the University of Virginia, and with the United States Senate, where she focused on Title IX legislation. She also participated in the First Amendment clinic, drafting briefs in state and federal court on free speech issues, and served as an articles editor for the Virginia Journal of International Law. Prior to law school, she worked as a legislative assistant in the Missouri House of Representatives where she focused on legislation affecting K-12 and postsecondary schools.
 
Melanie Simpson
Director, Institutional Research & Assessment
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Melanie S. Simpson has been in the research and assessment field for over 11 years. She serves on the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s (UAH) Education Advisory Board, APLU student success, and SACSCOC leadership teams. Simpson’s research interest includes predicting models for student success at the graduate student level. She oversees state authorization at UAH, where she is also the director of institutional research and assessment. Prior to her work at UAH, she was the registrar and director of institutional research and planning at Delta State University and taught several online courses in research/methods. She is the current vice president/program chair for the Southern Association for Institutional Research. Her hobbies include kayaking, painting, and hanging out with her Chihuahua, Elliot-Luke.
 
Kate Smith
President
Rio Salado College
Kate Smith was appointed interim president of Rio Salado College (RSC) and Maricopa Corporate College (MCOR) in August 2018. Both RSC and MCOR are located in Tempe, Arizona and part of the Maricopa Community College District which serves 200,000+ students annually. Smith has more than 24 years of experience in education. She is a highly regarded and enthusiastic leader who advocates for student success on all levels. Smith joined Rio Salado in 2016 as the vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer. In this role she was responsible for adult basic education, community development and partnerships, continuing education, curriculum, early college, faculty, library services, the honors program, incarcerated re-entry programs, institutional research and effectiveness, instructional design, instruction helpdesk, military programs, online and hybrid/blended learning, certificates and degrees, and corporate and government partnerships. She has a master’s degree in mathematical education from the University of Rochester and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and German from William Smith College.
 
Tanya Spilovoy
Director, Open Policy
WCET
Tanya Spilovoy, Ed. D., is the director, open policy at the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET). Spilovoy leads the Z Initiative which focuses on the policy, practice, and implementation of open educational resources in states, systems, and higher education institutions. Previously, she served as the director of distance education and state authorization at the North Dakota University System. Spilovoy received her B.A. in English from Union College, an M.A. in Education from Hamline University, and a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership and Organizational Change from Benedictine University.
 
James Tedford
Instructional Design Supervisor
Biola University
James Tedford is an instructional design supervisor in Biola’s Office of Digital Learning and Program Development. He also teaches online and residential classes at Fuller Theological Seminary. Tedford holds a Ph.D. in theology from Fuller Seminary and a master’s degree in instructional design and technology from California State University, Fullerton. He has presented at the Online Learning Consortium's Innovate on student diversity enriching the online learning environment. Tedford is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society and the Society of Biblical Literature. In an earlier career, he was an award-winning newspaper reporter.
 
Sasha Thackaberry
Vice Provost for Digital and Continuing Education
Louisiana State University
Sasha Thackaberry is a higher education leader in innovative learning models and the effective use of eLearning systems. She holds the role of Vice Provost of Digital and Continuing Education at Louisiana State University. Before her current role, she served as Assistant Vice President for Academic Technology and New Learning Models at Southern New Hampshire University. She was previously the District Director of eLearning Technologies for the Office of eLearning and Innovation (eLi) at Cuyahoga Community College, responsible for both operational support for eLearning technologies and for innovative learning projects. In that role she led the administration and front end support for Blackboard Learn, as well as other academic technologies. She also led Quality Matters initiatives at Tri-C, including serving as the QM Coordinator. She has consulted for higher education organizations, for corporations in their eLearning efforts, and in the K-12 sector.
 
Patrice Torcivia Prusko
Associate Director, Teaching and Learning Lab
Harvard University
Patrice Torcivia Prusko is currently the associate director of the learning designing team at the Teaching and Learning Lab, Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She has extensive knowledge and research background in the student experience of OER in diverse contexts, international collaborations, online course development, and e-Portfolios. She earned her Ph.D. from the University at Albany, SUNY School of Education with a research focus on the lived experience of women in STEM Majors.
 
Julie Uranis
Vice President of Online and Strategic Initiatives
UPCEA
Julie Uranis serves as the vice president for online and strategic initiatives at UPCEA and the managing director of the National Council for Online Education. Prior to joining UPCEA she led two units at Western Kentucky University (WKU) as the director of distance learning and continuing and professional development. Uranis began her career at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) where she held both teaching and administrative positions. She earned her M.S. in technology studies, a Graduate Certificate in community college leadership, and her Ph.D. in educational leadership, all from EMU.
 
Peter van Leusen
Manager of Instructional Design
EdPlus, Arizona State University
Peter van Leusen is a manager of instructional design for EdPlus, Design & Development at Arizona State University. His recent instructional design projects include collaborating on adaptive curriculum and courseware development, designing MOOCs in a foreign language, and spearheading innovative digital educational experiences for broad audiences. Before joining ASU, Peter worked as the assistant director in the Office of Instructional Consulting in the School of Education at Indiana University. Van Leusen holds a Ph.D. in instructional systems technology from Indiana University, Bloomington.
 
