Sarah Eichhorn Named Associate Dean Of UC Irvine Distance Learning Center

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- University of California, Irvine Extension, the continuing education arm of UC Irvine, has appointed Sarah Eichhorn as associate dean of the UC Irvine Distance Learning Center (DLC).  In this role, she will provide leadership in curriculum development, instructional design, and the selection and utilization of underlying platforms and technologies.

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"We are excited to have Dr. Eichhorn continue the momentum of engaging and serving the campus and other entities with the top notch distance and delivery services UCI provides," said Gary W. Matkin, Ph.D., dean of Continuing Education, Distance Learning and Summer Session. "With her extensive teaching experience and passion for applying new instructional methods, she will be the perfect advocate for campus leaders to continue to adopt technology-based initiatives."

Most recently, Eichhorn was a tenured lecturer and Assistant Vice Chair of Undergraduate Studies in Department of Mathematics at UC Irvine. She has worked with the Distance Learning Center since 2013 as a course designer, instructional researcher and OpenCourseWare website manager. She was instrumental in creating two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Algebra and Pre-Calculus which were among the first MOOCs certified for ACE college credit recommendation. She also co-taught Society, Science and Survival: Lessons from AMC's The Walking Dead, an innovative partnership between entertainment company AMC Networks and educational platform company Instructure. The free MOOC, offered last October, drew more than 65,000 students worldwide.

Eichhorn has a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Arizona and has worked on research problems in elasticity theory, data assimilation, adaptive learning, and combinatorial game theory. She has won multiple teaching awards, including the 2011 Mathematical Association of America Alder Award for distinguished teaching, the 2013 UCI Celebration of Teaching Instructional Technology Innovation Award, and the 2013 UCI Distinguished Assistant Professor for Teaching Award.

"UC Irvine's Distance Learning Center continues to innovate in online learning and the application of instructional technologies," said Eichhorn. "I'm honored to work collaboratively with our faculty, staff and partners to examine and expand the reach of instructional technology development, design and delivery."

For more information about the UC Irvine Distance Learning Center, visit learn.uci.edu or contact UC Irvine Extension at extension.uci.edu or call 949-824-5414.

About UC Irvine Extension: University of California, Irvine Extension is the continuing education arm of UC Irvine, serving nearly 40,000 students globally and offering more than 3,200 classes annually on the UC Irvine campus, online and at employer sites throughout California and worldwide. Since 1962, UC Irvine Extension has served Orange County with programs and classes to help adult learners reach their career advancement and personal enrichment goals, and remains dedicated to providing broad access to the resources of the University for the benefit of the public, both through University Extension certificate and specialized studies programs and a broad range of free and open educational resources including UC Irvine OpenCourseWare. Learn more at http://extension.uci.edu, or join us on YouTube or Facebook.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UC Irvine is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County's largest employer, UC Irvine contributes an annual economic impact of $4.2 billion. For more UC Irvine news, visit today.uci.edu. 

CONTACT: Vivian Slater, 714-573-0899 ext. 235, [email protected]

SOURCE UC Irvine Extension