LESSONS LEARNED IN MANAGING USA DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMS:A

abstract

internet-based distance-learning degree programs offered by universities in the usa to asia require effective academic and administrative support services in an elearning environment. a local partner can provide face-to-face services for recruiting, admissions, advising, technology, tutoring and testing services in order to ensure educational quality. in addition, procedures for billing and collecting tuition and fees in a timely manner are required for financial viability. possible partners include local colleges or universities, private companies, and ngos. the experiences of the university of illinois include contracts with a private educational services company and with local universities in providing these services. among the factors involved in identifying the local partner for each program in each locality are knowledge of the market, shared goals, commitment to the academic culture, and access to technology.

keywords: elearning, academic, administrative, services, internet, distance-learning, partners.

introduction

the growth in internet-based distance learning programs (elearning) is changing the way american universities provide academic and administrative services for students. the internet provides students around the world with access to the educational offerings of many universities regardless of their geography. yet, attempts to provide academic and administrative services largely by mail, fax or email without any face-to-face contact can lead to unhappy students and unsuccessful programs.

furthermore, the ease with which faculty members can create on-line courses and the accompanying enrollments are, according to provost lloyd armstrong of the university of southern california, both a sustaining and disruptive force on campus . the ease of creating the courses is sustaining in that the universities are reaching new students in asia. on the other hand, it is disruptive in that the current educational policies that guide our degree programs plus the academic and administrative support necessary to enable them are out of sync with the web-based distance-learning environment characteristic of elearning today. attempts to use traditional campus-based systems that are not adapted to the local culture and traditions of asia can lead to disappointing and frustrating results.

what is the international involvement of the university of illinois?

the university of illinois is a state university with a global reach. it was chartered in 1867 to educate the youth of the state of illinois in agricultural and mechanical arts. today it has sixteen colleges ranging from engineering, business, and law to liberal arts and education. its faculty member’s are among the best in the usa and win $193 million dollars in federal grants each year to support research for discovering new knowledge and understanding. the university educates 27,900 undergraduates and 8,800 graduate and professional students each year.

illinois, the home state of the university of illinois, ranks 5th among all of the states in the united states in terms of export value—nearly $40 billion dollars. the university enrolls 3,700 students from other nations, most of whom are graduate students who return to their countries to contribute to its economic development, health care, education and government. among the undergraduate students, over 10 percent study in other nations some time during their baccalaureate program. the university has research alliances with research and educational institutions in other countries.

the current array of illinois distance learning programs in countries around the world is in place because the faculty members of the university also have a global reach. after conducting research in a particular country and establishing a network of colleagues, these faculty members often develop an idea of offering a distance-learning program to serve the in-country population. for example, research in entrepreneurial studies led to distance learning programs in human resource development in poland and kenya. conversations at an international meeting on rehabilitation research led to a master’s degree program in ireland for civil service workers seeking to upgrade the services in the rehabilitation offices.

sometimes programs begin simply because of the international reputation of the university. the computer science master’s degree program in india began that way. a new private educational services company in india, quantum institute, approached the university about providing a distance-learning program in india. the purpose of the program is to help prepare the leadership of an emerging information technology industry. in this instance, many of the academic and administrative services are provided by this private company in india with the university of illinois providing the curriculum, instruction and certification of successful student work.

other programs began in response to alumni working in other nations or in response to a corporation requesting education for its professionals. this is the case for both engineering and education distance-learning programs using the elearning environment. most often in these settings, the programs attract individual students who each must be counseled and served with academic and administrative services from the university of illinois.

the university of illinois offers two kinds of distance-learning programs. one is location specific and is hosted by a local partner in the country where it is offered. the university of illinois programs in computer science (india), rehabilitation sciences (ireland), and human resource development (poland and kenya) are of this kind. the other kind of distance learning programs have no geographical location; qualified and admitted students from anywhere on the globe who have access to the necessary technology enroll in them. the university of illinois programs in dairy science, library science, and engineering are of this kind. the administrative and student support services required in the country are different depending up whether the programs are geographically specific or are global in their reach.

