Collaborations Provide Entry into E-Learning

From the January 2006 Issue of InFocus

Ginger Parker, of the SUNY Institute of Technology, works online. SUNYIT participates int he SUNY Learning Network, oneo f the nation's largest distance learning programs.

Photo courtesy SUNYIT.

Small colleges face many challenges, not least of which is responding to the expectations of students who want access to a variety of learning options. Many students may prefer face-to-face instruction, but that does not mean that they would not also like access to online courses and resources.

National data confirm a growth in interest in online learning. The Sloan Consortium’s latest annual study of the state of U.S. online higher education reported that online enrollments between fall 2003 and fall 2004 grew 18.2 percent—from 1,971,397 to 2,329,783.

The online trend is apparent. To stay competitive, many leaders of small colleges feel a need to develop an e-learning capacity. Still, their institutions typically cannot afford to make an enormous investment of scarce resources in e-learning. That has led a number of small colleges to embrace collaborations as a productive way to get into elearning quickly and with a minimum of risk.

The College of Notre Dame of Maryland, an institution in Baltimore whose student population includes 659 full-time and 2,700 part-time students, recently joined a multi-institution consortium in order to bring online courses to its students—2,738 of whom are older, working adults. The lead institution and primary provider of courses in the consortium is Regis University in Denver. The consortium is in an alliance of 33 private colleges scattered across the United States. Consortium institutions pay an annual membership fee which entitles them to select any distance course offered by any other member in the consortium and offer it to their students as their own course. The College of Notre Dame of Maryland introduced its first e-learning courses this spring, beginning with Regis’ project management certificate program. Suzanne Shipley, Vice President for Academic Affairs, explains, "We wanted to start small to make sure it’s the type of experience that’s right for our students." Being part of this consortium allows more options for students—Notre Dame, for example, did not have a project management offering until now. Shipley believes Regis offers a supportive transition for schools that cannot dedicate the resources to developing curriculum in certain areas.

"Market research takes time," says Shipley. "Here you can take Regis’ market research and courses to develop your own classes if the need does arise. This lowers the level of risk for small institutions. Smaller institutions can’t afford to fail." Shipley is optimistic about the prospects for e-learning at her College and speculates that success could lead Notre Dame to develop its own courses to contribute to the consortium.

Institutions Draw on Longstanding Relationships

Goucher College in Baltimore, an institution with 1,447 full-time and 786 part-time students, currently offers three master’s degrees via the Internet, one of which is a hybrid online-limited residency program in historic preservation. Marketing Goucher’s historic preservation degree and certificate programs was helped by the College’s longstanding relationship with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. For several years, Goucher has held some classes at the National Trust headquarters. Goucher’s longstanding relationship with the Trust laid the groundwork for the e-learning master’s of arts degree in historic preservation.

Niche programs are what give many smaller institutions their appeal. "We have to offer unique programs. We’re small, we can’t run with the big dogs, so we have to do what we’re really good at," explains Noreen Mack, Director of Marketing and New Program Development at the Welch Center for Graduate and Professional Studies at Goucher. "Because we’re small we like forming partnerships."

In 1995, the State University of New York (SUNY) began a regional project in the Mid-Hudson Valley involving eight campuses called the SUNY Learning Network. That network is now one of the nation’s largest distance learning programs and offers 4,000 courses and 60 degree and certificate programs—all online. The SUNY Institute of Technology, one of the smaller institutions in the SUNY System, opted to be a part of the Learning Network soon after its inception.

The SUNY System recognized early on that online education needed to be a priority. According to Chris Urban of SUNYIT’s Department of Computer Science, "The System decided to direct the train rather than allow a bunch of campuses to create their own tools." This decision led to the creation of a unified system with a standard interface, specialized training and a comprehensive support system. The network “gives us a lot of reach, not just geographic reach, but reach in terms of students—many are professionals who can’t adhere to a traditional class structure,” Urban says.

Online Option Popular Among Working Professionals

SUNYIT (with 1,296 full-time and 1,137 part-time students) would not have been able to develop even a fraction of the course offerings currently available through the Learning Network on its own. And the online option has been a popular choice for working professionals. Deborah Tyksinski, Director of Continuing Professional Education at SUNYIT, extols the value of the online course options.

"Students who take SUNY classes, especially in the summer, now have a much broader selection of course offerings from across the system," she says. "This allows them to work towards graduation without necessarily being on campus." Each program offered online was first available "on the ground." In many cases, both options are still available.

As the trend toward incorporating online education as a critical long-term strategy grows, smaller colleges will need to continue to find innovative ways to lessen the expense of online programs and the costly marketing, academic and technical support inherent in such a system. These institutions have shown that creative artnerships are one way to success.

—Kandace GIligan