1. 1 Minnesota Online Orientation July 16, 2002 Linda Baer, Sr. Vice Chancellor Gary Langer, Associate Vice Chancellor Kathy Nelson, President, Lake Superior College

2. 2 Minnesota Online Minnesota Online Notebook 1.Council Members and Workgroups 2.Bylaws 3.Accreditation Agreement/ Quality Standards 4.Business Plan 5.Communications Plan 6.Marketing Plan 7.Financial Aid Consortium Agreement 8.Executive Summary: E-Learning Task Force Report 9.Executive Summary: PwC Market Study 10. Data

3. 3 Minnesota Online Orientation 1.Critical Questions 2.Purpose 3.Progress in Meeting that Purpose 4.Value 5.Minnesota Online Council 6.Reference Material Fiscal Overview Testimonials Minnesota Online

4. 4 Critical Questions What is the role of Minnesota Online in serving the Learner? the Campus? the System? the State? How does Minnesota Online compare to other consortia? How does Minnesota Online Overcome critical barriers - scarce financial resources Overcome critical barriers - scarce human resources Provide motivation to embrace change  especially as it relates to where and how decisions of policy and practice are made Overcome fear of loss of local autonomy

5. 5 Minnesota Online Historical Context Virtual Summit October 2000 E-Learning Task Force Winter 2001–Spring 2002 Congressional Award I March 2001 Congressional Award II March 2002 E-Learning Task Force Report May 2002  Ten Recommendations Minnesota Online Council July 2002  Bylaws  Executive Committee Congressional Award III March 2003 Background

6. 6 Minnesota Online Vision Through Minnesota Online, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities will be a trusted provider of choice for high quality online learning opportunities expanding access for a community of lifelong learners within Minnesota and beyond. Background

7. 7 Minnesota Online Purpose The purpose of Minnesota Online is to provide a collaborative framework for serving the online learners of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. To serve these learners, the responsibilities of Minnesota Online shall be to : Provide support services or assist member institutions in supporting online courses and programs. Enhance academic, technical, and student services for online learners. Provide access for learners to all available online courses and programs. Assure seamless financial aid for eligible students enrolled through Minnesota Online. Secure affiliation status from the Higher Learning Commission for on-line program approval and facilitate campuses in achieving accreditation of on-line programs.

8. 8 Minnesota Online Support Services Web-enabling Core Administrative Functions (such as, Universal institutional application, Student account management, Web registration, Online payments, and Financial aid information) Enhanced Campus Web Sites - WCET Collaborative project Technical Support Desk – Embanet Student Mentor Support Desk – PALS Help Desk Development of e-Communities model Electronic Portfolio Library Reference Services Virtual Faculty & Staff Training Center Academic Support Services Services

9. 9 Minnesota Online Seamless Services Defined Business Needs & Issues for Concurrently Enrolled Students Task Force: Deliverables & Strategies for Phased Approach Define Business Processes & Policies Define IT Enhancement Design, Develop IT Enhancement Design, Develop Processes Pilot Implement System wide DELIVERABLES: One time application & fees One entrance assessment One point of registration One financial aid process One billing statement One point of payment One academic record Services

10. 10 Minnesota Online Provide Access: Historical Statistics Increase in Online Learning Since Fall 2000 Enrollment 300% increase in enrollment - unduplicated headcount (From 2378 in F’00 to 9710 in S’03) 5.5 % of total system headcount taking online courses Programs 33 programs offered Spring ‘03 totally online with 8 more partially online Online Courses & Programs

11. 11 Minnesota Online Provide Access: Historical Statistics Increase in Online Learning since Fall 2000 Courses 300% increase in courses (From 252 F’00 to 812 in S’03) FYE 95% of colleges and universities offer online courses Online Courses & Programs

12. 12 Minnesota Online Provide Access: Enrollment Statistics Percent of Total Top 10 Online Enrollment FY03 FYE Online FYE Online Lake Superior C 396 13.1 Minnesota West CTC 132 6.2 Northwest TC 280 6.0 Minneapolis CTC 237 4.4 Dakota County TC 89 4.3 Hibbing CC 57 4.1 Rochester CTC 156 3.9 Anoka-Ramsey CC 164 3.9 Metropolitan SU 174 3.8 Central Lakes C 82 3.2 Learners

