A Newsletter for Faculty Teaching Online
Welcome

Dear MTSU faculty colleagues,
Welcome to Spring 2025 from MTSU Online. On behalf of our mighty team of nine people, we are primed and ready to support you as you teach online. Your efforts are so important as we work together to bring the many resources of MTSU to our region, state, and beyond. So many learners rely on us to give them flexible learning opportunities that they would not otherwise have due to factors such as time, location, and family, and work responsibilities.
MTSU Online continues its run of significant growth, as it has for the last several years. These two graphs show the growth in the number of fully online programs, and the growth in online enrollment in terms of student credit hours.
- The number of fully online programs offered has increased significantly, and we now have 73 programs, with 43 of those programs launched since 2020.
- In Fall 2024, 54% of MTSU took at least one online course.
- In Fall 2024, MTSU Online supported 28 full-time, temporary instructors in 18 academic departments who focus on providing high-quality online teaching.


- The number of fully online programs offered has increased significantly, and we now have 73 programs, with 43 of those programs launched since 2020.
- In Fall 2024, 54% of MTSU took at least one online course.
- In Fall 2024, MTSU Online supported 28 full-time, temporary instructors in 18 academic departments who focus on providing high-quality online teaching.
This growth is attributable directly to the faculty and departments being willing to innovate and work toward student success. Our team is proud to support you in your excellent work. I hope you benefit from this newsletter, and I wish you a highly successful Spring semester.
Respectfully,

Trey Martindale
Professor and Associate Vice Provost for Online Learning
Have you Heard?
Quality Matters® is Here

Due to the hard work of our MTSU faculty across campus and our MTSU Online staff, we have grown exponentially and now offer more online courses and programs than ever. Thank you for all your efforts! With so many of our students taking at least one online course (more than 50%), we want to ensure we do all we can to offer faculty the resources and services needed to aid in their student’s success. To that end, MTSU has become a full subscriber institution with Quality Matters® (QM).
What does that mean?
QM is the gold standard in online course and program development, design, and delivery. Rooted in the principles of online student success practices, QM will now be the foundation of every online course developed and designed through MTSU Online, allowing us to increase our efforts in achieving excellence in quality assurance.
If you want to learn more or find out how to participate in our updated quality assurance efforts, watch the short video below and scan the QR code on the screen or in the QM Launch Infographic and fill out the form. You can also send questions to our QM Liaison, Tara Perrin. Please see this newsletter’s Webinars and Workshops section for upcoming virtual QM Events. We will be posting more information about QM on our MTSU Online website under the for faculty option very soon.
QM Specific Information at MTSU
MTSU QM Official Launch Infographic w/ Links
QM Website: qualitymatters.org
QM Course: Elements of QM Course
QM Higher Ed. Standard Rubric 7th Ed.
New Online Proctoring Service: ProctorU

