Bobbi Jo Carter Named Associate Dean of Distance Education

August 18, 2016

Bobbi Jo Carter has been named the Associate Dean of Distance Education Programs for Johnson State College, a newly created position overseeing the college’s popular community-based External Degree Program and online degree-completion programs. Carter comes to JSC from Calhoun Community College in Alabama, where she was the coordinator of distance learning.

“Bobbi Jo will work with our Enrollment & Retention Task Force to meet aggressive targets set for the coming year,” says JSC President Elaine Collins. “She has very strong foundational and experiential knowledge of what it takes to build a quality distance program from the ground up. We are very excited to have her join the JSC community.”

Carter previously was executive director of the Alabama Consortium for Technology & Learning. She has a Ph.D. in Organization and Management from Capella University, an M.S. in E-Learning Technology and Administration from Northern State University in South Dakota, and a B.S. in Business also from Northern State University.

“Based on the superior quality of the teaching and learning experience, JSC’s distance-learning programs have great potential to be among the top such programs in the country,” says Carter. “My goal is to make this happen.”

Carter’s first priority is to complete a needs assessment and develop policies and procedures for distance learning pertaining to professional development, student preparation, support models and quality-assurance guidelines.

“I will also be developing and implementing a growth plan. This includes creating plans to get students with associate degrees or core course work into our online/distance programs,” she says. “We will work with our sister institutions and the community and reach out to potential students who will benefit from going back to school and earning a bachelor’s degree.”

Carter’s hiring comes three months after the launch of JSC Online, a nationwide initiative that features six start dates a year, guidance from JSC-based advisers and in-state tuition rates. The college’s External Degree Program, which offers online and weekend classes in several communities throughout Vermont, was established in 1977 and has helped more than 3,000 Vermonters earn a bachelor’s degree.