An Affordable Alternative in The Appalachians
Founded in Williamsburg in 1888, University of the Cumberlands has a proud history of extending accessible and affordable education to the Appalachian mountain regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Alabama. It has maintained a steadfast dedication to providing opportunities for underserved populations, requiring constant evolution to respond to the social and economic changes that have defined the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
Today, this manifests in a relentless focus on student wellbeing. University of the Cumberlands combines low tuition with personalized student success coordinators and an impressive 16:1 instructor to learner ratio, attracting high numbers of first-generation students to a school where they feel welcomed and supported. With a pedagogical approach based heavily on measurable learning outcomes, University of the Cumberlands’ 40+ academic programs are designed to ensure students are well placed to succeed post-graduation.
The Challenge
Seizing the Online Opportunity
The rise of digital learning has allowed University of the Cumberlands to broaden its horizons and provide affordable education without any geographical constraints. While maintaining two vibrant campuses in Kentucky and staying true to the community ethos from its founding, it is now able to offer a supportive, engaging learning experience to students from all corners of the globe.
Doing so has required a shift in their pedagogical approach. University of the Cumberlands understands that quality digital learning requires ongoing innovation, leveraging new technologies and techniques to respond to student needs. “We need to meet students where they are,” says Jessica Shearer, Executive Vice President for Information Technology. “With our institution’s student-first mantra, it’s essential that this is reflected in our approach to online learning.”
The Solution
Embracing Innovation with the Blackboard LMS
Blackboard has been a long-term partner for University of the Cumberlands’ pursuit of online excellence. In recent years, key innovations in Blackboard LMS have been crucial to their growth trajectory: specifically, AI, accessibility, and tools to scale instructional design.
University of the Cumberlands has been a leader in adopting AI in teaching and learning. “Our new president, Dr. Quentin Young, has made innovation one of our three core pillars. He's very much of the mindset that we can't block AI in classes and then expect students to succeed in the workforce,” Shearer explains.
Blackboard LMS has allowed University of the Cumberlands to integrate AI into their courses in an ethical and effective way. Instructors have experimented with the full suite of Blackboard’s native AI tools, leveraging the AI Design Assistant for rubric and test question generation and embedding knowledge checks into documents, including the AI Conversation in orientation courses to introduce students to AI, and, most recently, using the AI Virtual Assistant (AVA) to streamline feedback on student work.
“Because the AVA Feedback tools are built directly into the grading workflow, many instructors began using them naturally without the need for extensive training or rollout efforts.”
Jessica Shearer, Executive Vice President for Information Technology, University of the Cumberlands
Promoting accessibility has also been fundamental to the institution’s student-first approach. Providing a welcoming environment for online learners demands that all have equal access to course materials, and having Blackboard Ally as an integrated part of LMS workflows has allowed this to be done at scale.
“Blackboard Ally has been a valuable tool for our institution. Its intuitive design and visual indicators help us quickly recognize opportunities to improve accessibility, making it easier to prioritize inclusive content development from the start.”
Melinda Walters, Learning Systems Analyst, University of the Cumberlands
Just as students now come to University of the Cumberlands from all parts, so to do instructors, with subject experts, instructional designers, and adjunct professors contributing from across the United States. For Melinda Walters, this places increased importance on scaling instructional design processes, ensuring consistency of student experience while allowing faculty to express their expertise. The Learning Object Repository (LOR) in Blackboard LMS has been an invaluable asset for this initiative. “The LOR has been instrumental in helping us maintain consistency across courses while streamlining content management,” she explains. “We’ve implemented it across our curriculum and are continuing to enhance its use as we build out our institutional hierarchy and integrate accessibility reporting.”
The Results
Expanded access to high quality, affordable education
By growing their online programs and constantly pushing innovation in digital pedagogy, University of the Cumberlands has achieved exponential enrollment growth. Across the last 15 years, their student population has grown from 2,000 to nearly 25,000, bucking the trend of enrollment decline which has troubled the sector.
The revenue driven by their online programs has allowed the institution to slash tuition costs without sacrificing the personalized, supportive environment that their success is built upon. They have continued to invest in the student experience despite reducing tuition by a staggering 57% for on-campus students, as well as offering one of the nation’s most affordable online tuition rates, in addition to giving all students access to free textbooks.
Partnership with Blackboard has been central to this success, by providing a digital learning environment that is innovating in line with student needs.
“Blackboard has been a key partner in supporting the growth of our online programs. Their platform has provided us with the tools and flexibility needed to scale while staying true to our student-first mission and commitment to quality.”
Jessica Shearer, Executive Vice President for Information Technology, University of the Cumberlands
Looking forward, the team at University of the Cumberlands see huge potential for further growth in AI and other emerging areas. Having worked with Blackboard’s Institutional Effectiveness tools for several years, they are excited for the new integration of Outcomes in Blackboard LMS and the possibility to further embed skills attainment into their courses. “We’ll be able to learn so much from the data, and update our courses to continue to promote workforce opportunities for students,” Shearer concludes.
Epilogue
Blackboard thanks Jessica Shearer, Melinda Walters and the full University of the Cumberlands team for years of successful partnership. This work has been celebrated with an entry in the 2026 Catalyst Awards.
