University of North Texas 
DSI Staff
Adam Fein, Ph.D.
Vice President for Digital Strategy and Innovation & Chief Digital Officer
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.
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, Dr. Fein 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.
VP Administration
Dana Duke
Senior Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Digital Strategy and Innovation
- Katy Tunks, Administrative Coordinator
- Sirisha Poolakunta Ramesh, Graduate Student Assistant (Part-Time)
Benjamin Brand, Ph.D.
Senior Director, New Ventures
Dr. Benjamin Brand fosters collaborations between the Division of Digital Strategy
and Innovation and academic units across the university to develop new digital ventures.
His current initiatives include creating high impact microcredentials and formulating
institution-wide strategies around generative AI. Dr. Brand joined DSI after seventeen
years of teaching music history at UNT’s College of Music. As the College’s Director
of Graduate Studies (2013-18) and Chair of its Division of Music History, Theory,
and Ethnomusicology (2018-23), he built a record of curricular innovation that culminated
in the launch of the BA in Critical Studies in Music and Society in 2022. Dr. Brand
holds a BA in Music from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Musicology from Yale
University.
- Rena Vincent, Sr. Administrative Coordinator
DSI Center for Learning Experimentation, Application and Research (CLEAR)
Ruthanne “Rudi” Thompson, Ed.D.
Associate Vice President, Digital Strategy and Innovation
Executive Director of DSI CLEAR
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.
- Dan Watson, Senior Administrative Coordinator
Course Design Unit
- Lauri Morrow, Associate Director of Instructional Design
- Dave Denny, Sr. Instructional Design Consultant
- Austin Haynes, Sr. Instructional Design Consultant
- Jordan Smith, Sr. Instructional Design Consultant
- Deborah Bockman, Instructional Design Consultant
- Kathleen Harris, Sr. Instructional Design Consultant
- Benjamin Nye, Instructional Design Consultant
- Jessica Robberson, Instructional Design Consultant
- Thomas Tubbs, Instructional Design Consultant
Creative Production Unit
- Joesph Hoffmann, Senior Director of Production
- Jon Holland, Assistant Director of Production
- Eric Koch, Lead Multimedia Designer
- Yamash Subedi, Assistant Graphic Designer (Part-time)
- [vacant], Sr. Programmer Analyst
- Olivia Haynes, Programmer Analyst
- Abiral Bhattarai, Web Programmer (Part-time)
- Eric Michener, Lead Videographer
- Vanessa Najera, Student Assistant (Part-time)
- Stingray Schuller, Sr. Videographer
- Cricket Childers, Videographer
- Jeff Merrill, Studio Manager / Lead Videographer
- Matthew Farmer, Videographer
- Asha Chowdhury, AV Assistant (Part-time)
- Keilynn Rogers, Student Assistant (Part-time)
Digital Compliance Unit
- Tania Heap, Senior Director of Learning Research & Accessibility
- Charlesa Olmstead, J.D., Digital Compliance Officer
- Daniel Bernardo, Digital Accessibility Specialist
- Danae Harris, Sr. Digital Accessibility Specialist
- Stephanie Hinojosa, Digital Accessibility Specialist
- Caroline Kairu, Digital Accessibility Specialist
- Ethan Ligon, Digital Accessibility Assistant (Part-time)
- Jarrod Trovada, Digital Accessibility Assistant (Part-time)
- Treacy Lauren Flener, Student Assistant (Part-time)
Faculty Development Unit
- Aubree Stearns, Director of Faculty Development
- Babafunso Adegbola, Sr. Faculty Development Specialist
- Tama Hebert, Educational Technology Trainer
- [vacant], Graduate Assistant
- Nirvik Thapa, Graduate Assistant
Learning Applications Research Unit
- Monique Scales, Application Support Analyst
DSI Digital 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 and Claire.
- Jannet Ponder - Administrative Coordinator
- Patrick Pluscht, Executive Director, DSI Digital Growth
- Caleb Walter, Digital Marketing Program Mngr
- [vacant], Sr Programmer Analyst
- Taylor Abramson, Marketing Coordinator
- Kiera Gerner, Graphic Designer, Non-Student Help - Hourly
- Suyosha Acharya, Office Assistant (Part-time)
- Akhila Akula, Office Assistant (Part-time)
- Solina Galo, Office Assistant (Part-time)
DSI Enterprise
Samantha Nikolai
Director, DSI Enterprise
Samantha (Sam) Nikolai is the Director of Enterprise for the University of North Texas
Division of Digital Strategy and Innovation. With over a decade of experience in education
and strategic partnerships, Sam has a passion for connecting industry leaders to academic
institutions. Since assuming her role in August 2019, Sam has cultivated partnerships
with notable organizations such as Coursera, the Dallas Cowboys, Liberty Mutual, and
Cinemark, among others, to create meaningful collaborations and connect students and
faculty with innovative opportunities. Through her work, Sam has helped bridge the
gap between academia and industry, paving the way for the next generation of leaders
and innovators.
- Stephanie Myers, Digital Strategist
- Indra Bhagat, Sr. Program Project Manager
- Kevin Huang, Online Student Success Coordinator
- Rhiannon White, Associate Director of Professional Learning
- Tami Russell, Program Project Coordinator
- Jim Hoffman, Program Director, Energy Industry Finance & Accounting Continuing Education Programs
- Denise Belmonte, Digital Strategist Intern (Part-time)
- Divya Thailam, Student Assistant (Part-time)
DSI Learning Analysis and Digital Research (LADR)
Tania Heap, Ed.D.
Senior Director of Learning Research & Accessibility
Dr. Tania Heap is the Director of Learning Research and Accessibility based in the
Center for Learning Experimentation, Application, and Research (CLEAR) at the University
of North Texas (UNT). She has been involved in online and technology-enhanced learning
initiatives in different capacities for over 15 years. Her background is in practice-based
research in learning technology, design and methods in social-behavioral-educational
research with human participants, digital accessibility and ADA compliance testing,
faculty development, and instructional design for high-enrollment online classes and
MOOCs.
- Audon Archibald, Data Analyst
- Graduate and Undergraduate Interns
- Faculty Fellows
Office of the Vice President for Digital Strategy and Innovation Organizational Chart
Click below to see the Division of Digital Strategy and Innovation organizational chart in PDF and accessible text versions.
Related Links
Questions?
Contact the Digital Strategy and Innovation team.
dsi@unt.edu 
(940) 565-2624 
(940) 369-8652
