From Strategy to Action: Building the Role of Chief Online Learning Officers

What does it take to lead online learning in today’s higher education landscape? In this episode of Teach & Learn, Dr. Cristi Ford sits down with Dr. Thomas Cavanagh and Dr. Jocelyn Widmer, editors of the Chief Online Learning Officer’s Guidebook, to explore how digital learning leadership is evolving—and why this resource is becoming essential for institutions everywhere.

From strategic planning to operational execution, the guidebook offers practical insights for COLOs and anyone shaping online education. You’ll hear how leadership competencies, entrepreneurial thinking, and future-focused skills like Futures Literacy are redefining what it means to lead in a post-pandemic world.

💬 “The future of online learning leadership will be defined by leaders who are not constrained by the way we’ve always done things.” — Tom Cavanagh

🔍What Cristi, Thomas and Jocelyn talk about:

☑️ Why the COLO role matters now more than ever

☑️ Strategic and operational frameworks for success

☑️ Lessons from CIO evolution and leadership competencies

☑️ Preparing for the future with Futures Literacy

 ☑️ Practical advice for new and aspiring COLOs

Purchase your copy of the Chief Online Learning Officer’s Guidebook today.

Remember to follow us on social media. You can find us on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook @D2L. Check out our YouTube channel for the video version of this podcast and so much more. Please take a moment to rate, review and share the podcast, and reach out with comments and ideas for future episodes.

For more content, please visit the Teaching & Learning Studio where you can listen to more podcast episodes, register for free D2L Master Classes and read articles written by educational leaders.

To learn more about how D2L is transforming the way the world learns, visit our website at D2L.com 
 
Class dismissed. 

Visit the Teaching & Learning Studio for more content for educators, by educators. Sign up for our newsletter today.

Transcript

Cristi Ford (00:00):

Today we're diving into the evolving role of the chief online learning officer. I'm joined by two editors of the Chief Online Learning Officer's Guidebook, a strategic and operational resource for digital learning leaders seeking practical insights and actionable strategies. Tune in as we unpack what's next for the online learning leadership arena.

Speaker 4 (00:22):

Welcome to Teach and Learn, a podcast for curious educators brought to you by D2L.

Cristi Ford (00:27):

Each week we'll meet some of the sharpest minds in the K-20 space. Sharpen your pencils, class is about to begin.

(00:34):

Welcome back to Teach and Learn, the podcast where we explore the ideas, people, and practices shaping the future of education across K-12 and higher ed. I'm your host, Dr. Cristi Ford, and today's episode is a special one. I've really been looking forward to having this episode with these colleagues. So we're going to dive into a powerful conversation around a new resource that's already making waves across digital learning leadership.

(00:57):

The Chief Online Learning Officer's Guidebook, a framework for strategy and practice in higher education. I'm joined by two of the brilliant editors behind the guidebook, Dr. Thomas Cavanagh, Vice Provost for Digital Learning at the University of Central Florida, and a national thought leader in online learning strategy. And Dr. Jocelyn Widmer, Dean of Weapons Learning Transformation at Los Alamos National Laboratory, whose leadership bridges strategy, design, and execution. Thank you to both of you for joining me on this episode today. I'm really excited about the conversation.

Tom Cavanagh (01:31):

Well, thank you. It's a thrill to be on the show.

Jocelyn Widmer (01:35):

Yeah. Thank you, Cristi. This is going to be exciting.

Cristi Ford (01:37):

Yeah, I am really excited to talk about the book, so I just want to go ahead and dive in. And so for listeners, if you don't know about the guidebook, these two editors have curated a collection of insights and case studies and strategic frameworks that offer both an opportunity for self-reflection, but also a roadmap to today's digital learning leaders, including chapters that I got a chance to participate in. And that was a lot of fun. But whether you are a COLO, which stands for Chief Online Learning Officer, we'll refer to COLO in this episode, a provost, a faculty leader, or someone working behind the scenes to really reimagine learning at scale, this conversation's for you. So for my two colleagues here, I want to jump in and just talk about the impetus behind this great book. What were the gaps that you were hoping to feel in the industry when you set out to create this guidebook?

