Marshall A. Hill is Executive Director of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), which provides a voluntary, regional approach to state oversight of postsecondary distance education. His involvement with SARA spans work with the Presidents’ Forum/ Council of State Governments drafting team, the development of SARA agreements with the country’s four regional higher education compacts, and membership on the National Commission on Regulation of Postsecondary Distance Education.

Frank is the Director of the McCormick Educational Technology Center at Rush University. He was the founding Director of Online Teaching and Learning at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, as well as the founding Director of Distance Education at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. A former teacher and corporate trainer, he earned his B.A. in teaching from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied language acquisition theory. He earned his M.S. in computing technology in education from Nova-Southeastern University where he focused on online learning environments. He also previously directed technology programs in both corporate and education environments, and is an active member of the Online Learning Consortium, iNACOL, and the eLearning Guild.

Dr. Karen Pedersen was recently selected as the Chief Knowledge Officer for the Online Learning Consortium. In this role, she has responsibility to gather, curate and leverage the intellectual capital created by and disseminated through the organization to create and enhance services and resources provided to constituents. She will lead work in five key areas including product development leadership, learning innovation, quality enhancement, community engagement and development as well as publications, research, and policy.

Prior to joining the Online Learning Consortium, Pedersen served as the Associate Vice President for Extended Campuses at Northern Arizona University. In this role she was responsible for leading a system-wide enrollment management transformation as well as managing marketing, technology, and academic operations. She led a network of over 35 campuses in Arizona, developing new business and market opportunities, actively collaborating with and growing community college partners and concurrent admission (2NAU) learners, as well as developing scalable, integrated and lean business processes/workflows. The scope of her responsibilities included coaching and mentoring 140+ full-time staff members, 40 part-time staff members, including a growing number of student workers. In addition she was responsible for supporting over 750 full and part-time faculty members. In Fall 2014, Extended Campuses realized a 5% year-over-year increase in overall headcount across its statewide operations and a 16% increase in its online headcount (with a 27% increase in online credit hours generated).

For eleven years Pedersen served as the Vice President for Professional Studies at Southwestern College (Kansas). In that role she was responsible for envisioning and building an online program from the ground up (including seeking regional accreditation approval) and launching over 25 innovative online programs. Additionally, Pedersen had responsibility for expanding military partnerships, engaging in strategic infrastructure projects, as well as positioning the institution in an enrollment growth trajectory. Southwestern College participated in the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) through its regional accreditor (The Higher Learning Commission) and Pedersen participated in two strategy forums during her tenure. In addition, she served as an evaluator with the Kansas Award for Excellence and utilized the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence in her operations. She was responsible for managing a $3.9 million operating budget and an $11.8 million revenue stream, growing the revenue generated by nearly 500% during her tenure.

Pedersen also held the academic associate and dean roles at Upper Iowa University’s Extended University for four years. In these roles she was responsible for curriculum development, supporting academic issues, learner success, as well as faculty hiring, training, and evaluation. She also built the foundations for an online operation and traveled internationally to develop partnerships in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.

Prior to starting her administrative career, Pedersen served as a faculty member at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Pedersen holds bachelor of science and master of science degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a doctor of philosophy degree from Oklahoma State University. She currently serves as an associate consultant for DemandEngine supporting enrollment management consulting projects. In the past two years, she has also worked collaboratively with the Indonesian National Police and the US Department of Justice to provide professional expertise for a major distance education initiative.