U of A Online Learning Leader Contributes to National Guidebook

U of A Online Learning Leader Contributes to National Guidebook

 

Any college or university usually has only one chief online learning officer, someone leading that institution's efforts to serve the growing demand for higher education delivered online.

Unlike deans or department heads, for example, who can find people in similar positions across campus, top online education leaders may have to look further for peers.

So, who does that person consult with, learn from, and find support unique to the booming field of online education that includes academic degrees, professional and workforce education?

What about someone who aspires to the role of chief online learning officer? Where do they find information about the skills that will help them obtain the role and be successful in it?

"We are recognized on our campus as the leader of online education," said Cheryl Murphy, vice provost for distance education at the University of Arkansas. "We have different types of teams and things we oversee. We turn to each other for help and assistance because there is only one of us on each campus."

 

Guidebook Available

Murphy contributed a reflection to a new book that seeks to fill this gap in knowledge and information for chief online learning officers and those who aspire to be one. The book, The Chief Online Learning Officers' Guidebook: A Framework for Strategy and Practice in Higher Education, was published in June by UPCEA, which is the Online and Professional Education Association, with Routledge.

Murphy and more than 50 of her peers at institutions across the country were invited to submit reflections to flesh out the core competencies an UPCEA committee developed for the position of chief online learning officer in 2017.

The book was written and edited by Jocelyn Widmer, dean for Weapons Learning Transformation at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Thomas B. Cavanaugh, vice provost for digital learning at the University of Central Florida. It is based on qualitative research Widmer conducted in a previous role interviewing chief online learning officers from around the country. When she interviewed Cavanaugh as part of that process, they discovered how closely her findings aligned with the competencies outlined by UPCEA, Murphy said.  

In 2023, UPCEA developed a list of eight areas in which chief online learning officers need to build their skills to achieve those competencies:

• Entrepreneurship, partnerships and relationship building
• Resource management
• Supporting and advocating for faculty and students
• Program planning
• Marketing, research, and evaluation
• Information and digital technology
• Critical thinking and decision-making
• Integrity, ethics, and profession

 

Challenges in Role

The institutions of the chief online learning officers who contributed to the book and their job titles varied widely but they face similar challenges, Murphy said.

Some similar challenges they encounter, Murphy said, include dealing with vendors, writing contracts, and trying new tools for teaching and learning. Chief online learning officers also lead evaluation and selection of assessment systems, registration systems, and course management systems. They also work to ensure effective communication among systems.

"Even though we have very different outward-appearing roles, the issues we face many times are similar," she said. "We are the one that has to deal with those things."

Contributors saw the book as a way to help build the next generation of great COLOs, as they call themselves, Murphy said.

 

Vital Components

An online degree program provides the accessibility and flexibility a working professional needs to earn an advanced degree, Milner said, but such a degree program also needs to provide a sense of community for the student. That means one of the best features of an online degree will be that it better serves a construction manager who needs to travel regularly for work. Even though his work is primarily focused in Fayetteville, he says he's aware that an in-person degree was not feasible for his colleagues in the construction industry.

"You need a program that is flexible enough to do on your off time while in the field, anywhere in the country (or abroad) you might be deployed," Milner said. "If most construction managers in the field were required to show up every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 o'clock on a geographically locked location, and be ready for that condition to change schedules from semester to semester for the next 18 months, they are not even going to have a conversation about it. It's just not feasible in a busy construction firm to be able to commit to that rigid a schedule, in a single location for that long, even if the desire is there."

However, doing an online degree also means you may feel off by yourself in the process and it's easy to feel isolated.

"It can sometimes feel too hard, and you'd rather watch football, or you feel too tired from a 12-hour shift and that you're falling behind," he said. "You have to find ways to keep a sense of community and connection to what you're going to do. You need family support, but you also sometimes need people who are in it with you."

He has a friend who took the program at the same time, and they were able to support and reassure each other. That relationship was a great help in some of the tougher times.

"When you think, 'Oh my gosh, it's so much,' how do I even get back to it? You start looking at your kids, look at opportunities you've been offered, and you go, 'OK, it's time to dig a little deeper.' You may have to work on it between 10 and midnight several days a week, but you do what you have to do and stay inspired by the fact that your family is behind you, and you are doing great things even you were not aware you could do just a short while ago. You're doing this for them."

Milner also has to temper his expectations sometimes, he said, and remind himself that, while he wants to make all As, he's taking classes because he doesn't know everything about the construction industry and processes, and he is working to learn more. He remarked that "we generally learn more when things don't go perfectly than when they do."

One professor fostered a sense of community by scheduling non-mandatory online sessions to review highlights of the week's homework, Milner said. And, if someone couldn't attend at the time, they could watch the recording. Those sessions also helped the students get to know each other and offer support, he said.

Some classes were less interactive, but others included requirements for discussion board posting that encouraged engagement and instructors generally were open to students asking for help.

"The holy grail for instructors is to find ways for students to stay connected," he said. "Professors are limited sometimes because they have a lot of students, and they are presenting the problems for people to apply tools and grow to understand better. Efforts to keep students talking and engaged with one another and the professor worked well for me."

 

Relationship Insight

Murphy contributed to a chapter on internal and external relationships. The introduction to the chapter, written by Widmer and Cavanaugh, says that, when chief online learning officers deem fostering and managing relationships as among the most important investments of their time, the results yield dividends. Central are those relationships made with other COLOs, it said.

Internal relationships include leadership of other units, both academic and operational, on campus as well as faculty and student governance groups. Other groups with which relationships should be fostered include development/fundraising, alumni, other universities in the system, system offices, community colleges and other two-year institutions, and regulatory bodies.

External relationships may involve education technology vendors, online program managers, state and national professional organizations, donors, public and private sector employers, government units, and chief online learning officers outside of higher education.

 

Staying on TRAC

Murphy's contribution focuses on establishing trust as the basis of relationships, both internal and external.

"Ultimately, you want to create relationships where your partners feel comfortable calling to give you a heads-up when new regulations, policies, or business directions are being proposed; connecting with you to brainstorm a best path forward in difficult situations; and reaching out when things are not going smoothly," she wrote.

Murphy described a system of steps to achieve what she called staying on "TRAC."

• Train: Seek training in both mediation and negotiation.
• Respect: Respect others' positions and acknowledge the parameters under which they must operate.
• Associate: Attend events, connect at conferences, hold informal gatherings, and actively associate with colleagues, peers, and would-be partners.
• Communicate: Intentionally communicate and regularly touch base to increase the chance of catching missteps immediately to take corrective action.

With an updated quote based on a sentiment expressed by her grandmother, Murphy wrote, "… bring something to every table, always ask how you can help, and make sure others know you appreciate their contributions … especially if you plan to ask for something in return."

For established COLOs, the guidebook serves as a great reminder of what they need to continue doing and pay more attention to, Murphy said. It also gives the contributors an opportunity to assist others seeking more information, she said.

"Quite a few people across the country reach out to me, asking for my perspective," she said. "I am not mentoring them in the strictest sense of the term, but they do turn to me. The best part is making that personal connection and knowing that I can refer them to other COLOs and the book on topics I am still learning."

Murphy, who holds the rank of professor at the University of Arkansas, was named to her position in 2019. She has numerous publications and presentations to her credit and has served in multiple leadership roles with professional organizations such as UPCEA and the Higher Learning Commission. The U of A offers more than 100 online degrees, certificates and licensure programs.

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