Elements of Quality Online Education cation

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Reinventing the University: The Business of Online EducationVI.MARKETThe Maryland Higher Education Commission projects that the university’s stateside enrollments arelikely to triple between 2004 and 2010 [14]. This estimate seems reasonable based on UMUC’s successwith adult students and its expertise in online education. As discussed earlier, one market entry point forthe university is its continuing Department of Defense contract to serve U.S. service members and theirfamilies overseas. The long-standing relationship with the military has led to opportunities in statesidelocations outside of Maryland, such as Ft. Gordon, Georgia, where the university offers a cohort master’sdegree program.UMUC has a strong market base of non-traditional students residing in and around the state of Maryland.The university has articulation agreements with Maryland community colleges that contributesignificantly to this base. Non-traditional students are a fast-growing market segment and, fortunately,UMUC’s market niche. Unfortunately, this niche also happens to be the key market segment that forprofitsare targeting. As for-profits move into more traditional markets—such as the MBA [15]—theirtargeted audiences may change. In the meantime, UMUC takes the competitive threat seriously because“the for-profits have found their hedgehog concept: they focus on being best at responding to themarketplace, providing excellent customer service, and producing earning power for their graduates”[16].The Maryland Higher Education Commission projects a dramatic “baby boom echo” that will have aserious impact on the state’s colleges and universities in the next decade. The nearly 30% projectedgrowth in undergraduate enrollments between 2003 and 2013 will stretch the current capacity ofMaryland’s traditional institutions; this development may provide entry into a new market for UMUC ifthe traditional schools are unable to meet the demand. UMUC will be in a position to relieve some of thestress on the system and expand its market share at the same time.VII. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTThe external environment for UMUC has changed dramatically over the past decade. Prior to 1995,UMUC’s main competition tended to be campus-based institutions that served adult students (that is,continuing education programs). According to the Sloan Consortium, 81% of institutions of highereducation offer at least one online or blended course [17]. A broad range of brick-and-mortar, online, andmulti-mode institutions exist to serve non-traditional adult students. Of these, for-profit institutionspresent the greatest competitive threat to UMUC.As the university entered the online market, carefully selected curricula with high success potential werethe first offerings. The administration also explored new directions in curriculum development. UMUCpartnered with the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (Germany) in the course design,development, and delivery of a jointly–offered online Master of Distance Education. This award-winningprogram draws on distinguished international faculty and the talents and strengths of both institutions.Currently, UMUC is piloting a jointly administered international marketing course offered incollaboration with the Monterrey Institute of International Studies in Mexico. The success of this effortmay lead to other collaborative opportunities in the future with this institution as well as others withonline students.202
Reinventing the University: The Business of Online EducationVIII. SUCCESS MEASURESUMUC employs a variety of metrics to examine how well the institution is meeting its objectives andadvancing strategic plans. The areas of examination tend to align with the “balanced scorecard”conceptual framework of Kaplan and Norton [18], a model originally designed for business organizations.Since UMUC operates as a business, this framework fits well with how the university measures successacross the institution. The School of Education at the University of Southern California also finds thismodel helpful in examining its “metrics of excellence” [19].UMUC focuses primarily on four areas to measure success: the student perspective, the financialperspective, the internal perspective, and the learning and growth perspective. All of these areas alignwith the Kaplan and Norton framework.The student perspective focuses on how our students see us. With this lens, UMUC focuses on quality.Toward that end, an established review cycle of all curricula ensures their currency and applicability.Curriculum review occurs more frequently than is required by regulatory bodies, especially in those areaswhere the knowledge base has a shorter life cycle, such as information technology. Other qualityindicators that UMUC uses include faculty development and training; course evaluations; and withdrawal,retention, and graduation rates.As a public institution, the university’s fiscal health is of key concern. Consequently, the financialperspective is important to all our stakeholders. The university is required to demonstrate through variousfiscal accounting reports and audits that the business is sound. With such a historically low amount offinancial support from the state, enrollment growth and the strategic and judicious use of resources are animperative for the institution.UMUC also measures success from an internal perspective. The executive leadership regularly examinesvarious processes to determine the areas in which we excel and those in which we need to improve in thefuture. This periodic review is especially important at this time in UMUC’s history. The enormous growthin online students has taxed some of the old processes that were suited to a smaller operation but arescalable no further. By streamlining processes and eliminating silos, the executive leadership hasrealigned many functional areas so that they operate more effectively and efficiently.In the fourth and final area—the learning and growth perspective—UMUC focuses on ways in which theuniversity can improve and create added value. In the highly dynamic online environment, this area ofmeasurement can be a challenge. Not only is technology advancing rapidly, but also studentdemographics are shifting. Tomorrow’s students will be different from today’s, with an increasing mix ofBoomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennials, and this means we have to continuously reexamine processes andpractices to meet a changing marketplace.The retail industry provides a good example of how the generational differences among these groupsaffect operations: large shopping malls are not attracting younger shoppers in the same numbers as theirparents. Demographers project that this shift is likely to have a revolutionary impact on retail operationsin the future [20]. UMUC recognizes that it must remain responsive to student needs and demonstratecontinuous improvement and value.203
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Elements of Quality Online Educatio
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IntroductionINTRODUCTIONFrank Mayad
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Introductionworkshops and publicati
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How can Online Pedagogy Improveon F
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A Constructivist Model for Thinking
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Engagement in Online Learning Commu
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