the distance learning programs offered by the university of illinois are the same as those offered on-campus but they are delivered in a different format utilizing technology support. the admission and graduation requirements are the same; the curriculum and the content are the same; and the exams are the same. the student services and administrative requirements are also the same but how they are delivered has to be adapted to the new students and the geographical locations where the programs are offered

what are the keys to the growth of elearning?

what are the keys to the growth of elearning in asia when offered by usa colleges and universities? the experience of the university of illinois points to two main areas: the availability of the technical infrastructure to deliver the program, and the availability of local academic and administrative services that reflect the values and culture of the country.

technical infrastructure. the internet is becoming ubiquitous around the world, although in some countries it is still only available primarily in the cities. however, wherever the internet exists, connectivity remains limited due to bandwidth and disrupted service. in addition, the usa government has security concerns about students in some countries gaining access to a university network. in these instances, students are disallowed connectivity. these elements must be factored into curriculum development and instructional formats. graphical interfaces and real-time video requiring bandwidth faculty members are accustomed to over campus intranets will not work in the international elearning environment.

the university of illinois currently applies two solutions to the problem. in cases where students must be able to connect directly to the campus network, the instructional design focuses on the use of email and text based instruction. where graphics and video are essential to the instruction, the material is either sent to a server in the host country from which the student can access the material or a cd-rom is mailed to the student or learning center with the instructional materials burned onto them.

the first solution works well if connectivity is regular and stable. however, even when these conditions exist, the delivery of instruction is thwarted by security concerns of the usa government. it is typical for the university of illinois server to reject student calls over modem when trying to connect to the university’s network if the domain is not one “recognized” by the u of i. “not recognized” means that the domain has been judged to be a security risk, therefore, the connection is denied. students may be able to receive instructional materials but they cannot use email to ask questions of the instructor or to express their points of view.

the second solution of using computer-learning centers in the host country largely avoids the problems of stable connectivity. an educational partner in the student’s home country provides a computer learning center where the student can access the instruction from off a local server on which the university of illinois instructional material has been loaded. by using a local server, the graphical and video materials that require high bandwidth can be downloaded during times of low internet usage even though it may take many minutes to do so. students in the learning centers can use the center’s intranet to access the materials either on portable laptops or on the workstations available at the center.

if it is not practical for materials to be downloaded off the internet, the student can either obtain his or her own cd-rom with the instructional materials loaded onto it or “check one out” from the learning center. in some cases, this is the only solution to the security problem as any attempt to access the university’s network will be thwarted from some domains regardless of the partner in the host country.

academic and administrative services. enrolling campus students into academic program is complex and takes many steps. in a global or host-country setting it is even more complex and complicated. students must apply for admission; have their academic records evaluated; and take admission tests before ever beginning a program. once the student is in the program: (1) the student must be billed for tuition and fees and must pay the bill in us dollars; (2) the student may need career and academic advising as well as tutoring; (3) the student will need someone to proctor exams; and (4) the student must have a way of safely and securely sending exam results to the university of illinois.

the academic and administrative services are further elaborated below.

admissions services test students’ readiness for the curriculum and evaluate their academic backgrounds.

advising services help students decide whether a particular curriculum is best for them and whether they will be successful in it.

registration and records services enroll students in courses and enter the grades on transcripts.

computer services provide students with an address and password in order to gain access to the computer network and to workstations running specialized software for instructional purposes.

tutoring services help students learn the material and solve academic problems.

testing services provide proctors for exams so that the university can be assured that the correct student is taking the exams.

career services assist the student in finding a job following graduation.

business services bill for the program, collect the tuition, and pay the bills.

marketing services inform prospective students about the programs and encourage their applications.

who provides the services?

