It's like this ...

I often slow the pace during summer, knowing that faculty are distracted by areas of their lives other than teaching. But lately, I've also been busy shifting gears in my life. I have accepted a position with the Tennessee Board of Regents in Nashville, Tennessee (just about 100 miles north of where I am now). TBR is the agency that governs most of the higher education system in Tennessee (the sixth largest in the nation!), except the University of Tennessee system which currently includes five of the state's fifty-two institutions of higher education (the other forty-five being TBR's six universities, thirteen community colleges and twenty-six colleges of applied technology). The student population is split between the two systems at about 80% TBR (~200,000) and 20% UT (~49,000) across the state.

TBR's Regents Online Degree Program is an initiative of the Regents Online Campus Collaborative, established in 2001. I became aware of the RODP/ROCC during my employment at East Tennessee State University a few years back. I am honored to be joining the RODP/ROCC training team and hope to be meeting all of our hundreds of course developers, faculty and e-learning staff across the state very soon.

I hope that my good friends and colleagues at Alabama A&M University will remain readers! I know that I will be watching all of them and learning from their ranks as I have for the past three years. I grew tremendously while at AAMU and was afforded many opportunities to create and guide something significant with the first several of their dozens-to-come online degree programs. I am honored to have worked there as well.

I am feeling blessed for the many opportunities I am being granted to expand my knowledge and my network of friends and colleagues. There are very exciting times ahead! I hope all will stay tuned!

(A parting gift to AAMU faculty and staff! The first AAMU employee who emails me with the words "Au Revoir" in the subject line wins a high-definition web cam that can plug into any computer! "Easter eggs" like these prizes hidden in my blog are a GREAT way to entice learners to read your syllabus! Become known for leaving little surprises here and there [extra credit points?] and you'd be surprised how much more attentive your learners might become!)