Sterling Heights Resident Linda Wiechowski, Ph.D.,Receives Distinguished Online Faculty Award for Walsh College Teaching Troy, Michigan, Dec. 15, 2010 —Sterling Heights resident Linda Wiechowski, Ph.D., chair of the Walsh College Finance and Economics department, received the 2010 Keith A. Pretty “Distinguished Online Faculty Member of the Year Award” and a $1,000 check toward Walsh student scholarships from the Alliance for Excellence in Online Education (A4EOE). The Alliance is a group of Great Lakes-area online educators, administrators, and student services employees who share best practices, technologies, and pedagogies. The award was recommended by Dr. Wiechowski’s peers and approved by the A4EOE board of directors. The board singled out Dr. Wiechowski’s use of student-centered techniques to ensure that online students are learning effectively. In addition to her role as Chair, Dr. Wiechowski teaches financial management and economics in the Walsh College Master of Science in Finance, MBA, and Bachelor of Business Administration degree programs. “Teaching online, reaching out and interacting with the students, is a challenge – and that’s what makes it fun,” Dr. Wiechowski said. Online students ultimately will benefit in the workplace, she added. “Students who work in virtual teams will be prepared for the virtual nature of the global companies they will work for.” Strides in technology now accommodate the many ways that adult students learn. “I can now explain in a voiceover PowerPoint with visuals, audio, video clips, and interactive exercises, what were once several pages of text lectures,” Dr. Wiechowski said. Walsh College President Stephanie W. Bergeron described Dr. Wiechowski’s commitment to her students and Walsh graduates as “exemplary.” Dr. Wiechowski has “led in the implementation of creative online teaching techniques while requiring the rigor expected in a Walsh degree program,” President Bergeron said. “She is a tireless advocate in helping others learn of the power of online learning, convincing even the most skeptical critic of the power of the tools. We are proud of her accomplishments and grateful that she is being recognized.” Dr. Wiechowski’s peers also view her as a role model and guide for teaching in the virtual classroom. “She has encouraged many of her colleagues to teach online and has made sure that her department’s online courses are those of quality,” said Karen Rhoda, Ph.D., dean of the Walsh College Division of Online Learning. Dr. Wiechowski first supplemented a team-taught undergraduate accounting course with online materials in 1999. By 2001, she designed and taught a graduate-level finance course that included online homework labs to encourage students to interact. “Dr. Wiechowski’s online courses are superbly designed so that students are guided through learning the intricacies of finance, economics and the technical expertise required in this discipline area,” Dr. Rhoda said. Dr. Wiechowski’s availability to her online students is critical to the student’s experience and academic success in the virtual classroom, and to the overall success of the Walsh online program, she continued. Dr. Wiechowski earned a Bachelor of Accountancy degree from Walsh College and MBA and doctoral degrees in Economics from Wayne State University. She began teaching at Walsh College as an adjunct professor in 1984, later joining the full-time faculty and serving as interim associate dean and chair of the Finance and Economics Department. She has taught health care economics and finance as well as computers and presented on “Best Practices in Online Learning” at regional, national, and international conferences. Dr. Wiechowski is the second Walsh College online educator to receive the “Distinguished Online Faculty Member of the Year” award, named for Northwood University President and sponsor Keith A. Pretty. In 2005, Adjunct Professor of Business Law Steven Harms, J.D., received the award. The Alliance presents the award every October at its Symposium for Excellence in Online Learning. ### Walsh College Southeast Michigan’s Walsh College (www.walshcollege.edu), a private, non-profit all-business college that is one of Michigan’s largest graduate schools of business, integrates application and theory to prepare graduates for successful careers. The College offers degrees at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels in the classroom and online. Fields of study range from accounting and business administration to information assurance and taxation. A professional certificate program is also offered. Founded in 1922, Walsh College is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (www.ncahlc.org; phone: 312. 263.0456); The Association for Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP, www.acbsp.org); and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE, www.iacbe.org). To learn more about online learning at Walsh College, visit www.walshcollege.edu/onlineprograms. The Alliance for Excellence in Online Education Founded in 2002, the Alliance for Excellence in Online Education (www.a4eoe.org) is a group of Great Lakes educators, administrators, and student services employees who share best practices as they rise to the challenge of educating a student population with high expectations for online learning and other uses of technology in education. The Alliance also works to ensure that all students benefit from new online degree programs relevant to the job market. The group also showcases online technologies, and annually honors a “Distinguished Online Faculty Member of the Year.” CONTACT Donna B. Mirabito, Public Relations Coordinator /
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Nomination for Distinguished Faculty Member of the Year 
