Table of Contents

• Marshall Online
• Online Student Engagement
• Design Center
• Marshall Skills Exchange

Marshall Online’s Values

Student-Centered Learning

Intentional Collaboration

Technology Integration

Personalized Service

Dynamic Innovation

With the strategic initiative to increase access to our targeted student population segments and deliver on-demand learning, Marshall Online partnered with departments to approve new online areas:

• 5 new Online Programs: MA Humanities, MS Geography, MS Data Science, BA History, BA Public Administration and Policy 

• 3 new Areas of Emphasis: AoE Cybersecurity and Policy, AoE Nonprofit Leadership, AoE Government Relations (all under MPA Public Administration)  

• 1 new Undergraduate Certificate in Meteorology 

• 1 new Graduate Certificate in Meteorology 

The Belongingness Video Intervention & Survey is a comprehensive research study designed to understand and enhance the transition of students to online learning. The methodology (1) presents video testimonials from current students, faculty, and staff to the participants and then (2) gathers participant reflections of their own transitions to college. The study aims to provide future students with better insights into college life and to research the impact of such interventions (particularly regarding the video medium) on student attitudes, perceptions, retention, and success. This aligns with Marshall Online’s commitment to student well-being and retention, as it seeks to provide a supportive and inclusive online learning environment that fosters a strong sense of belonging and community among students. 

These updated course delivery mode attributes will apply to the Spring 2025 student schedule.

Distance Education Policy: Marshall Online recognized the need to simplify the online learning environment by proposing course modality changes to the Distance Education Policy UPAA-6. These proposed definitions–informed by Marshall student and faculty EdTech surveys and various leaders in online education, such as Educause and Online Learning Consortium–aim to lessen ambiguities for the Marshall community while staying consistent with recognized best practices. Throughout this process, we collaborated with multiple stakeholders, soliciting feedback from Marshall faculty, faculty liaisons, students, and administrators. The new course modality terms will be effective on 6/7/2024 and integrated into the Spring 2025 course schedule.

Marshall Online also revised policies to improve equity and access for online students. At the start of fall semester, online students were able to partake in student activities (Rec Center and athletics events) similar to on-campus students.

We are using Curricular Analytics to review all our online degree plans of study, identifying barriers to student degree progress and opportunities to streamline.

In the process of online learning growth and changes over this past year, it was important to us to coordinate closely with faculty. To that end, we created a dedicated faculty liaison role to help with proactively identifying and communicating any challenges or areas for improvement in the online environment. Chosen for their innovative teaching and collaborative spirit, Drs. Wendi Benson, Shannon Miller-Mace, and Laura Stapleton have contributed ideas, offered feedback, and created pedagogical content—all from a faculty perspective. We are grateful for all their contributions!

The first cohort of Marshall Online faculty liaisons: Drs. Shannon Miller-Mace, Laura Stapleton, and Wendi Benson.

Marshall Online Website and Newsletter

Our Marshall Online website has grown substantially over the past year, offering information about Marshall’s online programs and connecting stakeholders with Online Student Engagement, Design Center, and Marshall Skills Exchange. Our Marshall Online newsletter has allowed us to communicate progress on our initiatives and share pedagogical, ed tech, and student resources with the Marshall community on a monthly basis. This year, we delivered eleven issues, with themes including AI, Instructor Interaction, Belonging, Assessment, Care and Inclusion, and Reflection. Find our full archive here.

Marshall Online has a new sound studio in the Brad D. Smith Business School Building. The studio allows us to take our communication and training efforts to the next level. It is also a space available for Marshall faculty and staff to use, providing exciting collaboration opportunities. Interested in reserving the studio? Book a time with us!

The Innovation Resource Hub

Within the proposed Innovation Resource Hub, the Marshall Skills Exchange is a key partner with the Innovation Center, offering a spectrum of in-demand skills education to innovators from various fields. This strategic project will not only foster a high-collision environment for ideas but also serves as a bridge connecting academic insights with practical applications.  Marshall Online is creating a state-of-the-art video production and design studio within the new Institute for Cyber Security building. This innovative space will deliver unparalleled services, enhancing the educational experience for faculty, students, and the community. 

In Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 Marshall Online saw remarkable enrollment, with fall 2023 reaching a record enrollment of over 1350 online students. The Online Student Engagement (OSE) team played a crucial role in this success by providing continuous support throughout the student lifecycle. Beginning in Summer 2023, we implemented a comprehensive communication plan for all online inquiries. In late Fall 2023, we launched a campaign targeting active, non-registered students through emails, texts, and phone calls. In Spring 2024, to assist students with their next steps, we made nearly 700 calls to those with incomplete applications and to admitted students. We maintain connections with current students with a dedicated communication plan, providing timely information and support throughout the semester.  

Our new space in Old Main provides a more centralized space allowing the team to easily connect with students, campus partners, and faculty and staff. Our new OSE website provides a virtual space for student and community interaction as well, with our PureChat feature. On our website, prospective students can now find online student testimonies, information about how online learning works, submit a streamlined request for information and other relevant resources tailored to meet online prospective student needs. 

Michelle and Lalicia welcome students to Marshall.

Enhanced Our Professional Network 

The OSE actively engaged with professional organizations and peers by participating in key events and networks. This included attending the College Innovation Network’s (CIN) Convening and the Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU) Fall 2023 Academic Advising and Community of Practice Meeting, as well as site visits to Arizona State University and the University of South Carolina. We also serve on the UPCEA Online Administration network. 

Recognizing the need for an asynchronous online component to orientation, OSE partnered with Graduate School to create a comprehensive collection of campus and people resources. Housed in Blackboard, the orientation serves the dual purpose of acclimating students to the Marshall University community and Marshall’s learning management system. The online orientation also serves as a continuing resource for students, allowing them to access information as needed.  

The orientation includes videos of campus leaders from several Marshall offices, welcoming students to Marshall and briefly explaining how their office can offer support. Additionally, an undergraduate orientation was also launched in spring 2024. The OSE team also partnered with Herd Academy to develop an online orientation for dual credit students. 

We aim to foster a strong sense of community among our online students, ensuring they feel connected to Marshall University regardless of their location. To strengthen online students’ affinity to Marshall, OSE sent out welcome boxes to new online students containing a variety of Marshall branded gifts, including t-shirts, tumblers and journals. We partnered with Marketing and Communications to organize a photoshoot featuring online students in promotional materials, ensuring that our recruiting materials reflect the diversity and representation of our online student population. We actively engaged students in discussions to ensure their perspectives were considered in initiatives such as the Ultra upgrade and course delivery modes proposal, and we established an Online Student Advisory Council. This council includes eleven undergraduate and graduate students from West Virginia and five other states, representing the online student body and providing valuable insights.  

In spring 2023, OSE initiated a survey to evaluate the current state of Marshall’s Online students. More than 100 students responded to the eight-question survey. The results indicated a favorable response to the upgrades to Blackboard and students overwhelmingly reported feeling connected and supported by the university.  

We ensured online students were represented and supported at campus events by increasing our campus presence. We participated in four campus Countdown to Commencements and hosted two Virtual Countdown to Commencements. Additionally, we took part in HerdCon, Scores, Green and White Days, Career Education Career Fairs and Commencement. We welcomed and hosted programs (both virtually and in-person) for our new online students at Week of Welcome (WOW). Our team continued to collaborate with campus partners, serving on several committees throughout campus such as, Enrollment Action Committee, Banner User Groups, Title IX review panel and serves on the Associate Dean’s Council. The Online Student Engagement Team met with all newly approved E-campus programs and directors to plan student support and services. We continue to meet strategically with online programs to enhance services. Furthermore, we are also available to students and the Marshall community virtually through PureChat.  

Marshall faculty have delivered 1739 sections in Ultra this academic year. “Blackboard Ultra has a visual look and flow that feels more intuitive than the previous version, which allows me to more easily access information and provide feedback and grades to students.” —Dr. Marc Ellison, Executive Director of the West Virginia Autism Training Center

We are excited to share that 81% of faculty are already Ultra-trained! The Design Center is in its final phase of our year-long transition to Ultra, an upgraded version of Blackboard that has more intuitive design, seamless multimedia integrations, and optimized learner engagement. To facilitate the transition, instructors have had the choice to upgrade to Ultra since summer 2023. The Design Center partnered with Anthology on training solutions and with K16 to bulk convert almost 3000 courses to Ultra. Instructional designers have collaborated with the faculty via the Ultra Advisory Committee to enhance communication about updates and connection to resources. Click on the image on the left to play the Design Center’s new Ultra video.