the university of illinois has special offices to provide each of these services for students who live on campus or who live nearby in the community. however, for the distance-learning student living outside of the usa, either each of these specialized offices must provide services that are effective in a global/international context or a specialized distance learning office must be organized to provide these services.

the university of illinois has found it difficult to use the existing campus services to serve the distance-learning student. for example, the enrollment of students into courses is done over the campus intranet. once enrolled, the campus computer center issues the passwords and the network identification name that allow the student to access course material over the internet. currently, the distance-learning student cannot use the campus intranet to enroll in courses, therefore, requiring a separate enrollment procedure that does not interface with the computer center. the result is a delay in students obtaining network identification names and passwords. this is a problem because in “internet time” students expect immediate access to course material once they are enrolled in a course.

a second example is in the records office. because the university of illinois enrolls 36,000 students each term, the mailing of grades and transcripts to students after a term is over is automated. however, the automated mailing system will not send mail outside of the usa. this means that all distance learning students in other countries must have their grades and transcripts hand processed. with a large number of enrollments around the world, this is a cumbersome process.

in the university’s administrative environment, the university of illinois has found that creating a special office to handle all of the services to distance-learning students whether they are in the united states or in other countries provides the most dependable and timely services. when these services are provided globally, a collaborator in the student’s host country is important to insure that the academic and administrative services are provided in a timely and effective matter. the local collaborator is a full partner in delivering the services. with knowledge of the local environment and customs, the local collaborator/partner can meet both the needs of the students as well as provide the university of illinois with the mechanisms to provide admission tests, collect tuition, proctor exams and provide the technical computer services.

who makes a good local partner?

the university of illinois looks for an organization that can be a full partner. the private or public organization or educational institution needs to be: financially stable; capable of providing the necessary computer infrastructure support; able to recruit students and hire tutors; respectful of the academic culture; and systematic about charging and collecting tuition as well as transmitting it in us dollars to the usa; and trustworthy.

some of the attributes that the university of illinois looks for in a collaborator/partner are described below.

academic culture. a collaborator/partner must respect the need for the faculty of the university to control the curriculum, instruction and the grading of exams and papers. respect for the academic culture places a priority on the academic integrity of the learning process and recognizes that effective learning comes before efficiency. when the partner organization dictates the curriculum or tries to bypass the rigor of the program in order to increase the number of students in the program or to make more money, the academic culture is comprised.

financial stability. the organization must have long-term viability. master’s degree programs are comprised of between eight and twelve courses. it takes a substantial financial commitment to create the local academic and administrative services prior to enrolling the first student and generating any income. once students are enrolled in the program, the university of illinois has a commitment to them to complete the program. therefore, any local partner must be committed to seeing at least one cohort of students through the program. the local partner must either have the support services in place or have the financial resources to put them in place. also, new programs grow slowly so that it may take three or four years before the programs are large enough to be self-supporting or turn a profit.

efficient. services need to be quickly put in place and scaled to meet the demand. academic programs cannot be offered with piecemeal and partial services. all elements of the academic and administrative support service have to be in place. also, providing these services to 25 students is greatly different than providing them to 500 students. if the local partner cannot provide the services in a timely and scalable manner, no matter how high the quality of the curriculum or instruction, the program will fail. efficiency is also important when the local partner is collecting tuition and fees and sending them to the university of illinois. in countries with unstable currency, delays in wiring the funds in us dollars to the usa even a few days can cost both the student and the university of illinois thousands of dollars.

technically sophisticated. internet and computing services as well as assistance to students must be provided. using the internet to provide instruction requires stable and robust networks and computing services. students need to receive the instructional materials in a timely manner and need to be able to access them. students also must have the available workstations to access the materials. if the computer services of the local partner are routinely down or the internet connection back to the university of illinois does not work regularly, the academic goals of the program will be sabotaged and undermined.

minimal bureaucracy. burdensome approvals and rules must be minimized. all organizations have rules and procedures that must be followed. however, when working in a multi-cultural setting, the rules and procedures must be simplified or the educational process can grind to a halt. if the university of illinois takes too much time to evaluate credentials or the local partner delays sending forward applications and exams, the educational process will not work.

