I lead instructional design teams to elevate faculty member presence and peer collaboration in online courses.
Results
Over my tenure as Director of Instructional Design at American University, I led a team of 5 designers serving more than 10 different online graduate programs and lifelong learning offerings, a combined portfolio of over 200 courses.
Praise for my work:
“[Nick] has allowed our program to continue to move forward in our pursuit of excellent educational experiences for our students. Technology is foundational and not always noticed/visible, except when there are issues with it. Nick exemplifies a spirit of helpfulness and cooperation…”
Increased student engagement with online community building tools is one result of my work that I am most proud of. Student belonging is one of the most important components of retention and success. Yellowdig enables students to take part in online course communities based around authentic conversation. During my tenure at AU:
Yellowdig usage grew rapidly
- Number of unique users: +186%
- Number of courses: +125%
- Number of faculty users: +50%
Quality and Accessibility
I am commited to presenting the best quality learning experiences to my clients. Each course created by our team meets all the quality standards of the Quality Matters (QM) or SUNY Online Course Quality Review (OSCQR) rubrics.
Example Learning Experiences
Presenting faculty with easy-to-understand training modules and resources helps make complex topics like AI adoption more approachable. Below is an example of an asynchronous resource designed for faculty as an introduction to Generative AI and Large Language Models.
Presentations
I am thrilled to share my experience with the larger higher education community. Below I share my thoughts during the Yellowdig Leadership Roundtable: Engagement, Retention & Belonging in March, 2026.
You can watch the recording here: