§ CASE STUDY — HIGHER ED · 2023–2024 BRYANT UNIVERSITY

Bryant University
Online MS in Taxation
100 modules, 10 courses, 9 months.

AACSB-aligned, top 25% of U.S. graduate business programs (U.S. News & World Report 2026).

↓ READ ON № CS-01
§ 01 — AT A GLANCE THE FACTS

A faculty-first online graduate program. Initial courses launched within one semester.

  • Client: Bryant University, College of Business
  • Program: Online Master of Science in Taxation
  • Scope: 100 interactive weekly modules across ten courses of ten-weeks each
  • Stack: Instructure Canvas · Articulate Rise 360
  • Standards: AACSB-aligned, WCAG 2.2 AA from day one
  • Timeline: ASAP
  • Course Kitchen role: Lead design, build, accessibility, faculty enablement
§ 02 — THE PROBLEM WHAT THEY HIRED US FOR

“We need to begin enrolling students in a new, fully online graduate program as soon as possible. We do not want a long-term contract with an OPM. Our faculty need to co-design the courses and have full ownership of the experience.”

Keep it unmistakably Bryant

§ 03 — APPROACH FOUR MOVES

A faculty-first build, on a disciplined production system.

  1. 01

    Faculty-first design

    Course Kitchen (CK) partnered with tenured Bryant faculty as SMEs and ran weekly working sessions. Each instructor owned the content development; CK owned the design system, the production pipeline, and the LMS architecture.

  2. 02

    One template, ten courses, ten weeks each

    A single Canvas course shell and a single Rise 360 module template, both fully accessible, both brand-locked. Every one of the 100 weekly modules inherits from those two artifacts.

  3. 03

    Backwards design (assessment strategy first)

    Each course’s objectives mapped to AACSB assurance-of-learning standards before any module was scripted. Assessments were designed against those objectives; teaching materials and learning tasks were scoped against the assessments.

  4. 04

    Launch, learn, iterate

    The first two courses launched within months. Lessons learned during delivery informed the build of the next two; the production system absorbed real-world fixes early.

§ 04 — WHAT WE SHIPPED DELIVERABLES

What landed in their hands.

01

Ten courses

100 total weekly modules in Canvas and Rise 360.

02

Reusable Canvas shell

Brand-locked, WCAG 2.2 AA, adopted as the production standard for subsequent online programs.

03

Rise 360 module template

Reusable design system for multimedia delivery, learning resources, and interactive scenarios.

§ 05 — OUTCOMES WHAT IT MOVED

What moved.

  • Program live within one semester of contracting.
  • Bryant’s online programs subsequently ranked among the top 25% in the United States.
  • Model adopted as the production standard for subsequent online programs at Bryant.
§ 06 — IN THEIR WORDS VERIFIED
“Bonnie is great to work with. Creative, smart, well-versed in technology, and very customer-oriented.”

— Faculty partner, Bryant University

START YOURS COULD BE NEXT

Got a program that has to ship?
Let’s talk this week.

Send a brief. We’ll come back with a fixed quote within five business days, or an honest “we’re not the right fit.”

NOTES FROM THE KITCHEN ONE EMAIL A MONTH

Stay in touch.

Once a month, a short note on what is actually working in instructional design — accessibility, AI in course development, and the boring craft details that decide whether a course ships well. No funnels, no upsells.

Unsubscribe anytime. We never share your address. .