Rena M. Palloff, PhD - Alameda, California, USA
PhD, Fielding Graduate University
MSW, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
BA, University of Wisconsin at Madison
rpalloff@fielding.edu

Rena Palloff, PhD, is a managing partner of Crossroads Consulting Group, working with institutions, organizations, and corporations interested in the development of online distance learning and training programs. In addition, Rena has consulted extensively in health care, academic settings, and addiction treatment for well over 20 years.

Rena is faculty at Fielding Graduate University, in the Educational Leadership and Change Program and also in the masters' degree program in Organizational Behavior/Organization Development. She is also adjunct faculty at Capella University in the School of Human Services. Additionally, she has taught classes on organizational behavior and management and leadership on an adjunct basis for the International Studies Program at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas in various sites throughout the Pacific Rim. Dr. Palloff received a Bachelors Degree in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master's degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Development and a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University.

Dr. Palloff, along with Dr. Keith Pratt, is co-author of the 1999 Frandson Award winning book Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom (Jossey-Bass, 1999), Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom (Jossey-Bass, 2001), The Virtual Student (Jossey-Bass, 2003), and the forthcoming Collaborating Online: Learning Together in Community (Jossey-Bass, 2005).

The books are comprehensive guides to the development of an online environment that helps promote successful learning outcomes while building and fostering a sense of community among the learners. Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace has been translated into Portuguese and Korean. The Virtual Student has just been translated into Portuguese. Drs. Palloff and Pratt have been presenting this work across the United States and internationally since 1994 as well as consulting to academic institutions regarding the development of effective distance learning programs.