This paper explores the similarities and differences between student expectations of online instructors and the teaching dispositions of online instructors. Our research goal is to develop insight into factors related to online student success. Although researchers have identified key characteristics of effective teaching in the face-to-face classrooms (e.g., Combs, 1999; Feldman, 1984, 1989), the same cannot be said for the identification and assessment of teaching dispositions in the online classroom. Over a hundred online instructors, who were identified as trained and qualified in online instruction, completed the Virtual Teaching Disposition Scale (VTDS). In addition, over five hundred students responded to a survey asking them to identify instructor characteristics important to their academic success. Results are discussed in terms of student expectations and faculty dispositions, focusing on items relating to faculty expertise, pedagogy, and effective use of technology. Knowledge of these factors may lead to better understanding by instructors of the factors, not related to their specific content, that genuinely influence their students success.