S6E2: Dr. Ana Rusch & Alex Duncan - OMSCS Staff Spotlight

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. Ana Mary Rusch and Alex Duncan, two members of OMSCS staff and the OMSCS Buzz team!

Dr. Ana Mary Rusch has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and with second majors in both Geography and Political Science, a master’s degree in Geography, and a Ph.D. in Global and Sociocultural Studies, all from Florida International University. Dr. Rusch has worked with online education for most of her career in different capacities across content and design with a focus on research and teaching. Currently, Dr. Rusch’s current research focuses on online education, at-scale education, and affordable degrees and has published in several avenues such as Learning @ Scale and SIGCSE Technical Symposium.

Alex is the Associate Director of Student Experience for OMSCS. He oversees course maintenance, addresses student feedback, and chairs the annual OMSCS Conference. His research interests lie at the intersection of online education, learning at scale, and student experience. 

TIMESTAMPS- 

(0:00) - Cold Intro

(3:16) - Alex's Introduction and Academic background 

(9:34) - Ana's Introduction and Academic background 

(21:55) - OMSCS and Covid 19 

(24:58) - Day in the Life

(34:38) - OMSCS Moonshot Ideas

(41:00) - OMSCS Conference 

(51:47) - Closing Thoughts 

VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. 

EDITOR – Sid Ramesh