SCHEV Official Named Interim Head of Distance Learning

Old Dominion recently announced the appointment of Nancy Cooley as interim vice provost for distance learning, effective February 25.

Cooley, who currently is academic affairs and planning director for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), will serve under a term contract through June 2007. The university will conduct a search next year to fill the position on a permanent basis.

"Nancy Cooley is a very experienced administrator and faculty member," said Thomas L. Isenhour, provost and vice president for academic affairs, who made the announcement.

"She brings a knowledge of distance learning in Virginia and helps us move to the next generation of educational offerings. Several of us have worked with Nancy in her roles at SCHEV and are very pleased that she is joining us at Old Dominion."

Cooley joined SCHEV in 2001 and from September 2003 to August 2004 served as the organization's acting executive director.

As academic affairs and planning director, Cooley serves as liaison to the council's Academic Affairs Committee. She chairs regular meetings of the chief academic officers of Virginia's higher education institutions, and she serves as a member of the Roanoke Higher Education Authority Board of Trustees and the Advisory Board for Teacher Education and Licensure.

Prior to her arrival at SCHEV, Cooley was dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Ferris State University in Michigan. Before assuming the deanship, she held leadership positions in the offices of Information Technology and Academic Affairs, and the Department of Teacher Education and Professional Development at Central Michigan University. As a tenured faculty member and Edwin J. Towle Professor of Education at CMU, she led university initiatives in information technology.

Cooley has written many funded grant proposals and published articles and monographs focused on the integration of technology into teaching and learning. Her book (co-authored with Michelle Johnston), "Supporting New Models of Teaching and Learning Through Technology," was published by the Educational Research Service, and a chapter from the book was featured in the 2003-04 Superintendents Briefing Book.

Cooley earned a bachelor's degree in education from Central Michigan, an M.A.T. from Oakland University and a Ph.D. in curriculum, teaching and psychological studies from the University of Michigan.