Wednesday, January 16, 2002

U. of Maryland's Online Program Reaches Out to Students of Naval War College By MICHAEL ARNONE Military officers seeking to improve their chances for promotion both within the armed services and in the civilian world can now transfer credits from a program at the United States Naval War College to a new online master's-degree program offered by the University of Maryland University College. "There is a big push for officers to get a graduate degree," says James B. Cronin, director of Department of Defense program management for University College. Mr. Cronin, who is a retired Army lieutenant colonel, says that getting at least a master's degree is expected for anyone wishing to join the ranks of senior officers -- colonels and above in the Army, captains and above in the Navy. So starting in the spring term, officers and senior-level civilian staff members who have completed the War College's Joint Professional Military Education certification program can transfer up to 18 of their 20 credits toward an online master's degree in management, says Mr. Cronin. The University College will treat the certification program, which teaches how the different military branches operate, as a new track in naval operations and national security. The new transfer program will allow students "to build on what they've already done," says John E. Jackson, associate dean of academics for distance education at the War College. Officers who have certificates from the War College must complete seven management courses from the Maryland program to receive the master's degree. The students can take three additional courses and get a master's in business administration. The arrangement between the two institutions will allow more military personnel to get a popular master's degree that is otherwise only available on the War College's campus in Newport, R.I. The War College, the Navy's center for graduate-level study of national security, offers the master's to officers in all branches of the military and to senior-level civilian employees. But demand for the degree far outstrips supply -- while up to 20,000 officers are eligible for it annually, the residential program can only handle about 500 students a year. So the War College also offers the degree's core courses in a certificate program that is available in seminar format at 23 Navy bases around the globe. Students normally take three years to get their certification, although they have up to seven years to complete their studies. About 1,100 officers and military employees take the seminars, and an additional 500 take a bare-bones version of the certification through paper-based correspondence courses. Officers in the nonresident program can only get a certification, Mr. Jackson says; if they want a full master's degree, they have to get the remaining credits somewhere else. That's where the University of Maryland University College has stepped in. But the University College will only accept credit from the seminar-based certifications, not the correspondence version, he says. Offering the new degree is easy for the University College because the college doesn't have to create -- or pay for -- new courses, Mr. Cronin says. He says the college has made similar arrangements in the past, such as with the National Defense University in Norfolk, Va., to create military versions of a civilian degree. The new degree offered through the University College will also be available through the Navy E-Learning Network, the Navy-wide distance-education service, Mr. Jackson says. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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