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Distance
Learning Proposal Generates Interest, Concerns
Faculty and administrators are sorting through recommendations in a recent report on the possible future of distance learning in the University system commissioned by the Board of Trustees. The board has been studying distance learning and corporate/continuing education as probable strategic areas for growth and development for more than a year. On July 7, Chancellor David Scott met with the Faculty Senate Rules Committee to go over the report, written by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a firm that, among other things, strives to anticipate trends in business, evaluate organizations, and suggest strategies for future development. An analysis of programs delivered at remote sites or through technology, the current market, and the anticipated market, the report recommends the formation of a new entity, UMass Online, which would comprise four initiatives: FastTrack@UMass, Complete@UMass, UMass@Work and UMass@School. Complete@UMass would be designed to enable bachelor's degree completion for the between 40,000 and 65,000 people who began but did not finish their undergraduate degrees in the UMass system and who are not currently enrolled. The function of FastTrak@UMass would be to serve professional-enhancement learners by providing hybrid certificate and degree programs in information technologies, health, engineering, management and education. UMass@School and UMass@Work would serve schools and small-to-medium-sized businesses, respectively, in the Commonwealth. In the case of schools, for example, the University might provide Advanced Placement courses online or Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) training for teachers. The report cites the 1,750 students already enrolled in Internet-mediated learning at UMass, but points out that the system total is smaller than some state systems', notably Nebraska, Illinois, Penn State, and Maryland, as well as some of the individual campuses in the California system (UCLA enrolls 4,500 distance education students; Berkeley has 3,500). Maryland now enrolls 30,000 students in such courses after a 1,200 percent growth during the past two years. Penn State is projecting a growth of 233 percent over a three-year period. "There's a tremendous demand for education at home and in the workplace from individuals who will probably never be able to set foot on this campus due to constraints of their home and working lives, and they are eager to have the benefits of a UMass education," Scott said. "The main focus of this initiative is to bring UMass education to people who otherwise would not be able to come to this campus, and we should try to do it." Although PwC recommends creating a new entity to run UMass Online, Scott believes that it will be done within the University's current structure. "There are several options that are proposed in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report," he said. "The President's Office tends to favor having it done within the University." Rules Committee chair Joseph Larson said the funds for such a project would not be coming from the operating budget, but rather from monies available for investing. "Instead of going outside the University to invest, they would invest in distance education, with the expectation that it would provide a return after three years," Larson said. "This enterprise is one that has a high probability of having a good return," Scott said. "From all the analysis so far this looks to be a very sound venture. "One of the very exciting aspects of this project is that the revenues that are generated could be instrumental in adding to the faculty for the entire mission of the University." Larson expressed both enthusiasm and caution about the proposal for a system-wide UMass brand of distance learning. "We see that there are opportunities in here where system-wide collaboration would be positive, and we see areas where it's going to be absolutely essential that there be high level of quality control for degrees," he said. "Rather than taking a monolithic approach to this, which is essentially what Pricewaterhouse did, we see a number of ways to skin the cats. "Some real efficiencies in providing and marketing could be achieved by having a UMass package. Some certifications in engineering, education and IT training, for example, have the requirements for the professions set by the professions themselves and not by individual campuses. These would be good candidates for a system-wide brand." Larson's concerns centered on issues of admissions, quality of courses, recommendations for the degree in a system-wide setting. "As long as someone's seeking a degree, that ought to be controlled by the campuses," he said. "If it's certification or Continuing Ed., that wouldn't raise the issues that would be raised by getting a degree. There need to be some very clear distinctions between these avenues. The reputations of the campuses need to be maintained, and it is important that we maintain quality and accreditation. "There is some recognition on their part that there are some programs that only exist on this campus, such as HRTA (Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration), so that would be an example of an area where there would be a campus-delivered and -designed program. Those areas where several campuses are making offerings, that's where we'll be sorting these things out. "What will probably happen is there will be subcommittees set up by the senate's new Outreach Council that will come up with what this campus's approach will be." "I think there is a strong feeling that faculty need to be at the core of the enterprise when it comes to developing the programs and the curriculum," Scott said. "In order to deliver these programs on the Internet, there will be a need for a large number of specialists who are capable of working with faculty to turn these ideas into high-quality deliverable products," he said. "That's a capacity that should be centralized in the President's Office, and the different campuses could draw on it. "The President's Office looks at the PricewaterhouseCoopers study as a starting point, a benchmark, and now we need to look to some people across the campuses, guided by the report, to implement it. We and the Rules Committee are eager to be engaged in this." |
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