A\u00a0first-generation college graduate who has faced the hard choices adults often make in trying to balance the pressing needs of family and career, Dan Viele, dean of the School of Adult and Online Education, brings a vision of online learning to Maryville that serves as a model for universities across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re creating programs for working adults who have taken the bold step of completing their degrees,\u201d Viele says. \u201cThey lead busy lives, and they\u2019re looking for a quality program. We have respect for their maturity and ability to process content differently than the traditional 18- to 22-year-old college student.\u201d Launching five years ago with select courses in advanced nursing, Maryville Online now offers 30 programs across academic disciplines, with 10 more in development for next fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cDan Viele is at the core of our online program success,\u201d says President Mark Lombardi, PhD. \u201cHe has designed and\u00a0implemented the highest quality, cutting-edge model for online education in America with quiet professionalism and a commitment to excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Viele grew up in Springfield, Il., the son of a coal miner and his wife, both of whom immigrated as children to the U.S. from Italy. Neither of his parents had the opportunity to experience education beyond grade school. \u201cWe were a working-class family; those were my roots,\u201d Viele says. \u201cI inherited my dad\u2019s work ethic, and I was determined to figure out a way to get a college education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viele earned a bachelor\u2019s in accounting and later returned to school for a master\u2019s, earning a slot as a graduate assistant to help finance his studies\u2014his first introduction to working in higher education. In a sense, his early efforts to create additional learning opportunities for\u00a0his students was similar to what his team does now for Maryville\u2019s online programs, Viele says. \u201cI presented the content in ways that were shaped around the major questions students asked,\u201d Viele says. \u201cI felt like I was really helping students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viele\u2019s teaching career extended over 20 more years as an accounting professor, and along the way he made a point of studying best practices in student engagement. He also stayed alert to changing workforce needs. When the fields of management information systems and information technology emerged in the 1980s, he developed courses for both subjects at a time when few others understood computers and technology. Viele later left academia to become a controller and systems analyst for a start-up company in St. Louis, where he pushed the boundaries and learned to expect more from tried-and-true systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did a lot of things with their accounting system it wasn\u2019t really designed to do, such as extract data and build graphic views of how well we were performing, creating a precursor to the dashboards and analytics we use now,\u201d Viele says. \u201cI was bringing technology to the forefront and using accounting to convey information in a way that was most valuable to the people who needed it\u2014but who didn\u2019t know how to get it or use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that experience, an axiom for the online program was first realized. \u201cThat\u2019s what we do here at Maryville,\u201d he says. \u201cWe constantly focus on finding the right data to inform our decisions about which programs will be successful and meet market demands as well as how best to engage our students.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Viele\u2019s ingenuity landed him a job with the Silicon Valley company that developed the accounting system. But he missed teaching, and returned to higher education. Viele joined the faculty at Webster University just as a decision was made to create an online MBA program. He eagerly jumped aboard the planning team. \u201cAlong the way, we figured out a lot of best practices,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
In 2013, when Viele joined Maryville, the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing in the Walker College of Health Professions had just launched several graduate courses, but that was the extent of the University\u2019s foray into online education. His charge was to expand the online format to other academic disciplines. In preparing for that expansion, Viele hired two key teams: learning designers and rich media and system architects\u2014experts in creating a flexible, online environment. For them, excellence is not just an idea\u2014it\u2019s a measurable goal.\u00a0\u201cWe have a course review process that is 25 pages long,\u201d Viele says.<\/p>\n
Viele\u2019s impact on the online initiative at Maryville is game-changing, says Katherine Louthan, executive director for the School of Adult and Online Education. \u201cDan brings a successful strategy for growth through market-relevant program selection, data-driven decision making and an engaging learning environment,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
As a pioneer in online learning, Viele shares his knowledge throughout the country with advisory boards and as a speaker and panelist. \u201cDan is a systems thinker who knows the value of infrastructure,\u201d Louthan says. \u201cHis unique take on how we partner with academic departments and faculty to bring online learning to life is special. He is known to say, \u2018We don\u2019t own programs or curriculum, we only own the quality of the work we do and the service we provide.'”<\/p>\n
This story originally appeared in the Fall 2018 issue of Maryville Magazine<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n