Board of Directors

Prior to assuming his duties at the SREB in 1998, he served in the Graduate School at Virginia Tech for 13 years, including four years as Associate Dean for Extended Campus Programs at the institution’s main campus in Blacksburg and earlier for nine years as Associate Dean and Director of Tech’s Northern Virginia Graduate Campus in suburban Washington, DC. He earlier held positions on the staff of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and as an academic affairs administrator and faculty member at Castleton State College (Vermont).

He has earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Florida State University in 1979 and has business degrees from the University of Florida (master’s in 1972) and Castleton State College.

A. Frank Mayadas, Ph.D. At the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Dr. Mayadas is involved in a number of areas: online education, globalization of industries, industry studies, and career choice in technical fields. He started the Sloan online learning program in 1993. This program (known as Asynchronous Learning Networks or ALN) has had a profound impact in moving the field forward. Members of the Sloan Consortium now number over 1400. Dr. Mayadas has been a keynote speaker at several distance education conferences and has testified before Congress on web-based learning.

Dr. Anthony G. Picciano is a Professor and Executive Officer for the Ph.D. Program in Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is also a member of the faculty in the Education Leadership Program at Hunter College, the doctoral program in Interactive Pedagogy and Technology at the Graduate Center, and the CUNY Online BA Program in Communication and Culture. He has forty years of experience in higher education administration and teaching and has served as a director of computer services, dean, vice president, and deputy to the president at CUNY and SUNY colleges. He has been involved in a number of major grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, IBM, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In 1998, Dr. Picciano co-founded CUNY Online, a multi-million dollar initiative funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that provides support services to faculty developing online and blended learning courses. In 2006, Dr. Picciano was part of the faculty group to design the first fully online BA program in CUNY. He currently serves as a representative of the president of the Graduate Center on the CUNY School of Professional Studies Governance Board.

Dr. Picciano’s major research interests are school leadership, policy, Internet-based teaching and learning, and multimedia instructional models. He has authored numerous articles and eight books including Data-Driven Decision Making for Effective School Leadership (2006, Pearson), Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology, 4th Edition (2005, Pearson), Distance Learning: Making Connections across Virtual Space and Time (2001, Pearson), and Educational Research Primer (2004, Continuum). His latest book was co-edited with Chuck Dziuban (University of Central Florida) and is entitled, Blended Learning: Research Perspectives (2007, Sloan Consortium). Dr. Picciano also recently finished a national study with Jeff Seaman (Babson College Survey Research Group) on the extent and nature of online learning in American school districts. It was the first study to collect data on and compare fully online and blended learning in K-12 schools.  In 2007, Dr. Picciano served as a guest editor for an edition of the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) dedicated to research in online learning in K-12 environments. He is currently working on a special edition of JALN dedicated to blended learning.

Dr. Picciano has been on the Board of Directors of the Sloan Consortium since 2001. His activities have included serving on the planning committees for the Annual Conference (2001 - 2008), the Annual Workshop on Blended Learning (2003 – 2008), and the Symposium on Emerging Technologies (2008). He has also served as the project director for the Consortium’s Interpenetration Grant Activities. Lastly, he has been an associate editor of JALN since 2002.

Burks Oakley II is a Visiting Research Professor in the Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) and a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). From 1997 until 2007, Oakley was the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois. In that capacity, he served as the founding director of the University of Illinois Online initiative, a program designed to facilitate the development and delivery of University of Illinois courses and degrees over the Internet.

Through his innovative use of educational technologies and the Internet in teaching, Professor Oakley has earned a national reputation as a practitioner and promoter of online learning. In the past six years, he has given more than two hundred invited talks at national conferences and on university campuses. He has been the principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on over $10 million in grants (including matching funds) to the University of Illinois in support of online educational initiatives.

Oakley received his B.S. degree from Northwestern University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and for his innovative use of technology in education, including the Luckman Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award from UIUC in 1993, the Outstanding Teacher Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in 1993, the Educom Medal in 1996, the Educational Activities Board Major Educational Innovation Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1996, the Third Millennium Medal from the IEEE in 2000, the Engineering Alumni Society Merit Award from the University of Michigan in 2003, and the Sloan-C Award for the “Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Teaching and Learning by an Individual” in 2003. Oakley is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the ASEE, and a former Vice President of the ASEE.

