Purdue Global vice provost’s collaboration, AI advocacy propels student experience

As vice provost for adult teaching and learning, Lewandowski keeps student comebacks in mind as she leads the curriculum design team, which develops online courses to be clear, relevant and engaging to students.

Last spring, Lewandowski met a couple at Purdue Global’s commencement in West Lafayette. The couple had started their undergraduate degrees at Purdue in the 1970s, but life happened and they were not able to complete their degrees. 

“They went on to both have successful careers and raise a beautiful family. But they always wanted to return to Purdue to finish. Relocating to West Lafayette wasn’t an option, but they quickly enrolled when Purdue Global opened its doors. They came back after 40 years from starting their degree to finishing their degree,” Lewandowski said. “It’s those stories that make our work so meaningful.”

Focus on family, educational missions

Lewandowski lives in northern Indiana with her husband, Bob, and her two children, Max and Claire — and three dogs, 12 chickens and 50,000 honeybees.

It’s fair to say that her family bleeds old gold and black.

She is a self-proclaimed “triple Boiler” — having earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Purdue West Lafayette. Bob earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Purdue and served in the U.S. Navy. Max will be a freshman at Purdue in the fall, and Claire is preparing for her senior year at Plymouth High School, including looking at colleges and potentially joining her brother Purdue.

For more than 25 years, Lewandowski has shaped and designed innovative programs to serve more students at scale. She was a faculty member in Purdue’s Learning Design and Technology graduate program in West Lafayette. That work continues to guide her as she collaborates between Purdue and Purdue Global. She has also served in faculty and administrative roles at Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame. 

But something kept tugging at her to come back to the Purdue University system.

She realized it was a deep connection to service and providing education to all — part of Purdue’s land-grant mission.

When she returned in her current role at Purdue Global — Purdue’s online university for working adults — she knew she would be making a difference in the lives of working adult learners.

“Purdue Global serves a unique population of students and offers adult learners an opportunity to reimagine their career pathways in a way that works with their personal lives and commitments. I welcomed the opportunity to return to the Purdue system and serve this group of students,” she said.

“I come from a military family — I’m a military spouse, daughter and sister,” she said. “The opportunities that Purdue Global provides to our military personnel were particularly important to me. We ask so much of these men and women who make daily sacrifices to serve our country; it is my privilege to be connected with an institution that is committed to meeting their unique needs.”

Collaboration with AI and course development

Lewandowski oversees approximately 43 full-time members of the curriculum design team, which provides the structure and foundation to support both the centralized curriculum and the centralized learning design process. 

“This team is staffed by amazing people who are committed to serving adult learners,” she said. “Their work is a blend of systematic thinking and creative development of resources, with the end goal being to meet the needs of the students in a way that is clear, relevant and engaging.”

Collaboration is a key part of the team’s continued success as it supports Purdue Global’s Classroom of the Future initiative, part of Purdue Global Moves 2.0.

“Collaboration is mission critical and helps identify and address gaps in current strategies, enhancing educational programs’ relevance and responsiveness,” Lewandowski said.

She and others can be found working with faculty members to review policies or with industry partners to ensure curricula are aligned with workforce demands, increasing the employability of graduates.

“Ultimately, collaboration facilitates a holistic understanding of the educational landscape, promotes shared goals, and enhances the institution’s ability to adapt to evolving challenges and opportunities,” she said.

Some of the biggest collaborations at Purdue Global involve introducing AI into several courses, platforms and policies. Lewandowski said they are exploring options to infuse AI into the course design process, as well as using it to assist in multimedia development.

“It’s an exciting time to be in this space. AI has the potential to significantly enhance online education by personalizing learning experiences, improving accessibility and increasing engagement,” Lewandowski said.

Projects and comebacks with larger impacts

Lewandowski sees collaboration in everything she does, including a new project with Ivy Tech Community College and the state of Indiana. The project: developing a course based on the National Governors Association’s Disagree Better Initiative.

“The course will look at the problems of political polarization, elevate the solutions that groups around the country are already implementing and feature governors showing what disagreeing better looks like. The course is being developed through a collaboration of Purdue Global and Ivy Tech learning designers and faculty members,” Lewandowski said.

The partners expect to launch the course this fall.

With her background and experience in learning design and technology, Lewandowski wants to share Purdue Global’s approach with more educators in the field of adult education.

“There is a rich base of scholarship of teaching and learning activities at Purdue Global that would provide a positive contribution to the field,” she said.

Some of the ways Lewandowski and her team showcase teaching and learning is through Purdue Global Village and the Purdue Global General Education Conference. Both help faculty and students explore the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Even though Lewandowski’s work and research is behind the scenes, she celebrates students’ comebacks, including her own personal comeback.

“My comeback is both literal and metaphorical. I stepped away from Purdue to try a new position, a new career opportunity,” she said. “I came back because I feel deeply rooted in the Purdue and Purdue Global community, its purpose, and its potential. I bleed old gold and black. Ever grateful, ever true.” 

About Purdue Global

Purdue Global is Purdue’s online university for working adults who have life experience and often some college credits. It offers flexible paths for students to earn an associate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, military service and previous college credits, no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and backed by Purdue University. For more information, visit https://www.purdueglobal.edu.