SLN → Open SUNY → SUNY Online

1994

• The SUNY Learning Network (SLN) is launched as one of the earliest large-scale, system-coordinated online learning initiatives in U.S. higher education with a grant from the Sloan Foundation.

Mid–Late 1990s

• With continued support from the Sloan Foundation, SLN develops the technical centralized infrastructure of one of the earliest enterprise-level learning management systems in the world using Lotus Notes groupware (through 1995) and Lotus Domino (from spring 1996), and in parallel develops pedagogy-driven online faculty development and instructional design models focused on teaching presence, interaction, and intentional course design. 
  • Spring 1996 – the first centralized course management system was designed and  implemented providing a consistent Lotus Notes course interface for faculty, and a consistent web course interface for learners (via Mozilla/Netscape).
• SLN systematic data collection and research on online faculty and learner satisfaction begins.
• SUNY Faculty are supported as course creators and paired with centrally trained/managed online instructional designers.

2000s

• SLN expands system-wide with the homegrown learning management system, working with more than 40 SUNY campuses.
• Thousands of faculty and hundreds of instructional designers participate in SLN-centrally supported online course development and professional learning across New York State.
• The instructional designer role becomes increasingly professionalized and embedded within campuses.
• At the height of SLN, these efforts contributed to the delivery of 7,500+ fully online course sections annually, serving 100,000+ learner enrollments systemwide with 95-98% levels of satisfaction and reported learning from both online faculty and learners. SLN was referenced in 2000 by Frank Mayadas, then program director for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, who testified before the Kerry Commission on online education. In his testimony, he referenced the SUNY Learning Network (SLN) of the State University of New York as the second largest asynchronous learning network in the country (pp. 136-7, Mayadas, (2001).
  Mayadas, F., (2001). Testimony to the Kerry Commission on Web-based education [PDF]. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 5(1), 134-138.)

2010–2014

• SLN’s course design frameworks, faculty development processes, and community-of-practice model are widely recognized and influential.
• In May 2011, the SUNY Learning Network (SLN) was selected as a Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) Wave I Grantee, receiving $250,000 in the Blended Learning Challenge area with Alexandra M. Pickett, SLN Associate Director as the grant author and Principal Investigator. 
  • The initiative was selected through a highly competitive national process: approximately 600 proposals were submitted, 50 pre-proposals advanced, and 32 projects ultimately received funding.
  • The SUNY Catch-Up and Complete: Enhanced Blended Learning Initiative (May 2011–April 2013) focused on supporting at-risk learners through blended online education models designed to improve persistence, completion, and employment outcomes. The project implemented targeted academic and technical interventions, including the use of Starfish, an early alerts platform, and online learning concierges, to support learner success. 
  • Working in partnership with SUNY Herkimer College and Finger Lakes Community College, SLN enhanced selected degree programs to better serve young adult single parents from underserved populations, with the goal of helping learners catch up academically, complete their education, and begin to break cycles of poverty in New York State. 
  • The SUNY Blend project established academic and technical interventions implemented in the Open SUNY + signature online elements program and later expanded with the focused SUNY Online Degrees at Scale initiative.
• SLN is rebranded by SUNY Chancellor Nanchy Zimpher in 2014, having established enduring foundations for online teaching and learning across SUNY.

2014

• SLN transitions to Open SUNY, to focus on expanding SUNY’s online education strategy and system-level coordination. There is a focus on scale and online program development to meet NYS workforce development needs.
  
• The Open SUNY+ program and signature elements; the SUNY Institutional Readiness program/campus consultations;  and the Open SUNY Course Quality Review rubric and process (OSCQR) are developed and implemented during this period.
  
• The Open SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence (COTE) is established, continuing SLN’s focus on online faculty development, instructional design, and quality.
  
• The SUNY Online Teaching badging ecosystem is conceptualized and implemented. Bringing badging and Credly to the SUNY system to recognize, honor, and certify roles and contributions to the Online Teaching Community of practice; as well as online teaching competency development. 

2014–2017

• Open SUNY emphasizes openness, scalability, and cross-campus collaboration.
  
• Tools, resources, and professional learning opportunities continue to support online faculty, instructional designers, and campuses system-wide.
  
• The SUNY-wide online teaching community of practice is sustained and expanded.
  
• OSCQR and the Instructional Designer Certificate program are adopted and endorsed by the Online Learning Consortium (2016).

2018

• Open SUNY transitions to SUNY Online under SUNY Chancellor Christina Johnson, aligning online education more closely with SUNY’s academic and strategic priorities.
  
• The Open SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence evolves into SUNY Online Teaching.

2019

• The SUNY Online Degrees at Scale program is initiated in 2019 and was officially terminated in March 2023. The centralized program successfully targeted the development of high needs online programs from select campuses; strategically expanded marketing SUNY Online educational opportunities; formalized the role of online student success coaches; and developed the SUNY Online Student Success Inventory (SOSSI).
  • SOSSI is an online survey that identifies a student’s strengths and concerns related to online learning to provide readiness insights that advisors and mentors can use to help learners prepare for success in online learning.

2018–Present

• SUNY Online Teaching continues its role as the system’s hub for online teaching expertise, online faculty development, and instructional design leadership.
  
• New initiatives advance online course quality, inclusive online teaching practices, professional learning communities, and research-informed innovation.
  
• Core principles established during the SLN era—pedagogy first, faculty ownership, instructional designer partnership, and continuous improvement—remain central to the work of SUNY Online Teaching.
  
• In 2025 SUNY Online Teaching expands the development of the SUNY Online OSCQR program-related activities to include an online OSCQR usergroup, awards, and formal certification processes and recognitions.