U. of Illinois plans going for-profit, with non-tenured professors.

A follow-up with more detail...lot's of fireworks to follow... the below is excerpted

URBANA -- University of Illinois officials are planning an experimental new branch that could upend traditional admissions requirements and course lengths, using a largely part-time faculty to teach tens of thousands of students from around the country--many of whom never set foot on campus.

The Global Campus, as administrators are calling it for now, could begin offering comprehensive online degree programs by January 2008, officials told the board of trustees Thursday. They are seeking $20 million, mostly from private donors and foundations, to get the project off the ground.

Each of the university's three campuses currently has online programs, with about 6,900 students taking such courses last year. Other state universities have succeeded with still larger non-profit programs.

But the independent, for-profit Global Campus would push the university into a whole new realm, competing against other for-profits such as the University of Phoenix, in a market where a number of other traditional institutions have stumbled.

University officials say the new campus would help them reach a population that wants a college education but is unable to attain one on campus, either because of location or family and job commitments. Tuition has not been set yet, but administrators say it should be "highly affordable."

"Global Campus is not about making money--it's about fulfilling our land-grant mission in the 21st Century," U. of I. President B. Joseph White said. He said profits would be invested into the online programs and the three traditional campuses.

Trustees still need to approve the plan, including the creation of a limited liability company (LLC) and a board of managers, which they expect to vote on in November.

Within five years, planners predict, the program could turn a profit, by enrolling 6,700 students in nearly 30 bachelor's, master's and certificate programs. White said in an interview that he expects enrollment eventually will be larger than enrollment at the three existing campuses combined, with tens of thousands of students taking part in the online campus in the next decade...

...Faculty members, however, already are balking at the idea of using non-tenured, part-time instructors, some of whom might be competing against classes taught by current faculty. Officials estimate that about 60 percent to 70 percent of online instructors would be non-traditional faculty.

"We see a campus staffed mainly by non-faculty staff, who are given the responsibilities of delivering courses to students," reads a letter that 20 faculty leaders sent to White this week. "We have serious concerns about the educational responsibility and probable resulting quality of this approach."...

...Trustee Bob Sperling raised another set of concerns Thursday, asking what effect Global Campus would have on the university's reputation. Other trustees said they were concerned that financial management would be outside their controland that the project was moving ahead too quickly.

"Are there reasons that some of the best universities out there have stayed out?" Sperling asked. "It may reduce their reputation in the institutional world. Will this affect us as far as our reputation?

U. of I.'s plan comes as student interest is growing nationally, with 1.2 million, or 7 percent of college students, enrolled in an online degree program last year, up from 500,000 in 2002, according to Boston-based Eduventures.

Richard Garrett, senior analyst of online higher education programs at Eduventures, said U. of I.'s large-scale, for-profit plan is unique...

..."Trying to marry the elite, on the one hand, with mass distance learning on the other hand, is relatively unchartered waters," he said. "It will be interesting to see how they pull it off."

...Admissions requirements will be easier than at the traditional campuses, with a minimum 2.0 grade-point average for the undergraduate programs and a 3.0 or three years of experience for the graduate programs...

...There are few traditional universities with an online presence as large as what U. of I. has proposed. The largest include the University of Maryland, the University of Massachusetts and Penn State University.

University of Maryland University College had 52,000 online students last year.

Penn State's World Campus, which started in 1998 with four programs and 41 students, now has 54 credit programs. About 14,000 students are taking classes online this fall, spokeswoman Amy Neil said.

UMassOnline, with 69 academic programs, enrolled more than 9,300 students last fall. Revenues have increased from $3.9 million in 2001, the year the program began, to $23 million last year. The online branch had $10 million in profits last year.

David Gray, chief executive officer of UMassOnline, credits the success to the non-profit structure and buy-in from faculty. The same faculty members who teach at the five campuses also teach online. "We have avoided the suspicion and skepticism of the faculty. ... That distinguishes us from most," Gray said.

Gray also said students pick the Massachusetts program over others because their professors are traditional faculty members. "They know they will be getting the seasoned professor they would get if they were pursuing courses face to face," he said.

Chicago Tribune, 8 Sept.

http://tinyurl.com/zc4eb

 

Jim,

You habitual insults regarding UoP and/or their students/graduates on a distance learning forum are probably not the best idea. I'm not begrudging you your opinion, but if you want to bash or insult a school or student body strictly for the sake of insulting, there are other websites out there that are more appropriate for that type of posting.

I would expece that someone with your credentials would be able to offer contructive criticism rather than just unabashed insults.

 

The observation was not an insult - but an observation re: target market. The article makes the point that they are going after the UoP audience.

I can't, however, keep you from being insulted by anything you choose to perceive as an insult.