The Office of the Vice Provost for Online Education champions the University’s ability to deliver seamless digital education by leading and supporting high-level institutional initiatives.
The University’s strategic plan includes thematic priorities such as Transforming Education, which holds significant areas that Online Education has a responsibility to lead and deliver. The foundation of Online Education is based on enhancing access while fulfilling the land-grant mission of the University. As with all University initiatives and strategic priorities, Online Education supports overarching efforts by aligning their own unit goals and objectives.
Enterprise Constituent Relationship Management at Penn State
Enterprise Constituent Relationship Management (ECRM) is a constituent-centered strategy with supporting technology that recognizes the diverse roles individuals play in shaping our community and optimizes those stakeholder relationships over their full life cycle and across all their University connections.
Since Penn State announced in 2022 its intention to build an ECRM platform using Salesforce, Online Education has been involved and playing key roles in leading efforts in defining the vision and the strategic planning critical to prepare and implement ECRM. This priority initiative is part of the University’s commitment to modernize and connect data, processes, and services for improved learner support. The goal is to establish a user-friendly system that ensures consistent and effective management of learner information, from prospect to student to alumni, fostering collaboration across student-support functions.
Learn more about Penn State ECRM.
Commission for Adult Learners
Since the formation of the Commission for Adult Learners in 1998, the University has seen a consistent rise in the number of adults and veterans returning to Penn State to complete their undergraduate degrees. The Commission for Adult Learners is composed of faculty, staff, and students who are dedicated to contributing to a supportive academic climate for adult learners. Focused on attracting and retaining this unique population, they recommend changes in policy, practice, and procedures that may unknowingly have negative effects on adult learners, and foster development of programs and services across the University.
Visit the Commission for Adult Learners website to learn more about the commission’s advocacy.
University Data Governance Initiatives
Online Education partners in the University’s Data Governance initiatives within the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research (OPAIR). They contribute to University efforts to formalize data governance roles, responsibilities, and processes to help Penn State leverage institutional data as strategic assets and continue to mature its data-informed decision culture. As a sponsor for the Penn State Data Summit, the Office of the Vice Provost for Online Education demonstrates how individual units contribute to coordinated endeavors toward organizational excellence by making institutional data and strategic information easily accessible, clearly understood, and well-leveraged both within the University and across the Commonwealth.
Learn about data governance at the OPAIR website.
One Penn State 2025
An initiative of Penn State’s strategic plan, One Penn State 2025 sought to provide a guide for the implementation of seamless online access to curricula and processes across all of Penn State. Built upon the strong traditions of working as one University to provide world-class education, One Penn State 2025 called us to become a more integrated, flexible, and responsive institution that enables students, faculty, and staff to achieve their goals regardless of their location in the world.
COVID-19 Pivot to Online Instruction
When the COVID-19 pandemic required the entire University to pivot to online instruction within a week, individuals in Online Education and Outreach worked with colleagues across Penn State campuses to respond to the immediate needs of the University. The breadth of knowledge and experience of our teams was in high demand and contributed to the creation of content to prepare fellow Penn State staff, faculty, and partners to support their students effectively and seamlessly.
Online Education Strategic Initiatives
In support of our learners, we develop a broad range of program options, commit to academic ownership and research excellence, and strive to make engagement opportunities available. The Office of the Vice Provost for Online Education supports the success of all Penn State students by helping create pathways for them to begin their educational journeys, or to continue their learning and complete their degrees. Because of this, our initiatives are tied to the University’s priorities and are collaborative goals that are shared with partners across the University. Our five goals represent how integral these elements are to advancing our overall strategy and how committed we are to helping advance these across the University.
- Conversion
- Retention
- Organization optimization
- Program optimization
- Foundational focus
