Resume

Michael B. Looney (BSc, MSc)

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

A committed professional in the open, distance, and adult education field who collaborates well at all levels of an organization with a proven ability to work effectively across disciplinary boundaries to achieve objectives.

  1. ✴More than 20 years experience working in the field of post-secondary education in BC.

  2. ✴7 years experience in course and program development.

  3. ✴12 years experience instructing a diverse student body.

  4. ✴Strong knowledge of instructional design principles and practice for adult education.

  5. ✴Recognized commitment to enhancing opportunities and removing barriers to education for adult learners.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Program Coordinator, Faculty of Arts (2007 – present)

Thompson Rivers University – Open Learning Division, Kamloops, BC.

Accountable for providing effective liaison between the face to face faculty in Arts and the distance providers of the Open Learning Division and overseeing Open Learning’s Adult Basic Education program.

  1. ✴Secured University Senate approval for 16 new courses to support Open Learning Arts programs.

  2. ✴Oversaw prioritization and development of more than 24 new and revised Arts courses.

  3. ✴Achieved precedent setting decision from Arts Faculty Council for variance to approval process for Open Learning Arts courses in the face of initial strong opposition.

  4. ✴Participated in short-listing, interviewing, and hiring more than 15 new tutors and subject matter experts for course delivery and development.

  5. ✴Rationalized a suite of 12 Adult Basic Education courses to more effectively market the program as preparatory to 7 different university streams rather than solely as individual courses to support program requirements.

  6. ✴Developed proposal for rebuilding the Open Learning BA History major by licensing course material as an alternative to costly and time-consuming course development. Proposal was well received by the History department.

  7. ✴Analyzed college program transfer opportunities and developed degree program plans for 5 articulated partnership agreements with Ontario institutes and Colleges.

  8. ✴Maintained departmental expectation of a 5 day timeline on turnaround for approval of more than 300 individual student Program Plans per year.

  9. ✴Regularly assess transfer credit from out of province institutions.

Coordinator, Development and Delivery, Department of Arts and Science (2005 – 2007)

Thompson Rivers University – Open Learning Division, Burnaby, BC.

Responsible for coordinating the delivery, development, and maintenance of courses for distance education in the Arts and Science program.

  1. ✴Initiated and oversaw the development and delivery of ten 300-level seminar-based web courses in a variety of Arts and Science disciplines. Courses have contributed to expanding upper level elective opportunities and have attracted on average over 100 students per year – a significant increase over other upper level offerings.

  2. ✴Managed an average of 30 minor course revisions per year and supervised a support staff of 7 who were responsible for course revision, maintenance, and delivery.

  3. ✴Negotiated remuneration with course tutors for an average of 30 individual minor course  revision projects per year.

  4. ✴Chaired hiring committees who short-listed, interviewed, and hired subject matter experts for approximately 30 course development projects.

  5. ✴Oversaw an average of 10 instructional design projects per year undertaken by instructional designers. Projects included major course revisions and new courses.

  6. ✴Chaired 5 student conduct review committees. Achieved consensus on satisfactory outcome in all cases.

Supervisor, Project Development, Department of Arts and Science (2003 - 2004)

British Columbia Open University, Burnaby, BC.

Responsible for planning and supervising the development and revision of courses for distance education in Arts and Science (both print and web).

  1. ✴Initiated the design and development of a course template to bring some consistency to what was a disparate array of distance course offerings. Template was adopted institution wide and continues to be used today.

  2. ✴Negotiated partial funding and initiated and consulted on the development of a CD-ROM to teach principles of microscopy for an Adult Basic Education biology course. Final product has been pedagogically successful and has reduced the course materials cost to students by approximately $200.

Independent Consultant (2000 – 2003)

LooneyWare – Cost Effective Web Publishing Solutions (sole proprietor).

  1. ✴BC Minerals Education Program of BC – modified blogging software to develop a Web publishing platform to allow Director of the organization to self-publish materials for their teacher partners. Software has been successfully used for 10 years without modification.

  2. ✴Mining Association of BC – parent organization of BC Minerals. Requested to implement the same system described above on the recommendation of Director of BC Minerals.

Biology Laboratory Supervisor (1998 – 2000)

Douglas College, New Westminster, BC.

Responsible for coordinating the operational and educational activities of an open audio-tutorial lab and participated in instructing more than 500 students per semester who were enrolled in any one of 5 university transfer or applied biology courses.

  1. ✴Initiated and supervised revisions to the laboratory curriculum – units designed for independent self-paced enquiry.

  2. ✴Wrote a proposal to secure funding for a Provincially Initiated Curriculum Development Grant to develop 2 multimedia teaching modules for specific aspects of human anatomy and physiology.

Biology Laboratory Instructor (Technician IV) (1988 – 1998)

Douglas College, New Westminster, BC.

Responsible for instruction and evaluation of an average of 200 students per year in the Biology Laboratory Program. Conducted weekly oral evaluations of all students in introductory courses — Human Anatomy and Physiology and University Transfer Biology.

  1. ✴Designed, developed, and implemented 6 small multimedia modules designed to supplement lab activities. Modules were very well received and improved student engagement and success in the labs.

  2. ✴Developed 4 new lab activities for first and second-year laboratories.

Teaching Assistant (1986 – 1988)

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

  1. ✴Taught Botany and Introductory Biology Laboratories.

EDUCATION

MSc, Plant Science (1999)

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

  1. ✴Thesis topic: The development and assessment of the effectiveness of a multimedia introduction to plant secondary metabolism.

BSc, Botany (1986)

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

CONFERENCES/PRESENTATIONS

Kaleidoscope 2000: Innovative Good Practice in Post-Secondary Education, Vancouver, BC.

  1. ✴Topic presented: Web-based instructional laboratory units resolve conceptual bottlenecks in biology.

Ed-Media '99, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Telecommunications, Seattle, Washington.

  1. ✴Delivered two poster/demo sessions:

  2. 1.The development and assessment of a multimedia introduction to plant secondary metabolism.

  3. 2.Articulations on the Web (co-presenter).

Connections '98: Bridging the Gap, Vancouver, BC.

  1. ✴Topic presented: Conversion of standalone multimedia units for delivery over the World Wide Web.

Douglas College Institutional Self-Study (1997)

  1. ✴Invited to present biology multimedia projects to faculty and staff from various disciplines within the College to demonstrate innovative instructional delivery methods.

RECENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  1. ✴Member of the Association for the Advancement of Computers in Education.

  2. ✴Attended the 2009 Canadian Network for Innovation in Education Conference (Ottawa, ON).

  3. ✴Attended ELearn conferences in 2005 and 2009 (Vancouver, BC).

  4. ✴Attended Canadian Association for Distance Education conferences in 2004 (Toronto) and 2005 (Vancouver).

AWARDS

  1. ✴Most Innovative Business Proposal Award (E-commerce/Hi-Tech) in the Sunbrite - SUCCESS Business Plan Competition (2002).

  2. ✴Co-recipient of an Outstanding Paper Award at ED-MEDIA '99, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Telecommunications in Seattle, Washington (one of 10 awarded papers out of more than 500 presented).

  3. ✴E. Bruce Tregunna Memorial Scholarship in Plant Physiology (UBC – merit based) (1985).

VOLUNTEER WORK

Volunteer Tutor, Downtown East Education Centre, 101 Powell Street, Vancouver, BC.

  1. ✴Provided small group and individual tutoring in basic math and science — one afternoon per week (2001 – 2003).

REFERENCES

  1. ✴Available upon request.