FIU Online’s inaugural Academic Leadership Summit was held in late February in the Graham Center Ballrooms. The event was designed specifically for administrators involved in the management, planning, and evaluation of FIU’s online programs. This summit aimed to demystify the orchestration of online learning at FIU and orient administrators around the State University System quality mandate, Distance Learning (DL) Fee management, and FIU Online services.
Summit Speakers
The event began with welcome remarks from FIU Interim Provost and Executive Vice President, Dr. Elizabeth Bejar. She spoke about ongoing academic continuity partnerships, course quality initiatives, and FIU’s access mission.
Lia Prevolis (FIU Online’s Interim Assistant Vice President) and Gabriela Icabalceta (Director of Learning Design & Innovation) wrapped up morning presentations discussing digital learning trends in a post-pandemic area.
“More students will expect to have some type of digital learning experience.”
-Lia Prevolis, Interim Assistant Vice President FIU Online
The summit featured several concurrent sessions. These covered Data Points for Program Excellence, strategic scheduling techniques to meet Quality mandates, accessibility in online courses, and general FIU Online services. The sessions focused on the importance of achieving peak excellence in our online programs through innovation, high quality course design, outstanding teaching in the virtual space, data-fueled strategy, and top-notch leadership.
Academic Leadership Summit Keynote
The summit concluded with a keynote presentation by Aaron Rasmussen, Outlier founder and CEO. Rasmussen addressed the future of higher education and the core mission of Outlier- to increase access to high-quality education and reduce student debt.
FIU Online’s first Academic Leadership Summit manifested interest from academic leaders across our institution, to be at the forefront of developing high-quality, engaging, and accessible online programming.