Forum discusses Global Campus initiative
By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor 217-244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu At an Oct. 16 forum about the Global Campus initiative, faculty members posed questions to President B. Joseph White and Chester Gardner, special assistant to the president, about the online degree program, including its financial viability, protecting intellectual property and instructional technology. About 100 faculty members attended the two-hour event in the auditorium of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. The event was sponsored by the Senate Executive Committee and the senate’s Global Campus Task Force. The primary stimulus for founding the Global Campus, which will cost about $20 million to implement, is that it’s a natural extension of the university’s mission as a land-grant university, White said. “There is the capability today to educate even larger numbers of people who have the ability, the motivation and the desire – but don’t have the personal freedom – to earn their education the way that most of us did by coming to a college campus.” The Global Campus also will enhance the UI’s efficacy in delivering online and blended learning, which not all teachers are involved in now. “I think the collective level of competence is certainly not what it needs to be for the future that we have to build,” White said. Replacing revenue lost because of dwindling state support was White’s final rationale for the initiative, but the primary reason for making the Global Campus a for-profit enterprise was to provide access to capital markets – and to ensure it wouldn’t be a financial detriment. “What do you do if you’re striving to be the best but aren’t the richest?” White asked. “You have to be the most innovative. We have a shot at being pre-eminent. A lot of the richest universities tried 10 years ago to do what we’re doing and failed, and I’m so happy about that because they have a lot of scar tissue that won’t go away.” Craig Koslofsky, a professor of history, said his trust in the initiative “was damaged” because he had researched a reference in the Final Report on the Global Campus, released in May, that online education is superior or equal to face-to-face instruction. The assertion was based upon a survey of college administrators – not students’ or faculty members’ satisfaction with online learning – that was conducted by the Sloan Consortium, a nonprofit association of institutions that promotes online education. The UI is a member of the consortium. Gardner responded that the Sloan poll was just one of several references in the report that demonstrated the high regard for online education. The UI already has a “distinguished history” of providing quality distance learning, through initiatives such as UI Online and the Library Experimental Education Program in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, and can build upon that foundation, Gardner said. Unlike UI Online, the Global Campus programs would be driven by consumer demand, instead of faculty interest, and would be scaled to admit all qualified students. The Global Campus would not revolve around the traditional academic calendar but would enroll up to 12 cohorts per year, beginning in January 2008, so that students wouldn’t have to wait more than four weeks to begin classes. “I’d like to see us really pushing the boundaries” as far as custom-designed material, access to electronic texts and related innovations through the Global Campus, White said. Gardner said that the university’s existing procedures for safeguarding intellectual property would be sufficient for the Global Campus. The start-up team is exploring possible partnerships with publishing firms to provide textbook discounts. Doug Kibbee, a professor of French who has taught online courses and is executive coordinator of the Foreign Languages Building, was concerned that degrees in the humanities wouldn’t be offered; he also sought assurance that faculty members affiliated with the Global Campus wouldn’t suffer negative repercussions with regard to tenure and promotion. “Focusing on the high-demand programs (in medicine, business and computer science) initially was a way to prudently get the initiative started and reduce the start-up investment that would be needed,” Gardner said. “And then, once we are paying our expenses, we could begin to expand out.” White added that humanities courses would be offered as part of a well-rounded education, and if there were a demand for humanities majors, the Global Campus could respond to that. White said he wanted the Global Campus to foster a sense of dignity and pride among its teachers, with tenured faculty helping recruit and guide them. The start-up team is considering using a single course-management system for cost-effectiveness and student convenience but wants faculty members’ input, Gardner said. Members of the three campus senates and the University Senates Conference are helping design a governance structure for the Global Campus, and the Global Campus Start-up Team will determine appropriate tuition levels. They also are considering partnerships with community colleges to provide student access to technology and to degree-completion programs. Nicholas Burbules, professor of educational policy studies, said that designing the Global Campus as a separate “fourth campus” – rather than integrating it into the academic missions of the three existing campuses - was a “fundamental flaw,” because the content will migrate, affecting students and programs on all three campuses. Vernon Burton, SEC chair, invited faculty members to e-mail comments to the senate office for incorporation into the appendix of a report that the Global Campus Task Force will prepare for White and Gardner. White and Gardner’s responses to a list of questions from the task force also will be posted online at www.senate.uiuc.edu.
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