Jocelyn Widmer (02:34):

Yeah, that's a great question. And so, I'll give you the answer as the book came to fruition and then take you a little bit behind the scenes with the answer. But really we were trying to answer the question of where do we go from here? So the book came to fruition as we were coming out of COVID and universities were under a lot of pressure to change and modify and adapt based on what we saw with COVID and then certainly other pressures at play. And so, this book really is about being that tactical tool for COLOs to be able to pick up and kind of see where they are on the maturation curve and pick up the book and take their efforts and move them forward. Behind the scenes, this book started with really a series of conversations. And Tom and I got to know each other through COVID because of COVID.

(03:30):

I actually knew about Tom prior to all of that when I was at another institution, but I had conversations with people like Tom as we were coming out of COVID and be able to connect face-to-face with each other and had the chance to assemble those insights for the CCOLO group, which is the Council of Chief Online Learning Officers, UPCEA. And Tom was leading that group. And from there, the insights were, there was enough meat on them that Tom suggested that we start to talk about a book. And one of the things that... There's a couple of different devices in the book that serve as organizing principles. One of those are the UPCEA competencies for COLOs. So as I got these... I saw these trends and patterns and the insights that I gleaned from the conversations with COLOs across the country, then I started to sync those with the eight competencies for COLOs.

(04:27):

And there was just a really nice synergy there. And that really became the organizing principle for the book. And it's kind of when Tom stepped in and helped bring it to fruition as we started to talk with editors and publishers and those sorts of things.

Cristi Ford (04:46):

That's fantastic. And Tom, I want to maybe pick up on a little bit of the thread that was just shared. I'd love for you to just maybe share a little bit about the patterns or themes that emerged as you really started to look at these diverse contributions and conversations. And maybe if you could share if there was some surprising through lines or connections that started to come together as you started to go down this path.

Tom Cavanagh (05:09):

Yeah, it's an interesting question. I will say something that kind of occurred to us as we went through this was the comparison to the evolution of the chief information officer. Something like 30 years ago, if you went to every institution across the country, they might not all have a CIO, which seems crazy now, but it was true. And the CIO has evolved into sort of this must have leadership role on campus. And we're in this sort of post-COVID moment of inflection, I think, where institutions have realized they need a similar level of leadership for the online learning enterprise. It is a strategic asset of the institution. And as such, they need somebody in a leadership seat to kind of take the reins of that. So that's one theme that really kind of emerged. Like, what could we learn from the CIO experience and apply it towards tracking the evolution of the chief online learning officer as we go through?

(06:21):

And then maybe another one was that so many of these UPCEA PCO, professional and continuing online education leader competencies, are just good leadership competencies about relationship management and fiscal responsibility and just stewardship and entrepreneurship and all of the things that just good leaders in an organization have. Now, there's one or two in there that are kind of online specific, and I would hope you know what the letters LMS mean if you're going to be in this seat, right? But overall, I think good leadership transcends the specific discipline that you're working on or it can be applied to those discipline specific requirements.

Cristi Ford (07:13):

I love-

Jocelyn Widmer (07:14):

And if I can-

Cristi Ford (07:14):

Oh, go ahead.

Jocelyn Widmer (07:15):

Sorry.

Cristi Ford (07:15):

Yeah, jump in.

Jocelyn Widmer (07:17):

I was just going to add one more piece of that that I think is kind of to come back to your original question about what gaps does the book serve. And I think our leadership really... This role evolved during COVID and those who were in the role or those who stepped into the role during COVID or right before versus those who had been in the role 10 years before, maybe even someone like Tom who had been in the role for quite some time. And so, this book is really about, it's demonstrating what the potential is along that arc of leadership in the role and having individuals like yourself, particularly in the last chapter, also showcasing where does one go outside of the academy. So I think that's an important piece because we all work so much and so hard. And oftentimes this role, it's more and more, I think there's better career ladders and career pathways for this role. There hasn't always been. And so, this book really is about showcasing what's possible and what skills and competencies COLOs have so that they can continue to move along the ladder.

