Associate Dean of Distance Ed to Serve in USDLA

Janine Lim nominated by USDLA board president

Janine Lim, associate dean for online higher education in the School of Distance Education at Andrews University, was appointed to serve on the United States Distance Learning Association Board (USDLA) in April. Lim, a recipient of the 2008 USDLA Outstanding Leadership Award, was appointed to the board by Elaine Shuck, the current USDLA President.

“It was an honor to be a presidential nominee,” says Lim. “I am looking forward to using my experience to help further the goals of distance education on our campus and throughout the world.”

The USDLA, founded in 1987, was the first nonprofit association in the United States to support distance learning research. Created to meet the needs of various learning communities, USDLA works to support and improve methods of distance learning in the United States. In addition USDLA is also focused on international technology-based distance learning. The USDLA, through its mission of supporting the development and application of distance learning, focuses on all legislation impacting the distance learning community and its varied constituencies.

The leadership of the USDLA is composed of an elected president, an executive committee and a governing board with John G. Flores as executive director. Members of the association board are elected to three-year terms, although Lim, and others, can be appointed at the discretion of the president. Responsibilities of the board include organizing annual events such as the annual USDLA National Conference, the annual USDLA Policy Forum, and the International Forum of Women in E-Learning, judging nominations for the extensive awards conferred by USDLA and other activities.

Lim completed her undergraduate studies at Andrews University in 1995, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts in communication with minors in reading and religion. The following year Lim received her Masters of Arts in teaching, and in 2010 Lim concluded her education at Andrews by obtaining her Ph.D. in leadership.

As the Associate Dean of the School of Distance Education, Lim and her team support over 200 online courses, provide training for faculty teaching online, and work through campus infrastructure to support online learning. Her department also provides educational technology and LearningHub support for faculty and students. In addition, Janine is responsible for the faculty and courses that make up the Consortium of Adventist Colleges and Universities.

Lim is currently engaged in a number of research pursuits to determine the factors necessary to reach higher levels of intersubjectivity and rigor in online discussions including researching factors that predict the success of students in self-paced courses and activity patterns, researching the relationship between student surveys of teaching and teacher behavior in online courses and self and external reviews of online courses.