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Dr. Wallace E. Boston was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of American Public University System (APUS) and its parent company, American Public Education, Inc. in July 2004. He joined APUS in 2002 as its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Dr. Boston guided APUS through its successful accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association in 2006. In addition, he initiated the institution’s application to be the first totally distance learning university to receive Federal Student Aid after the repeal of the 50/50 rule in 2006. In November 2007, Dr. Boston led the parent company of APUS, American Public Education, Inc. (APEI), to an initial public offering on the NASDAQ Exchange. In a turbulent market, he led APEI to successful secondary offerings in February and December of 2008.
In addition to his service to the University, Dr. Boston is a member of the West Virginia Governor’s Advisory Council for Technology in Education and serves as a Board Member of the Education Alliance, a non-profit organization promoting public/private partnerships serving K-12 public schools in West Virginia. Dr. Boston is a Board Member of Avalere Health LLC and he is also a Board Member of the Gateway New Economy Council. He is a past Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of McDonogh School, a private K-12 school in Baltimore. In his career prior to APEI and APUS, Dr. Boston served as either CFO, COO, or CEO of Meridian Healthcare, Manor Healthcare, Neighborcare Pharmacies, and Sun Healthcare Group.
Dr. Boston is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant. He earned an A.B. degree in History from Duke University, an MBA in Marketing and Accounting from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business Administration, and a Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. In 2008, the Board of Trustees of APUS awarded him a Doctorate in Business Administration, honoris causa.
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Dr. Phil Ice is the Associate Vice President of Research and Development at American Public University System (APUS) and Vice President of Research & Development for Sage Road Analytics, LLC. His research is focused on the impact of new and emerging technologies on cognition in online learning environments. Work in this area has brought him international recognition in the form of three Sloan-C Effective Practice of the Year Awards (2007, 2009 and 2010). Sloan-C has also recognized Phil through awarding a team he led at APUS with the Gomory Award for Data Driven Quality Improvement in 2009. He has been recognized by industry through membership in Adobe's Education Leaders Group and Adobe's Higher Education Advisory Board, as well as a recipient of the Adobe Higher Education Leaders Impact Award, 2010. His work has covered the use of technology mediated feedback, which has been adopted at over 50 institutions of higher education in five countries, multi-level institutional assessment techniques and application of semantic analysis for mapping institutional learning assets. Phil has conducted over 100 peer reviewed and invited presentations and workshops, as well as authoring more than 20 articles, book chapters and white papers related to the integration of emerging technologies in eLearning. Other examples of his research include the use of embedded asynchronous audio feedback mechanisms, using web 2.0 tools for collaborative construction of knowledge through integration of RIA’s and remote observation of student teaching experiences using asynchronous, flash-based environments. Phil is also involved with seven other researchers in the United States and Canada in numerous other research initiatives related to the Community of Inquiry Framework. This research has resulted in the development of a validated instrument that captures the intersection of Teaching, Social and Cognitive presence in online learning environments. Phil Ice holds an Education Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with minor concentrations in Instructional Technology and Science Education. |
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Dr. Peter Smith is a former member of Congress from the state of Vermont, a state senator and the 74th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, and an education administrator who has worked across the spectrum of innovative higher education during his career. He served as the founding president of the Community College of Vermont, Dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the George Washington University, the founding president of California State University, Monterey Bay, and as assistant director general for education of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Smith has also served on several national boards and commissions during his career including as Chair of the FIPSE Board, the executive committee of the Education Commission of the States, the National Commission on Responsibilities for Financing Higher Education, and NCHEMS.
Peter Smith is currently Senior Vice President for Academic Strategies and Development at Kaplan Higher Education , a global education company owned by the Washington Post . At KHE, he has spear-headed efforts to personalize degree programs and learning support systems, while strengthening their academic quality assurance processes and outcomes-based pedagogy at the program and course level. Smith is also developing new market positions and services for the fast-changing adult postsecondary education field, including a learning recognition, assessment, and portability platform.
Smith is also the author of The Quiet Crisis : How Higher Education is Failing America (Anker, 2004) and Harnessing America’s Wasted Talent: A New Ecology of Learning (Jossey-Bass, 2010).
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Kurt Slobodzian, Ed.D., MLS, is the Vice President, Research at Nexus Research and Policy Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to research on teaching, learning and educational best practices and committed to preparing action-oriented analyses of pressing policy issues facing states and the nation regarding the improvement of educational efficiency and effectiveness. Nexus is especially dedicated to studying and supporting underserved student populations and the institutions that seek to educate them.
Mr. Slobodzian began his academic career at the University of Arizona where he completed his doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction. During his studies there in the 1970’s he developed lifelong interests in both distance learning and computer aided instruction while working on the NSF funded PLATO project.
Mr. Slobodzian joined Nexus in early 2010. Previously he served for five years as President and CEO of One Touch Systems, a San Jose based distance learning technology company. Prior to One Touch he held multiple positions with the University of Phoenix and the Apollo Group. In 1995 Kurt joined UOP as its University Librarian and was responsible for launching the first 100% virtual academic library later that same year. In 2001, working with UOP founder John Sperling, Kurt was instrumental in researching and deploying an eBook project that has eliminated virtually all print textbooks from the University’s programs while improving the delivery and availability of course materials to students regardless of their location.
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Karen Vignare (Conference Chair and panel moderator) 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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