Fostering Community and Belonging Beyond the Workplace Water Cooler

Leah Chuchran-Davis

Vice President of Learner Experience Design, iDesign

Leah Chuchran-Davis is the vice president of LX design at iDesign, a partner to universities that wish to build, grow, and support online and blended course program offerings. She focuses on the development of distributed teams that are highly collaborative and innovative in learning design. Her current research interests include competency-based education (CBE) and workforce skills development, building learning communities, and humanizing the online classroom. She currently resides in western North Carolina on 36 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains as she, the farmer, and four children enjoy outdoor life on a biodynamic farm.

Luke Dowden

Chief Online Learning Officer / Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Success, Alamo Colleges District

Luke Dowden is the chief online learning officer and associate vice chancellor of academic success at the Alamo Colleges District. Through Alamo Colleges Online, he leads and supports capacity-building initiatives at all five Colleges so they may gain a greater market share of online learners in their respective service areas. Alamo Colleges Online was a finalist for the 2020 Bellwether Award for Community College Excellence in the area of planning, governance, and finance. Luke is a member of the Quality Matters Board of Directors. In 2014, Luke received the inaugural recipient of the Online Learning Consortium Bruce N. Chaloux Award for Early Career Excellence in Online Education. He is a persistent advocate for designing experiences for learners with some college and no degree as well as those who are employed and income constrained.

Whitney Kilgore

Co-Founder and Chief Academic Officer, iDesign

Whitney Kilgore is co-founder and chief academic officer of iDesign, a partner to universities that wish to build, grow, and support online and blended course program offerings. iDesign provides concierge, white-glove instructional design support to faculty partners and ensure that faculty feel comfortable, informed, and in control throughout the process of creating online learning experiences for their students. Whitney is currently working on research related to care theory in online learning and the impact to practice of humanizing online teaching and learning. She resides in North Texas with her husband, their four children, two dogs, and a cat. They enjoy hiking, swimming, and wearing their masks.

Patrice Torcivia Prusko

Director of Learning Design, Technology and Media, Harvard University

patrice_torcivia@gse.Harvard.edu

@profpatriceLinkedIn Profile

As director of learning design, technology and media within the Harvard Graduate School of Education Teaching and Learning Lab, Patrice Torcivia Prusko oversees the design, development, and project management of online and technology enhanced courses in the TLL portfolio. Most recently, her team led the design and development of the first fully online Master’s program at HGSE. Patrice’s research interests include the assessment of pedagogical practices in online learning, application of theory to practice, and cultivation of care. She is passionate about increasing global access to STEM education for all women and believes this will enable more communities across the globe to thrive and flourish.

Chantae Recasner

WCET Steering Committee Vice Chair, WCET Executive Council, Equity Research Manager for Advanced Analytics, Western Governors University

chantae.recasner@wgu.edu

LinkedIn Profile

As the equity research manager on the Advanced Analytics team at Western Governors University, Chantae Recasner is responsible for driving and supporting research to help advance WGU’s efforts to close inequitable attainment gaps across student groups. She leads a team of faculty research fellows with the support of a data scientist and works to help the Advanced Analytics team drive contribution to WGU’s Academic Equity Compendium.