

OLC is going to New York City to meet with online learning professionals, educators,
and administrators to address the opportunities and challenges we all face
in online higher education today.
Join your fellow digital learning education professionals, educators and administrators to network with experts and collaborate on solving the challenges we all face in online higher education today. You’ll get the chance to hear from regional experts regarding current and emerging trends in online learning, collaborate and network with your regional peers during group discussions on top-of-mind challenges that may impact the future of online learning – and your career.
*A $50 fee will be charged for all cancelled registrations. Refund requests must be made in writing to Online Learning Consortium. Cancellation by July 10 (up to 1 month out): Refund of payment minus the $50 cancellation fee(s). Cancellation between July 11 and July 30: 50% refund will be issued less a $50 administrative/cancellation fee for registrations. There will be no refunds within 1 week of event date (cancellations must be received by July 30, 2018). If you are not able to attend, a substitute may attend in your place. The name, title, and email address of the substitute must be emailed to conference@onlinelearning-c.org. If you do not attend the program and do not submit a written refund request, Online Learning Consortium will retain all fees. IF you have not paid in advance but have cancelled your registration, you are responsible for the cancellation fee and will be billed. OLC is not responsible for any change / cancellation charges assessed by airlines, travel agents, hotels or other similar vendors. Email all cancellation requests/substitutions/ registration questions to conference@onlinelearning-c.org.
Not yet a member?
The academic non-member registrant fee is $200*. The rate for corporate registrants who are not OLC members is $695. Lunch is included in registration fee.
*Discount codes are not stackable.
We will take a deep look at the challenges and impact of digital learning in education today and work together to collaborate, define and help shape the changing university.
Presentations will be followed by facilitator-led discussions that will allow participants to delve into each topic in greater detail.
Russell Poulin
Director, Policy & Analysis
WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET)
Russell Poulin
Director, Policy & Analysis
WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET)
Innovations and serving non-traditional student populations have become popular subjects for policymakers in recent years. Congress is considering a Higher Education Act update, governors and state legislators are promoting and regulating digitally-based education, and accreditors are adjusting to review academic innovations. What are we to do as the ground shifts beneath our feet? This session includes updates on this changing landscape and will provide time for your questions…and opinions, if answers are not possible.
Russ Poulin organizes the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies’ (WCET) national policy and research activities, edits WCET’s Frontiers blog, coordinates WCET’s research efforts, and works on elearning consortia issues. He represented the distance education community in the U.S. Department of Education’s 2014 Program Integrity Negotiated Rulemaking process. Previously, he coordinated distance education activities for the North Dakota University System. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Denver and a Master’s from the University of Northern Colorado.
Diane Recinos
Senior Vice President, Student Success
Berkeley College
Diane Recinos
Senior Vice President, Student Success
Berkeley College
The competitiveness of higher education today is forcing colleges to become more reliant on predictive analytics when making decisions. Identifying trends and behavioral patterns in online learning is an opportunity to understand the resources and support that will be required to assist students in a meaningful deliberate way. There are many advantages to using predictive analytics; however, there are also challenges. Avoid big data pitfalls and learn how you can use predictive analytics at your institution.
Diane Recinos, Ed.D., was appointed Senior Vice President, Student Success, in October 2016. In this role she oversees the departments of Student Development and Campus Life, Academic Advisement, the Office of the Registrar, and the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President, Enrollment Management.
Dr. Recinos began her career at Berkeley College in 1992 as the Director of Financial Aid for the Woodbridge location. She was later promoted to Director of Financial Aid for all three of the College’s New Jersey locations. In 2001, she became Director of PeopleSoft Development, working as Project Manager during the college-wide computer software upgrade. In 2003, she served as Business Systems Analyst to oversee the implementation of additional new technologies. Ms. Recinos became Campus Operating Officer for the Middlesex Campus in 2004, and served as Campus Operating Officer for the Woodland Park location in 2009. In 2016, Ms. Recinos was named one of New Jersey’s Best 50 Women in Business by NJBIZ.
Dr. Recinos holds an Ed.D., from St. John Fisher College, an M.B.A. from Wagner College, and a B.S. degree from Davis and Elkins College.
