Instructional Design Leadership Academy

The Instructional Design Leadership Academy is a four-week intensive designed for faculty leaders and administrators ready to move beyond "emergency" digital responses toward an intentional, sustainable digital infrastructure. This academy reframes instructional design as a leadership function—one that builds the strategic infrastructure necessary to align digital learning with your school’s unique mission, student needs, and grant objectives. Participants will emerge not just as technical users but as digital advocates equipped to design a cohesive ecosystem that earns the confidence of faculty, students, and stakeholders alike.
Write your awesome label here.
provided by the PATHWAYS FOR TOMORROW COORDINATION PROGRAM through a grant from the lilly endowment inc.

Program Dates

The academy begins Monday, August 24, 2026, with asynchronous materials and ends on September 18, 2026.

Structure

A four-week intensive that combines high-level conceptual asynchronous training with synchronous hands-on "sprints." 

"Sprint" Sessions

Live working sessions or "sprints" will occur each Wednesday from 11-12:30pm EST. 

Cost

For eligible ATS member schools with active Pathways for Tomorrow grants, the cost of this Academy is fully provided.

For many theological schools, the rapid shift to digital learning felt like a temporary necessity. However, the current landscape requires a shift toward intentional evolution. We developed this academy because true digital buy-in from skeptical faculty doesn't come from better software; it comes from a visible, professional, and strategic plan. By treating instructional design as the architecture of the school's entire digital experience, we demonstrate to our communities that this online evolution is a mainstay of our institutional success.

This is a bichronous four-week academy combining independent, asynchronous engagement with weekly live working sessions or ‘sprints’.

This intensive focuses on:
  • Instructional Design as Strategic Architecture: Designing a reliable, school-wide digital framework that supports faculty and reduces manual labor.
  • Instructional Design as Communication: Using design principles to lower the faculty burden and demonstrate the practical value of digital tools for theological education.
  • Instructional Design as Alignment: Ensuring your digital environment directly serves your specific student demographic and meets your grant-funded goals.

Who should enroll?

  • Academic Deans
  • Associate Deans of Digital Learning
  • Associate Deans of Lifelong Learning
  • Provosts
  • Directors of Distance Education

General

This academy is designed for the decision-makers who hold the keys to the infrastructure, funding, and hiring for online learning. This is not a technical "how-to" for course builders; it is a strategic "how-to" for administrators.

Ideal

The ideal participants are Academic Deans, Associate Deans of Digital Learning, Provosts, and Directors of Distance Education - specifically, those institutional leaders tasked with ensuring online programs are scalable, mission-centric, and sustainable.

Meet the consultant

Rev. Dr. Lindsay Andreolli-Comstock

Lindsay Andreolli-Comstock (she, her, hers) is co-founder and managing director of Tumbuh Global. She also serves as the president and principal consultant for The School of Global Citizenry, a program of Tumbuh.

Lindsay is a senior instructional designer, e-learning developer, LXD consultant, ordained clergy person, international immersion guide, small business owner, and published author with more than 24 years of nonprofit and B Corp-spirited for-profit experience.
Patrick Jones - Course author