Office of Collaborative Partnerships and Distance Education

Distance education initiatives are accomplished through the Office of Online and Digital Learning (ODL). ODL is committed to providing training and resources to guide faculty in the development of high-quality online and hybrid courses.  Through individual consultation and group training events, the Office of Online and Digital Learning serves as a guidepost for applied online pedagogy as well as an information hub for the latest instructional technology.

• Support the online and hybrid educational goals of Auburn University Montgomery (AUM)
• Foster, support, and enhance innovative teaching and active learning in technology-enhanced, hybrid and fully online programs
• Promote high-quality online and hybrid course design and teaching practices through collaborative development of academic and administrative policies through the Office of the Provost
• Advancing online learning resources and facilities by collaborating with academic units and the Office of the Provost
• Marketing the AUM Online brand and its programs by collaborating with the Academic Units and the Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing
• Coordinate the support of online learners through collaboration with university departments and the academic units

The office has developed many partnerships with international and domestic institutions. The partnerships with international higher education institutions provides students and faculty on both sides opportunities to further their educational interests at AUM. Domestic partnerships are to:

• Create pathways for high school students to complete their Bachelors and Master’s degree at AUM seamlessly, by:
  • Providing dual enrollment opportunities
  • Reducing time to degree
  • Reducing student loans
  • Providing relevant major and career choices
• Create pathways for high school and community college students to complete their Bachelors and Master’s degree at AUM seamlessly, by:
  • Providing concurrent enrollment opportunities
  • Reducing time to degree
  • Reducing student loans
  • Providing relevant major and career choices
• Equip and empower students to make informed decisions about career pathways.

Dr. Shanta Goswami Varma who currently serves as the Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Collaborative Partnerships and Distance Education Initiatives at AUM, has over 20 years of experience in National and International Higher Education in Academic Administration.

In addition, Dr. Varma assists with the development of assessment methodologies and tools for monitoring and improving the quality of distance education and partnership projects.

Dr. Varma’s expertise include: online teaching and learning, program development and implementation, marketing and outreach, faculty development (online learning), regulatory and accreditation requirements, curriculum and instruction, partnership building and recruitment and retention. Her research interests include e-learning, faculty development in online learning, gender roles, cultural disparity, leadership roles in higher education, and women in online learning. She also holds a concurrent appointment as an Associate Professor in the department of Curriculum, Instruction and Technology in the College of Education.

Prior to AUM, she held both administrative and academic positions at the Center for Distance Learning at Empire State College, University of Texas at Brownsville, and at The University of Houston – Clear Lake (UHCL).