Devon Cancilla
Vice Provost for Online Learning
University of Missouri at Kansas City
Devon Cancilla
Vice Provost for Online Learning
University of Missouri at Kansas City
Whether it is an individual student paying for term papers or criminal organizations enrolling fake students to collect financial aid, academic and financial fraud in online programs is suspected to be a multi-million dollar business. To ensure the integrity of its online programs and to meet evolving federal guidelines, UMKC has undertaken a journey into the use and development of technologies, policies, procedures and practices to identify and prevent online fraud.
Not only is this the right thing to do but, as published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs), it is a requirement that “…. institutions that offer distance education or correspondence education have processes in place through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives the academic credit.” In addition, online courses must also provide opportunities for “regular and substantive interactions” between faculty and students. In other words, there must be active engagement within the course. Finally, accreditation standards stipulate that the “institution assures the integrity of its online learning offerings” and that “training of for faculty members engage in online learning includes consideration of issues of academic integrity, including ways to reduce cheating.”
But in an online course, how does an institution really know a student is who they say they are? For that matter, how does the institution know the instructor is who they say they are? Are surrogates participating in the course to demonstrate engagement? What does an institution do if it detects fraudulent activities and what are the rights of students and faculty?
This presentation will describe UMKC’s experience with tackling these types of questions. Starting with the evaluation and implementation of biometric tools for identifying students in online courses, the talk also describes our explorations with the use of learning analytics to provide evidence of regular and substantive interactions. Tying this all together was the need to develop new policies and practices associated with authentication and engagement. Key among our discoveries was that data is part of a story and that story has many possible outcomes.
Devon A. Cancilla is the Vice Provost for Academic Innovation at UMKC. His team provides instructional design support for the development of online and traditional programs and coordinates UMKC’s activities toward state authorization, student authentication and learning analytics. Prior to coming to UMKC, Devon served as Dean and then Associate Provost for Learning at American Sentinel University, a fully online institution. Devon was also an Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Director of Scientific Technical Services (SciTech) at Western Washington University (WWU) where he led the development of the Integrated Laboratory Network (ILN), an online laboratory initiative funded by the National Science Foundation. Devon has received both the Sloan-C (now OLC) Outstanding Achievement Award for Online Education and an Effective Practice Award for his research into the development and use of online laboratories. He attended the University of Iowa, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and UCLA, where he received his doctorate in Environmental Health Science. Devon’s current research interests relate to the use of analytics in the design and development of online courses.
Liz Ciabocchi
Vice Provost for Digital Learning
St. John’s University, Online Learning Consortium Board of Directors
Liz Ciabocchi
Vice Provost for Digital Learning
St. John’s University
OLC Board of Directors
Russell Poulin
WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET)
Diane Recinos
Berkeley College
Devon Cancilla
University of Missouri at Kansas City
Significant changes are coming to online education. From balancing the need for educational innovation against regulatory realities, to using data driven approaches to better understand and manage change, to a new model of the university built around competency-based assessments, these are just a few of the factors driving change. The day’s final session brings together the thoughts and conclusions generated from the OLC Collaborate – New York discussions to formulate a regional response to the changing educational environment. Topics gathered by OLC facilitators and session archivists during breakout sessions along with those posted online by participants during the day will be used to guide this interactive final session. Led by Liz Ciabocchi from the OLC Board of Directors, each of the day’s keynote speakers will have the opportunity to address the collectively generated questions and topics and place them in the context of the broader changes occurring in higher education. The OLC Collaborate –New York response will become the second contribution to a national discussion as the OLC Collaborate sessions continue across the country.
Elizabeth (Liz) Ciabocchi was appointed Vice Provost for Digital Learning at St. John’s University in Queens, NY, in early 2014, having served for the previous twelve years in the Office of Academic Affairs at Long Island University, most recently as Associate Vice President for Online Learning (2013-2014). She also served as Academic Dean, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, New York Campus (2001-2002), and as a faculty member and administrator at the New York College for Health Professions in Syosset, N.Y. (1993-2001).
