About
Karyn Holt, PhD, CNM, was a clinical professor in the Advanced Roles Graduate Program at Drexel University within the College of Nursing and Health Professions in Philadelphia, PA until she retired in 2019. She has over thirty years’ experience in the maternal child arena practicing in almost every area. Holt is a designated subject matter expert with the American Red Cross. She has been responsible for collaborating with Red Cross nurse leaders in the United States to design and implement nursing research in the areas of disaster response, nurse training and development as well as deployments. Holt speaks to audiences of nurses, nurse practitioners, emergency services departments, EMTs, firefighters and paramedics regarding disaster response within communities. She is an advanced practice nurse in the field of nurse midwifery (CNM) earning her Master of Science in Nursing at Georgetown University and her Doctor of Philosophy degree from Touro University, New York. To her credit, she has delivered over 2,000 babies.
Before retiring, Holt also served as the director of Online Quality in the College of Nursing and Health Professions. Holt's expertise is within higher education, online and blended learning, course development, curriculum and instructional design and quality assurance of those courses and programs. Holt presents nationally and internationally on trending issues within this realm such as higher education, online learning, student and faculty development, recruitment and retention and regular and substantive interactions in the online classroom. Holt has held both administrative and faculty positions at Drexel University, a private and not for profit institution as well as in public, state supported colleges and universities. She has led innovative cutting-edge online program, certificate and course initiatives across Drexel's 13 colleges and schools in her position as chair of the Online Faculty Fellows. Out of Drexel's current enrollment of about 26,000 graduate and undergraduate students, 20,000 of them took at least one online course this year, while about 8,000 took all of their courses fully online. Holt has also become a nationally recognized leader in online education and has speaking engagements and awards documenting her path.
Holt was a charter appointee by the Provost's Office at Drexel University as one of eight University Online Fellows in 2010. She has continued in this role with the exception of one year, since that time providing seven years of service to the University in this role providing the bridge between faculty and administration with regard to online policies, processes and development. Holt works with this team to develop, demonstrate and share strategies that will raise the quality of the design, delivery and outcomes of online, hybrid and enhanced face-to-face classes at Drexel University. She became the chair of this group in 2015 and remained in that position until she retired in 2019. Holt has been a Quality Matters master reviewer since 2010, reviewing more than fifty courses for design quality within the United States. She is the institutional representative coordinating all Quality Matters course reviews and quality assurance programs at Drexel University. Holt has been a reviewer for 10 journals and three publishers in her career, having herself written more than 30 articles, two books and six book chapters. Holt's most recent award is the 2017 Online Teacher of the Year for the College of Nursing and Health Professions, Drexel University.