About UMassOnline

Dr. Ken Udas, whose background includes a diverse set of executive management and teaching roles in Slovakia, Austria, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and New Zealand as well as in the United States, became the Chief Executive Officer of UMassOnline in September, 2009.

Prior to joining UMassOnline, Dr. Udas was the Executive Director of Penn State World Campus where he led the development of the organization's vision with responsibility for prioritizing and resourcing initiatives, staffing plans, and capital and operational investments. His managerial oversight of operations included educational technology, student services, academic advising, student retention, marketing, program development, faculty development, learning design and course development.

Previously, Dr. Udas was Director, SUNY Learning Network, The State of New York Systems Administration in Albany, NY. The SUNY Learning Network is a partnership of 40 SUNY institutions ranging from community colleges to research universities serving more than 100,000 student enrollments. In this role Dr. Udas had managerial oversight of operations including faculty development, technology services, communications and outreach, and Web site development.

Earlier, for two years, Dr. Udas was E-Learning Director at The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand which is a major online and distance learning institution serving more than 35,000 adult learners. And for approximately a year prior to that Dr. Udas was Director, Distance Learning Network (DLN), EdNet, CARANA Corporation USAID Project based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he established and managed all DLN operations, the Information and Communications Technology department, and the Technical Training department with an internationally distributed team of administrative, technical, and educational professionals. CARANA Corporation is a leading provider of global economic development solutions to government, private business and international donor agencies.

Dr. Udas' extraordinary career has also included Web-Based Course developer and instructor for Spotfire, Inc., an analytical software development company; Course Director and Teaching Faculty, School of Information Technology, Harcourt Higher Education which was a first-of-its-kind online university; Research Associate, Commitment to Education in the Department of Educational Administration at Texas A&M University; and, Operations Manager, Ellison Campus Center, Salem State College.

Most recently serving as Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Adult Education at The Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Udas' other academic and teaching experiences include having served as: Adjunct Associate Professor, Graduate Faculty, Management, University of Maryland University College; Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Science, F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College; Visiting Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management, Univerzita Komenského, Bratislava, Slovak Republic; Lecturer, University of Maryland System, European Division, Heidelberg, Germany; Lecturer, International University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria; Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh; and, Lecturer at City University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

Dr. Udas is a member of the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU) - Sloan National Commission on Online Learning which, since 2007, has engaged college Presidents and Chancellors in discussions about the utility of online education as a means to achieve broader institutional priorities such as diversity, retention, internationalization and accountability. He is also Co-chairperson, IMS Student Induction to eLearning which is researching, identifying, and documenting best practices and standards in flexible learning that positively impact adult learner retention and completion. The IMS Global Learning Consortium creates standards for the development and adoption of technologies that enable high-quality, accessible, and affordable learning experiences.

A member of the Editorial Board for the American Journal of Distance Education, Dr. Udas is also a member of Sloan-C and the American Distance Education Consortium where he also serves as Principal Contact Officer. He is co-leader for the Educause Constituency Group on Openness, an association focused on the emergence and adoption of open technologies, practices, policies, and initiatives, and how they affect the delivery and support of education. Dr. Udas has written and presented extensively on the topic of distance education and technology.

Dr. Macaulay brings to UMassOnline over 25 years of experience in adult and continuing education, including 20 years in public higher education. She has developed and managed credit and degree programs at the graduate and undergraduate level, corporate and workforce development initiatives, literacy and basic skills programs, and public and government services. Initially joining UMass in 1999 as the Director of the UMass I-495 Center for Professional Education, Dr. Barbara Macaulay developed one of the first system wide initiatives, one that was created to bring UMass programs and services to the I-495 region. Now as Chief Academic Officer for UMassOnline, she works with the campuses to grow online opportunities, develop single and multi-campus efforts, support faculty, and develop new opportunities with external organizations.

Dr. Macaulay's field of study is adult learning and she pursues this discipline via teaching and professional development efforts. She develops and teaches courses in adult learning, adult development, and program development for both graduate students and practitioners in adult and higher education. These courses are taught in both face-to-face and online environments. She also currently serves as a doctoral advisor in the AEGIS Program at Teachers College.

A native of New York, Dr. Macaulay has made Massachusetts her home for most of her professional career. She received a BS from Springfield College, a M.Ed. from Worcester State College, and a M.A. and Ed.D. from Teachers College/Columbia University.

Jennifer joins UMassOnline with more than 15 years business to business marketing experience in corporate education, technology and non-profit/fundraising. Prior to joining UMassOnline, Jennifer owned a full service marketing consulting firm whose clients included a leading business analyst for the corporate training market, Bersin & Associates and Training Media Review, a source of independent reviews of media-based business training and online degree programs.

Between 1996 - 2003 Jennifer held senior management positions with McGraw-Hill, Course Technology (a Thomson company) and ITworld.com (formerly a division of the International Data Group) where she managed marketing, public relations and communications strategies to drive revenues, increase brand awareness and streamline operational functions within the business units to decrease overhead and increase profits.

Jennifer's expertise in search engine optimization (SEO), social media, online marketing, and strategic web-based development puts her in demand at events around the country such as the Eduventures member round-table, EduWeb, and New England region professional marketing networking events. She currently serves as well in a teaching role with the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) workshop series.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts and lives with her husband and two children in Leominster, Massachusetts.

Executive director for the University of Massachusetts China Institute and Director for the University of Massachusetts Confucius Institute, Guo was the former Director of the UMass Boston China Program Center and serves as the Senior Advisor to the President of UMass for China Affairs.

