Creating an Institutional Culture that Embraces Accessibility and Supports Online Student Success
Educators and administrators must overcome the belief that a disabled student may never enroll in...
Author Profile
Kristen Betts | Director of Online and Blended Learning, Armstrong Atlantic State University
Current Position and Past Experience
Dr. Kristen Betts is the Director of Online & Blended Learning at Armstrong Atlantic State University. Dr. Betts is leading innovative initiatives with Academic Affairs, Information Technology Services, and the University System of Georgia to develop new online and blended programs including undergraduate and graduate programs and certificates. She is also leading the development of an online and blended institutional infrastructure to support student and faculty success. Dr. Betts’ responsibilities include developing and conducting faculty training on federal regulations, accreditation, credit hour policy, alternative instructional equivalency, Section 508 compliance, online pedagogy/andragogy, course development, student engagement, retention, and learning outcomes. Additionally, Dr. Betts is engaged in the development of an eAdvising model and the launching of an eStudent Affairs initiative that engages online and blended students in co-curricular programming.
Prior to Armstrong, Dr. Betts served as the Senior Director for eLearning at Drexel University. Dr. Betts was the founding Director of the blended EdD Program in Educational Leadership & Management for the Philadelphia campus and the founding Director of the online Master of Science in Higher Education (MSHE) Program.
Dr. Betts has over 15 years of experience as an administrator, program director, associate clinical professor, and adjunct instructor with private and public institutions. Her expertise is in higher education administration, online and blended education, program development, course design, strategic planning, and evaluation. Dr. Betts publishes and presents nationally and internationally on online and blended education, student/faculty recruitment and retention, non-traditional students, branding, Online Human Touch, Online First-Year Experience, eAdvising, eStudent Affairs, dashboards, accessibility, cooperative education/work integrated learning, stackable credential programs, and faculty development. She is a Quality Matters certified peer reviewer and master reviewer. Dr. Betts has also been a keynote speaker at conferences and government-supported events in Sweden, South Korea, and across the United States.
Education, Honors and Achievements
Dr. Betts earned her EdD in Higher Education Administration from The George Washington University in 1998.
Dr. Betts has been actively involved in program and campus initiatives that were recognized for distinguished national and international awards including: 2008 Best Practices Award in Distance Learning Programming from the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA); 2010 Sloan-C Excellence in Institution-Wide Online Education; Grand Bronze Medal Award and Gold Award for the 2011 NASPA Excellence Awards; and the 2011 Blackboard Collaborate™ Hall of Fame Award for Excellence in Collaboration.
Personal Details and Community Involvement
Dr. Betts is a HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) Institute alumna. She has been a reviewer for the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN), Journal for Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT), Journal of Online Pedagogy & Course Design (IJOPCD), Journal of Tourism & Hospitality (JTH), and EDUCAUSE Quarterly (EQ). Dr. Betts is actively involved with The Sloan Consortium and serves on the Special Interest Group for Integrating Accessibility into Online Higher Education and the Advisory Panel for Accessibility and the Advisory Panel for Scale. Dr. Betts enjoys running, Bikram Hot Yoga, surfing, cooking, traveling, and spending time with her family. She will be running in her first marathon in November 2012 – Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Savannah, Georgia.
Connect
You can find Dr. Betts on LinkedIn .
Dr. Kristen Betts is the Director of Online & Blended Learning at Armstrong Atlantic State University. Dr. Betts is leading innovative initiatives with Academic Affairs, Information Technology Services, and the University System of Georgia to develop new online and blended programs including undergraduate and graduate programs and certificates. She is also leading the development of an online and blended institutional infrastructure to support student and faculty success. Dr. Betts’ responsibilities include developing and conducting faculty training on federal regulations, accreditation, credit hour policy, alternative instructional equivalency, Section 508 compliance, online pedagogy/andragogy, course development, student engagement, retention, and learning outcomes. Additionally, Dr. Betts is engaged in the development of an eAdvising model and the launching of an eStudent Affairs initiative that engages online and blended students in co-curricular programming.
Prior to Armstrong, Dr. Betts served as the Senior Director for eLearning at Drexel University. Dr. Betts was the founding Director of the blended EdD Program in Educational Leadership & Management for the Philadelphia campus and the founding Director of the online Master of Science in Higher Education (MSHE) Program.
Dr. Betts has over 15 years of experience as an administrator, program director, associate clinical professor, and adjunct instructor with private and public institutions. Her expertise is in higher education administration, online and blended education, program development, course design, strategic planning, and evaluation. Dr. Betts publishes and presents nationally and internationally on online and blended education, student/faculty recruitment and retention, non-traditional students, branding, Online Human Touch, Online First-Year Experience, eAdvising, eStudent Affairs, dashboards, accessibility, cooperative education/work integrated learning, stackable credential programs, and faculty development. She is a Quality Matters certified peer reviewer and master reviewer. Dr. Betts has also been a keynote speaker at conferences and government-supported events in Sweden, South Korea, and across the United States.
Education, Honors and Achievements
Dr. Betts earned her EdD in Higher Education Administration from The George Washington University in 1998.
Dr. Betts has been actively involved in program and campus initiatives that were recognized for distinguished national and international awards including: 2008 Best Practices Award in Distance Learning Programming from the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA); 2010 Sloan-C Excellence in Institution-Wide Online Education; Grand Bronze Medal Award and Gold Award for the 2011 NASPA Excellence Awards; and the 2011 Blackboard Collaborate™ Hall of Fame Award for Excellence in Collaboration.
Personal Details and Community Involvement
Dr. Betts is a HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) Institute alumna. She has been a reviewer for the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN), Journal for Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT), Journal of Online Pedagogy & Course Design (IJOPCD), Journal of Tourism & Hospitality (JTH), and EDUCAUSE Quarterly (EQ). Dr. Betts is actively involved with The Sloan Consortium and serves on the Special Interest Group for Integrating Accessibility into Online Higher Education and the Advisory Panel for Accessibility and the Advisory Panel for Scale. Dr. Betts enjoys running, Bikram Hot Yoga, surfing, cooking, traveling, and spending time with her family. She will be running in her first marathon in November 2012 – Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Savannah, Georgia.
Connect
You can find Dr. Betts on LinkedIn .
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