DELTA Adds Tim Petty, Looks Ahead
DELTA welcomes new Associate Vice Provost for Online and Distance Education Tim Petty. Prior to his new post, which started November 1, he worked as a professor of Microbiology in NC State’s Department of Biological Sciences.
According to Senior Vice Provost Tom Miller, it was important for DELTA to find a leader with a deep background and understanding of Online and Distance Education, with strong academic credentials and vision for the future.
Petty had just the vision and depth of experience DELTA was looking for. A faculty member at NC State for more than 27 years, Petty has been involved in every aspect of working with DELTA from the faculty side. Along with teaching online, Petty also served as an Online and Distance Education program director so he is familiar with DELTA’s operations, programs and processes.
In addition to his research and teaching experience, Petty has gained online and distance education administrative experience at the University of North Carolina (UNC) system level. He served as the support staff for the UNC Online Task Force to review the current and future state of online education in the UNC system.
Looking Forward
During 2017, DELTA experienced changes in reporting lines as well as physical proximities. Much of DELTA relocated to the Center for Technology and Innovation and created a more synergistic working environment.
In addition, as of July 1, 2017, DELTA reorganized to merge staff members who support learning technologies at NC State under one unit. The new unit, Academic Technology Innovation, combined the Instructional Technology Support and Development unit and the Media Production Services team, which was previously housed in the Online and Distance Education unit.
The organizational shift created an opportunity for the new Online and Distance Education associate vice provost to focus efforts on growing enrollments, programs and certificate offerings and supporting existing programs and instructors, with the utmost attention paid to quality.
Miller explained that online education enrollments and programs continue to grow nationally, so the competition is rapidly increasing as well. “It is very important to maintain NC State’s leadership position and make sure our programs are well positioned to compete in the national market,” Miller added.
Moving forward, Miller knows DELTA will continue to meet the goals of its strategic plan for student success through online courses and programs for students at a distance and on campus.
“We want to continue our strategy of extending the reach of NC State by building and promoting online programs in our unique areas of strength,” said Miller. “We are focusing on how we continuously improve our program offerings and maintain a strong position nationally and internationally.”
With the planned retirement of Rebecca Swanson and hiring of Petty, relocation and reorganization, DELTA has positioned itself to be more streamlined and effective to propel us forward to continue supporting faculty and impacting student success.