13. 13 Minnesota Online Provide Access: Enrollment Statistics Top 10 Course Areas of Study Spring ’03 FYE Business and Management547 English/Literature/Composition323 Social Sciences234 Psychology226 Health Professions192 Biology/Life Sciences144 Mathematics107 Computer/Information Science 94 Philosophy/Religion 77 Education 69 Online Courses & Programs

14. 14 Minnesota Online Provide Access: Enrollment Statistics Online Students are (FY2003): Gender: Female 67 % Male 33 % Age groups: 21-25 31.5 % 18-20 22.8 % 26-30 13.7 % 31-35 9.4 % 36-40 6.9 % 41-45 6.3 % Learners

15. 15 Minnesota Online Provide Access: Enrollment Statistics Online Students are (FY2003): Class: Sophomore 6490 39 % Freshman 5491 33 % Special 1572 10 % Senior 1138 7 % Junior 611 4 % Cont Ed 417 3% Grad 325 2 % Residence: Minnesota 14,940 90.0 % Wisconsin 490 2.9 % North Dakota 445 2.7 % South Dakota 59.3 % Learners

16. 16 Minnesota Online Potential savings to students Eliminating one 30-mile commute per week during the semester $176.00 Eliminating resident hall fees for a semester $1,800-2,300 Eliminating semester day care $225-300 Other savings to include: Car upkeep/maintenance Parking fees/tickets and whole ‘parking hassle thing” Public transportation Less wardrobe needed Eating at home more often Keeping my paycheck while I advance my career – Priceless Learners

17. 17 Minnesota Online Seamless Financial Aid Consortium Agreement Signed by All Presidents Regarding One Financial Aid Process for Students Concurrently Enrolled Implementation Dependent on Policy and Process Implementation from the Seamless Education Services Project Financial Aid

18. 18 Minnesota Online Secure Affiliation Status HLC Site Visit November, 2003 Assemble Report of MnOnline Capacity to Meet HLC Standards -In process Formal Request Of Affiliation Status February, 2003 Development of Definitions & Peer Review Process May 2003 Continue with Campus Site Visits 2003-2004 Established Work Group HLC Affiliation

19. 19 Minnesota Online Other Consortia 1. North Dakota University System Online 2. Kansas Digital Learning (Kansas Regents) 3. Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative 4. South Dakota Online System – Board of Regents 5. University of Wisconsin College 6. Iowa Community College Online Consortium 7. University of Texas Tele-campus 8. Electronic Campus of the Southern Regional Education Board 9. Colorado Community Colleges Online 10. Illinois Virtual Campus 11. Ohio Learning Network 12. SUNY Learning Network Background

20. 20 Minnesota Online What is the Value? What is the value-added proposition of Minnesota Online for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities? Minnesota Online provides the opportunity for the system to move forward with limited resources:  Informing and empowering students  Advancing quality standards  Facilitating transfer and articulation  Sharing costs and leveraging resources  Piloting innovations  Providing research  Continuing to seek additional revenue sources Problems that stem from lack of integration of services and products have been exacerbated by the expanded expectations of the students from this digital age. MnOnline continues to provide opportunity to bring solutions to these challenges at a system level. Value

21. 21 Minnesota Online www.minnesotaonline.mnscu.edu

22. 22 Minnesota Online www.eresources.mnscu.edu

23. 23 Minnesota Online Critical Questions What is the role of Minnesota Online in serving the Learner? the Campus? the System? the State? How does Minnesota Online Overcome critical barriers - scarce financial resources Overcome critical barriers - scarce human resources Provide motivation to embrace change  especially as it relates to where and how decisions of policy and practice are made Overcome fear of loss of local autonomy Where does this fit among all the other priorities? How do we continue to innovate?