When we found that our online instructors wanted more pedagogical support than our previous quality assurance model offered, we listened. Informed by Marshall faculty and national leaders in online learning, instructional designers collaborated with faculty liaisons to create the Marshall H.O.M.E. (Humanistic Online Model for Engagement) Framework. This new framework and course review process is a concerted effort to move from a quality assurance program that is focused on tech and design only to one of continuous pedagogical development for faculty. Unlike Quality Matters and other national models, H.O.M.E. moves beyond structural standards to emphasize student experience standards, and it incorporates more guidance for faculty on RSI (Regular and Substantive Interaction) from the Department of Education. This move to our own home-grown framework positions us to collaborate with faculty on trainings that can be specifically adapted to Marshall faculty and our student needs.  

“I enjoyed using the HOME model. It’s not as overwhelming as QM and is much more engaging and interactive. I also didn’t feel like I was being driven by a checklist. It was more about encouraging me to develop as an instructor and to make sure my students are supported. I added things to my class that are very important but often overlooked. I know there’s still work to do to make things more cohesive and complete and I look forward to your feedback.” —Dr. Rich Jones, Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Studies 

“[The Design Center] reviewed several new courses for our online program [using the HOME Framework]. The process was painless, and the feedback was phenomenal. Comprehensive review with excellent suggestions for improvement. I appreciate the positive comments – helps to keep me on the right track.” —-Dr. Lisa Ramsburg, Associate Professor of Nursing and Coordinator of Nursing Pediatrics

To support faculty efforts in meeting and exceeding the H.O.M.E. Framework standards, the Design Center developed a variety of new resources. We created 11 new articles for our Online Best Practices in Teaching and Learning library, including Belonging and Mindset, AI Resources to Inspire (this page was featured in the Chronicle!), Practicing Care, Best Semester Practices, and RSI. We also updated our course review process webpage to streamline the process.

In addition to our website, the Design Center offers tutorials inside of Blackboard. We added 11 new tutorials to our Ultra Instructor Resource Center. In this organization, faculty can find help with Ultra tools, such as the Gradebook, integrated technology, such as Teams breakout rooms, as well as resources they can copy directly into their classes: our Care and Wellness Resources document, student midterm survey, and student final reflection survey. We also feature faculty who are using tools in innovative ways. Check out our podcast with Dr. Susan Welch on her use of OneNote!

For maximum flexibility and personalization, the Design Center created multidimensional training options in different formats: Ultra Academy (asynchronous microcredential course), Departmental Ultra Design Labs (in-person/Teams and tailored to the department), Ultra Daily Drop-in hours (on Teams), Ultra Self-Starter (asynchronous guide), and Bookings (one-on-one and in-person or on Teams). In response to faculty request, instructional designers were available on the Sunday before classes started in the spring.

Marshall faculty are doing amazing things in online spaces, and we want to showcase their work. Our faculty liaisons recorded videos to our ever-growing library of Best Practices in Online Teaching and Learning. Check out their complete playlist of impactful teaching practices that support our H.O.M.E. Framework Standards.

Our newsletter spotlighted eight faculty and their innovative efforts with student belongingness, design thinking, Generative AI, HyFlex, and multimedia. The development of our new Stephen and Sue Zemba Online Teaching Award (coming this Fall!) will help us recognize and partner with exemplary faculty as well.

Since our pilot phase less than a year ago, MSE has seen almost 500 completed enrollments and delivered over 300 badges! In our pilot phase, we partnered with Innovation Center to bring the Design Thinking microcredential to all Marshall faculty and staff. We helped Aviation take students who were non-degree seeking students. They paid for courses to earn their pilot licenses and other ratings without being admitted to the university. The new microcredentials collected $94,000 since July 1 of last year for the school of Aviation. When Marshall Advanced Manufacturing and partner Mountwest Community and Technical College received nearly $1 million to launch a new career skills training program to meet industry skill sets, they came to MSE to create the needed microcredentials. Students in the new program can now earn industry skill sets through microcredentials provided by MSE. We also worked with MAMC to offer some laser printing and 3d engraving workshops to the public! 

To facilitate our work with partners, we created this Workflow Resource that moves developers through the process of Research, Development, Design, Review, Launch, and Research.

In Spring 2024, we officially launched MSE with the rollout of several new microcredentials. We launched Advanced Grant Writing with the WV Grant Resources Center: Advanced Grant Writing. MSE announced its official launch with a press release from University Communications. We also provided NACE Competency courses with Career Services, Relational Forensics with the Forensics department in the College of Science, ACE Manufacturing Hands-On Bootcamps for both adults and youth, and all four levels of Innovation Catalyst courses partnering with the iCenter.

