1. Interview with Ellen Wagner
By Holly Bielak, Kim Cavallo, Yaa Donyina, Vicki Greene and Vernon Simpson
DEPM 604

2. Rationale for Choice of Distance Education Leader
Ellen Wagner is Chief Research & Strategy Officer for the Predictive Analytics Reporting (PAR) Framework
Executive Director of the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) from 2009 to 2013
Formerly Senior Director of Worldwide eLearning Solutions, Adobe Systems, Inc.
prior career as university professor at University of Northern Colorado
Project Director at the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunication, Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education
PhD in Educational Psychology from University of Colorado Boulder

3. What do you think are the most important qualities in a leader?
Being approachable, trustworthy, transparent, engaging people in ideas
Its situational, step up and not be afraid of what is going on
Willingness to step up and get stuff done
Leaders need a willingness to get things going

4. Women lead differently (Hardy Video)
Women are non-hierarchical leaders
There is not a lot of female role models
The quality of the experience has to be worthwhile
Guide yourself to make it work

5. In your opinion, how is being a leader in a distance education institution different from other organizations?
She does not know and asked the group
She has been working in software industry for 8 years
She needed to prove there is a market for e-learning
Vernon said D.E. institutions use a different skill set

6. How would you describe your leadership style?
Paint a picture of the future and get people to see themselves in it
Socializing the new idea
You have to get people to imagine how to do things differently
Evangelism-what is in it for you
When distance education is everywhere we have to think differently

7. In your opinion, can someone be an effective leader without being an effective manager? Why or Why not?
Yes, some people are great leaders without management skills
Her business partner developed Dreamweaver
She is the leader & her business partner is the manager
People need to trust and believe in you
Leaders need to inspire confidence
Taking care of the business of what you are doing

8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using virtual teams in an organization?
She has been using virtual teams since 1992
Her company is based in United States with teams in India, Pakistan & Australia
Virtual teams are very helpful because work is shared digitally
Challenges include the need to be flexible due to various time zones
You have to be comfortable with technology and self-directed working

9. What advice would you give to a student or young professional who wants to enter the distance education field?
Think about what you would like to accomplish to leverage distance education
Think about the impact which you would like to have
Think about your strengths & how you could bring it to the table
Be open to learning new things