Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassadors 2018 – Buffalo State: Deborah Silverman

Deborah Silverman is an associate professor of communication and associate chair of the Communication Department at SUNY Buffalo State, where she teaches undergraduate courses in the Public Communication (PR/Advertising) major and graduate courses in public relations. She also is the faculty advisor to the SUNY Buffalo State chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. She worked as a public relations professional for more than 20 years before joining the SUNY Buffalo State faculty in 2005. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from SUNY Fredonia and a Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo.

She serves as the coordinator of the college’s 33 credit-hour M.S. in Public Relations degree, a hybrid program that she developed from an existing four-course public relations sequence in the college’s M.S. in Multidisciplinary Studies degree program. Based on feedback from prospective and current students who desired a completely online master’s program, she successfully led efforts to obtain approval from SUNY and the New York State Education Department for the online M.S. in Public Relations program. It will begin operation in fall 2018, replacing the existing program.

She earned basic and advanced certificates in online course development from SUNY Buffalo State’s RITE (Resources for Information, Technology, and Education) Division, working closely with RITE’s instructional designers on compliance with Open SUNY COTE Quality Review (OSCQR) standards for the online courses as well as branding, in conjunction with College Relations, to provide a uniform “look” to all of the courses in the new online program.

I believe that online programs through SUNY provide excellent educational access at an affordable price to students who don’t have time to come to campus for classes due to family obligations or work schedules. Online instruction offers exciting opportunities to connect with these students through technology. I’m also grateful for the support that Buffalo State’s online instructors receive from RITE’s instructional designers as well as the OSCQR standards, which ensure that we are providing a top-quality online educational experience.