About Us

Instructional Design and Development (IDD) is Excelsior University’s centralized instructional design function. We are responsible for the design and development of every course at Excelsior—setting the standards, driving the process, and partnering with subject matter experts across the university to build learning experiences that work for our students. 

Our work starts with who our students are. Everything we design is built with them in mind: relevant, rigorous, and respectful of the time and effort they invest in their education. 

We approach course development as a collaborative process. Subject matter experts bring deep knowledge of their disciplines; we bring expertise in how people learn, how to structure that knowledge for an online environment, and how to design assessments that reflect the real-world work our students are preparing for. Neither side can do this alone, and the best courses we build are the ones where that partnership is strongest.

Our History

IDD in its current form is new. The team was established in 2024 as Excelsior made the decision to bring course design and development in-house—work that had previously been handled by external vendors. That shift was deliberate: building an internal team means deeper institutional knowledge, tighter alignment with Excelsior’s academic mission, and the ability to maintain consistent standards across every program we support. 

The team we assembled reflects that intention. Some of our members have been at Excelsior for years (in some cases decades!) and carry an understanding of the institution, its students, and its programs that no external partner could replicate. Others joined in the past year, bringing fresh perspectives and new expertise.  

Together, we are building something that has not existed here before: a fully resourced, internally owned instructional design function with the standards, tools, and documentation to support great course development at scale.