Fall 2026 Online @ OHIO Symposium

The Online @ OHIO Symposium enters it’s second year, bringing together faculty and staff from across Ohio University for a day of development in the online space. “The focus of the symposium is to bring together the community of folks that drive the online experience across OHIO and give them information to support them as people with agency in the online space. With over 100 people in attendance this year, it’s powerful to see the breadth of colleges, departments, programs, faculty, and staff that make the online experience a quality experience at Ohio University.” Kari Lehman, Vice Provost for OHIO Online. 

The day long symposium began with educating participants on the state of the online market with discussions on how OHIO’s innovative initiatives, such as the field experience hub, are meeting student needs while removing their access barriers to online education. Participants then learned about current trends, needs, and perceptions of online students as Risepoint presented their annual update, the Voice of the Online Learner. “It was critically important that we spent time discussing the online learner in today’s higher education context” commented Thomas Raimondi, Senior Director for Strategy and Operations as OHIO Online, “our faculty and staff orient themselves from the in-person experience because that is their lived educational experience. Taking a deep dive on the online learner context sets the foundation to understand the why behind taking a modality first approach to course and educational service design.”

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New to this year was the addition of separate faculty and administrator themed tracks for the afternoon sessions. Participants were able to self-select the content that was most relevant to their educational needs in supporting the online experience. The faculty themed track focused on the online course experience with presenters from the Center for Teaching Learning and Assessment (CTLA) to talk about scaling up course assessments in large online classes, and an overview of Regular and Substantive Interactions (RSI) which are the federal requirements governing distance education. The track ended with a round table “ask the experts” to dive more deeply into those topics as well as discuss course accessibility and program design for future online programs.

The administrator themed track continued the focus on the online learner and tailoring their needs from an educational services perspective. Participants engaged in guided discussions on how to communicate with online students, de-stress the online learner, and working specifically with adult learners in the online space. These sessions enabled participants to reframe the work they perform to support campus-based students into achieving the same level of service outcomes for the online population. “Ohio University is a relationship-oriented institution, and everyone cares deeply about the student experience. The turnout today for our student focused sessions speaks highly of our educational community’s commitment to supporting our learners in every modality.” Liz Bonin, Senior Director for Online Student Success. The administrator session ended with a presentation on how OHIO Online is building community outside of the virtual classroom in online space and the innovative ways their career services support students in applying their new degree towards a career pivot or advancement. “I tell all our students that graduation is a milestone in our relationship, not the end of it, Elizabeth Guarino, Assistant Director for Career Services, when you join OHIO Online, you’re joining a lifelong community and our resources reflect that.” 

For more information on the Online @ OHIO Symposium and news for 2027, please go to https://www.ohio.edu/online/symposium