24. 24 Minnesota Online Minnesota Online Council Purpose Membership Workgroups Council Goals Activity Highlights

25. 25 Minnesota Online Purpose The purpose of Minnesota Online is to provide a collaborative framework for serving the online learners of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. To serve these learners, the responsibilities of Minnesota Online shall be to : Provide support services or assist member institutions in supporting online courses and programs. Enhance academic, technical, and student services for online learners. Provide access for learners to all available online courses and programs. Assure seamless financial aid for eligible students enrolled through Minnesota Online. Secure affiliation status from the Higher Learning Commission for on-line program approval and facilitate campuses in achieving accreditation of on-line programs.

26. 26 Minnesota Online Council Membership 22 member collaboration Campus administrators including Presidents, Chief Academic Officers, Chief Distance Education Officers, Chief Student Affairs Officers, Chief Information Officers Campus faculty Campus students Office of the Chancellor staff Staff advisory to Council Officers Chair: President Nelson - Lake Superior College Vice Chair: Professor Pat Rogers - Bemidji State University Chief Operating Officer – Associate Vice Chancellor Gary Langer Council

27. 27 Minnesota Online Council Workgroups Academic Services e-Communities Accrediation Operations Fiscal Communications/Marketing Student Services eFolio Seamless Council

28. 28 Minnesota Online Council Goals Develop Business Plan  Funding sustainability Establish Core Operation Provide Consolidated Services  Accreditation Peer-Review Process  Tech Support Desk  Student Support Desk  Academic Support Services  Online Library Reference Desk  Marketing  Virtual Faculty Training Center and Faculty Help Desk  Research  e-Portfolio  Seamless Education Council

29. 29 Minnesota Online Activity Highlights Grant Development  Congressional Award I for $1.7 m  Congressional Award II for $2 m  Congressional Award III for $.6 m  System Match for $5 m Business Plan Development  Consideration of Fiscal Models System-wide Curriculum Development  3 e-learning RFPs resulting in funding 22 programs  Criteria for Return on Investment, Collaboration, Scalability, State need, Niche market, etc. Council

30. 30 Minnesota Online Activity Highlights Support Services Development  Commitment to “web-enabling” core administrative functions (such as, Universal institutional application, Student account management, Web registration, Online payments, and Financial aid information)  Enhanced campus web sites - WCET Collaborative project  Technical Support Desk - Embanet  Customer Management Support Desk – PALS  Development of e-Communities model  Seamless Project Over 100 students attending 3 system institutions Over 5,000 students attending 2 system institutions  Electronic Portfolio (over 4,000) Council

31. 31 Minnesota Online Business Plan Purpose To set forth the tactical goals necessary to move the mission, vision and goals of the Minnesota Online forward To identify specific action plans for achieving these goals To identify the resource requirements and sources for delivering these action plans To maximize resources by leveraging existing system college and university capacities and services Business Plan

32. 32 Minnesota Online Reference Materials Fiscal Overview: Slides 33 - 39 Testimonies: Slides 40 - 45 Business Plan

33. 33 Minnesota Online Fiscal Models Overview Qualifiers Funding Models must support the business plan Consolidated services and goal completion Funds necessary for basic operations are not dependent on 1-time funding Extramural funding supports special elements, innovations, features, research projects Resources for model and examples Literature Review including WCET survey results and MnSCU Survey Invited 48 collaborates/systems to respond Received 20 responses (41.6%) Fiscal Issues & Models

34. 34 Minnesota Online Fiscal Models Allocation Model - Consolidated services are funded from a central source User Fee Model - Assessment of fees per course or per credit Blended Approach - % of operations is funded through a central source - % of operations is funded through assessing user fees Private Funding Partner Fiscal Issues & Models

35. 35 Minnesota Online Fiscal Models Current funding Mix of allocation and collected tuition and fees Tuition rates Regular Program Majority of campuses charge student activity and technology fees and student association fees for online students Fiscal Issues & Models

36. 36 Minnesota Online Planned FY04 Online Tuition 2-year Institutions’ Plans -5% increase but watchful of the trend of the region -$109.90/credit -$137.50/credit 4-year Institutions’ Plans - $25/credit increase - 30% increase - Implementing a distance education fee - Continue market driven for offerings outside the campus Fiscal Issues & Models

