Transcript Developing a Cooperative Online Degree Programs—The

Developing a Cooperative
Online Degree Program
The Practical Mechanics
Dr. Roger Von Holzen
Ms Darla Runyon
Northwest Missouri State University
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Masters in Education in Teaching
and Learning: Elementary
• Thirty-three hour program
• Designed to meet the special needs of
elementary teachers who are in their early
career years
• Major goals of the program:
– assist these teachers to improve their practice
– fully equip them to persist in the
profession
• which is critical during this time of
significant teacher shortages*
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Masters in Education in Teaching
and Learning: Elementary
• Third goal:
– enable the participating institutions to offer a
new online degree program while minimizing
staffing issues
• Goals achieved through the cooperative
sharing of program courses*
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Program Curriculum
• Developed by university faculty from across
the state of Missouri
• Met over a three year period
• Program based around the work of
the National Board for Professional
Teaching standards*
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Program Description
• Twelve-hour core of education coursework
• Three emphasis area options:
– Reading
– Math
– Science
Core
Reading
• Must complete the introductory
course in both of the options not
Math
selected
• Three hours of elective course(s) to round
out the program*
Science
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Program Description
• Program draws on what has been learned in
recent years on the various campuses and
through the literature about web-based delivery
• Design of this 33-hour program targets those
who wish to pursue graduate programming…
but are limited due to their
geographic location and work
requirements*
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Program Evolution
• Initially, eight universities were interested in
developing the program
– Difficult and expensive to bring groups together*
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Program Evolution
• Strong state coordinating board and administrative
support for development of the program
– Limit duplication of programs
– Get some institutions to begin offering
online courses
– Save development time and resources*
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Program Evolution
• One by one, five universities dropped out of
the program for various reasons
– Lack of faculty support for online programs
– Lack of faculty support to work with other
institutions
“Why don’t we develop our own online program?”
– Lack of faculty collegiality toward
faculty members from other institutions
“Are their faculty members as good as ours?”*
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Dead Men Walking
• The surviving three Missouri state institutions
have joined forces to fully develop the
cooperative online degree program
– Lincoln University
– Northwest Missouri State University
– Southeast Missouri State University*
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Program Mechanics
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Memorandum of Understanding
• Agreement between the three institutions
• Formally signed at a state-wide meeting
• Outlines the working relationship behind
the program*
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Program Accountability
• Program supervised by an Oversight Team
– Composed of an equal number of deans-level
representatives from each institution
– Oversees the program director
– Directs the development and implementation of
the online masters degree program and its policies
– Convenes on a quarterly basis*
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Program Accountability
• Program collaboratively developed
by faculty
– Initial focus determined by Oversight
Team
• Curriculum changes may be
proposed by faculty
– Meet annually to review program and
for professional development
• Changes must be approved by the
faculty and the Oversight Team*
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Program Web Site
• Developed, hosted and maintained by
Northwest Missouri State University
• URL identified with the state of Missouri--not
any particular institution
• www.MOHEC.org
– Missouri Online Higher Education Consortium*
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Common Criteria
• Each institution will follow a common
admission policy
– A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.00
– Alternative admission minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.75
and 3.25 on the first nine hours of graduate coursework in the
program
– Graduate record exam: 475 minimum on the verbal or
quantitative score and a minimum of 400 on the other section
– Letter of support from the student’s employer (supervisor) if
the student works in a school or educational institution
– A cover letter briefly discussing the student's teaching
background and the emphasis (cohort) area that the student is
interested in (reading, math or science)*
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Common Criteria
• Students must designate which campus is
his/her “home” campus
– The university of record will grant the degree
– Students will function under the rules and
regulations of their home institution
– All advising and in-depth mentoring will be
conducted by the faculty at the student's home
university*
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Course Management
Software
• System needed to cover online registration,
campus quotas, wait lists, and course hosting
• eCollege selected as course management
software
• Courses hosted on eCollege servers
– Backup systems
– System security
