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Distance Learning Initiative From Idea To Maturity Catherine Kelley Assistant Provost for Educational Technology Michael Sperling Associate Provost for Interdisciplinary, Distributed and Global Learning Neal M. Sturm Associate Vice-President and Chief Information Officer

Growing Into a Transformative Mission University Mission Statement – April, 2000 “Fairleigh Dickinson University is a center of academic excellence dedicated to the preparation of world citizens through global education. The University strives to provide students with the multidisciplinary, intercultural and ethical understandings necessary to participate, lead and prosper in the global marketplace of ideas, commerce and culture.”

Conceptual Foundations for Ubiquitous Online Learning Internet as Fundamental Learning, Collaboration & Communication Tool Bringing Global Resources to our Students Reality of Lifelong Need for Facility with Asynchronous, Graphically-Mediated Digital Communications Improved Educational Success, Employability, and World Citizenship

Distance Learning Requirement 1 Online 3-Credit Course per 32 Credits of Study (4 courses prior to graduation) Blended and Fully Online Freshman Year  “The Global Challenge” Sophomore Year  College Requirement Junior/Senior Years  Disciplinary Electives

Growing Into a University-Wide Curricular Requirement Concept Leadership Funding Implementation Support Assessment Outcomes/Accountability

Roadmap Planned Accomplishments Unplanned Accomplishments Still on the List In Hindsight

Planned Accomplishments - Courses Development of The Global Challenge as First Required Course Development of College - Level Second Year Required Courses Continued Development of Third and Fourth Year Electives

Unplanned Accomplishments - Courses The Global Challenge is an Award-Winning Course The Global Challenge Learning Outcomes Assessment Project Move from Purely Distance to Hybrid Requirement Third Year has Become Electives rather than Department - Level Requirements, which Proved Impracticable

Unplanned Accomplishments – Outreach and Liaisons Growth of Relationship with Student Services, especially Enrollment Services and Advising Offices Offering of Student Orientation Programs Mailings to all Students every Term -- Reminding them of Requirements and Technical Issues Coordination of Lab Sessions, Tech Support for Hybrid Classes

Unplanned Accomplishments – Faculty Development Blackboard Shell for Every Class at FDU Teaching with New Technologies Institute Stamp / Image Object Gallery – in Development

Enrollment in DL Classes Per Semester, Fall 2001 Spring 2002 Fall 2002 Spring 2003 Fall 2003 Spring 2004 Fall

Summary of DL Sections by College Spring 2004Fully OnlineBlendedTotal Maxwell Becton College of Arts and Sciences University College: Arts, Sciences, Professional Studies Silberman College of Business New College of General and Continuing Studies University Core Program 040

Expected but Still Nice: Growing Student Satisfaction

Still on the List Cultivating Opportunities to Generate New Student Revenue  Some has occurred (National Guard, Booz Allen Hamilton)  More is planned We Don’t Have Much Still on the List of Things we Initially Planned to do  But we’ve added many items to our “to-do” list

In Hindsight Insufficient Staff Planned for a Venture of this Magnitude  We’re surviving, but workload is high We Should have Ramped up In-House Instructional Design Capacity Sooner Increasing Use of IT for Teaching has Led to an Unexpected Surge in Demand for Other Resources, e.g.:  Classroom technologies  Plagiarism detection software

In Hindsight (cont’d) More Laptops Needed to Support Adjuncts, who are the Backbone of this Program Presidential Mandate was Necessary but not Sufficient to Ensure Faculty Buy-in Our Faculty Advocates were not at the Center of University Life  They were tenure-track, adjuncts, etc. More Attention Should have been Given to Other Administrative Units, e.g. Enrollment Services

Planned Accomplishments Formalized Partnership with Collegis √ Planning √ Hosting √ Support Help Desk Increase in Technical Staff Enterprise System Forklift Network Upgrade Data Integration (Datatel, LDAP, Blackboard) Refresh Laptops & Computer Labs

Unexpected Accomplishments Integration of Blackboard & UTAC Support Network Bandwidth Moved Hosting From Collegis to Blackboard New Library Automation System Improved and Positive IT Visibility  IT viewed as the “great enabler”  IT given favorable consideration in the budget process

Still on the List Dial-Up Support Blackboard Portal Blackboard Real-Time Integration with Datatel In-House Hosting Enhance Support Staffs Additional Wireless

In Hindsight Easy To Underestimate Work Effort Understanding The Value Of Developing New Inter-Departmental Partnerships Staffing Requirements Too Conservative Calendar Too Short Murphy Lives

Return On Investment Faculty Development and New Academic Programming Niche New Revenue Ventures Strategic Partnering Recruitment “Story to Tell” Enhanced Image and Institutional Differentiation

Summary Points Providing Global Resources to our Students Takes Time, Energy, and the Fostering of Creative Partnerships - All Worth the Effort It takes Long Term Vision and Long Term Support to Maintain the DL Requirement Missions Must Support the Needs of Students, Faculty, Administrators, and Technologists.

Stay Tuned  Online Learning  Computing  Global Education

The Initial Tasks – -What we thought we had to do Baseline support and funding Refine requirements Develop the plan Execute the plan  Solidify 360 degree support (Executive, Faculty, IT, …)  Emphasis on Faculty and Adjunct development  Development and delivery of initial course offerings  Supplement the initial course offerings to include years 2-4 Reiterate and evolve content and processes  Lessons learned  Continuous improvement  Salesmanship – “selling the programs”