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When Rae Mancilla began her career as a teacher in K-12 education, she did not anticipate that she would eventually pivot from in-person education to online education. 

Luckily, Mancilla’s background as a teacher, bolstered by her doctorate in instructional design and leadership from Duquesne University, served as a beneficial foundation for her current role as the interim executive director of the SHRS Office of Online Learning. In this role, she leads a team of design professionals (e.g., instructional designers, technologists and multimedia specialists) that support SHRS departments in the development of fully online or hybrid programs and certificates. The skills she learned being a teacher translated well into her role as an instructional designer—always putting the student experience at the forefront of her work.  

Shortly after Mancilla earned her doctorate in 2014, she came to Pitt where she started with the University Center for Teaching and Learning before joining SHRS in 2018. 

Now with 10 years of experience at Pitt, Mancilla shares what keeps her working in the field after all this time.  

SHRS as a Leader in Online Learning

Since joining SHRS, Mancilla has been instrumental in the significant progress of instructional design over the years, with SHRS being a forerunner in online learning and clinical education. Mancilla said SHRS began planning for online learning in 2017, long before the pandemic when many courses were forced to pivot to an online format.

“SHRS has been considered a leader in the online learning space, and it was one of the first schools at the University to try to scale online learning initiatives,” Mancilla said. “We are the only place on campus that has a remote proctoring tool available to monitor and secure exams, and there were very few online or hybrid clinical programs at other universities in the U.S. in areas like physical therapy and physician assistant studies before SHRS.”

Mancilla said the process of designing those complex clinical programs for the online modality was a challenge, but one that has impacted the creation of other programs ever since.

“When we were planning the hybrid option for the Doctor of Physical Therapy program, I just remember the initial logistical conversations about how are we going to execute this?” Mancilla said. “And it’s amazing to see now how all of those questions have been answered. Now, we have immersion guides. Now there are handbooks. We want students to feel they are part of the Pitt experience so there are resources on where to stay and what to eat and where to go in Pittsburgh and it’s just been fantastic to see it come to life. It’s amazing because we were just in that visionary phase then. Now, we can look and see all these lessons learned and apply them for future programming.”

With the multitude of projects the Office of Online Learning has accomplished, Mancilla said SHRS has been a model for other schools at the University. The team includes five full-time instructional designers, an instructional technologist, a graphics manager and an office administrator, making it the largest instructional design team on campus.

“We’ve become a source of knowledge for others at Pitt,” Mancilla said. “Many times, questions come to us from others who don’t have instructional design teams, so we’re very fortunate to have a robust team of designers because they can help one another, challenge one another, and give one another feedback. Many times, we see instructional designers from across campus wanting to reach out and connect with a larger community of design professionals.”

Creating an Interactive Space for Online Learners

While some students may be hesitant about online learning, Mancilla emphasizes that the online courses are tailored entirely to the students, with faculty and instructional designers collaborating to create a meaningful and comprehensive learning experience.

“The process for creating new courses starts over nine months before they even enter the classroom, so there are a lot of highly qualified experts collaborating to make their learning experience the best it can possibly be,” Mancilla said. “The online courses that students are taking at SHRS are very rigorous and meet accreditation standards, and I would argue are even more rigorous than residential courses.”

Though the courses are created to be delivered online, Mancilla said the SHRS programs stand out from other academic programs in that they still offer opportunities for students to meet face-to-face with faculty and peers during clinical assessments and synchronous meetings.

“I think that’s a unique component that we offer at SHRS that is missing in many online programs,” Mancilla said. “But the idea is that students have a lifeline. They have opportunities to engage and interact with their instructors and with one another, as well as interact with the content in the learning management system.”

Additionally, the SHRS Office of Online Learning routinely evaluates their own work and sends out surveys to students to gather their input on the online courses they have completed.

Online Learning’s Impact

As technology and the world of online learning have evolved over the last several years, Mancilla said she has witnessed it gain broader support as it has made learning more accessible to larger audiences.

“I’ve seen the world of instructional design change learning across all modalities,” Mancilla said. “Especially during the pandemic, we made a real impact, and we had visibility at a national scale and the whole world was relying on us to do this work.”

Recently, the SHRS Office of Online Learning was called upon by the University of North Carolina in Asheville to create online courses quickly after the devastating hurricane.

“I see so many ways that our profession can make an impact and promote a positive educational experience for learners and bring education to places where it might not be able to reach students otherwise,” Mancilla said. “In a situation where the landscape is destroyed with a national disaster, online learning can be a solution.” 

The Future of Online Education

In September, Mancilla was selected to participate in the 2025 Education Horizon Report. In this report, she will work with a team to examine and forecast trends in the online learning landscape and what will shape learning in higher education over the next decade.

“It’s really an honor for me because I think it indicates that in the field, I’ve finally started to make an impact, and I’m recognized for my expertise in online learning,” Mancilla said. “It’s a transition from being the recipient of knowledge and always consuming it, to becoming a generator.”

As the online learning field continues to evolve and artificial intelligence is on the rise, Mancilla said she is excited to see where the field goes in the future, and how advancements can be impactful for instructional designers and learners alike.

“Online learning is for everyone,” Mancilla said. “As a leader in online learning, I’m looking forward to helping the team develop the skills they need to contribute to the field and really make a difference for students. The program development experience truly does impact learners, and it impacts the institution because we have seen an uptick in interest in online learning at Pitt based on the work that we’re doing.”

In addition to the work being done in the SHRS Office of Online Learning, Chancellor Joan Gabel recently commissioned Pitt EDGE, the Center for Excellence in Digital Education. The center will be entirely devoted to the development, advancement and promotion of online, hybrid and continuing education programming at Pitt. The center, led by former SHRS Dean and current Associate Provost of Digital Education Anthony Delitto, will focus on expanding accessibility of education and enhancing the digital space to further the student experience.

“I am very excited to work with a highly competent team of experts like Rae who are all passionate about using digital education to expand the footprint of Pitt’s outstanding educational programs,” Delitto said.