USDLA NEWS
Tuesday, May 21: USDLA National Conference Update — 1-2-4!
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We are so excited to see you at our 2024 USDLA National Conference June 17-20! Here’s the latest:
- One week to book hotel rooms and receive the special conference rate and amenities, including discounted parking passes. Click here to book!
- Two weeks until the first day of virtual programming. Remember that registration for the Virtual Conference includes your first year of membership for new members, access to recordings of sessions, access to virtual sessions from the onsite event, and the ability to participate in some networking activities and fun challenges. Learn more about the Virtual Conference here.
- Four weeks until we are in St Louis! Click here to register.
- Scroll down to learn about some of the fascinating conference sessions you won’t want to miss.
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USDLA Conference Sessions: June 17-20
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Public Media: A Distance Learning Partner in Your Neighborhood
About the presentation: From its powerful broadcast signals, to free, high-quality online resources for K-12 classrooms and teachers; from partners in education on college campuses across the country to supporting adults in GED preparation or training for a new career, Public Media has a long and storied history in distance education. Come learn more about the Public Media systems support for distance learning and how to connect with Public Media in your communities.
About the presenter: Tiffany Morgan serves as an education program coordinator and conducts research, design, production, and implementation of locally created educational media resources. In her 16 years at Iowa PBS, Tiffany has served as an instructional designer for distance learning courses, professional development initiatives as well as educational and general audience media productions. Tiffany is a graduate of Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in History and a Master of Science degree in Curriculum and Instructional Technology.
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NC-SARA: Expanding Services and Engagement for SARA Participating Institutions
About the presentation: This presentation will include both updates and discussion on how National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA)
can better engage with SARA participating institutions and highlight resources that NC-SARA is making available to colleges and universities to support their work with SARA, including the SARA policy modification process. We will provide information on current and future resources and share how institutions and other stakeholders can participate in the new SARA policy modification process. Join us for a discussion about how you can get engaged in SARA and provide your institution’s ideas for improvements and future engagement!
About the presenters:
Emily Jacobson (pictured left) joined NC-SARA as the Director of Student and Institution Support in October 2022. In this role, she provides strategic input and direction into policy considerations and stakeholder engagement by serving as the primary NC-SARA liaison to SARA-participating institutions and students. Additionally, she builds and maintains the infrastructure of relevant online SARA programs and up-to-date resources for students and institutions.
Dr. Marianne Boeke (pictured right) is the President of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). Located in Boulder, Colorado, NC-SARA is a private nonprofit organization [501(c)(3)] that helps expand students’ access to educational opportunities and ensure more efficient, consistent, and effective regulation of distance education programs. Boeke joined NC-SARA in 2018 as the associate director for policy research and state support. She subsequently served as senior director and vice president for research and state partnerships. In the latter roles, she oversaw all aspects of SARA data collection and reporting, supervised other related research projects, and curated the State Authorization Surveys (The Guide). She provided state and regional compact support and, with senior leadership, worked on policy-related issues.
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Creating a Comprehensive WellBeing Approach to Support Student Success
About the presentation: In a 2023 Healthy Minds survey, more than 40% of college students screened positive for depression and more than 35% screened positive for anxiety. With the increase in student need running headfirst into exhausted front line caregiver staff, sustainable solutions are complicated. How can we meet and support the increasing well-being needs of students? This presentation will overview wellbeing trends and their impact on student success. Small group discussions will allow campuses to evaluate and share strengths and growth opportunities within their systems of care.
About the presenter: Emily Pettit has served on the Student Services frontline for 25 years at 2 and 4 year, public and private institutions; most recently as the Associate VP for Student Success and Title IX Coordinator at college in Georgia. With degrees in Psychology and Counseling, she has enjoyed developing and implementing initiatives supporting student success with a keen eye toward wellness and retention. Now as the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at the Virtual Care Group, she shifts her care and concern for students from the micro level (on campus) to the macro level (supporting colleges nationally) to focus on the wellbeing of ALL college students.
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Establishing and Managing Institution-Wide Online Course Development
About the presentation: One of the many outcomes of the COVID-19 Pandemic has been that online education has become a more central and structural part of the mission of many colleges and universities. While some of these have opted to partner with an online program management firm, a growing number are forming centralized online education units and implementing more centralized and institution-wide processes to be able to scale the development of online programs and courses. One of these areas is more coordinated and institution-aligned online course development. Since colleges and universities each have unique needs and cultures, there is no ‘one size fits all’ model for managing online course development across an institution. However, there are some common decisions that need to be made. This presentation will present a decision-making framework for leaders to help them formulate or improve their institutional online course development process.
About the presenter: Dr. Anthony A. Piña is Chief Online Learning Officer at Illinois State University. He has been a consultant to Fortune 500 corporations, small businesses, local government agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard, and is a digital learning consultant to colleges and universities across the country. Dr. Piña is Series co-Editor of the “Leadership and Best Practices in Educational Technology Management” book series with Brill Publishing and is on the editorial board of four scholarly journals. He has published seven books and more than 100 additional publications in distance education, educational technology and management.
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| Thank You to Our National Sponsors
Instructure, Google, Verizon, Carolina Distance Learning, Harmonize, IAP, Nearpod, Wolfvision, Anatomage, GoReact, Huddly, InScribe, BocaVox, Softchalk, NC Sara, Simple Syllabus, VDO360, Symbiosis, VirtualCare, Waldorf University, Merlot, Questionmark, Perlego, Padlet, BrightThinker
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| Thank you for supporting USDLA, our Sponsors, and our State Chapters.
Chuck Sengstock, President
Valary Oleinik, President-elect
About United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)
Formed in 1987, USDLA is a 501(c)3 non-profit association formed in 1987. Our weekly newsletters reach more than 100,000 people globally, including our members and sponsors working in industries including pre-K-12 education, homeschooling, higher education, continuing education, corporate, military, government, and telehealth. Our mission is to promote the development and application of distance learning for education, training, advocacy, and networking: USDLA.org
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