From her office in the West Portal district of San Francisco, Heeter directs creative development of online courses for MSU Virtual University. Working with co-directors Lori Hudson and Marsh Hestenes, Heeter reports to the Vice Provost for Libraries, Computing and Technology and directs a staff of producers, programmers, artists and developers. Primary operations are located in Conrad Hall, the Computer Laboratory and the Comm Tech Lab on the MSU East Lansing campus.

Picture phone, speaker phone and Internet connections keep Heeter in close touch with VU. MSU Virtual University students can be anywhere. Forty-seven courses/conferences are being offered or are currently under development. Faculty, students and VU personnel work on the design and experience of distance learning over the Internet, across a wide range of disciplines and pedagogies.