Barbara A. Frey, D.Ed received her D.Ed. from Pennsylvania State University and her M.Ed. from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a Senior Instructional Designer in the Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education at the University of Pittsburgh where she provides support and training to faculty on a variety of teaching and learning projects. In addition, she teaches as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Learning and Performance Systems Department of Pennsylvania State University World Campus. Her research interests include Web-based distance education, program evaluation, instructional design and technology, and human resource development.
Ed Bowen, Executive Dean of Dallas TeleCollege, is responsible for the management and operation of the instructional and student support divisions of the Dallas TeleCollege. He works closely with faculty and instructional deans across the 7 Colleges in the DCCCD to increase operational efficiency and instructional capacity of online course sections. Ed also serves as the catalyst for implementation of Quality Matters in the District. His experience and interests focus on distance education in community colleges, military eduation, and proprietary institutions.
Dr. Christina Sax is the Dean of Extended Studies at Shippensburg University (SU; 2007-date) of Pennsylvania , where she has responsibility for distance education policies, practices, faculty support, and administration, as well as the management of off-campus programs for non-traditional students, continuing education programs, and summer session activities. Chris co-chairs the University’s standing Distance Education Subcommittee, as well as the Academic Master Plan Task Force which is charged with developing the University’s first strategic academic plan. She was co-recipient of the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) Mid-Atlantic Region’s Program of Excellence Award for SU’s Advanced Studies in Business certificate program, which is delivered via distance education technologies (2009). Prior to SU, Chris served in a number of administrative roles at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC; 1998-2007), where she had direct responsibilities for online course quality assurance and student learning outcomes assessment, online program and course development, and the hiring, staffing, training, and oversight of online faculty. These positions included Interim Senior Associate Dean (2007), Assistant Dean for Social, Behavioral, Natural, and Mathematical Sciences (2004-2007), and Academic Director of Science (1998-2004) in the School of Undergraduate Studies. She has taught online for UMUC since 1997, having authored seven online biology courses, two of which received the UCEA Mid-Atlantic Region's Program of Excellence Award (1999). In addition, she served as the curriculum specialist in the development of 16 additional online science courses. Chris was named Distance Educator of the Year by the Maryland Distance Learning Association (MDLA; 2004). Chris led UMUC’s involvement in the joint National Center for Academic Transformation-University System of Maryland Course Redesign Initiative (2006-2007), the Middle States Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Workshop (2004), the joint American Association of Colleges and Universities-National Science Foundation Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) Program (2001-2002), and MarylandOnline’s Faculty Online Technology Training Consortium (2001) and Project Synergy (involving the development of online learning objects, 2000) both of which were funded by grants from the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Chris also served as co-director of the FIPSE-funded Quality Matters grant project (2003-2006), which focused on developing a process and rubric for the inter-institutional quality assurance of online courses. In 2005 this project received the WCET Outstanding Work Award, USDLA’s 21st Century Best Practice Award, and MDLA’s Program of the Year Award. She has served two terms as Vice President of MDLA, and is currently serving on the Board of the UCEA Mid-Atlantic Region. She holds a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the Medical College of Virginia. She has also completed the Leadership Development Program of the Center for Creative Leadership and the National Leadership Forum of the American Council of Education’s Office of Women in Higher Education. Prior to her career in higher education, she spent eleven years as a research molecular biologist at the National Institutes of Health, with an active publication record.
