This year, I once again have the honor and pleasure of chairing the United States Distance Learning Association’s 2022 National Distance Learning Week Conference, which I am co-producing with the wonderful Valary Oleinik, a world-renowned gamification expert and the chairs of the USDLA Events committee.

This year we’re celebrating the 15th consecutive NDLW conference so it seemed fitting to center around the topic of online education leadership and to celebrate a decade and a half of leadership that the United States Distance Learning Association. This year, thanks to the talented designer Daniela Mastropierro, we are giving our conference logo a facelift, launching a visual that we’ll be using for the next decade. The new logo was supposed to be reminiscent of the original one but be a bit crisper and modern; we hope you like this change!

Once again, this year we will be streaming live through our partner platform, EduVision, with streams available in English and Spanish.

This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Karen Ferguson, a highly experienced global leader whose message is that there is no “playbook” for uncharted territory. We have to come up with our own custom solutions to the custom problems/contexts we encounter, tapping into but not being limited by our educational experiences and existing theory, models, and evidence. We must not be risk-averse, but embrace ongoing experimentation and improvement.

Our keynote speaker’s message will be echoed by the legendary and emerging leadership superheroes alike, all providing information, tools, and strategies for effective online leadership. First, Dr. Anthony Pina, who will cover common mistakes in online program leadership and how to avoid them. Next, the ever-innovative Next, Dr. Gerry Hanley will discuss the “F’ing Management” strategy for leading ed technology higher education teams, where “F” stands for Family First, Friendship, Forgiveness, Fun, Fairness, Facilitation, and Flexibility. After that, my talented colleague, Dr. Travis Neal, and I will share our combined research on calibrating the Chief Online Education Officer role and measuring and enacting online leadership empowerment. Next, Dr. Alexandra Salas will share lessons learned from research and one-on-one conversations with 22 college presidents and other higher education professionals, describing the higher-ed ecosystems and offering tools and strategies to support this dynamic interconnected system. At the heart of the conference, we will hear from Dr. Melanie Shaw, who will revisit a study on the role and responsibilities of the Chief Online Learning Officer role, discussing how the role has evolved since the pandemic and proposing future research initiatives for those interested in further advancing scholarship in our field. Dr. Melanie Booth and Ms. Emily Jacobson will offer a tour of NC-SARA’s resources that make it easy for online leaders to complete reciprocity agreements and help students find their institution’s programs, among others. Dr. Lisa Clark will then move our conversation toward the role online leaders play in faculty training and development, followed by Dr. Matt Newlin who will paint a picture of leadership in rural distance learning. Dr. Shana Garrett will close the conference with an innovating look at leadership from the lense of authenticity and a pure heart.

Please join the conversation this November 7 – 11. Registration is always free and USDLA members have access to the conference recordings.