Leading learning design and support teams has been one of the most meaningful parts of my career. Whether it’s building systems for course quality or developing new instructional programs, I’ve found that team structure and culture shape outcomes as much as strategy.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Early Experience at GetSmarter
Years ago, I served as Head of Evaluations at GetSmarter, where I oversaw a team that conducted instructional quality assurance across a rapidly growing portfolio of online short courses.
Reflections:
- I learned how to scale quality processes and lead multiple QA reviewers across disciplines.
- I supported the training and coaching of course reviewers, many of whom went on to advanced instructional design roles.
- It was my first experience working within a matrixed org where cross-functional collaboration was non-negotiable—and often the key to our success.
This early leadership experience shaped how I think about structure, culture, and the role of design teams in educational innovation.
Names have been removed and all pictures are stock except for mine.
An Aspirational Future at IDEAS
Before a recent division-wide restructure at UMass Amherst changed our trajectory, I had been quietly developing an aspirational org model for the IDEAS team—one that supported cross-functional work, specialization, and growth opportunities.
This model positioned instructional designers, LMS admins, tech support, and faculty developers as a collaborative ecosystem under distributed leadership. It was never implemented, but I’m sharing it here as a “what could have been” model—because leadership isn’t only about what we do. Sometimes, it’s about what we imagine, build drafts for, and hold in readiness.
Names have been removed and all pictures are stock except for mine.
A few other items that have been sitting in my drafts for over a year include an aspirational strategic plan for the unit, a faculty support workflow proposal, and an annual performance and development plan. I include versions of these here for reference.