Cristi Ford (08:28):

Well, and I love the transparency around that. So Tom, listening to you share the lessons learned from the CIO and the trajectories of CIOs and what we're seeing now in the chief online learning officer space. And Jocelyn, you talked about the book being very tactical, but as I got my own advanced copy, I really appreciate the balance between strategic and operational that you align and really give credence to it and thoughtfulness around in the book so that everyone's not leaving with all these great thought leadership ideas, but no plans of action or they're not so focused on just the day-to-day that they don't have a time to step back. And so I guess what I'd love to understand from both of you, we are in an age coming out of the pandemic to both your comments where a lot of institutions who were never doing online had to learn how to do it very quickly.

(09:22):

And so some of these additional roles started to evolve, but how is the guidebook really reflecting the complexity of this work and this role? I mean, it has changed dynamically in terms of being an online learning leader, a chief online learning officer from even 10 or 15 years ago. And so how is the book really speaking to today's higher education landscape and all those nuances that we're seeing here today?

Jocelyn Widmer (09:47):

Sure. I'll take the first stab and then definitely love to have Tom's perspective. So the book, I mean, you can just look through the table of contents at the end, and the biographies of our contributors and see what a wealth of perspectives that we have and diversity of experience, institution type, like, pathway into the role, seniority in the role, those sorts of things. And I think that really speaks to the dynamics and the complexity of the role. I mean, we have so many of these chief online learning officers across the country and you just look at the second line under everybody's name and you see just a diversity of titles that are doing kind of functionally pretty much the same thing, maybe at different scales or different points along that maturation curve, as I mentioned. But I think it just all continues to come back no matter how much complexity we have, it all comes back to that every single one of these individuals is focused on the learner and focused on access and access to education.

(10:54):

And that continues to evolve and look different. We continue to talk differently about what access means, or I would say kind of a more sophisticated way of what access means. And we understand our learners with better data today than we certainly have ever had in the past. But I think those two things are really kind of the central kernels that tie the complexity together and kind of create some uniformity to the role. It's pretty interesting to hear so many, I mean, just titles. People are always talking about their titles and their reporting structures and kind of that dynamic. And that certainly matters and we address that in the book, but at the end of the day, we have so many different individuals, something like 50 plus individuals who contributed to the book who can really kind of come back to these core elements.

Cristi Ford (11:50):

Yeah. I really appreciate the diversity of thought and perspectives that you offered to the book. And to that end, Tom, I guess I'd love to just have you drill down a little bit more. We've talked about chief online learning officers, COLO as a brand and a position, but we both know, all of us know that the work of online education is important in corporate. It's important in K-12. It's important to presidents and provosts. And so, really this book is not just for a COLO. Can you kind of talk about who you all hope picks the book up and the things that you maybe have already heard that people are doing with the book and how it's enhancing, not just that COLO role, but other parts of the institution?

Tom Cavanagh (12:35):

Yeah, absolutely. And that was actually pretty intentional on our part as we structured the book and some of the people we invited, like, we have a number of sitting university presidents and association leaders that contributed to the book and I think their perspective is really important. When you think about maybe concentric circles, the bullseye would be sitting COLOs, what are the competencies of my job? I'm good in this area. I can maybe get some training or some development in this other area, whatever it might be. It's like a tool for yourself, as well as to get perspectives from colleagues across the country in one convenient place. But as you move out in those circles, I think you run into people that are maybe aspiring COLOs, people at that next level down or even further below who see that as a potential career path.

(13:28):

And what do I need to do in order to grow into that role and develop my skills and competencies in order to be a good candidate for that? And I think the book does a pretty good job of giving that sort of pathway. And then, you've kind of alluded to it. I have a new provost that just started. I have not had my first one-on-one meeting with him yet, but I'm walking into the meeting with this and I'm going to give it to him because I think I gave one to our president, too. I think that would be good for them to have a better understanding of the jobs that we do because I'm not sure they all do. Maybe some of them came up as deans and department chairs and they all kind of understand what that is, but we're a bit of an odd duck on our campuses because we're the only one that does this. So I think it could be really helpful in sharing with them. And as you asked, what are people doing with it?

