I began my higher education career as a faculty member. Due to my background in instructional design and technology, fellow instructors often looked to me for guidance, especially for their online courses. Eventually, I was asked to help create a new department at Clarkson College. The Center for Teaching Excellence was devoted to assisting faculty with decisions regarding curriculum design, course pedagogy, and instructional technology.
Today, in my role at Seattle University, I continue to be an innovator, regularly implementing new learning technologies. As one of the founding members of the Center for Digital Learning and Innovation, and now the Associate Director, I have helped build a team of talented instructional designers and technologists. Together we assist faculty in the creation of online and hybrid courses and help them achieve their instructional goals through the use of academic technologies.
My successes have been documented in a number of ways. U.S. News and World Report ranked a program I worked with extensively 4th in the category of Best Online Graduate Nursing Programs and I was named the Clarkson College Employee of the Year. Recently, my work at Seattle University earned several favorable notations by the NWCCU accreditation team. In 2018, I was selected to participate in the Online Learning Consortium's Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning.
I earned my Master's Degree in Instructional Technology from Wayne State University in 1992, many years before the internet become commonplace. As the technologies have evolved, my enthusiasm for the opportunities that technology affords students and teachers grows each day.
When faculty at Seattle University asked for additional support designing blended courses that successfully integrate online and classroom learning, instructional designers at the Center for Digital Learning & Innovation created an interactive Blended Flow Toolkit to assist faculty with that request.