Kim Bonniksen (’93, Communication & ’96, Education) is using her SUU experiences to advance online learning organizations and school accreditation.
As the owner and operator of Visions Consulting, an educational consulting business, Kim works with for profit education corporations, smaller online learning organizations and individual schools to develop curriculum, assessments, evaluate corporate policy and strategy, facilitate school improvement planning and support accreditation efforts. She has been fortunate to work with industry leaders in virtual education and has served on national committees to improve the state of online learning throughout the world.
The educational industry has in turn recognized Kim for her leadership and expertise. In 2005, she presented at the National Indian Education Association’s annual conference in Alaska on the value of technology in expanding educational opportunities for Native American students. In 2008, she was recognized as the Elluminate Hero of the Year for her work in online teaching, professional development, instructional design and work with at risk students. And in 2009, Kim worked on the International Association for K12 Online Learning Committee for the Development of National Standards of Quality for Online Learning Programs, which were released early this year.
Kim values SUU for the education she received. “I appreciated the intelligence and compassion of my instructors as well as their ability to relate to my ambitions,” she explains. “I was given the security of learning in a safe environment, encouraged by professors who knew and cared for me.”
Her favorite SUU memory is of being surprised as a freshman to wake up in her dorm room after a long debate team trip to see Eric Bonniksen (her future husband) sitting at her desk. “I hurried from my dorm room in Juniper to the bathroom, cleaned up and got dressed and we went to play pool . . . which of course, I didn’t know how to play. We dated, became engaged, married our senior year and have lived happily ever after.”
Kim and Eric (’93, Social Sciences) have three sons, Nicholas (13), Derek (10) and Caelan (7) and reside in Camino, California.
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