In her current role at SJU, Ciabocchi leads the Office of the Provost’s academic initiatives in the development of digital learning strategies and programs of study offered in fully online and blended formats. In addition, she provides leadership in the use of technology associated with on-campus instruction; oversees the Office of Online Learning & Services; co-chairs the University Assessment Committee, and serves as a member of the Middle States Steering Committee, Academic & Administrative Assembly, and Provost’s Council. She also teaches at the graduate level in the Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership in the SJU School of Education. Ciabocchi is active in a number of higher education professional organizations, and frequently presents at professional conferences on her research interests, including institutional leadership and strategy and women’s leadership in online higher education.
Ciabocchi holds an Ed.D. in Higher & Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, a D.C. from New York Chiropractic College, and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Scranton. She also holds an OLC Teaching Certificate (Administrative Track) and completed the OLC Institute for Engaged Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL) in 2010. She was named an OLC Fellow in 2015.
Sharon Goldstein was appointed Campus Operating Officer for Berkeley College Online in January 2007. Ms. Goldstein oversees day-to-day operations, staff development, operations, finances, student and staff retention, space management, community outreach, creative programming, and expansion.
She joined Berkeley College in 2003 as the Director of Career Services. Prior to joining Berkeley College, Ms. Goldstein spent 15 years working as a recruiter in the staffing industry and holds the CPC (Certified Personnel Consultant) designation. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the United States Distance Learning Association. She has twice served as the USDLA annual conference program co-chair, served as editor of the USDLA newsletter and currently chairs the sponsorship committee. In addition, she currently serves on the steering committee for OLC Accelerate 2017. Ms. Goldstein has also served as a Board Member for the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce.
Ms. Goldstein recently served as a group facilitator for Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a grassroots, nationally recognized job search support and networking organization targeted to adults who are actively looking for work and interested in reinvigorating their careers and undertaking a job search campaign and continues to support such efforts.
Ms. Goldstein is a passionate advocate and speaker on the topic of work/life balance. In addition to keynotes, she created “Feeling of Balance” (feelingofbalance.com), a fun, engaging, customizable workshop through which participants examine the alignment of their values and behaviors in order to create a personal plan for achieving and maintaining balance.
Ms. Goldstein holds a B.A. from Dickinson College and an M.S. in Management from the College of Saint Elizabeth. She is a graduate of both Leadership Berkeley and Leadership Paterson and continues to serve as a mentor to others in the Leadership Berkeley program.
What will teaching, learning, and working in the Digital Age of Higher Education actually be like in the future? How much should today’s faculty and administrators do to prepare for this future? There is no question that extraordinary change is coming. The question is, how much of that change is within our powers of prediction, and how should we proactively prepare for the future?
Participate in the regional OLC Collaborate discussion on the “Changing University” and share in an open dialogue with other colleagues from around the region.
Keynote speakers will offer insightful views of the changing university through short, focused presentations. This will bring together how the use of technologies, the dictate of economic realities, increasing regulatory oversight, the need for constant innovation, and new societal expectations of what colleges can and should be are bringing change to higher education.
Presentations will be followed by facilitator-led discussions to allow participants to delve into each topic in greater detail. OLC Collaborate session archivists will document the discussions throughout the day, culminating in a collaborate regional response to the changing university.