Mr. Guo is a distinguished China consultant, advising higher education, business and government organizations in the US and China that are interested in establishing programs, partnerships or business concerns together. He has been instrumental in developing the China initiatives at University of Massachusetts and the University of Massachusetts Confucius Institute.

Prior to joining the University of Massachusetts, Mr. Guo was the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Agiletron Consulting Group (ACG), an international strategy and government relationships consulting firm. Before founding ACG, Guo served for five years as Chief Operating Officer of RCL Computer Ltd., a network and integration company providing technology service in Boston, Vancouver Canada and Beijing China area.

Mr. Guo has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Biology Chemistry from Zhongshan University of China and the University of Toronto. He is a frequent speaker on Chinese culture and history, as well as economic, education and business development in China.

Dr. Dirk Messelaar, Dean of Corporate, Continuing, and Distance Education at UMass Boston, brings 33 years of experience in higher education to the UMassOnline management team. During his 30 years at UMass -- 22 years at UMass Lowell and the last eight years at UMass Boston -- he has collaborated with colleges, academic departments, local business / industry, government agencies, and professional societies to substantially increase the University's outreach capabilities. Specifically, Dr. Messelaar has been instrumental in developing the two campuses' many certificate programs, new degree options, distance learning capabilities, and corporate partnerships.

In addition to his experience as an administrator, Dr. Messelaar has taught English and technical writing for 30 years at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Having taught a web-based technical writing course on both the Lowell and Boston campuses for the past four years, he was among the first on-line teachers in the UMass system. He authored the manual An Instructor's Guide to Developing Web-based Courses, used to train UMass cyber faculty.

Dr. Messelaar is known nationally in the field of continuing higher education, having served on the University Continuing Education Association's Board of Directors and on the Editorial Board of the Continuing Higher Education Review. He has also been on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Education. Dr. Messelaar founded and chaired the UMass/Community College Network that resulted in many UMass courses being offered throughout the state's community college system. He also founded and served as President of the Massachusetts Council for Quality, linking UMass with 150 member companies.

Dr. Messelaar serves an a UMass administration representative on the team negotiating the UMass System's first distance learning contract with the Massachusetts Society of Professors (representing the Amherst and Boston faculty). He is also the UMass Boston administration representative on the Academic Affairs/Distance Learning Subcommittee of the Faculty Council.

Dr. Messelaar earned a bachelor's degree in English from UMass Amherst, and his master's and doctoral degrees in English Education from Boston University.

Li Feng, pronounced as féng lì in Chinese, came to the U.S. from China in 2001. Ms. Feng joins UMassOnline as China Initiative Coordinator to manage the China strategy in offering online education to those learning and living in China. Her responsibilities include providing tactical project management support for the China Initiative and providing instructional design assistance to faculty developing online courses for Chinese audiences.

Prior to joining UMassOnline, Ms. Feng worked at UMass Lowell as Instructional Technology Specialist, providing training, consultation, and support for faculty to enhance their teaching with an online component and various instructional technologies. Ms. Feng also has college teaching experience both in China and in the U.S.

Ms. Feng holds an M. Ed. Degree and Certificate in Instructional Technology Design. She is now working on her Ed. D. in Language Arts and Literacy. The topic of her dissertation is using computer games to help foreign language learners.

Ms. Feng is passionate about three areas: 1) making teaching and learning a more effective and enjoyable process by meaningfully integrating technology into it; 2) providing educational opportunities for more people with online education technologies; and 3) cultural and language exchanges between China and the U.S.

China Continuing Education Association is a non-profit academic organization under the umbrella of the Chinese Association of Higher Education approved by the Ministry of Education. Founded in May 2000, CCEA derived from the National Coordination Group of College Continuing Education led by Tsinghua University in 1993. The Chair of CCEA is held by Tsinghua University and its secretariat is located in the Administration Office of Continuing & Professional Education of Tsinghua University. CCEA now represents over 170 MOE accredited mainland colleges and universities. It is committed to enhancing the development of China's adult, continuing, and professional education and contributing to the construction of a life-long learning society. CCEA initiates various research programs by putting together the expertise and resources of its member institutions across the country. It encourages exchanges and cooperation among colleges and universities by organizing a variety of academic events, conferences and seminars such as the Association's Annual Academic Conference, Workshop on Training the Trainers, Continuing Education Leadership Seminar, etc. CCEA also offers consultation services and helps build connections between its member institutions and their counterparts in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas.

Learn more about this partnership, read the UMassOnline China partnership announcement.

Founded in 2006, CERNET is a new and hi-tech company with an initial capital of RMB0.167 billion jointly invested by CERNET Co., Ltd. and other investors. Based on the principle of Internet Assisting Education, guided by the relevant departments of MOE, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, and based on CERNET, China Education and Research Network, CERNET Education is actively and pervasively co-operating with colleges and universities as well as educational resource providers both at home and abroad on developing bases for remote education nationwide.

Learn more about this partnership, read the UMassOnline China partnership announcement.

The University of Massachusetts China Institute's mission is to maximize the potential of the University of Massachusetts in responding to the emerging impact of China in the world. University of Massachusetts China Institute will gather, coordinate and promote existing China-oriented activities. It will encourage and facilitate new initiatives, both at the system level and on the individual UMass campuses, and will support such efforts through outreach, identification of opportunities and development of new resources.

Learn more about the China Institute, visit the China Institute website.