Poorvu Center Transforms Online Learning at Yale
Sara Epperson and Kristi Oki
For over 15 years, Yale’s professional schools have offered non-credit, non-degree programs to learners around the world. Until last year, each program operated in start-up mode, relying on their own ad-hoc solutions for common tasks. Although this approach helped schools launch new programs, it also led to redundant work, inconsistent data, and information gaps. The Poorvu Center’s Digital Education team addressed these challenges with the launch of GLASS – the Global Learner Access Support System – transforming how non-degree online learners connect with Yale.
“Every professional school with an online non-degree program used their own systems,” explains Sara Epperson, Senior Director of Digital Education at the Poorvu Center. “With an increase in programming for our global audience, it started to become difficult to scale the operational processes at each individual school across the institution. And though we did our best to share best practices, opportunities were missed because all data lived in separate locations.”
Faculty and leaders across the university agreed that change was needed, and the Poorvu Center reignited strategic planning efforts that had begun before the COVID-19 pandemic. Collaborating with Yale’s Information Technology Services (ITS), the Registrar’s office, and units across the university, the team formed an internal stakeholder group tasked with generating a solution. A business case was developed, funding was secured, and a consultant was onboarded to create a customized client management system for global learners enrolled in Yale’s online non-degree and certificate programs. By 2024, work was well underway to build and test the new platform. In January 2025, GLASS launched with its first four non-degree programs.
“With Sara as the captain, this team of colleagues from Environment, Divinity, Public Health, Medicine, Nursing, IT, Business Operations, and the Poorvu Center demonstrated how to deliver a major, collaborative infrastructure project,” said Lucas Swineford, the Poorvu Center’s Executive Director of Digital Education. “GLASS is a reminder that talented people working together can accomplish big things.”
Recognizing Success: Professional Schools Embrace GLASS
Faculty partners discuss GLASS innovations.
Yale School of the Environment and Yale Divinity School were two early adopters of the new platform.
“Prior to GLASS, we used a different CRM that was designed for graduate students,” explains Catherine Kennedy, Online Programs Administrator for the Center for Business and the Environment. “It was not customized for non-degree programs.”
Complicating matters further, the user experience was cumbersome and disorganized. Learners engaged with a variety of systems to navigate through a single online course. One system handled applications while another managed payments. A separate learning system was used to engage with course content, and credentials were awarded as PDFs sent through e-mail.
“Now, everything is streamlined,” Kennedy said. “Using the same system, a person can easily transition from prospect to applicant to enrolled learner. The ability to support all phases of the enrollment life cycle is fantastic!”
For Yale Divinity School, prior experience converting an in-person program to an online-exclusive course proved the need for a professional platform capable of meeting the needs of working professionals. Depending on a person’s comfort level using the required technology, the experience was hit or miss. While the team worked to create the Youth Ministry Leadership Certificate Program, a new year-long online program, they contacted the Poorvu Center for guidance.
“It was overwhelming to think about launching something like this,” said Kelly Morrissey, Associate Director at Yale Divinity School’s Center for Continuing Education. “But working with the Poorvu Center has been such a gift. It was amazing to know that there are people here who do this all the time and could really help us launch our program successfully.”
The Youth Ministry Certificate Program, supported in GLASS, successfully met its enrollment target in its inaugural year. “GLASS really simplified the entire process for us – in terms of how we gauge interest in the program, collect applications, communicate with learners, collect payments, and issue the certificate,” Morrissey explained. “It made the process less labor-intensive for everyone involved.”
Positioning for Growth
In the year since its launch, GLASS supports online non-degree programs for Yale’s Schools of Public Health, Medicine, Divinity, Nursing, and the Environment. Over 4,000 learners are registered, and the goal now is to refine the platform to provide greater flexibility and convenience for these learners, while strategically using data to plan for growth. Shortly before the platform’s launch, Kristi Oki was brought on to the Digital Education team, serving as the point person for GLASS among both Yale’s professional schools and global learners. Experienced in Salesforce, her agile ability to navigate complex challenges has proven invaluable to the team.
“To me, GLASS is the tipping point of our ability to grow and scale,” said Epperson. “As Kristi continues her phenomenal work making the system even more efficient, we will be able to continue advancing our mission of sharing Yale’s teaching with the world.”
For Catherine Kennedy, GLASS is an essential tool in connecting learners with the knowledge they need now.
“These certificate programs are so important,” Kennedy said. “Learners learn something on Tuesday and apply it on Thursday. In areas like climate change or clean energy, this swift application is vital.”
Reflecting on the evolution of GLASS, Kelly Morrissey recognizes the platform’s crucial role in elevating the learner’s experience.
“One of the things I like most about GLASS is that it brings uniformity to what we’re doing across the university,” she said. “It’s the same experience for a learner, whether they take a course with us or somewhere else. GLASS has professionalized the online learning experience.”
Looking ahead, Sara, Kristi, and the team are developing innovative strategies to analyze and enhance the data driving GLASS and its various programs. Together with Catherine Kennedy and the Center for Business and the Environment, they partnered with Yale’s team of data architects to create dynamic visualizations of GLASS data, boosting their ability to assess impact across programs.
“We’re still in the very early stages of this project,” Kennedy noted. “But the results so far are very promising. Being at the forefront of this project is exciting, and it’s a true testament to the power of our partnership with the Poorvu Center.”