Gary Miller’s career in media-based distance education spans four decades. As Associate Vice President for Outreach at The Pennsylvania State University until his retirement in 2007, he was the founding Executive Director of Penn State World Campus, the University’s online distance education program. From 1987 to 1993, Dr. Miller served as Executive Director of the International University Consortium and Associate Vice President for Program Development at the University of Maryland University College. He also served as Director of Instructional Media and held several positions in educational and public broadcasting at Penn State from 1968 through 1987.
In addition to his role on the Sloan Consortium Board of Directors, Dr. Miller has served on the boards of the American Distance Education Consortium, the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame, the International Council for Open and Distance Education, the International University Consortium, the National University Teleconferencing Network, and the National University Continuing Education Association.

Empire State College offers many student services on the web such as the Writer’s Complex (online writing center), student ambassadors, library career site and all services such as admissions, registration, and financial aid.

Dr. Benke’s work in education has focused on the connections between work, employers and education. Dr. Benke also teaches in the graduate and undergraduate programs in the areas of adult educational policy, human systems, leadership, human resource development, distance education and training and learning organizations. Dr. Benke studies outcomes for students in distance learning and the assessment of prior learning. Since coming to Empire State College, Dr. Benke has written and presented primarily in the areas of learner supports for distance learners and union/employer sponsored distance learning. She has convened a national teleconference on student services for adult students through the American College Personnel Association where she has also served as Vice President for Professional Development. Her recent efforts within the college include the development of co-sponsorship contracts with Alliance (Lucent Technologies, CWA and AT&T), Steelworkers, Ohio AFSCME, the military, and AARP to provide AS/BS degrees at a distance to technical, production, and customer service employees.

Calvin H. Sydnor, III, D. Min. is the Director of the online Bachelor of Arts Degree Program in Religious Studies at Hampton University and serves as Assistant Professor of Ethics and Religion. He received his Doctor of Ministry degree at Lexington Theological Seminary and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. Dr. Sydnor served as a United States Army Chaplain for twenty-eight years and provided pastoral care in support of soldiers and their families. He was awarded numerous military honors and decorations, including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Parachutist Badge. He served in numerous locations in the United States, in Germany and was the Command Chaplain for the VII (U.S.) Corps and was assigned to that unit during deployment to Southwest Asia for Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990. During his last military assignment, Dr. Sydnor served as the Command Chaplain for United States Army Training and Doctrine Command where he provided pastoral leadership and technical supervision to the senior chaplains at the seventeen military installations located throughout the United States. He is an experienced trainer of clergy in pastoral leadership, biblical theology, administration and organizational effectiveness. Prior to entering the United States Army, he served as the Dean of the Joint Pastors' Institute at Lane College providing theological education for ministers in the African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion and Christian Methodist Episcopal Churches in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas. He is the author of the booklet; "Some thoughts on being an Effective Chaplain" published by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and "Understanding Islam" an individual study project, which is used as a supplemental text for Islam and World Religion classes at Hampton University. He has published many articles in denominational periodicals and conducts marriage, values clarification, and ministers' retreats. Dr. Sydnor serves on the Board of Trustees at Lexington Theological Seminary

As an active member of the Sloan Consortium of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Dr. Moloney has served as a contributor to the national dialogue on the emergence of online learning programs. In addition to consulting with numerous private and public institutions on faculty and student development, Dr. Moloney assisted in the creation of UMassOnline, a system-wide effort to expand its online programs.

Dr. Moloney has authored numerous articles on the development and assessment of online programs, the use of technologies in the classroom; cross-disciplinary approaches to curriculum reform; and the organizational reform of higher education. She has served as a member of numerous professional organizations including the AACU, and the American Association of Higher Education. Dr. Moloney holds an Ed.D. in Leadership from UMass Lowell.

