Tidwell oversees launch of San Jac’s new online campus
San Jacinto College will launch its newest campus, San Jac Online, in fall 2025 with Dr. Ken Tidwell as the chief officer for online learning.
Tidwell joined San Jac in March 2020, a week before the COVID-19 shutdowns. Over the past four years, he has served as the dean of workforce development and the interim associate vice chancellor for the Maritime Campus.
Tidwell’s journey into online learning began in the early 2000s when he taught distance learning courses in the Air Force. His passion for online education continued as he transitioned into community colleges, where he primarily taught online courses.
Tidwell led online learning from design, management, and faculty collaboration in his first instructional leadership role. In 2014, his doctorate program included educational technology with research focused on predicting online student success through self-regulated learning theory.
“When the College announced this new direction for the district and the new leadership role, I jumped at the opportunity to return to something I love,” he said. “Additionally, I have never stopped teaching online regardless of my administrative role.”
In the last 15 years, Tidwell has taught undergraduate and doctoral online students at three community colleges and one university. The experience has allowed him to stay up to date on technological advances and research in student learning and “provides a strong toolbox to partner, collaborate, and lead online learning at San Jac to accomplish our mission — a focus on student success, academic progress, university transfer, and employment.”
The San Jac Online implementation team has more than 20 departments and groups across the district.
In the next few months, various offices and groups will analyze data, guidelines, and federal, state, and accreditor requirements to help launch the new campus.
Tasks include creating a strategic course and enrollment plan for online students, determining personnel needs, and implementing a transition plan for staff moving to the online campus. Setting quality expectations for online teaching, identifying professional development resources, and establishing marketing plans and system integrations to support online student services are other important actions in the planning process.
“While we journey in this implementation and creation phase, we lean into the activity with all its questions and unknowns by trusting the system, embracing the process, and seeing the good,” Tidwell said. “I want us to love and have fun doing this for our students.”
Online learning becomes norm
When Tidwell arrived at San Jac in 2020, he was surprised by limited online learning options, especially given the national growth in community college distance learning from 2014 to 2020. The pandemic forced all Texas students into online learning, compelling faculty, instructional designers, and support staff to adapt quickly.
“This one change has led to San Jac (and Texas) catching up with the rest of the nation regarding online learning,” he said. “Now students know they can do it. It gives students a little more decision-making power for how they choose their college experience to support their life needs and goals.”
Tidwell believes this is a good thing: Online learning is not replacing traditional classroom options but becoming one part of a variety of learning options.
Why is San Jac the best choice for online learning?
San Jac Online offers 60 certificates and degrees fully online, providing cost-effective tuition without commuting costs. The College supports students, aiming to grow and add new programs while ensuring learners are never alone by integrating their home, family, and workplace into the San Jac community.
“We will come out the other end of fall 2025 with an enhanced learning environment for all students, a distinguished and stronger College for our team, and an increased value to the communities we serve in an ever-growing digital world,” Tidwell said.