• Online and telephone 24/7 tech support*
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Registration
• Each campus initially allocated 7 “seats”
per course
– Overprescribed courses are wait listed
– Available “seats” from other campuses
reallocated prior to start of classes
– Student admissions requirements verified prior
to finalization of course registration
• Drop/adds handled by web site*
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Registration
• Registration information and updates sent to
each institution
• Processed through
each campus’
Registrars’ Office*
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Grade Reporting
• Standard letter grades used--A, B, C, D, and F
• Grades reported through secure web site by
faculty
– Only a student’s home institution can view that
student’s grades
– Submission of grades to the Registrars’ office on
each campus is made in the format as designated by
each office
• direct viewing and printing of grade reports
• download of files containing grade reports
• e-mail receipt of grade reports*
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Graduate Faculty
• Participating faculty must qualify as
graduate faculty at their respective home
institutions
• Each university will have responsibility for
its participating faculty with respect to:
–
–
–
–
employment decisions
work assignments
annual work evaluations
termination decisions*
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Course Development
• Courses assigned for development and
initial delivery to each campus
– Core and content strands split across all three
campuses (no one campus controls a strand)
• Faculty course developers paid $5,000
– Deficit funded by Northwest
– Course materials developed is considered
to be jointly owned by the participating
institutions and the faculty member(s)
involved in the course development process*
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Cooperative Training of
Online Faculty
• Northwest provided technical and
pedagogical assistance with the design and
development of the courses
• Additional assistance provided by local
campus faculty support
offices*
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Course Delivery
• Each course must be offered on a regularly
scheduled basis as determined by the
Oversight Team
• Courses may be moved among the
institutions
• Multiple sections of course may be taught
from multiple campuses
– Course web site duplicated*
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Financial Considerations
• Tuition determined by the Oversight Team
• Common tuition across the participating
universities
• The student's university of record assess all
tuition and fees
– $250 per credit hour for Missouri residents
– $350 per credit hour for out-of-state
residents
• Each institution may add on
additional fees*
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Financial Considerations
• Program Director invoices the institutions at
the rate of $200 per credit hour for their
students enrolled in program courses
• Enrolling institution retains $50 per credit
(for in-state and $150 per credit out-ofstate)*
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Financial Considerations
• Payment to each institution teaching an
online course
– based on the following formula:
• Payment Amount = $100 X number of credit hours
X number of students enrolled in the course
• $6,000 = $100 X 3 X 20
– The institution is responsible for the payment of
faculty member's salary and other related
expenses*
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Continued Participation
• Any institution may discontinue
participation in this program
– Subject to the approval of the Oversight Team
and the Missouri Coordinating Board for
Higher Education
– Contingencies must be made for all admitted
students to be able to complete their programs*
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Course Schedules
• Courses delivered within the academic
calendars of all campuses
– The start date for a semester is set for the latest
start date among the three campuses
– The end date for a semester is set for the
earliest end date among the three campuses
• Fall and spring semesters—15 weeks
• Summer sessions—8 1/2 weeks*
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Program Marketing
• Web site developed and maintained by Northwest
– Housed at distinguishing web address
• Internal marketing with each campus’ bureaucracy
– Provide background information about program
– Provide key information needed for each area
•
•
•
•
•
Graduate office
Admissions
Registrars’
Financial Aid and Student Financial Accounts
Library
• Lack of overlap in market areas*
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Northwest
Lincoln
Southeast
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Program Marketing
• Brochures and other marketing materials centrally
developed and produced
• Mailings conducted by each campus with costs
covered by Program Director
• Major marketing effort conducted through the
Regional Professional Development Centers
across the state
• Search engine data uploaded by Program
Director*
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Reality Check
• State drops requirement for masters-level
credit for recertification
– CEUs are sufficient
• Budget cuts on state and local levels
– No money for professional development
– No money for movement on salary scale
• Reality---only 7 students enrolled
• Program currently on hold*
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The Experience
• So what has this experience been like?
• A bit frustrating at times…
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www.MOHEC.org
Dr. Roger Von Holzen
[email protected]
Ms Darla Runyon
[email protected]
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