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Karen Vignare currently serves as a Director at MSUglobal at Michigan State University. In that role, Karen is responsible for creating online entrepreneurial businesses for extending both non-credit and credit programs at MSU. MSUglobal is responsible for helping departments at MSU integrate emerging technologies. She oversees business planning, technology planning, open educational resources, instructional design and customer service. She publishes regularly on various topics in online learning. She has an M.B.A from the University of Rochester’s William Simon School of Business and Ed. S. from Nova Southeastern University and is a doctoral candidate.
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Mary Niemiec is Associate Vice President for Distance Education and Director of University of Nebraska Online Worldwide at the University of Nebraska. She leads the integrated University‐wide distance education program which offers more than 80 online programs from its four campuses – University of Nebraska at Kearney, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, University of Nebraska Medical Center and University of Nebraska at Omaha. Niemiec has worked in the areas of online and blended learning, presented at conferences, seminars and workshops on topics regarding adult learners, online and blended instruction. Ms. Niemiec was conference chair for the Sloan Consortium 2010 and 2011 Blended Learning Conference. She was given the University of Illinois at Chicago Model Administrator/Alumnus Award 2011 by The American Society of Public Administration, Greater Chicago Chapter. She has also been designated as a Sloan Fellow in 2011.
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Wayne Smutz is Executive Director of the World Campus and Associate Vice President for Academic Outreach at Penn State. In these roles, he oversees all credit programs (70+ degrees and certificates) offered through Penn State Outreach whether online, face-to-face, via video, or in blended modes. The World Campus reaches learners in all fifty states and seventy countries.
Dr. Smutz embraces a learner centric approach for adult part-time learners with a focus on enhancing access to quality educational programs, He is committed to ensuring that adult part-time learners have the support necessary to succeed at Penn State. He has been instrumental in strengthening relationships with academic colleges in order to better serve adults and in enhancing the visibility of the World Campus within Penn State. Attending to the continuing evolution of the World Campus and Academic Outreach, he is currently dedicated to creating an organizational culture of authenticity and empowerment.
Dr. Smutz serves on the boards of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, the American Distance Education Consortium, and the National Observatory for Cross Border Education. He received a B.A. in history from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.A. in political philosophy and a Ph.D. in higher education both from Penn State.
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Dr. Ken Udas, whose background includes a diverse set of executive management and teaching roles in Slovakia, Austria, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and New Zealand as well as in the United States, became the Chief Executive Officer of UMassOnline in September, 2009. Prior to joining UMassOnline, Ken most recently served as the Executive Director of Penn State World Campus leading Penn State’s online learning campus, and before that he served as the Director, of the SUNY Learning Network and the eLearning Group at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand. In addition to his managerial roles, Ken has enjoyed teaching assignments at numerous colleges and universities and has been teaching online since 1995.
Dr. Udas serves in numerous professional associations including a recent appointment to the IMS GLC Learning Technology Advisory Council. He is co-leader of the Educause Constituency Group on Openness, an association focused on the emergence and adoption of open technologies, practices, policies, and initiatives, and how they affect the delivery and support of education. Ken has also recently co-founded the Jasig 2-3-98 Project, which will provide self-support for college and university administrators, managers, and practitioners wishing to take best advantage of open initiatives, in order to reduce costs and increase choice. He has written and presented extensively on the topics of distance education, technology, policy, and openness.
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