WashU Medicine’s Educational Technology and Innovation Unit (ETIU) is being updated to align with emerging needs in educational technology, instructional design, data strategy, and artificial intelligence.
The updated ETIU, under the leadership of Associate Dean Carolyn Dufault and Director Emily W. Thompson, will continue to include instructional design services and at-the-elbow educator support through the Instructional Design Studio (IDS) managed by Meghan Sullivan, along with technical and system administration support through the Educational Technology Systems and Support (ETSS) team managed by Jason Crustals. Going forward, ETIU will also include a focus on educational data strategy including facilitating a coordinated approach to education data warehousing, reporting, and analytics. This new focus will help OE programs and units align with school and university efforts to modernize data infrastructure, access, and governance, while also enabling broad AI uptake and meaningful use in education.
To achieve these goals and support this integrated mission, Dr. Carolyn Dufault has been promoted to Associate Dean of Education Digital Transformation and Data Strategy. As ETIU faculty lead, she will continue to advance strategic initiatives that strengthen innovation across our educational programs. During her twelve years at WashU Med, Carolyn together with the ETIU team, has successfully led multiple signature projects, including two learning management system transitions (Canvas and Keystone) for the MD program, the launch of the Office of Education ID Studio in January 2020, co-leadership in the development of a nationally-recognized competency-based education dashboard, and leadership on the AAMC’s Curriculum Committee, with a focus on national curriculum mapping and reporting initiatives.
Additionally, as part of the 2025 ETIU update, Dr. Emily Thompson will become the new ETIU Director, effective October 1st. Emily served in this role from 2018 to 2020 and during that period, she was a key leader in the design, development, and launch of Keystone as the learning management platform for the MD Program’s Gateway Curriculum; she also helped to launch and expand the Instructional Design Studio, now a fixture and valued resource for the WashU Med community. Since January 2021, Emily has served as the Director of Online Programs for the Office of Education. In this role, she led in the design and launch of new online programs and other digital education experiences, including the required SAFE onboarding which has reached over 13,000 individuals since 2021, and she has been a valued contributor to the Student Sunrise project.
Emily’s return to the ETIU team provides a wonderful opportunity to further integrate and coordinate all aspects of educational technology and data strategy across the Office of Education’s programs and teams. ETIU will also serve as a coordinating hub for ongoing educational technology partnerships with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), and digital transformation projects underway across the university.