Zach Van Stone
Multimedia Developer
Oregon State Ecampus
Zach Van Stone is a multimedia developer for course development and training at Oregon State Ecampus. He creates an array of projects used in courses and open educational resources including video animations, graphics, audio, 3D models, and interactive learning modules. He works directly with faculty members to innovate and find solutions to aid learning outcomes. Van Stone has a background in digital communication arts, business, and economics.
 
Karen Vignare
Executive Director
American Public & Land-Grant Universities
Karen Vignare, Ph.D., M.B.A, is a strategic innovator leveraging emerging technologies to improve access, success and flexibility within higher education. As executive director, for the Personalized Learning Consortium at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Vignare manages a network of universities committed to student success through personalization. She also oversees the adaptive courseware grant providing leadership and support to eight pioneering universities which are scaling adaptive courseware in introductory level courses.
 
Debra Volzer
Senior Director, University Partnerships
Wiley Education Services
Debra Volzer is the senior director, University Partnerships for Wiley’s Enterprise Learning Solutions. Her focus is to identify, engage and secure innovative University partners interested in closing the skills gap. Her efforts work collaboratively with Industry and Academic Partners to identify and align models and solutions that increase student success and streamline pathways to completion. In this role she works to identify and align a shared vision and promotes collaboration of next-generation education solutions. Prior to joining Wiley, Volzer worked with several corporations including Pearson North America, Barnes and Noble Education and held numerous administrative and teaching positions for the Ohio State University, Franklin University, and Ohio Dominican in addition to working with the Ohio Board of Regent’s Ohio Learning Network. Volzer received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, her master’s from Yale University, and her doctorate from Ohio State University. Volzer resides with her husband, Scott and daughter, Sarah in Worthington, Ohio.
 
Carrie Wandler
University Program Director for General Education and Psychology
Colorado Technical University
Carrie Wandler is the university program director for General Education and Psychology at Colorado Technical University. Over the past eighteen years, Wandler has taught composition, communications, literature, and digital literacy at traditional brick and mortar universities, Boston University and Harvard University, as well as through various online learning platforms. She has extensive experience in the areas of first-year success, adaptive learning and program review/assessment. Wandler earned her B.A. in English at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and completed her M.A. in Literature at Boston University. She completed her Ed.D. in Postsecondary Education from Argosy University. Her learning-centered approach to instruction and design emphasizes techniques aimed at getting students empowered by the power and possibility of their own thought.
 
Grace Whiteaker
Instructional Designer
CCCOnline
Grace Whiteaker is an instructional designer for CCCOnline, a centralized department within the Colorado Community College System that creates and delivers online courses that any student in the system may take and receive credit for via their home school. She has a varied work background that includes librarian, project manager, news photojournalist, coffee barista, lecturer, information and adrenaline junkie, and world traveler. Whiteaker thrives on course design, process design and improvement, workflow, and organization.
 
Niki Whiteside
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Instructional Innovation and Support
San Jacinto College
Niki Whiteside has worked at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, TX for 20 years and currently serves as the assistant vice chancellor for Instructional Innovation and Support. In this role, she oversees distance learning, instructional design, media development, management of the College’s Blackboard system, and the Open Books program to help faculty identify and provide low or no cost course materials for students.
 
Daron Williams
Director of Instructional Design
Virginia Tech TLOS: LED
Daron Williams' background is in broadcasting and journalism, and the winding road we so often hear about brought him to instructional design. He has been an instructional designer for over 5 years now, and is also a Ph.D. candidate in the field. His current role predominantly entails faculty development in the field of instructional design ("teaching them to fish"), but he also has an interest in immersive learning experiences using virtual environments.
 
Greg Wilt
Special Assistant to the President
National University
Gregory Wilt is the Special Assistant to the President at National University and the chief operations officer of the Precision Institute. In addition to managing institute operations, Wilt guides development of the architecture and structure of the institute’s evidence-based precision learning environment, anchored by the NuNav Learning Platform. This comprehensive student-centric learning environment enables and promotes a culture of innovative educational improvement by providing continuous formative feedback and data-driven navigation for learners. Wilt also coordinates learning science research activities with partnering colleges, universities, institutes, and foundations.
 
Victor Yee
Assistant Director for Course Development and Training
Oregon State Ecampus
Victor Yee is the assistant director for course development and training at Oregon State Ecampus. He currently provides leadership to an excellent team of developers who create multimedia projects for use in courses and open educational resources. He has worked with hundreds of faculty members, developing award-winning online courses involving video, audio, interactive learning objects, and web applications. Yee has a background in computer science, videography, and photography.
 
0Kristin Ziska Strange
Instructional Designer
University of Arizona
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0Emma Zone
Emma Zone, Senior Vice President, Academic Operations and Innovation, Faculty Guild
Faculty Guild
Emma Zone is the senior vice president of Academic Operations and Innovation at Faculty Guild. Zone has experience leading institutional efforts on faculty experience and classroom engagement, including oversight of faculty management & development and instructional quality processes. She has teaching experience spanning the secondary, community college and university levels. Zone has been long-committed to discovering, applying and supporting innovation in teaching to impact meaningful change for students and faculty.