37. 37 Minnesota Online Tuition - others Iowa Community College Online Consortium - $95/credit U of Wisconsin Colleges - $150/credit North Dakota System Online - $125/credit Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Consortium - $90/cr in-district, $130/cr out-of- district Capella University - $1,275 per course University of Phoenix – Undergrad $422/credit, Grad $518/credit Crown College - $260/credit Fiscal Issues & Models

38. 38 Minnesota Online Other Consortia Tuition/Fees Utah – $25/course fee Oklahoma – Electronic media fee of $110/credit hr Kentucky – resident & non-residents pay125% of tuition Wisconsin - $60/course for administration & 20% tuition retained centrally North Dakota - $30-50 per credit depending on program Maine - $35 course support fee Alaska - $40/lower division course, $75/upper division course Fiscal Issues & Models

39. 39 Minnesota Online What is the Value? What is the value-added proposition of Minnesota Online for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities? Minnesota Online provides the opportunity for the system to move forward with limited resources:  Informing and empowering students  Advancing quality standards  Facilitating transfer and articulation  Sharing costs and leveraging resources  Piloting innovations  Providing research  Continuing to seek additional revenue sources Problems that stem from lack of integration of services and products have been exacerbated by the expanded expectations of the students from this digital age. MnOnline continues to provide opportunity to bring solutions to these challenges at a system level. Value

40. 40 Minnesota Online Testimonials (Slides 37-42) Student: “Being able to take a class over the ‘net and still hold a full-time job is amazing. My life is really busy, and this way I can sit down at 9 p.m. when I function better and I don’t have to work around anyone else’s schedule. I’m able to see what classes are available, at which institution, and enroll over the Web from home. With e- mail, we can ask questions of a teacher or a whole class. I’ve got interaction, flexibility, and convenience. Not only is this the only way I could have gone back to college, but the technology is great.” Testimonials

41. 41 Minnesota Online Student Online Testimonials “Five years ago I moved to a more rural area of North Dakota…I thought my chances of ever getting a degree were pretty much gone. Thankfully…Northwest Tech offered me the opportunity to get a degree in nursing, and I jumped at the chance. It hasn’t always been easy- but nothing worth it ever is!...Distance education offered me the chance to go back to school, the chance to earn my degree, the chance at a better and higher paying job, and the chance for a better life for myself and my family. To be able to do all of these things and still live where I am living is a wonderful thing and I appreciate the opportunity.” Testimonials

42. 42 Minnesota Online Student Online Testimonials “I love the online course. With three kids and a job, I was able to finish school without my kids living at the baby sitters. This really is the only way I could have done college classes.” “Online learning offered me the option to educate myself at home therefore spending more time focusing on the material vs. spending that extra time on the road back and forth to school. I also felt that online learning provided me with the opportunity to have more one on one contact through email and providing me with a sense of connection with my instructor, making me feel as if I was a contributing part of the learning process.” Testimonials

43. 43 Minnesota Online Student Online Testimonials “The online classes were very beneficial to me. I am a mother of three, working 36 hours a week and live 45 miles from school. The online classes allowed me to continue working although I did cut down to 60 hours every two weeks. It saved me travel time and allowed me to spend more time at home even though it was studying. I feel I did more reading and felt more responsible for the information because I did not have a face to face instructor to rely on, just me. The discussion forums allowed for peer contact. The online class is what helped me decide that this was the year to go back to school. I could not have been able to afford it otherwise.” Testimonials

44. 44 Minnesota Online Faculty Online Testimonials “Teaching nursing classes online has been beneficial to me as an instructor. Delivery of classes online forced me to think very carefully about how I occupy valuable student time and what modalities are the most effective in facilitating learning. I was forced to ‘rethink’ what I was doing and why I was doing those things.” “Although I cannot see student faces and then quickly ‘adjust’ in the classroom, email contact and discussion forum give me an understanding of what concepts students are struggling with.” Testimonials

45. 45 Minnesota Online Faculty Online Testimonials “Online delivery allows for and necessitates participation by all students in the course. In an online discussion no student can monopolize the discussion and all students must participate. I actually know the students in the online section of the course better than the students in the face to face section. The online students ask more carefully thought-out questions of their peers and myself.” Testimonials