| Van Davis Principal Foghlam Consulting, LLC Van Davis is principal at Foghlam Consulting, LLC where he helps colleges, universities, non-profits, and policymakers understand where higher education is heading and how to navigate that future. Davis has spent over 20 years in higher education as a faculty member, academic administrator, policymaker, and consultant. Most recently he served as associate vice president for higher education policy and research at Blackboard Inc. Prior to his time at Blackboard, he served as director of innovation at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board where he was responsible for the development of competency-based education programs, distance education policy, the development of the state's adult degree completion project, course redesign, and online faculty development. Prior to the Coordinating Board, Davis spent a decade as a professor of history and an academic administrator. | |
| Cheryl Dowd Director, SAN WCET Cheryl Dowd is the Director of the State Authorization Network (SAN)for WCET and Cyber Fellow for WICHE. Dowd directs the activities and research for institutions and other related organizations to understand and manage regulatory compliance requirements for the out of state activities of the institutions. As Cyber Fellow, Cheryl is developing relationships with national education and security agencies to develop institutional data protection and privacy resources and training opportunities to share with the WICHE community. | |
| Laura Pedrick Special Assistant to the Provost for Strategic Initiatives & Executive Director, UWM Online University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee aura oversees UWM's online and blended programs. She founded the Online Program Council, directs the seed funding program for new online programs, partners with the Learning Technology Center staff to promote new program development, works with University Communications and Media Relations and the Department of Admissions and Recruitment on marketing and student recruitment for this growing segment of UWM’s student population (see online.uwm.edu) and serves as the point person for regulatory compliance, data requests and grant proposals concerning online and blended instruction at UWM. Laura is currently serving as campus lead for UWM’s participation in the UW Flex Option, which will offer 4 self-paced and competency-based online programs beginning in fall, 2013. She is managing a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Next Generation Learning Challenge grant on UWM’s innovative U-Pace instructional model. She is also co-author of the UWM Guide to Developing Online and Blended Programs | |
| Russell Poulin Executive Director WCET Russ Poulin leads WCET, the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies, which focuses on the practice, policy, and advocacy of technology-enhanced learning in higher education. WCET’s members hail from all fifty states and a few from Canada. As WICHE vice president, he advises on policy and projects for the regional higher education compact. Poulin represented the distance education community on federal negotiated rulemaking committees and subcommittees. He has received recognition from the Presidents’ Forum, Excelsior College, and the National University Technology Network for his contributions to policies for technology-enhanced postsecondary education. Poulin received a bachelors from the University of Colorado Denver and a masters from the University of Northern Colorado. He is also partial to movies, cats, and his wife, Laurie. Contact him at: rpoulin@wiche.edu or @RussPoulin. | |
| Jason Ruckert Vice Chancellor and Chief Digital Learning Officer Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide Jason Ruckert serves as the vice chancellor and chief digital learning officer and is responsible for the overall strategy as well as the development, delivery, and quality control of online education at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s three distinct campuses. He provides direct leadership and oversight of the following departmental units; academic technology, academic advisement, center for teaching and learning excellence (CTLE), faculty quality control and instructional design and development (currently 96 staff members). Ruckert also serves as second in command for the Worldwide Campus and assists the Chancellor by providing leadership and assistance to the Academic Colleges and Administrative units within the campus for all learning modalities. | |
| Dan Silverman Assistant Director, SAN WCET Dan Silverman is the assistant director for the WCET State Authorization Network (SAN). He is interested in how regulations interact with what happens on campus, and how to help institutional staff. Prior to joining SAN, he spent several years coordinating Virginia Commonwealth University’s state authorization compliance program. Other campus experiences include NCAA compliance oversight at Yale University and the University of Hartford. | |
