Plenary Speakers: Dr. Mary Beth Susman
[Agenda]

Dr. Mary Beth Susman Chief Executive Officer Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University

Dr. Mary Beth Susman is the Chief Executive Officer of the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University, an institution formed by the Kentucky legislature to create quality distance learning opportunities provided by all the independent and public institutions of Kentucky and some from outside the state.

Before coming to Kentucky, she was President of Colorado Electronic Community College, a virtual community college formed to deliver the degrees and certificates of the Colorado Community College System which makes her the first person in the U.S. to head two virtual postsecondary institutions.

Dr. Susman is a well-known national speaker on issues in Distance Education and The Virtual University, and most recently was nominated by the Smithsonian Institution as a ComputerWorld Smithsonian Laureate. Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University was inducted into the permanent archives in the American History Permanent Collection of the Smithsonian Institution as an example of how technology is promoting the economic, social and educational advancement of the U.S.

Abstract for Plenary Session "Unplanned Obsolescence of the Virtual University"
It is not enough to say that technology is producing a paradigm shift in the way we think about education. It is an orbital shift that has thrown our educational solar system careening around. Closely held traditions are imploding. Institutions are forming new worlds of mergers and partnerships, for-profit ventures and IPO's. Campus systems are mushrooming into statewide systems, then region wide, and soon planet wide systems. We're not just "out-of-the-box"; we're out of our minds.

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