Our Vision
Digital Strategy and Innovation collaborates with faculty, staff, and students across UNT's academic and administrative units to ensure a world-class, 21st century institution; redefining public higher education through cutting-edge experimentation where the science of learning is the fulcrum that enables us to be at the forefront of innovative, omnichannel, lifelong education for the North Texas community and learners across the globe.
Our Mission
We embrace the mission of UNT by connecting our caring and creative community to pioneering strategies for the 21st century.
Our Team
DSI VP
Adam Fein
Vice President for Digital Strategy and Innovation
Dr. Adam D. Fein has served as Vice President for Digital Strategy and Innovation since November 2018. As the head of UNT’s online and digital strategies, he leads the charge to identify new directions and opportunities to improve the academic quality, reach and performance of the university in the online and global education markets. His research is focused on the examination of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and the effects of disruptive innovation theory in higher education.
Prior to joining UNT, Dr. Fein served the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 17 years in numerous roles with online and innovative education. He was responsible for shaping campus strategy and providing campus-wide support for innovations in classroom and online settings. In his previous roles, he was responsible for overseeing the instructional design, instructional development, instructional media resources, and online academic and student affairs teams. Prior to his time in higher education at two of the world’s largest universities, he served as a training and development consultant at Pepsi/Gatorade Inc. and at the Quaker Oats Company. In addition, Dr. Fein has published book chapters and numerous professional papers.
Education:
- Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- M.Ed., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dana Duke
Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Digital Strategy and Innovation
Dana currently serves as Executive Assistant to the VP for Digital Strategy and Innovation. She has worked at UNT for 15+ years and has worked in a number of areas on campus including the College of Business, Human Resources, Academic Affairs, and Finance and Administration.
Dana and her husband, Bryan, have three children. In her spare time, she enjoys trips to the Texas Hill Country and Broken Bow, Oklahoma with her family.
Contact Info:
DSI CLEAR
Ruthanne “Rudi” Thompson
Assistant Vice President, Digital Strategy and Innovation, Executive Director of DSI CLEAR, and Associate Professor of Biology
Dr. Rudi Thompson is a UNT Distinguished Teaching Professor, faculty member in the department of Biological Sciences, Assistant Vice President in the Division of Digital Strategy and Innovation, and Executive Director of the Center for Learning Experimentation, Application, and Research (CLEAR) at UNT. She has been in the teaching realm for more than 30 years, with experience teaching learners from PreK through Grey. Her research focuses on the space and/or the barriers between teaching and learning in science.
Contact Info:
DSI CLEAR Team
- Teresa Cox, Senior Program Coordinator
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Course Project Management Team
- Saria Hawkins, Sr. Program Project Manager
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Course Design Team
- Lauri Morrow, Senior Instructional Consultant
- Jason Powell, Senior Instructional Consultant
- Sam Gist, Instructional Design Consultant
- Marilu Howard, Instructional Design Consultant
- Katie Deering, Instructional Design Consultant
- Benjamin Nye, Instructional Design Consultant
- Anna Marsden, Instructional Design Consultant
- Emily Whitmer, Instructional Design Consultant - Enterprise
- Derek Dorsett, Instructional Design Consultant
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Creative Production Team
- Joesph Hoffmann, Director, Production
- Eric Koch, Sr. Web Designer
- Jon Holland, Sr. Web Designer
- Chema Salazar, Sr. Web Developer
- Nic Daniel, Sr. Web Developer
- Vishal Malhotra, Assistant Director for Media Production
- Jeff Merrill, Media Technical Manager
- Flipper Davis, Lead Videographer
- Daphne LaPlante, AV Assistant (Part-time)
- Joesph Hoffmann, Director, Production
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Compliance Team
- Tania Heap, Director of Learning Research & Accessibility
- Kathy Roberts, Application Support & Accessibility
- John Simone, Compliance Coordinator
- Melody McCotter, Data Analyst (Part-time)
- Accessibility Specialist (Searching)
- Faculty Fellows
- Tania Heap, Director of Learning Research & Accessibility
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Teaching Excellence Team
- Jenna Ledford, Faculty Development Specialist
- Shanae Jefferies, Faculty Development Graduate Services Assistant (Part-time)
- Jennie Johnson, Mentor, Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Program (Part-time)
- Jenna Ledford, Faculty Development Specialist
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Faculty LMS Support
- Mary Speight, Application Support Manager
- Yumia Hobbs, Faculty Helpdesk Manager
- Cady Shelhon, Faculty Helpdesk (Part-time)
- Brooke Hoese, Faculty Helpdesk (Part-time)
- Emma Hartsock, Faculty Helpdesk (Part-time)
- Alejandro Munoz, Faculty Helpdesk (Part-time)
- Yumia Hobbs, Faculty Helpdesk Manager
- Mary Speight, Application Support Manager
DSI Growth
Karen Bollinger
Assistant Vice President for Digital Growth
Karen has spent the last 25+ years building innovative marketing ecosystems in corporate, government, creative agency and higher education settings. Most recently, Karen worked at the University of Illinois, where she served on the Chancellor’s Marketing Advisory Council and as chief marketing and communications officer for the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning and Illinois Online.