commitment. supporting the distance-learning program has to be the primary goal of the organization. universities like the university of illinois are large and have multiple missions. if distance learning is not a priority for a dedicated organization within the university, the attention needed for success will not be forthcoming. the same is true for the local partner. if the local organization has many other commitments, it must find a way to make the students in the university of illinois programs a priority for the services they need. if processes are haphazard and inconsistent, the academic program will fail.

shared goals. the university of illinois and the local service organization need to have similar goals for the academic program. if the university of illinois is only concerned with the academic goals and the local organization only concerned about efficiency and financial success, the program will fail out of lack of respect for one another. both the university of illinois and the local organization must have shared financial, administrative and academic goals.

access to students. recruiting students to the academic program is critical to its success. the local partner must have a record of successful recruitment or have a well-designed plan for marketing the program to students.

the university of illinois has experience with two different kinds of organizations for providing local academic and administrative services. model a employs the resources of a college, university or educational institute located geographically in the student’s home country while model b uses the services of a private, for-profit educational services organization with centers in the student’s home country. each of these models has its benefits and each has its limits when providing academic and administrative services.

another college or university – model a -- is more likely to ensure respect for the academic culture and sharing goals. a private, for-profit educational services organization – model b – is more likely to be efficient, less bureaucratic, and share a commitment to the distance-learning program. both kinds of organizations are capable of technically sophisticated computer and network services; and have the ability to recruit students to the program. on the negative side, both kinds of organizations may have weak financial stability.

why use one model or another?

whether to follow model a or model b is most often determined by the local context of the program. each of the two options has its strengths. an educational institution – model a -- is the preferred partner in three instances.

1. when the local college or university wants to use the distance-learning program to serve as a model for the development of its own program. the ultimate goal of many college and universities in countries where the usa offers academic programs is to one day be able to provide those programs themselves. by partnering with the university of illinois, the college or university can train its faculty in the subject matter and gain much needed experience with developing and teaching the curriculum.

2. when the local college or university is sharing in teaching the curriculum and perhaps is offering the degree. in some instances, usa universities look to host colleges and universities to help teach the curriculum, to serve as tutors, and to proctor exams. when this is the case, contracting with the host college and university for other services is often pursued.

3. when the local college or university has the strongest technical infrastructure available in the country. it is the experience of the university of illinois that host college and universities are often among the first in a country to have stable and sophisticated computer network services. having these services available is absolutely necessary for a successful program in an elearning environment.

a private, for-profit educational services – model b -- is preferred in the following circumstances.

1. when the students are spread across the country or are in different countries. a private, for-profit educational services company or organization often has learning centers in cities across a country and in multiple countries. it is more efficient for the university of illinois to work with one provider of services in all of these locations.

2. when the country has a weak telecommunications infrastructure. a private company may be more likely to have the resources to obtain stable and robust internet connectivity in countries where the government has yet to invest highly in telecommunications technology. a private company can move more quickly and set up stand-alone centers to provide the necessary connectivity to the university of illinois.

3. when the program is scaled to serve a large number of students. once a program grows beyond about 50 students, commitment by a college or university to serve these students may be beyond its capacity given its obligation to its own students seeking a traditionally delivered education. a private organization that is solely focused on the academic and administrative services required for elearning is more likely to be able to provide services to a large number of students.

conclusion

successful academic programs offered in an elearning context require local academic and administrative services. the university of illinois is a large university and serving its on-campus students is its primary responsibility. academic and administrative services designed for the campus environment do not scale well in a global, elearning context.

the university of illinois has chosen to focus its distance-learning program on niche academic markets where the masters degree or specialized certificate is the sought after credential. as such, the university of illinois cannot afford to create its own global network of academic and administrative services. the student located geographically in another country is best served by a local organization solely committed to the needs of both the students and to those of the university of illinois.