Upcoming Events and Workshops
Multiple Perspectives 2026: Infrastructures for Accessibility
The 26th Annual Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion & Disability Conference explores this year's theme, Infrastructures for Accessibility — examining the policies, practices, and enabling structures that support full participation in society for people with disabilities. From curb-cuts to AI, the conference invites attendees to consider how design, technology, and civic engagement can advance the goals of the ADA.
Hosted by Ohio State's Civil Rights Compliance Office and supported by the Ethel Louise Armstrong Endowment Fund, this two-day event brings together educators, advocates, policymakers, and community partners to expand our collective understanding of disability as integral to the human experience.
The 3rd Annual AI Symposium at Cleveland State University
A one-day event bringing together educators, researchers, students, and professionals to explore AI's role in teaching, learning, and the workplace. Features a keynote by Dr. Liza Long (Idaho State Board of Education) on AI's potential to spark a new academic renaissance, plus panel discussions, hands-on tool demonstrations, and networking. All experience levels welcome.
The QM Ohio Annual Member Meeting
Join fellow QM Ohio faculty and staff from member institutions for a day of collaboration, innovation, and celebration of quality in online learning. Hosted at UC Blue Ash College, this year’s annual meeting will explore how to meet new challenges in higher education while preserving the foundations of quality online course design.
9th Annual OpenCon Ohio 2026
OpenCon Ohio 2026 returns with the theme Reimagining Learning: The Future of Open Education. The main conference takes place Friday, May 15 via Zoom — free and open to all. Keynote speaker Anna Mills, a visionary leader in open education and AI, will headline the event. Lightning talk proposals are currently being accepted.
For the first time since 2020, OpenCon Ohio will also feature an in-person preconference on Thursday, May 14 at Cleveland State University. Free to attend, this community-focused day offers networking, idea sharing, and training on textbook affordability for Ohio higher education support staff. Breakfast and lunch are included while spots last, generously sponsored by the Midwest Higher Education Compact (MHEC).
Preconference registration is open through April 16, 2026.
National QMC Meeting
Dear QM Coordinators,
We hope your spring semester is off to a great start! Join us for our first HE QMC meeting of 2026 on Wednesday, February 12, at 1 p.m. Eastern. We have an exciting agenda packed with updates, new offerings, and professional development opportunities to support your work.
What We’ll Cover:
Validation Reviews
Learn about QM’s new Validation Review —a cost-effective way to recognize institutional quality assurance processes (rather than through individual course certification). Institutions that meet criteria in a validation review receive the QM Endorsement for Course Design Quality Assurance.
Move to 2 Reviewers for HE QM Course Reviews
We will share important updates on the transition from three reviewers to two for official HE course reviews, including what this means for your review process.
AI Professional Development
Get an overview of QM’s AI offerings, from the Leveraging Generative AI for Course Design workshop with new sessions starting in March, to self-paced AI workshops available year-round.
New Directions (and opportunities!) for the CHLOE Report
The CHLOE Project has an innovative year planned! We’ll share the new direction for 2026 and discuss additional opportunities for involvement and your own campus conversations.
QM Consulting Catalog Spotlight
QM’s Director of Quality Assurance Implementation Solutions, Dr. Racheal Brooks, has created a full catalog of offerings to help your institution get started with or scale online learning, meet accessibility goals, integrate and support AI, and more! We’ll spotlight some of the items that might be a best-fit for your current needs.
Upcoming Events
Policy to Practice Summit (February 26) - A joint event with WCET focused on institutional policies and quality assurance for online programs.
QM Connect 2026 (Jacksonville, FL, October 26-28) - Save the date for our annual, in-person conference.
Future Fridays Webinars (on AI) and other PD offerings to share with your institution.
Registration:
All QMC meetings are held from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern and are recorded, with the recordings emailed and posted on the QMC Training site. Register Today.
As always, this meeting is dedicated to you! It’s an open forum for you to ask questions, share ideas, and connect with fellow QMCs. We look forward to seeing you there!
If you have questions or suggestions for future meeting topics, please reach out to us at QMCoordinators@qualitymatters.org.
APPQMR (Virtual)
Learn the underlying principles behind the QM Rubric and the critical elements of the QM quality assurance process. Learn about drafting helpful recommendations as you apply the Rubric to an actual course.
Contact: Sheri Stover (Wright State University)
Virtual
APPQMR
Learn the underlying principles behind the QM Rubric and the critical elements of the QM quality assurance process. Learn about drafting helpful recommendations as you apply the Rubric to an actual course.
Contact: Ashley Coulter (Walsh University)
In-Person
Activities and Assessments: From Confusion to Clarity
Whether you’re designing or reviewing online courses with QM Higher Education Rubric, Seventh Edition, do you find yourself getting confused between “activities” and “assessments?” Are you unsure about the purpose of each, how they differ from each other, and why both are important for quality online learning?
QM is here to help! In this special webinar just for our higher education members, we’ll take a deep dive into this topic, exploring the ins and outs, similarities, differences, and value of activities and assessments. You’ll come away with additional clarity and perspective to help you work with these important concepts in your quality course efforts. Come with your questions or, better yet, ask them in advance via the pre-webinar survey!
By the end of this webinar, you’ll be able to:
Define activities and assessments and explain the unique purpose/role of each.
Describe how activities and assessments are evaluated using the QM Higher Education Rubric, Seventh Edition – specifically with regard to General Standards 3 and 5.
Evaluate course assignments to determine their type (activity or assessment), and correctly identify them on a Course Map.
Have a question you’d like to ask on this topic?
Fill out the survey and we’ll answer it in the webinar!
Presented by:
Dr. Bethany Simunich, has held faculty roles for both in-person and online teaching, as well as educational technology, instructional design, and faculty development for online learning for more than 20 years. As an online learning administrator, she has created and managed instructional design processes and teams; led faculty development for online teaching; and served in leadership and consulting roles for institutional, state, and national efforts for online quality assurance. Dr. Simunich is also co-director of the CHLOE Project(Changing Landscape of Online Education), which reports the unique perspective of senior leaders in online learning from U.S. higher education institutions, and co-author of High Impact Design for Online Courses (HIDOC), which presents an instructional design model purpose-built for the unique considerations of online learning modalities.
September QMC Meeting
Welcome back for the '24-'25 Academic Year! We look forward to seeing all of you at the upcoming QMC webinar on Wednesday, September 18.
Please join us for important updates and a discussion around Open Educational Resources. QMC’s, check your email for the log in instructions.
QM Ohio Annual Member Meeting
Save the Date for QM Ohio’s Annual Member Meeting! Ohio Dominican University will host on Friday, May 10th!
APPQMR (Virtual)
Wright State University will be offering a virtual Applying the QM Rubric Workshop. Contact Sheri Stover sheri.stover@wright.edu to register.
APPQMR (Virtual)
Wright State University will be offering a virtual Applying the QM Rubric Workshop. Contact Sheri Stover sheri.stover@wright.edu to register.
QMC Monthly Webinar
Hey!
I hope that all of you are having a great term, and I hope that you're getting some of this sunshine that we up north. 😎
On Wednesday, February 21, we will have our first QMC webinar of 2024. We hope that we have a chance to "see" all of you. There will be some important updates and reminders, and we will take some time to explore policies, both new and existing, that are set to have an impact on higher ed.
Meeting access information can be found below.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. Also, if there are any topics, upcoming events, or anything related to our work with online courses, let me know, and I will be sure that we have the chance to cover it.
Best,
Heather
Heather Burke is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: QMC Webinar: February 2024
Time: Feb 21, 2024 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/97516865716
