Transitioning to distance learning and teaching no longer needs to be the goal of higher education leadership in preparing and supporting faculty but, rather, the focus should be on investing in dedicated planning and installation of processes that support and sustain high quality online instruction (Gregory & Martindale, 2016). Sustaining high quality online teaching and learning is best achieved through professional development derived from collegial relationships among online teaching faculty and high touch faculty support provided through an online mentoring model, the Online Learning Community (Pearson & Kirby, 2018).
