Following a national search, Stephen P. Balfour has been named director of the UGA Office of Online Learning. Balfour will begin his new position Feb. 1.
Balfour will provide the leadership for the Office of Online Learning and 10 full-time staff to improve development and delivery of high-quality undergraduate and graduate courses and degree programs for academic departments. UGA currently has two undergraduate online degree programs, 16 online graduate degree programs and more than 700 online courses.
“Dr. Balfour has been on the forefront of the latest technology and pedagogy in his teaching and research roles at Texas A&M University and therefore has a big picture of how online learning should connect with today’s students,” said Rahul Shrivastav, vice president for instruction. “He brings the vision that the Office of Online Learning needs to advance and compete in a global online academic market.”
Balfour held teaching, research and administrative positions at Texas A&M University for 24 years, most recently director of Instructional and Research Computing in the College of Liberal Arts, an office that he built from the ground up. Balfour also is a consultant for grants and contracts involving technology for both instruction and research. He authored the Liberal Arts Online Course Creation Guide and was project manager in building Texas A&M’s first Lightboard technology to enhance distance learning.