(14:23):

It's funny, we do have a chapter, the chapter you contributed to about life outside the academy for chief online learning officers, chief learning officers, or whatever the title may be in industry. But we're hearing from some of our ed tech friends in the commercial sector that they're buying the book for their staff, and it's a way for them to sort of understand these strange creatures they're trying to sell their products to. And I think that's really cool.

Cristi Ford (14:55):

I love that. And as an upschooling opportunity, when I started in 2009 creating an online entity for the institution I was working with, I wish I had this book for my president who said to me, "We're going to have a million learners in five years." And I was just like, if I had had this resource to really be able to share. And so, as those who are listening, it is a book, no matter who you are in the continuum, to really understand the complexities of what goes into this kind of digital learning strategy and really how do you think about, how do you do this to serve your learners well? So shout out to both of you for getting this over the finish line, and where was this in 2009? That's my only question for you.

(15:40):

So I want to talk about the fact that you both... We've all talked about it and we've talked about in our communities that we're at a profound moment of change. While AI isn't new, the advent of large language models, micro-credentialing, we're seeing policy shifts. Some institutions are concerned about declining enrollment. How have you or how do you see this guidebook serving as a futuristic or forward-facing, a future-facing tool rather than just a snapshot of the current practice and day-to-day work that's happening?

Jocelyn Widmer (16:16):

Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, first and foremost, it's this wonderful snapshot in time with these 54, 55 thought leaders, yourself included. And so, I think that alone, just the brain power in the book is super cool. But in terms of thinking about the future, so we have a chapter where we talk about what competencies will COLOs need into the future over and above the eight that UPCEA has outlined. And one of those is Futures Literacy. And so, I mean, just kind of like really directly to your question, that's something that those who contributed to that chapter, I think it's Chapter 11, that was something that bubbled up. So I think that's really key. It's the ability to kind of think in terms of scenarios that aren't fully hatched yet and think about what resources, tools, et cetera, you'll need and how to prepare for that without really knowing what's around the corner.

(17:17):

But I think also that the middle part of the book, we call it strategy overload, strategy overlays, the overload, those chapters, it's like Chapter 5 through 9. I think those are really... I mean, while the content of what substantiates those chapters today are themes and issues and challenges and all the things that are on our minds today, I think those chapters could be rewritten over and over again with what's the most important issue of the day. And so, it's chapters about the network being really key, how to think about relationships, how to think about the budget in relation to your strategy. And so, it's not about budget models, it's that relationship of pushing your strategy forward with resources and being strategic and as you asked, and not just letting lines on Excel spreadsheet dictate what you do in a month or a year.

(18:21):

And there's a chapter about student success. Well, the tools that we deploy today for student success may be one flavor, no doubt that's hopefully always going to be our North Star work that we do. And then lastly, chapter about entrepreneurship. So unless there's some alternative universe where this work happens in the absence of resources or there's no need for resources, I think we're always going to have that entrepreneurial spirit. And it's something in terms of Tom's point earlier about competencies of COLOs that may be kind of undistinguishable from just general good leadership competencies. I do think that entrepreneurship component is pretty unique.

Cristi Ford (19:05):

Absolutely.

Jocelyn Widmer (19:06):

And it's really what distinguishes the COLO role on a higher ed campus from others in the academic C-suite because there's a hustle involved to it.

Cristi Ford (19:18):

There absolutely is.

Tom Cavanagh (19:19):

Yeah. And credit where credit's due here, Cristi. I think it was you, at least for me personally, that introduced me to the concept of Futures Literacy and that did actually inform a lot of what we were thinking about as we went through some of these topics. And it does show up a couple of places in the book.

Cristi Ford (19:37):

Well, thank you for that, Tom. I used some strategies that you gave me in season one for quite a bit of time and gave you credit. And I will say, Jocelyn, as I was listening to your responses, I think it's as much about the competencies and the leadership opportunities as it is about the mindset. And so, I think it's really clear that you talk about that entrepreneurship. I mean, oftentimes when people will ask me about how do I see myself, I say, "I'm an intellectual entrepreneur. I'm really always"-

Jocelyn Widmer (20:07):

I love that.

