My office is located in the suite of offices that comprises Academic Affairs. Recently, visitors from our partner institution in England met with the Vice President, the Deans and Associate Deans, the Director of International Programs, and the Director of our London program. No one poked their head in to say hello, no one introduced me to anyone, and as they all went into the Vice-President's office, they closed the door behind them. It is obvious to me that the Director of Distance Learning should be introduced to our foreign partners, but apparently it is not obvious to anyone else.

I know, from talking to colleagues at other institutions, that my situation is not unique. Much like continuing education at some institutions, distance learning is seen as a discrete program that we can develop separately and incrementally, and it is therefore not integrated into existing structures of shared governance or planning. For this reason, I too am seen as separate from the institution as a whole. I don't think this is intentional--it is simply the result of distance learning's organic growth. But now that our online programs are more mature, it is time to provide our students with real institutional support. It is also time to use distance learning--and instructional technology more generally--as a tactical tool that can be used to address institution-wide issues (such as graduation rates and space).