Maisie Caines
Maisie Caines has over 20 years of experience in various capacities at College of the North Atlantic, Newfoundland, Canada. She is currently the Campus Administrator of the Clarenville Campus, home of CNA’s internationally recognized Office of Distributed Learning. Prior to her role as Campus Administrator, Maisie contributed significantly to the growth and success of the Distributed Learning Service in her capacity as Faculty Development Specialist. She collaborated with ten other team members in the research, development and demonstration of technology in online learning. Maisie also has ten years’ experience teaching online and was one of the first Certified WebCT Trainers in Canada. Maisie is one of the principal investigators of the WebCT Exemplary Course Project that has been researching and showcasing best practices in online course design and delivery since 2000. She holds a Master of Arts in Distributed Learning from Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia.
Deborah Everhart
Dr. Deborah Everhart is a Product Manager and Strategist at Blackboard, where she provides architectural strategy and guidance throughout product planning and development processes. Her responsibilities include researching, analyzing, and designing features and functionality for Blackboard products. She teaches as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Georgetown University’s Medieval Studies program. She received her Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Everhart has written numerous articles and presented papers and seminars on medieval literature, emerging technologies, and the future of teaching and learning.
David Graf
Dr. David Graf has been an instructional technologist and educator for over forty years. During his academic travels he has worn such hats as instructional designer, instructional developer, academic department chair, graduate program director, faculty development director, and technology support director. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT), the Wisconsin Educational Media Association (WEMA), and the Professional and Organizational Development Network (POD Network). During his tenure at Iowa State University, David provided professional development training for faculty who were involved in distance learning. And, at Valdosta State University, he was instrumental in initiating a training program for faculty starting to work on course development using WebCT. David was the lead for the Blackboard Implementation Team for the Fischler School of Education at Nova Southeastern University when the institution migrated to Blackboard in 2010. He recently chaired a task force that developed online course guidelines based on the Exemplary Course Program and Quality Matters rubrics. In his role as a Director of Academic and Faculty Support he is currently chairing a major curriculum review of a doctoral program.
Christie Smith
Christie is the newly appointed Manager of Online Learning for the Tarrant County College District in Ft. Worth, Texas. In addition, she is a current adjunct faculty member and former Director of Online Course Development for Houston’s Lone Star College System. She has 22 years of experience in higher education, thirteen of which include teaching and designing online and hybrid courses. Christie is also a Quality Matters trainer and peer reviewer. This is her fourth year to serve as a Blackboard ECP director.
Shirley Waterhouse
Dr. Shirley Waterhouse is the Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach Campus, the world's leading institution of higher education in aviation and aerospace. While a fulltime professor in the ERAU Department of Computer Science, Dr. Waterhouse won the outstanding teaching award, bestowed by graduating seniors, eleven out of fourteen semesters. Dr. Waterhouse is also President of eLearnGlobal, a small consulting practice focusing on faculty elearning development and elearning strategic planning. Dr. Waterhouse has authored six books; and the most recent is The Power of eLearning: The Essential Guide for Teaching in the Digital Age, an Allyn & Bacon (Pearson) publication, 2005. She has been a director in the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program since its inception. For more information on Shirley, visit http://shirleywaterhouse.com.
Susan Zvacek
Dr. Susan M. Zvacek is the Senior Director of Teaching Excellence and Learning Technologies at Fort Hays State University. Susan holds a B.A. in Speech from Iowa State University, a Masters in Education from the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instructional Technology, also from Iowa State University. She was a faculty member at the University of Northern Colorado from 1989 to 1994, where she taught undergraduate teacher education courses and graduate courses in educational technology. She also developed and taught graduate courses at Old Dominion University, where she was the Director of the Center for Learning Technologies, and at Nova Southeastern University, where she is an adjunct faculty member of the Instructional Technology and Distance Education department. Her scholarly work has been primarily in the field of educational technology, with publications and presentations at national and international conferences on topics such as faculty development, assessing learning with online tools, and promoting higher order thinking. Susan was a Fulbright Scholar to the Czech Republic where she taught at Charles University in Prague and is a co-author of Teaching and Learning at a Distance, now in its 5th edition.