Wednesday, November 19, 2025
8:00am – 9:30am U.S. Eastern Time Zone
Join us for breakfast, where will will recognize our OLC Awards of Excellence winners, OLC Fellows awardees, and our conference volunteers, followed by a panel discussion among our OLC Fellows.
Immediately following our OLC Awards presentation, please join us for an engaging panel featuring the 2025 OLC Fellows. OLC Fellows are distinguished leaders who have made significant contributions to the field of online, blended, and digital learning. The incoming Fellows will share insights from their work, reflect on the evolving landscape of digital education, and offer their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities ahead. The panel will be moderated by OLC Board Member, Dr. Vicie Cook. Don’t miss this opoprtunity to hear from some of the field’s most innovative thinkers and dedicated practitioners.
Dr. Vicki Cook (moderator)
Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and Retention Management at University of Illinois Springfield
Vickie Cook is the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and Retention Management and a Research Professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois Springfield. She holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and an M.S. in Adult Education.
Dr. Cook has been actively engaged in providing consulting and faculty development with educational leaders across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. She has provided consultation to over 50 institutions seeking to expand or evaluate their online learning programs and leadership. She has published in multiple journal articles and book chapters in a variety of national educational publications, and she serves as a peer reviewer for six of the top journals in the field of Online Learning. She is one of the co-authors of the UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership and a co-author for the UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Alternative Credentials. She has provided numerous presentations for top online conferences nationally, as well as regional conferences for practitioners. Previously, she has served on the UPCEA and Illinois Continuing and Higher Education boards. Currently, she is serving on the OLC board of directors.
Dr. Cook was named as a 2017 University of Illinois President’s Executive Leadership Fellow; 2017 Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Fellow; 2020 University Professional and Continuing Education Outstanding Leader; and 2024 Mildred B. and Charles A. Wedemeyer Award for Outstanding Writer/Scholar in Distance Education.
Susan Wegmann
Executive Director, SIU Online and Extended Campus at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Dr. Susan Wegmann is passionate about creating high-quality learning experiences in a variety of formats and bridging the gap between research and practice. For over 20 years, her focus has been on enhancing pedagogy in online education, particularly through fostering meaningful human interactions in digital learning environments including using AI as a catalyst for student success. She firmly believes that learning should be engaging and transformative, and she finds online learning to hold a unique potential for innovation and connection.
Her career spans a diversity of roles: classroom teacher (grades 3–8), college faculty member (Assistant, Associate, Full Professor), Dean/Division Chair, and for the past seven years, Executive Director and Online Administrator overseeing institution-wide support for online programs, honing her leadership skills and deepening empathy for the challenges faced by individuals at all levels of higher education.
Lisa Templeton
Executive Director at Oregon State University
Jason Rhode
Associate Vice Provost for Teaching, Learning, and Digital Education at Northern Illinois University
Jason Rhode serves as associate vice provost for Teaching, Learning, and Digital Education and Northern Illinois University (NIU) and works collaboratively with senior leadership and units across the institution that support pedagogical initiatives. He is a champion for academic excellence and supports and promotes a student-centric and equity-minded approach in all facets of the position. Dr. Rhode provides direction for the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) and oversees university-wide digital learning. He functions as the chief online learning officer and defines and implements processes to deliver high quality digital learning.
OLC Accelerate showcases groundbreaking research and highly effective practices in online and digital learning across K-12, higher education, and corporate L&D. This event is designed to empower and support leaders, instructional designers, educators, and training professionals by offering a wide range of sessions and activities.