Scalable Program Development for Higher Ed

Challenge:

A major education company needed to integrate three newly acquired, disparate entities into a cohesive online university: a teacher curriculum developer, an online continuing education provider, and a small online university. Each had a distinct mission, leadership, and delivery method, and they lacked trust in each other and in the new parent company. My role was to build a unified product development engine to deliver new online degree programs.

Solutions Implemented:

I orchestrated a comprehensive organizational redesign that respected the unique strengths of each entity while creating a unified development methodology:

• Integrated Vision Development: Led a collaborative process to understand and incorporate the core values and mission of each entity into a single, cohesive vision

• Student-Centered Framework: Established the "tripod" conceptual model recognizing that online students are simultaneously academic learners, technology users, and business customers, needing expertise from all three areas for a holistic, exceptional experience

• Cross-Functional Teams: Created specialized development teams that included academic and technology specialists, business project managers, and video producers

• Tech-Enabled Decision Model: Implemented a collaborative decision-making process where team members had veto authority in their area of expertise, forcing cross-functional problem-solving

• Course Format Redesign: Using new templates, transformed physical workbooks and videotapes into engaging digital learning experiences with consistent quality standards

Results Achieved:

The initiative delivered exceptional outcomes in terms of scale, quality, and institutional growth:

• Institutional Scale: Facilitated the university's growth from 1,500 to approximately 35,000 students during my tenure

• Program Expansion: Successfully developed multiple degree programs using the new development methodology

• Academic Excellence: Created two Master's of Nursing degrees that achieved nursing accreditation with zero deficiencies—unprecedented for online programs

• Team Effectiveness: Cross-functional teams created standard-setting online courses

• Sustainable Growth Model: Established a scalable program development engine that was the primary driver of growth for the company's online business unit

• Technology Integration: Successfully transitioned from physical materials to tech-enabled solutions that maintained academic integrity while fueling growth at scale

• Innovation and Ideation Excellence: By pioneering the "tripod" model and disaggregated faculty roles, I reimagined online education delivery during its formative years. This innovative approach balanced academic quality, technological accessibility, and business sustainability—creating a blueprint that transformed a small institution into one of the nation's largest online universities and influenced industry practices for years to come.