PROCTORING UPDATE!
ProctorU is our new online proctoring service. If you don’t need a proctored exam in the next 10 days or so, please wait. We will have the integration completed soon. Our ITD team has worked very diligently, and encouraged the vendor to fix their issues with the integration. *
* Instructions if you need a proctored exam immediately.
As you may know, Meazure Learning is the vendor MTSU contracts with for exam proctoring within D2L. Meazure Learning owns both Examity and ProctorU, and Meazure Learning has ended Examity. So now, MTSU and all their other university customers will use ProctorU.
We are currently working with ProctorU to complete the LMS integration, as ProctorU has had some difficulty completing this. Please view the Proctoring Services webpage for more information about proctoring options and resources. You can also watch the recording of the ProctorU introduction webinar.
If you have any support information regarding Examity in your D2L courses or have the link included in the Navigation Bar of D2L, please remove it.
If you have any questions, please contact our Assistant Coordinator of Student Services, Tonya Dowd.
D2L Email Function is Being Discontinued
As was announced in Fall 2024, the D2L email function will no longer be available in the LMS. There is no announcement of a specific date, but we encourage faculty to be prepared. If you are a faculty member who uses the email tool, please make sure that any references to D2L Email are removed from your course and syllabus. Students’ mtmail address should be used for all student communications. If you would like to discuss strategies for communicating with your class/students or organizing emails, please contact any of our Instructional Designers or email us at [email protected] and your message will be forwarded appropriately.
MTSU Online Drop-in Clinics will Continue
We are pleased to announce that our Instructional Design Drop-In Clinic pilot was a success and will continue for the Spring 2025 semester! These clinics are an opportunity for any faculty or staff member to drop in and speak with one of our ID team members. Bring your questions, ideas, or concerns about our LMS or other online teaching topics. All Clinics are virtual and last 90 minutes; registration is NOT required – just pop in. Clinics are scheduled for the following dates:
MONTH | DATE | TIME | |
---|---|---|---|
January 2025 | |||
Wednesday, 22nd | 10:00-11:30 | AM | |
February | |||
Thursday, 6th | 1:00-2:30 | PM | |
Tuesday, 11th | 1:00-2:30 | PM | |
Monday, 17th | 10:00-11:30 | AM | |
Wednesday, 26th | 10:00-11:30 | AM | |
March | |||
Thursday, 6th | 1:00-2:30 | PM | |
Monday, 17th | 10:00-11:30 | AM | |
Wednesday, 26th | 10:00-11:30 | AM | |
April | |||
Thursday, 3rd | 1:00-2:30 | PM | |
Tuesday, 8th | 1:00-2:30 | PM | |
Monday, 21st | 10:00-11:30 | AM | |
Wednesday, 30th | 10:00-11:30 | AM | |
May | |||
Thursday, 1st | 1:00-2:30 | PM | |
Tuesday, 13th | 1:00-2:30 | PM | |
Monday, 19th | 10:00-11:30 | AM | |
Wednesday, 28th | 10:00-11:30 | AM |
MTSU Online Webinars and Workshops
Quality Matters (QM) Workshops
Teaching and Technology (TNT) Workshops
Special Thanks
Drs. Lando Carter and Jenn Caputo, Interim Directors, LT&ITC
With great respect and tremendous gratitude, we say a big THANK YOU to the LT&ITC Interim Directors, Drs. Lando Carter and Jenn Caputo. Since instructional designers were added to MTSU Online in the fall of 2019, the LT&ITC has been a supportive partner to us individually and as a group, providing space and programming for instructors of all ranks and lengths of service to hone their skills, consider pedagogical approaches, and learn from their faculty peers and instructional design team. From the start, the LT&ITC welcomed MTSU Online instructional designers as part of the MTSU family, which was appreciated more than you both will ever know. It has not always been an easy road, but the LT&ITC made it much smoother and, frankly, more fun.
As the “Center” progresses to its next chapter, we look forward to continuing the collegial partnership established with the LT&ITC and these terrific, dedicated faculty members. Thank you for your service to our MTSU Community. We wish you both well in your next endeavors and will faithfully continue the tradition established during your dedicated years of service.
Staff Spotlight
Mrs. Tara Perrin, M.A.

Hi! I am Tara Perrin, the “eldest” of the MTSU Online Instructional Design Team, having just celebrated my 5 year anniversary at MTSU Online. (Yes, I started with COVID). Before coming to MTSU in 2020, my journey to instructional design started with concierge advising of online students, which then segued into the instructional design field with an online student focus at Tennessee Technological University. Having obtained degrees at MTSU in Sociology emphasizing education and first-generation students, my passion for inclusion and belonging is long held. As I discovered my love for online students and quality design and development, I earned certifications in online development, design, and teaching from Oregon State University and Quality Matters®.
Currently enrolled in the Ed.S. Higher Education concentration at MTSU, my focus is online students and modalities and the quality assurance processes rooted in student success. In my work with faculty, I strive to build relationships and collaborate positively, so students see themselves in quality MTSU online courses. This helps students connect to our university, follows better practices centered on quality assurance, and, most importantly, allows students to dream bigger by seeing themselves represented in all spaces, including the academy.
Originally from Florida, I have been in the Boro for 17 years with my husband of almost 30 years, Richard. We currently have 3 furbabies, 2 cats (Roxie and Bailey), and our Great Pyrenees ((Travis) Kelce). We are HUGE Kansas City Chiefs fans, hence our dog’s name. I love to watch documentaries, read good books, and work with our talented faculty to make MTSU Online the best option for all students, near and far! .
Our MTSU Online Family has Grown!


We are thrilled to announce a new arrival to our MTSU Online Family! Please help us congratulate Dr. Tim Oneal and his wife, Tiffany, on the birth of their little girl, Evelynn Zella Oneal (Evie). She arrived on January 5th at 3:19 pm, weighing 5.12 lbs. Both momma and baby are healthy, and everyone is doing well. Welcome to our MTSUO Family, Evie!!!