Karen Swan is Research Professor in the Research Center for Educational Technology at Kent State University. Since receiving her EdD in Communication, Computing and Technology in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1989, she has authored over 70 journal articles and book chapters, produced several hypermedia programs, and co-edited two books on educational technology topics. She became interested in online teaching and learning while a faculty member at the University at Albany, and has spent the last decade teaching, developing and researching online education. Dr Swan has been a member of the steering committees for the Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning and Blended Learning Workshop for many years and is currently the Chair Elect of the former. She serves on the editorial boards of several research journals focusing on online learning including The Internet and Higher Education, the Journal of Open and Distance Learning, the Journal of Distance Education, and the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks. Dr. Swan was the 2006 winner of the Sloan C’s award for Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Learning by an Individual.

Janet Poley is CEO and President of the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC). She develops collaborative distance education initiatives and conducts research and education programs related to technology access and applications with more than 60 land-grant university members and international affiliates. She is in the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame and on its Board of Directors and Treasurer; is a Board member and Treasurer of Sloan-C; is member of the Creighton University Health Sciences Distance Education Advisory Board and is a member of the Board of Advisors for Zamorano University in Honduras.

Dr. Poley received the Mildred B. and Charles A. Wedemeyer Award for Outstanding Practitioner in Distance Education in 2000. She served as principal investigator on a $5 million National Science Foundation grant for advanced networking and applications including work on distance education and digital libraries in China. She was a Co-PI on an NSF start-up program in Human Language Technology – a collaboration between U.S. and Moroccan institutions. She manages the USDA funded Agricultural Telecommunications Program; manages a cooperative agreement with the National Agricultural Library (NAL) of USDA and the Universidad de Concepcion (UDEC) in Chile; is the chair of the NAL AgNIC Board of Directors; and has received several Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and U.S. Department of Commerce grants.

Dr. Poley serves on the Editorial Board for the American Journal of Distance Education; is a liaison to the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC); was a member of the Penn State Advisory Board to the World Campus Initiative; was a member of the Great Plains Network Advisory Committee; and is a special member of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Graduate Faculty. She is a professor in the College of Journalism and the Institute of Agricultural and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While Director for Communication, Information and Technology (CIT) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), she served on the NSF Networking Council focusing on education and outreach. In 1994, she was named by Federal Computer Week as one of the 100 outstanding information technology leaders in government, business and academia. She has worked in more than 40 countries, serving six years in Tanzania and received the Excalibur Award from the U.S. Congress for that work.

Dr. Poley is the author of a number of journal articles, book chapters and presentations on information technology and distance learning and currently authoring a book titled “Building an Inclusive Future for Learning: A Practical Guide for Campuses and Communities”.

Joel L. Hartman is Vice Provost for Information Technologies and Resources at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. As the university’s CIO, he has overall responsibility for library, computing, networking, telecommunications, media services, and distributed learning activities. Hartman was employed by Bradley University from 1967 to 1995, holding several information technology management positions, including CIO.

Hartman has been an active author, and presenter at industry conferences. He previously served as treasurer and 2003 Chair of the EDUCAUSE Board of Directors, chair of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) Advisory Committee, secretary of the Seminars on Academic Computing Coordinating Board, and a member of the Florida Digital Divide Council. Hartman currently serves on the Microsoft Higher Education Advisory Group, the Oracle Education & Research Industry Strategy Council, and is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Florida LambdaRail. Hartman will receive the 2008 EDUCAUSE Leadership Award at the association’s annual conference in October.

Hartman has been an information technology consultant to both public and private sector organizations, and has been active in the development of statewide education and research networks in Illinois and Florida. He has served and held offices on numerous state, regional, and national IT committees in areas including public broadcasting, distributed learning, and networking.

Hartman graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Journalism and Communications, and received his doctorate from the University of Central Florida.

Executive Director, Ex-Officio member of the Board - John R. Bourne, Ph.D. is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Olin College, Professor of Technology Entrepreneurship at Babson College, and directs the Sloan Center for on OnLine Education at Olin and Babson Colleges. He was previously Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, where he had been on the faculty since 1969. He founded the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks and remains as editor. He established the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation supported Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN) Web in 1996. In 2008, he incorporated Sloan-C as a non-profit corporation in the state of Massachusetts.