The Rise of Competency-based Education

Dr. Jeff Borden Chief Academic Officer, D2L Dr. Borden is currently the Chief Academic Officer at D2L, a Professor of Communication and Education, a Davis Scholar in Residence awarded by the Akilah Institute, and a speaker / consultant / leader across higher education. As a former Chief Innovation Officer, Academic Research Director (“Think Tank”), and lifelong advocate for effective eLearning, Jeff has spoken to educators at every level, from professors to politicians to presidents to principals, in 38 countries and 49 of 50 U.S. states. A passionate teaching and learning expert, Dr. Borden is generating and communicating the best possible ideas, strategies, and philosophies to transform learning at scale. Through award winning “learning ecosystem” creation, brain-based education strategies, large scale alternate reality games for education, and other creative endeavors, Dr. Borden has implemented effective learning techniques for thousands. Having written academic anthology chapters, academic journal articles, editorials, blogs, and given interviews for dozens of academic and popular media, as well as having presented to more than 5,000 audiences in 20 years, Dr. Borden will provide practical, researched, intentional strategies for changing learning. Dr. Tim Renick Executive Director, National Institute for Student Success Timothy Renick is the founding Executive Director of the National Institute for Student Success and Professor of Religious Studies at Georgia State University. Between 2008-2020, he directed the student success efforts of the university, overseeing a 62% improvement in graduation rates and the elimination of all equity gaps based on students' race, ethnicity, or income level. For six consecutive years, Georgia State has graduated more African American students with bachelor’s degrees than any other not-for-profit college or university in the nation. Dr. Renick has testified on strategies for helping university students succeed before the U.S. Senate and has twice been invited to speak at the White House. His work has been covered by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, and CNN and cited by former President Barack Obama. He was named one of the Most Innovative People in Higher Education by Washington Monthly and one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine. Dr. Renick was the recipient of the Award for National Leadership in Student Success Innovation and was awarded the McGraw Prize in Higher Education. A summa cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, Dr. Renick holds his M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton University. Elizabeth Burns Senior Success Coach, Sinclair Community College Elizabeth graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History from The Ohio State University and completed her Master of Education in Student Affairs in Higher Education – Administration at Wright State University. Elizabeth has worked in various roles at Sinclair over her 6 years with the college, including as the online testing coordinator, online program coordinator, online academic coach and now as a success coach. As a success coach, Elizabeth works closely with students in the FlexPace program (Sinclair’s competency-based education program) as well as the faculty who teach the course and the instructional designers who create and revise the courses. This collaborative partnership has created a unique, wrap-around experience for the students, faculty & staff in the program. Her favorite aspect of being a coach is watching students who didn’t believe they could be successful go on to achieve their academic goals and usually surprise themselves with their resiliency and hard work. She enjoys traveling with her husband & children, playing volleyball, reading and DIY house projects.