Friday, March 9, 2001

New Head of UMassOnline Says the 'Student Experience' Can Be Preserved By SARAH CARR Jack M. Wilson began to develop Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's online-learning program a decade ago. Now he is chief executive officer of UMassOnline, the University of Massachusetts' new distance-education arm. He says that, while distance-education efforts in the Western and Southern regions of the United States have been more publicized, New England institutions are also keeping pace with technological changes in education. Q: What online programs does the UMass system already have in place? A: UMass has a number of what I would call traditional, strategic online programs. ... We launched through the Lowell campus a large online activity that was the stimulus for the creation of UMassOnline. Already we have about 5,000 students involved in online education, primarily through the Amherst and Lowell campuses. Q: Is UMassOnline for profit, or not? A: At this point it is a completely not-for-profit entity. It is an arm of the University of Massachusetts. We decided that it made sense to be able to get the kind of fast start that we wanted and to take advantage of the various things going on at different campuses, but we plan to re-examine that decision from time to time. Our key goal is to take a high-end approach, and we didn't want to compromise that by going ahead and fund raising. Fortunately, we didn't need to do that -- the state has put up sufficient venture capital. Q: How much controversy has there been over UMassOnline? A: I think that UMassOnline has really achieved a surprising level of consensus support. There are always hard questions asked whenever you get into discussions of online education, and it is really important to have those questions asked and answered. But I would say there has been a healthy amount of controversy and a surprising amount of consensus. Q: What are the hard questions that critics have asked? A: There are those who worry that there will be a compromise in the quality of the student experience based on the kinds of student delivery systems selected, for example. But I think that they will come to realize that doesn't have to be, and we can avoid having those kinds of compromises. We have also been trying to take a very ecumenical approach to distance learning. We don't want to hammer it all into one mold. Q: What do you mean by "ecumenical approach"? A: Just looking at the range of programs that we are starting with, we are including various types of technologies and interactions. We are not calling it asynchronous learning as many do. We will have asynchronous learning, but also live learning. And as time goes, by we will adjust our models. Q: Why do you think that New England colleges have been slower to adapt distance learning than those in some other areas of the country? A: I'm not sure if it follows geography, but the situations that places face. Western states face a rapidly growing student population, and in the Northeast we don't have that pressure. But there have been some interesting efforts in New England, even though some of the big visible efforts like Western Governors (and some that haven't worked out as well as expected, like California Virtual University) have been in the West. In the Northeast, and pretty much everywhere, there is another issue out there, which is the need for continuous learning. The old idea of getting a four-year degree and going off and working just doesn't work any longer. Universities have to offer a maintenance contract with their degree. We will have to be there to answer this need, and if we are not here, someone else will be. Q: What about the private institutions in the Northeast? Do you think they are looking into this quickly enough? A: The prestigious privates have really been out in the lead in this in many ways. N.Y.U. created a spinoff. M.I.T. has done a lot. Harvard, Cornell, and Stanford are all involved with various endeavors. I think it is really a myth that the prestigious privates haven't looked at this. They are way out on the front on doing all sorts of things. Q: Will you seek a national and international student population for UMassOnline, or will you focus more on students in the region? A: We are going to start by focusing on the needs of Massachusetts and the region, but it will be marketed without regard to region. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Higher-education leaders weigh human-rights principles as a management code of conduct To raise efficiency, N.I.H. should consolidate many of its institutes, Varmus says Bush picks loan lobbyist for No. 2 spot in Education Dept. U. of California at Berkeley raises a record sum for a single public university Arthur Peacocke to receive Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion A small college's mixed results with technology New head of UMassOnline says the "student experience" can be preserved