Cristi Ford (20:07):

... "thinking about the ways in which this work can serve our students better and move the work forward. And Tom, to your comment, I just love that article that talks about how do you deal with the poverty of imagination and the things that you are up against. And so, I guess you all both know that in this leadership space, you're often navigating misconceptions and dealing with resistance on all levels, right? Innovation fatigue. Tom, I still am waiting for that failure conference that we've talked about in terms of failing forward. So what advice would you give a new COLO stepping into this work for the very first time?

Tom Cavanagh (20:51):

Yeah, it's a great question. The first thing I would say is read Chapter 2 of the book. It's called The First 90 Days, and it's really designed to give a bit of an introduction to somebody who's stepping into this role, whether as an outsider coming in or somebody from the inside who's stepping into the role who's never done it before, or in many cases it's an inaugural role. It's just never existed before. So every context is a little bit different. If it's an established role and people know what to expect, that's a different situation than an inaugural role where everybody's probably got a different set of expectations for how this is going to solve all of my problems. And you probably need to get the lay of the land and try to understand where are the opportunities for quick wins? Where are the alliances? What are the agendas at play? Where are the resources? How can I start to move the ball forward? How do I continue to communicate?

(21:54):

All of the things that you need to do when you're stepping into a new position. I had somebody describe one time, I think this was on my podcast, a situation where she was going into a new environment, a new job, and she described it as going to a foreign country and trying to understand the culture and the language and just not take anything for granted until you sort of understood that. And I think that's a pretty good analogy that it's the kind of advice I would give somebody.

Cristi Ford (22:23):

I love that. Jocelyn, did you want to jump in on that one before we move on?

Jocelyn Widmer (22:27):

For sure. That chapter on the first 90 days, because I think as Tom hit the nail on the head, we were very intentional about who we had contribute to that chapter. And there's all kinds of ways that you have your first 90 days in this role as actually you kind of talk about in your excerpt as well and what those expectations are. So I think we'll continue to see COLOs step into this role from various pathways from within the institution, outside of the institution, and just making sure you're set up for success because that was something that as someone who personally stepped into one of those inaugural roles and had to kind of wrangle the decentralization that-

Cristi Ford (23:19):

I heard a heavy sigh with that.

Jocelyn Widmer (23:20):

There's a whole lot of, hindsight is 20/20, and so we tried to really integrate that into that chapter.

Cristi Ford (23:26):

That's really great. And I love the fact that you... Again, the diversity of contributors. I mean, over 50 contributors were able to provide their insight, and you did such a great job in terms of the range of backgrounds and experiences. I think if nothing else, it shows that this work and how we've all come to this work has not been a linear process in terms of our career trajectories and how we've thought through these things. But for the two of you as the editors of this book, what did you take away personally from this process, maybe as a scholar and also as a leader?

Jocelyn Widmer (24:02):

So I'll start with that. I was thinking the other day, and it was kind of coming off of solar where huge thanks to UPCEA for really shining the light on this book. And it was so cool to see everybody, see this red book cover everywhere. So many people, like, rocking red as they had the red book. And what was really cool is the consistent thing that people came up to me and said, and Tom, I don't know if you kind of had this same moment, but so, when I was a kid in the dentist's office, there was this recreation of a peanuts cartoon and Snoopy's on his doghouse and he's typing, It's like... And the sad little bird said, "It's exciting when you know you've written something that you know is good." And that just kind of came over me as I was leaving Solar because it's good in that it's so helpful. And the consistent message that people came up to me or have sent me little messages or whatever is just the validation that the book has provided. And, I mean, I kind of experienced that.

(25:09):

I was reading a draft, one of the drafts that we were reviewing for the publisher. I was like, "Oh my gosh. Cheryl in Arkansas is like, she's got this little acronym for this thing I used to do." And you could just see so much of what you do or what you've tried or where you've failed. And that just bubbles up in so many different spaces in the book. And so many people came to me and said, "It's just such a validating book." And for those who are in the role, those who are kind of adjacent to the role, another group that's been surprisingly an interesting taker on this book are those who report to COLOs, which is super fascinating.

