Posted: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:57 am

The Messenger 03.11.09



Dyersburg State Community College director and assistant professor of health information technology Susan Osborne has been chosen to present at two prestigious education conferences this spring.

She will present a 45-minute session entitled “Energize, Engage and Enhance Online Learning With Simple Interactive Tools” at the American Technical Education Association’s (ATEA) 46th National Conference on Technical Education.

The conference will be held today through Friday in Chattanooga.

“A lot of classes are going online and it’s time we started making ourselves more flexible to students’ schedules. In doing that, we have to offer students interactivity, discussions, audio features and visual features through the online courses,” Ms. Osborne said of the presentation.

In May, Ms. Osborne will lead a roundtable discussion at the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development’s (NISOD) 31st Annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence in Austin, Texas. Her session is entitled “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Developing an Online Program Collaborating Among Five Community Colleges.” She will use her experience as a key player in developing the statewide Regents Online Degree Program (RODP) in 2008 as a platform for discussion.

The online degree is an accredited associate’s degree in health information.

Ms. Osborne received a master’s degree from the University of Memphis and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee. She is also a registered health information administrator and certified coding specialist.

Before joining the DSCC faculty in 1996, she spent more than 20 years in the health care industry, serving as director of health information at several hospitals.

She lives in Dyersburg with her husband, Jerry. She has three sons and four grandchildren and attends Hawthorne Baptist Church. Her hobbies include reading, light gardening and spending time with her grandchildren.