Some of Karen’s accomplishments include bringing together a highly decentralized campus to create an aggregate institutional brand for more than 90 online programs and hundreds of courses. This included a new website, program microsites, market research, identity standards, content strategy, digital marketing plan and the building, integration and deployment of a new customer relationship management (CRM) system used for both online and campus-based programs.
Karen and her husband, Eric, have two daughters, Drew age 26, and Claire age 22.
Contact Info:
DSI Growth Team
- Cindy Carter, Administrative Specialist
- Patrick Pluscht, Executive Director, Learning technologies
- Linda Wilson, Career Center Digital Strategist
- Daniel Wenk, Sr. Web Developer
- Taylor Abramson, Student Office Assistant
- Ayron Walker, Student Office Assistant
DSI Budget and Operations
Karen Tumlinson
Director of Division Budget and Operations
Karen joins us from Kansas Wesleyan University where she was the Vice President of Finance and Operations (VPFO)/CFO. She was the lead administrator, technical consultant, business analyst, and implementation lead for institutional conversions or implementations of all administrative systems. Prior to her time at KWU, Karen was the Assistant Vice President for Global Initiatives, at the University of Arizona, which handled all international aspects for the institution
Karen holds three associate degrees in accounting, business, and computer programming, a bachelor’s degree in Business, and 46 masters’ level credits in accounting, law, and public administration.
In her free time, Karen enjoys nature and hiking, spending time with her husband James, visiting family, attending music festivals, volunteering, reading self-improvement articles/books, and wine and food pairing.
Contact Info:
DSI Budget and Operations Team
- Raul Rocha, Administrative Specialist
DSI Enterprise
DSI Enterprise Team
- Stephanie Elandary, Program/Project Coordinator
DSI Tech
DSI Tech Team
- Konner Gonzalez, Systems Integration Architect
- Chris Canuteson, Systems Integration Architect
- Pierce Jackson, Systems Integration Manager
- Uchenna Ajiwe, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Zachery Algaze, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Connor Currie, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Daniel Faubion, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Bret Ferguson, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Rachael Garrett, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Spencer Muskopf, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Autumn Myers, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- William Packer, Non-Student Help (Part-time)
- Natalie Pearson-Porter, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Kenneth Smith, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Andrew Wheeler, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Jacob Woodson, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Jay Dotson, Systems Integration Supervisor
- Stephen Moran, Systems Integration Supervisor
- Sr. Cross Functional IT Support Specialist (Searching)
- Michael Washington, VC Technical Services
- Allison Phillips, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Ahmed Salam, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Makenzie Spillman, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Cameron Young, Student Assistant (Part-time)
DSI Research
DSI Research Team
- Cassie Hudson, Data Analyst
- Audon Archibald, Data Analyst (Part-time)
- Kathy Roberts, Application Support & Accessibility
- John Simone, Compliance Coordinator
- Melody McCotter, Data Analyst (Part-time)
- Accessibility Specialist (Searching)
- Faculty Fellows