Bowling Green State University’s investment in eLearning over the past decade has paid dividends for hundreds of northwest Ohio students seeking to finish their bachelor’s and master’s degree programs online. Moreover, BGSU has been selected as the site for Ohio’s new OLN (Ohio Learning Network) Center for Excellence in E-Learning. The OLN Center will be supervised by Dr. Bruce Edwards, associate vice president for academic technology and eLearning, along with Connie Molnar, director of the Center for Online and Blended Learning (COBL).

Sheryl Hansen, the OBOR staff member who announced the center’s creation, said, “the Center for Online and Blended Learning at BGSU has knowledge, proven capacity and a rich history in supporting quality e-learning.” As a result, Hansen added, campuses statewide can benefit from COBL’s established excellence in providing “support, training and ongoing professional development” that meet the criteria of national best practices and quality standards.

Edwards, who has been leading BGSU’s distance education efforts since 2001, noted that “talented and dedicated faculty collaborating with skilled instructional designers make the difference in delivering quality coursework and maintaining student-centered support services.”

The center, said Molnar, “will benefit BGSU by drawing even more attention to the quality and diversity of its online programs, and giving our faculty the recognition they deserve for innovative instruction that maintains the integrity and rigor of their curricula.”

BGSU is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the North Central Association to offer any of its degrees online. Additionally, Edwards and Molnar are both involved in OBOR Chancellor Eric Fingerhut’s strategic planning group that is creating a 10-year plan for expanding access to Ohio’s degree programs through online delivery.

“This is an auspicious time for BGSU to take on the leadership of this new center, and we look forward to the challenge and benefits of working with colleagues across the state in advancing Ohio’s reputation for innovation and quality in online education,” Edwards added. 

For more information on this story, please visit the BGSU Online Media Room.

(edited reprints from the posting October 26, 2009).