Leadership Network Symposium - The OLC Leadership Network: A Community of Practice for Online, Blended, and Digital Learning Leaders

Brief Abstract

The field of online learning has experienced significant change, and more and more unexpected factors will continue to drive our approaches for ensuring quality and equitable access to education as a sustainable future. In this closing panel, members of the OLC Board of Directors and OLC's CEO will discuss their perspectives on connected and networked communities of practice as an empowering force of progress in these uncertain times. Participants will have the opportunity to pose questions crafted from the emergent themes captured in the earlier sessions, and hear more about the upcoming activities and points of engagement available to them as members of the 2022-2023 OLC Leadership Network.

This session is available only to registered attendees of the Leadership Network Symposium.  

Track: Digital Strategy

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Mary Niemiec, University of Nebraska | University of Nebraska Online

Mary Niemiec is the Associate Vice President for Digital Education and Director of the University of Nebraska Online. In her role at the University of Nebraska, she coordinates the system-wide collaborative initiative that pulls together the 150 plus online programs offered by the four campuses of the NU system. She has worked in the areas of higher education continuing, online, and blended learning for more than twenty years. In addition to her University responsibilities, she represents and serves the University within the state of Nebraska and nationally by serving in leadership roles in various professional organizations. She currently serves as President for the Board of Directors of the Online Learning Consortium. She also serves as a member of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission’s Education Council and a member of the Policy Committee for UPCEA. She was named an OLC Fellow in 2011.

Co-presenter: Melissa Vito, University of Texas at San Antonio

Co-presenter: Terry Di Paolo, LeCroy Center - Dallas County Community College District

Terry Di Paolo is Vice Provost of eLearning for Dallas College. He has served as an academic administrator in multiple roles leading major strategic projects associated with college 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 ways in which technologies and systems enhance the 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 a socio-cultural lens.

Co-presenter: Jennifer Mathes, Online Learning Consortium

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.

Extended Abstract