The Finding Joy at TCDL 2026 Treasure Hunt is a playful, self-guided conference experience designed to embody the theme "Finding Joy! Playful Innovation and Community in Action." The game invites attendees to explore designated "Joy Stops" throughout the conference venue, where short research-informed reflections and optional activities encourage moments of creativity, connection, and pause. Participants create and submit "Joy Nuggets," brief personal reflections or artifacts, contributing to a collective expression of joy within the professional community. The project integrates digital tools (Google Sites, Forms, QR codes) with intentional space-based design to foster accessible, inclusive, low-pressure engagement across diverse conference spaces.

• Role: Project Lead and Designer

• Blog Post: Sneak Peek: Finding Joy at TCDL 2026

• Game Website: Finding Joy at TCDL 2026 – Treasure Hunt

The Diversity in Higher Education Images project provides a collection of freely available, openly licensed images under a Creative Commons CC-BY license, featuring visibly diverse student participants in academic settings. The images serve as both mirrors and windows, reflecting students' identities while offering views into diverse experiences. This collection supports faculty in designing inclusive course materials by representing a range of student identities, including race, ethnicity, body size, gender expression, disabilities, and cultural dress. 

• Role: Lead

• Colleciton Website: Diversity Images in Higher Education

I developed and oversaw the Catalyst Program, a collaborative faculty development initiative designed to support course design and instructional innovation at Western Oregon University. Over the course of four years, I maintained, developed, and facilitated a wide range of courses within the program, focusing on areas such as online teaching, multimedia integration, inclusive pedagogy, and course quality (see the Faculty Development Courses section). Catalyst provided faculty members with opportunities to explore pedagogical frameworks, engage with new technologies, and receive personalized design support for their instructional projects. Through this program, we built a strong community dedicated to advancing teaching and learning practices.

The Educational Escape Room project blends entertainment with educational goals, offering an immersive learning experience where participants solve puzzles and unravel mysteries to achieve specific learning outcomes. Developed to engage students in active learning, this project was designed to enhance critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills, providing a creative and interactive way for students to apply concepts in real-time and make the learning process both engaging and fun. This project offered a fresh approach to instructional design and delivery.

• Role: Lead

• Article

The Course Quality Rubric project focused on developing and pilot-testing a course qulaity rubric based on the SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR) to enhance online teaching and learning at Western Oregon University. The development of this rubric followed a structured 5-step roadmap consisting of several key stages: Assessment of Current Rubrics, Defining Institute-Specific Goals, Stakeholder Involvement, Needs Analysis, and Customization and Weighting. This project also included collaborating with Online Learning Consortium (OLC) as an external consultant for the project.

• Role: Lead

The Web Accessibility course was designed to provide comprehensive training on the intersection of technology, accessibility, and user experience. Open to all employees and students at Western Oregon University, the course offers interactive modules on creating and using accessible web content. This self-paced course, available through Canvas, includes quizzes and badges for those fulfilling accessibility training requirements.

• Role: Team Member

As a member of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Western Oregon University, I contributed to the Canvas Transition Project, a collaborative effort with University Computing Solutions and the Canvas Team. This project focused on facilitating the migration from Moodle to Canvas by providing extensive faculty training and support. We conducted workshops, developed resources, and assisted in the integration of Canvas into the university's instructional framework to ensure a smooth and effective transition.

• Role: Team Member

This project was a collaborative effort between Western Oregon University faculty and staff and the Rebus Foundation to create an Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook entitled, The Elements of Art and Principles of Design. I contributed to this project in the roles of instructional designer and accessibility checker, ensuring that the content was pedagogically sound and accessible to all learners. 

• Role: Team Member