March 14, 2007
Trustees Give U. of Illinois's Global Campus the Go-Ahead
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has approved plans to create Global Campus, a proposed online institution that has drawn fire from some of the university’s faculty.
B. Joseph White, the university’s president, had initially stated that Global Campus was to function as its own corporation. But a group of professors, arguing that the online venture could damage the reputation of the bricks-and-mortar institution, persuaded Mr. White to recast Global Campus as an academic unit within the university (The Chronicle, January 18).
Although they authorized Mr. White to go ahead with the project, some trustees urged Mr. White to pay close attention to continuing faculty concerns, according to The News-Gazette of Champaign. Illinois has already spent more than $1-million on Global Campus, and university officials estimate that start-up expenses could run up to $20-million. —Brock Read
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The U.of Illinois’ strategy for a Global Campus is an important bellwether from which to learn. Positioning this venture as an academic unit within the university will require closer address to questions of the university’s mission, policy and procedure than would have been the case as a separate corporation. But there will be challenges as they incubate an entrepreneurial educational venture within the bounds of a matured institution. I hope B. Joseph White and his colleagues document the development process well so that we’re all able to learn from their experience.
— Shirley Roels Mar 15, 08:50 AM #
Many institutions have attempted to incorporate an online program into the modality offerings of the traditional campus. To do the program correctly takes more than an infusion of capital and an approval to operate, it also takes a complete understanding the role the program will play in the overall mission of the institution. It is hopeful that Mr. White is able to create this type of buy-in.
— jc Mar 15, 10:20 AM #
I am interested in off site education for the duscipline of psychoanalysis
I have launched an online
Site internationalpsychonanalysis.net
I welcome comments about this endeavor
Arnold Richards MD
— arnold richards Mar 15, 10:26 AM #
Hoorah for the University of Illinois. Here is an institution with foresight. As a senior citizen who has gone back to school for a second career I commend them. Those of you hiding behind the bricks, mortar and Ivy should look around and take notice of the changes in our lives: from commerce to communication, from around the world conferencing at your local Kinko’s to World of Warcraft opponents in Peking, Koln, Oslo, and Toronto. There is a revolution (not a bad word) in information and data exchange. I have instant access to verifiable information and data. I can access my school records and class files from anywhere in the world; I can participate in discussions with classmates from different cultures, share opinions with peoples of diverse ethnic, social, and professional backgrounds. I can submit class assignments, take real-world exams simulating real-world work situations. I can even go to a local testing center to take a “real” exam provided by a “real” instructor working from a “real” office located in a “real” Ivy-covered hall. Those things from which we form our memories are changing. Our future traditions will help guide us but will be formed of a “finer cloth”, a national or perhaps multinational fabric. Again I say Hoorah!!!
— Richard R Beals Mar 15, 07:08 PM #
In 1996 the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois began an online scheduling option for its Master of Science degree. The technology used then and today are cutting edge and the reputation of this program and its graduates is exceptional. The Graduate School of LIS remains one of the top ranked LIS schools in the country. A major university, such as University of Illinois, can deliver top notch education to distance learners.
— Nancy Mar 16, 08:17 AM #