Director of eLearning

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Seattle Central College
July 11, 2016 to March 1, 2021

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The Director of Distance & eLearning is responsible for directing and managing the self-supporting Distance Education program that serves over 1,000 students annually. It also supports online and hybrid programs serving 15% of FTE. The primary goal of the new Director is to increase distance education enrollments while continuing to support the growth of online, hybrid and web enhanced offerings.

Essential Responsibilities

The Director of Distance and eLearning is a full-time, exempt position at Seattle Central College.  This position serves as the administrative head of the eLearning Department. Responsibilities include working with faculty, staff, and deans to ensure operational effectiveness in eLearning and to promote and facilitate a comprehensive eLearning program. The Director will function to increase instructor capacity and interconnectivity across areas of eLearning, instructional design, and professional development.

Responsible for the directing and managing the operation of Seattle Central College’s Distance & eLearning Department which comprises self-supported self-paced, seminar and state supported video courses as well as supporting online, hybrid and web-enhanced instruction housed in instructional divisions. Responsibilities include but not limited to:

Administrative Duties

  • Develop and manage budgets/contracts and allocate resources so that personnel, production, programming, equipment, maintenance and other functions are appropriately leveraged in compliance with state and district mandates.
  • Facilitate and supervise the recruitment, hiring, onboarding, development, team building, and conflict resolution of department staff; Supervise and evaluate administrative, faculty, and support personnel.
  • Conduct ongoing evaluations of Department programs including staff, services, and technology.

eLearning Self-Support Academic Program

  • Provide leadership and oversee program operation of an expanding program, including policy development, and short and long-range plans in alignment with the college’s Strategic Plan.
  • Review and analyze enrollment data to develop effective enrollment management strategies.

Instructional Design

  • Provide leadership and direction to the Instructional Design team; support faculty in the design and development of their courses; create instructional materials and opportunities for faculty to learn high quality instructional design strategies and standards for multiple delivery methods (e.g., fully online, hybrid, and flex modalities).
  • Oversee the exploration and development of new instructional strategies, tools, and approaches to keep the College on the front edge of technology and learning.

Learning Management System (LMS) Administration & Technical Support

  • Oversee the management of the Learning Management System (Canvas) and other system-wide technology tools; provide leadership in the analysis and implementation of new technology tools.
  • Manage and supervise the development of effective support systems, structures, communication channels, and training materials for faculty and students specific to tools and processes aligned with the department.

Professional Development

  • Collaborate with the Dean of Libraries, eLearning, and Employee Development and the Professional Development Committee to identify and facilitate faculty-focused professional development opportunities; manage and coordinate spaces for instructional design support and professional development activities.
  • Teach an online or hybrid course periodically to maintain skills and experiment with innovative eLearning tools and pedagogies.

Connection to Campus, District, State, & Other External Organizations

  • Collaborate with deans and other administrative units to identify opportunities for new partnerships between them and eLearning/Professional Development.
  • Collaborate with the other Seattle Colleges Campuses to maintain consistency and efficiency in the implementation of policies and procedures within district-wide eLearning initiatives.
  • Serve on college committees and organizations as assigned; Represent the college at the State meetings, community activities, and professional organizations/meetings.

Committees

  • Served on multiple hiring committees; chaired three committees.
  • Served as an Inclusion Advocate; help screening committees reduce implicit bias in the hiring process, with the goal of making our hiring an equitable, welcoming process for all.
  • Served on several college-wide committees: Coordinating Curriculum Council, Accessibility, LGBTQIA, and Biased Incident Response & Support Team (BIRST); serve on district-wide.
  • Served on the District-wide Distance Learning Committee (DDLC) and the State-wide eLearning Council (ELC).
  • Served on the District-wide Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Committee and facilitate the college-wide process for developing PLA opportunities for students.

Projects

  • Develop and supervise a Faculty Development Program that provided over 2,000 hours of training to 118 unique participants in its first year of implementation.