7:30am - 8:15am | Registration and Check-in | Lobby (All sessions take place in the 41st Street Building at Berkeley College) |
7:30am - 8:15am | Breakfast | Lower Level |
8:15am - 8:30am | Welcome and Opening Remarks - Sharon Goldstein, Campus Operating Officer, Berkeley College - Michael Smith, President, Berkeley College - Beth Castiglia, Provost, Berkeley College - Liz Ciabocchi, St. John's University & OLC Board of Directors |
Room 202/203/204 |
8:30am - 9:15am | General Session 1 - Innovation and Regulation - Russell Poulin, WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) |
Room 202/203/204 |
9:30am - 10:15am | Breakout Sessions 1 |
Breakout Rooms: 401, 402, 404 |
10:30am - 11:15am | General Session 2 - Predictive Analytics - Diane Recinos, Berkeley College |
Room 202/203/204 |
11:30am - 12:15pm | Breakout Sessions 2 |
Breakout Rooms: 401, 402, 404 |
12:15pm - 1:00pm | Lunch and Networking | Lower Level |
1:00pm - 1:45pm | General Session 3 - Student Authentication - Devon Cancilla, University of Missouri at Kansas City |
Room 202/203/204 |
2:00pm - 2:45pm | Breakout Sessions 3 |
Breakout Rooms: 401, 402, 404 |
3:00pm - 3:30pm | OLC COLLABORATE PANEL: Education in 2028 Facilitator: - Liz Ciabocchi, St. John's University & OLC Panelists: - Russell Poulin, WCET - Diane Recinos, Berkeley College - Devon Cancilla, UMKC |
Room 202/203/204 |
3:30pm - 3:45pm | Program Wrap Up - OLC & Berkeley College |
Room 202/203/204 |
Collaborate General Sessions are 45 minutes long, followed by 45 minute Collaborate Breakout Sessions.
Attendees will select one of several breakout sessions to attend following each general session.
All sessions are considered BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).
All sessions are held at Berkeley College, 12 East 41st Street, NY, and are in Eastern Time (ET).
Joining us for OLC Collaborate? Come directly to Berkeley College, 12 East 41st Street, NY.
Berkeley College, 12 East 41st Street, NY, NY 10017
Staying the night or making a weekend of it?
Berkeley College Campus Map (pdf) and get Driving Directions (google)
Make your reservations to stay nearby in the heart of Times Square at the New York Marriott Marquis.
Berkeley College has been preparing students for successful careers since 1931. Times have changed, but our “students first” commitment hasn’t. Everything we do is designed to help students achieve professional and personal success. Berkeley College offers career-focused programs, supportive professors with real-world industry knowledge, hands-on learning through our internship program, and a variety of supplemental programs and activities.
Learn More About Berkeley College…
To find out more, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
BSI has created the world’s first biometric password, BioSig-ID. NO hardware required. NO physical collection of biometric data, conforms with privacy laws. This software only biometric offers continuous authentication of a student throughout their course, providing proof that the student is indeed the registered student. Students create a unique 4 character password using just a finger or mouse. BioSig-ID integrates with LMS/LTI systems and meets new regulations for student ID verification. Combined with BioProof-ID, our online legal ID witnessing application, and our forensic audit trail to uncover identity fraud…BioSig-ID has you covered.
Learn More About Biometric Signature ID…
To find out more, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
D2L is the software leader that makes learning experiences better. The company’s cloud-based platform is easy to use, flexible, and smart. With Brightspace, organizations can personalize the experience for every learner to deliver real results. The company is a world leader in learning analytics: its platform predicts learner performance so that organizations can take action in real-time to keep learners on track. Brightspace is used by learners in higher education, K-12, and the enterprise sector, including the Fortune 1000. D2L has operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore.
To find out more, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
ProctorU provides distance proctoring services for colleges, universities and certification organizations that offer examinations online. The service allows students to take their exams from nearly anywhere in a secured environment. ProctorU uses a patented three-step process that confirms that the student who registered for the exam is the student who is taking the exam and is following the institution’s testing requirements. The service is modeled after the in-classroom experience and proctors monitor the entire process in order to ensure that a high level of integrity is maintained throughout the exam process. ProctorU offers live, person-to-person, real-time monitoring to more than 1,000 colleges, universities and certification organizations, including the University of Alabama, the University of Illinois and Northwestern University. ProctorU operates dedicated proctoring centers in Folsom and Pleasanton, Calif., and Birmimgham, Ala. For more information, visit www.proctoru.com.
To find out more, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
If you are an education technology or distance learning company, this intimate one-day session will give you the chance to collaborate with educators, administrators, and online learning professionals – your potential clients in discussion forums, at lunch and in our small exhibitor showcase.
To learn more, contact our Manager, Sponsorship Sales, Brenda Weiss-Pesta by email, brenda.pesta@onlinelearning-c.org or by phone, 617.716.1417.