(25:52):

So the other piece, it was just really neat to see how people are thinking in this role. I mean, the questions we got as we started to assemble it, where people kind of got stuck with the prompt, if you will, and you just would see a week go by and kind of answer the same question over and over again. And so, it was really telling so many people are interpreting this in this one way and this moment in time we're in. So those have been some of the really neat pieces to experience behind the scenes.

Cristi Ford (26:30):

That's great. I really love that. Tom, what about you?

Tom Cavanagh (26:34):

Yeah, something that struck me, and I think this was reinforced at the recent, at least at the time of this recording, UPCEA Solar Conference, was just what a really great community we have. And I know all three of us are active in it. Not only because we had the opportunity multiple times to read everybody's contribution, we got an awful lot of smart, talented, committed to student kind of people in this space, but then they were just so generous with their time and willing to help us promote the book and they're not receiving anything for it, but I think it's because they believed in what Jocelyn was talking about. This can actually be helpful to people. And just having a renewed appreciation for the community that we have, because going back to something I said earlier, most of us are the only one of us on a campus.

(27:34):

There's 13 deans on my campus. They can all talk to each other and know each other's problems and what's going on. But if I want to do that, I got to get on the phone and call somebody at another school, which I do. I've called both of you. And I think it just sort of reinforces that this community is really supportive and helpful for each other and that this resource I think can help expand that even more.

Cristi Ford (28:00):

I will just say that I appreciate how human, authentic this book is. I appreciate that it is helpful, but it's almost like chicken soup for the soul, for leadership and COLOs because to both of your points, we are a part of such a great community and in a time when there is so much change for those who are listening, this is the book that you should be reading to help you even be reinvigorated around your passion and your work. So Tom, to your point, when you're the only disruptor or the lone wolf at your institution, you have a book chockfull of leaders that are charting the path at their institution as well. And so, I just want to thank you both for bringing this to life. And I think I'd love to maybe end this episode by asking you to each finish this line. If we're thinking about where are we going, talked about that Futures Literacy.

(28:53):

So if I were to ask you the question or have you complete the phrase, "The future of online learning leadership will be defined by leaders who..." What is your response to that?

Tom Cavanagh (29:07):

All right, Jocelyn's waiting. I guess I'll-

Cristi Ford (29:10):

Tom, you're on the spot.

Tom Cavanagh (29:11):

... go. Yeah. Well, I'll circle back maybe to the Futures Literacy discussion. So the future of online learning leadership I think will be defined by leaders who are not constrained by the way we've always done things.

Cristi Ford (29:24):

That's good.

Jocelyn Widmer (29:27):

I would say the future of online leadership needs to be made up of both dreamers and doers. I always used to tell my student, "You're a dreamer or you're doer, but the future needs someone who's both."

Cristi Ford (29:42):

Fantastic. Tom, Jocelyn, you know I admire you both. I really, really appreciate you all making time to join me on this episode. Again, congrats on the book, the success, and a huge appreciation for you all allowing me to be a contributor in the book as well.

Tom Cavanagh (29:58):

Thank you.

Jocelyn Widmer (30:00):

Yeah. Thank you, Cristi.

Cristi Ford (30:02):

So thank you also to our dedicated listeners and curious educators everywhere, reminding you to follow us on social media. You can find us on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook @D2L, and subscribe to the D2L YouTube channel. You can also sign up for the Teaching Learning Studio email blast to get the latest updates on episodes like this one or articles and masterclasses. And if you've liked what you've heard, we'd love for you to rate, review, share out this episode, which I know you will, and subscribe to the upcoming episodes so you never miss a thing that we have in store. Thanks so much for joining us today. You've been listening to Teach and Learn, a podcast for curious educators brought to you by D2L.

Speaker 4 (30:43):

To learn more about our K through 20 and corporate solutions, visit d2l.com. Visit the Teaching and Learning Studio for more material for educators by educators, including masterclasses, articles, and interviews.

Cristi Ford (30:57):

And remember to hit that subscribe button and please take a moment to rate, review, and share the podcast. Thanks for joining us. Until next time, School's Out.