Working with Marshall’s AI TaskForce, we built an Introduction to Generative AI microcredential to educate staff, students, and faculty of Marshall in how to use a generative AI chatbot, specifically Microsoft Copilot. We partnered with David Wiley, Chief Learning Officer, of Lumen Learning to create several modules that demonstrate basic prompts and interactions with Copilot, incorporating examples and test prompts for learners to use as they worked through the course. This microcredential will be featured at the President’s Cabinet and Board of Governor’s retreats this summer.

Through the generous support of the Charles C. Koch Foundation, we launched the Micro-pathways project in partnership with Education Design Lab (EDL), Mountwest Community and Technical College, and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development to prepare the future workforce of West Virginia. This initiative is the first time that the EDL team has worked with a 4-year institution to engage in this intentional work. We are building micro-pathways in healthcare, advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity. Micro-pathways create various options to obtain micro-credentials–allowing learners to tailor their education to their career goals and personal interests, offering a flexible and targeted approach to professional development.

“The Innovation Explorer Micro-Credential is an excellent program for spreading design thinking at Marshall University, and I’m glad to have participated in it! It helped me learn a lot about the Design for Delight (D4D) process, and has benefited me greatly for using D4D to develop impactful extracurricular events and projects for the Lewis College of Business.”  

-Jamison Lewis, College of Business Student

Recognized as a leading voice

Even though MSE only recently launched, we are already being recognized as a leader in the microcredential realm: WGU Labs featured MSE in its blog, “What Microcredentials Look Like at 3 Colleges.” Anthology highlighted MSE in its article on “The Power of Lifelong Learning: Embracing Education in a Rapidly Changing World.” Dr. Julia Spears was appointed co-chair of WV Microcredentials Advisory Committee.

We were also brought in to assist the Institute for Cyber Security in creating microcredential courses for employees of JFHQ-DODIN. We attended a three-day summit in early May 2024 along with Marshall’s department of cybersecurity, faculty from WVU’s cybersecurity department, industry partners, and members of the JFHQ-DODIN team to learn about the National Center for Excellence in Cybersecurity and what types of training courses will need to be built to meet the needs of the JFHQ-DODIN employees. 

John Marshall Leadership Fellow

Michelle Morrison, Senior Director for Online Student Engagement, was selected for this prestigious cohort of Marshall leaders for 2024. She completed the program in May. Congrats, Michelle!

We extend our gratitude to the catalysts listed below, whose innovative contributions have been instrumental in driving our progress on these projects.

Marshall Online Way and AI Microcredential: David Wiley, CAO and Co-Founder of Lumen Learning and Marshall Entrepreneur in Residence 

Ultra Advisory Committee: Ammar Alzarrad, Damien Arthur, Chris Atkins, Wendi Benson, Billy Biggs, Hilton Cordoba, Kim DeTardo-Bora, Yi Duan, Richard Egleton, April Fugett, Todd Green, Craig Kimble, Haroon Malik, Sarah Mollette, Lisa Heaton, Liz Pacioles, Sandy Prunty, Nathan Rucker, Chris Schletter, Chris Sochor, Marc Sollosy, Laura Stapleton

UPAA-6 course modalities policy: Billy Biggs, Carl Mummert, Sonja Cantrell-Johnson, Alison Carey, Mary Beth Reynolds, April Fugett, Karen McComas, Eric Beeson, Lisa Heaton

Ed Tech and Admin team: Bob Hall, Eric Himes, Ryan Atkins, Linda McGuffey

Microcredentials Steering Committee: Carl Mummert, Shawn Schulenberg, Ben Eng, Paige Leonard, Michelle Biggs, Clinton Brown, Raj Khanna, Eugenia Lambert, Darshana Shah, Cynthia Jones, Josh Brunty, Bob Hall, Haroon Malik, Kacy Lovelace, Diana Adams, Christine Ingersoll, Kumika Toma, Jim Harris, Casey Baker

Other Acknowledgments: Maddy Branham, Nancy Ritter, Bill Noe, Derek Scarbro, Carol Howerton, Ian Blache, Justin Carter, Karen McComas, Sarah Davis, Marcie Simms, Jerry Ross, Sherri Stepp, Michelle Biggs, Jodie Penrod, Brian Morgan