Illinois Online Higher Education Symposium
Doing Less with Less Effectively
November 7, 2025
Free virtual conference
Organized by Illinois Public Universities
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Overview
After a successful inaugural event, NIU is proud to again be partnering with all Illinois public universities to offer the 2nd annual Illinois Online Higher Education Symposium, bringing together thought leaders and practitioners with expertise in online teaching and learning from across the state of Illinois to discuss the latest trends in online learning--from pedagogy to technology. This year's theme, "Doing Less with Less, Effectively," emphasizes innovative strategies for impactful online education within evolving resource constraints.
This free virtual conference will be held on November 7th, 2025 and welcomes all those who learn, teach, develop, support, or administer online education.
New This Year
- Dedicated tracks highlighting insights and strategies from our community college colleagues and staff, whose expertise can greatly benefit all institutions.
- Expanded focus on Hyflex teaching modalities to better accommodate diverse student needs.
Target Audience (Presenters and Attendees)
Higher education instructors who teach online, online leaders or administrators, instructional designers, instructional technologists, and anyone interested in online or hyflex learning. While the focus is on Illinois, we invite anyone from anywhere to participate.
Purpose of the Event
- Showcase exemplary virtual educational practices
- Foster collaboration with the Illinois online education community
- Share effective practices and innovative solutions tailored to Illinois’ unique educational landscape
Present at the 2nd Annual Symposium
Proposals highlighting effective strategies are invited from our vibrant statewide higher education online community. This year's theme, "Doing Less with Less, Effectively," emphasizes achieving quality outcomes despite limited resources. Sessions may focus on efficient online teaching practices, streamlined course design (including hybrid and HyFlex models), and effective leadership of online programs.
Submissions from community college colleagues and staff and particularly encouraged, whose experience and innovative approaches can greatly inform and benefit institutions across Illinois and beyond.
Proposals will undergo peer review, and presenters will receive thoughtful, constructive feedback.
Timeline
- April 2, 2025: Accepting submissions
- June 30, 2025: Deadline for submissions
- August 4, 2025: Notification of acceptance
- October 1, 2025: Conference schedule released
- November 7, 2025: Symposium
Themes to Consider
- Visionary Leadership: Maximizing Impact with Limited Resources
- Efficient Leadership Strategies in Online Education
- Streamlined Course Design for Multi-modal Learning (Traditional, Workplace, Accelerated, Micro-credentials)
- Online Pedagogy: Effective and Efficient Practices
- Practical AI Applications in Online Education
- Supporting Faculty, Students, and Technologies in Environment of Cost Reduction
- Innovative Hybrid/HyFlex Strategies for Sustainable Teaching
Review Criteria
Proposals will be reviewed using the following criteria:
- Clarity: The proposal is written clearly and professionally.
- Relevance: The session’s topic is relevant and of current interest to those who teach, administer, support, research or lead online education.
- Significance: The session will make a notable contribution to the knowledge and/or practice of online education.
- Completeness: The proposal adequately describes what will occur during the session (not just describing the background and importance of the topic).
- Alignment: The proposal aligns with one or more of the conference topics.
Organizing Committee
- Anthony Piña, Chief Online Learning Officer, Illinois State University
- Craig Engstrom, Director - Center for Teaching Excellence, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
- Layne Morsch, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs at UIS, University of Illinois-Springfield
- Lisa J. Anderson, Director - Office of Online Learning, University of Illinois
- Nikki LaGrone, Director - Center for Teaching & Learning, Governors State University
- Susan Wegmann, Director - SIUC Global, Southern Illinois University Carbondale