Hey there! I’m Ryan Baltrip, and I’m passionate about helping leaders and organizations discover and deliver value. Currently, I’m an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Old Dominion University, where I get to share my love for marketing and AI with students. I also have the opportunity to contribute to the Loyalty Science Lab as its Associate Director.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of leading teams and institutions through periods of exciting growth and transformation. Whether it was developing strategic plans that boosted academic quality or spearheading the creation of new academic programs, I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of finding innovative ways to create value. In fact, I’ve been fortunate enough to help create over 50 new academic programs that now generate over $50 million in revenue annually and serve over 40,000 online students through various digital learning initiatives.
Before joining ODU, I was the Dean of the College of Professional Studies at Carson-Newman University. I oversee a wide range of academic programs and enrollment activities. My team and I worked hard to establish a new college, create a strategic plan focused on growth, and develop exciting new graduate and undergraduate online degrees.
I also had the amazing privilege of helping shape the strategic direction of digital learning initiatives at Miami University. Serving out of the Provost Office as the chief online learning officer for the main campus, we launched a variety of successful online, hybrid, and professional development programs while enhancing academic excellence and extending learning innovation. And earlier in my career, I was part of another incredible team at William & Mary where, out of the Provost Office, we cast a vision for and fostered learning innovation and helped expand a variety of online, hybrid, and distance education offerings across the university.
Overall, it’s been a fulfilling journey filled with opportunities to learn, grow, and make an impact. From my seminary days, I came across a quote from the missionary William Carey that said, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things from God.” It kind of captures the essence of my outlook on creativity, business, education, innovation, and life as a whole. Let’s keep moving forward with hope and great expectations!
The Bridge Bible
Many people read the Bible, but how many do not understand it? The Bridge Bible was created to help address this problem. In clear and straightforward language, the Bridge faithfully translates the original biblical texts into an innovative, user-friendly, and easy to understand Bible. The Bridge Bible is a Bible for the 21st Century. It is the most dynamic Bible translation available and will help you fill the gap between the biblical and contemporary world.
Click any of the covers below to see the books of the bible that are available now or visit www.bridgebible.net to learn more.
From Spielberg to Screen Capture: Creating Quality Online Videos
Nearly a decade ago, Kristen Ferguson and I had the privilege of presenting this content at the Online Learning Consortium’s Fall Conference in Orlando. The technical considerations, presentation elements, models, and administrative considerations for creating quality online videos for online learning remain true today. Below is a summary of presentation and the slide deck we used.
From Spielberg to Screen Capture: Creating Quality Online Videos
Online videos are essential to modern online learning, but quality matters. Good educational videos engage students with visuals, audio, and active learning strategies. Bad videos can be confusing, ineffective, and even hinder learning. A quality video balances clear, compelling content with strong technical aspects.
Technical Considerations for Creating Quality Online Videos
- Length: Short videos are […]
3 Insights on Why Pursing Innovative Paths Can Fail
Recently, I have been re-reading a classic in business management – The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen. Over 20 years later, this book’s principles continue to be timely words of insight and wisdom.
Rather than let some of these thoughts go, I thought it might be helpful to consolidate a few of my reflections here and share 3 insights on why pursing innovative paths can fail.
1. Innovative paths are often hindered not by failed leadership and management but hindered by highly effective leadership and management. Good management, seeking to serve its existing customers and brand values, is often the reason that top firms fail to exhibit leadership with disruptive innovations. It is a false perception to think that “bad” leadership is the reason for […]
3 Problematic Aspects of Online Enrollment Management
A recent article by The Atlantic provides an excellent perspective on a potential student’s reaction to “typical” online student recruitment (aka online enrollment management. Overall, the article highlights various, well-analyzed issues related to online program administration as a whole. The author – herself someone who was considering an online degree as a working adult – describes her journey of considering online programs. In doing so, she shares 3 problematic aspects of online student recruitment that are particularly worth noting.
3 Problematic Aspects of Online Enrollment Management
- Annoying and relentless phone calls. The author highlights how the phone calls (mostly from OPMs or other vendors) were too frequent and felt intrusive. She also highlights Eduventures research that says, “By and large, [prospective students] […]
To Digital Nudge or Not to Digital Nudge – That Is a Good Educational Question
Have you ever considered the power of a digital nudge to enhance learning? While you likely receive your own amount of this digital alerts and notifications each day, several universities are exploring the power of the digital nudge to enhance student success.
Surprisingly, there is a carefully crafted art & science to doing the digital nudge well in education. Too many, too irrelevant, or too many and they work against you. They are a double-edged sword that can be beneficial or just another barrage of information into the realm of stimulus overload.
Experts say that it’s no small feat to use the data to figure out where nudges are needed and if they work. And if institutions don’t have the capacity to monitor that […]