Institute Directors
Lawrence C. Ragan, co-director
Dr. Lawrence C. Ragan directs the design and development of a wide range of faculty development services and systems for Penn State's Academic
Outreach. Academic Outreach serves learners via online (the World Campus), Continuing Education, and the video learning network. Dr. Ragan designs and delivers professional development
programs, establishes a faculty development learning community, and conducts research including the articulation of strategies to help faculty manage the online workload (SMOW) and the
definition of competencies for online teaching success (COTS).
Dr. Ragan has presented internationally on the topics of instructional design, multimedia integration, faculty development programming, and instructional design for distance and blended education. He has served in leadership roles as co-director of the EDUCAUSE Learning Technology Leadership program (2005–06), and is currently co-director of the Penn State/Sloan-C Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning.
Bruce Chaloux, co-director
Dr. Bruce Chaloux is director of Student Access Programs and Services at the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Atlanta,
Georgia. In this role, he oversees a number of programs designed to help students start or continue their education, from the Academic Common Market and Regional Contract Program for
Health Professions to adult learning and degree-completion programs. He founded and continues to direct the sixteen-state Electronic Campus initiative of the SREB. The Electronic Campus,
the South’s “electronic marketplace” for online learning courses, programs, and services, has grown to include more than 28,000 credit courses and 800 degree programs from 300 colleges
and universities in the region.
Prior to assuming his duties at the SREB in 1998, Dr. Chaloux served in the Graduate School at Virginia Tech for thirteen years, including four years as associate dean for Extended Campus Programs at the institution’s main campus in Blacksburg and earlier as the head of Tech’s Northern Virginia Graduate Campus in suburban Washington, D.C. He previously held positions on the staff of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and as an academic affairs administrator and faculty member (business administration) at Castleton State College. Dr. Chaloux currently serves on the board of directors and is president of the Sloan Consortium. He received his doctorate in higher education administration from Florida State University in 1979 and business degrees from the University of Florida (master’s in 1972) and Castleton State College (bachelor’s in 1970) in his native state of Vermont.
Leadership Faculty
Cynthia Golden
Cynthia Golden currently serves as director of the Center for
Instructional Development and Distance Education at the University of Pittsburgh, having joined the University in August 2009. This center supports the teaching and learning mission of
the university through instructional technology, learning design, faculty development, online learning support, classroom technology, and media services.
Prior to joining Pitt, she was vice president of EDUCAUSE, the professional association whose mission it is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. At EDUCAUSE she led professional development activities as well as the association's content and knowledge management initiatives. Her portfolio included program and curricula development for the association's management and leadership institutes, and she was a founder of the Learning Technologies Leadership program. She was also responsible for creating relevant and compelling learning experiences for members through the annual EDUCAUSE conference program, as well as the regional and special-topic conferences. Cynthia created and was executive producer for the popular "EDUCAUSE Live!" webinar series, had general oversight for EDUCAUSE services and operations, and coordinated many collaborations with affiliate organizations.
Before coming to EDUCAUSE in 2001, she served as executive director of Computing and Technology Services at Duquesne University, where she had been the CIO since 1998. Before arriving at Duquesne, Golden was manager of business applications in the Information Systems division at MIT, where she also coordinated administrative computing architecture. She was associate director of Administrative Systems at Carnegie Mellon University before joining the staff at MIT.
Golden has been a consistent contributor to professional development, as editor of the book Cultivating Careers: Professional Development for Campus IT, scores of articles, and even more conference presentations. She served on the boards of directors of the IMS Global Learning Consortium and the Seminars of Academic Computing and CAUSE; participated on two national program committees for EDUCAUSE; and served as a member of many professional association committees over a twenty-year period. She is a frequent speaker at campus and professional events.
Chris Bustamante
Chris Bustamante, Ed.D., serves as President of Rio Salado College,
the largest in headcount of the ten Maricopa Community Colleges located in metropolitan Phoenix, and the largest public online community college in the nation serving approximately 70,000
students annually, including over 43,000 online students.
Dr. Bustamante was appointed to his position in June 2010 after serving as the college’s Interim President, Vice President of Community Development and Student Services, and Dean of Academic Affairs. Previously, he served in senior level government affairs positions for the Maricopa Community College District.
Dr. Bustamante is well-known as an advocate for increasing access to higher education. He has forged transformational partnerships with business, government, and other educational providers while working for Rio Salado College.
In addition, Dr. Bustamante currently serves as an Adjunct Professor for Northern Arizona University in the Master’s of Educational Leadership Program.
Before joining the Maricopa Community College District, Dr. Bustamante served as the Assistant to the Superintendent for Community and Government Relations for the Phoenix Union High School District, and as a Legislative Aide in the Arizona House of Representatives.
David Lefevre
David Lefevre is director of the Educational Technology Unit at the Imperial
College Business School in London. The role of his team is to establish how the School can best take advantage of education technology in its teaching and then encourage and enable this
to happen. David is also active at the institutional level, particular with regard to how an institution can best organize its resources to take full advantage of educational technology.
David is also co-founder and chairman of Epigeum, a well-known, e-learning publisher in the higher education space. Epigeum develops and distributes online courseware to 180+ institutions of higher education across five continents. Epigeum works in close collaboration with institutions and this work has given David exposure to a wide range of different approaches to the delivery of online learning.
In recent years, David has received awards including a Gold award at the IMS Learning Impact awards in 2010 and an Effective Practice Award at the Sloan-C Blended Learning Conference in 2011. He presents annually during the conference season on an eclectic range of topics including ‘computer based feedback’, ‘cultural issues relating to technology’ and ‘transitioning to online learning’.
David is a qualified teacher and has degrees in mathematics and computing science. He has been studying for a PhD in educational technology for more years than he cares to remember however the viva exam will finally take place in May of this year.
__________________________________While reasonable efforts will be made to adhere to the advertised package, Penn State Conferences reserves the right to substitute speakers and/or seminar content.
