Culver-Stockton College (Mo.), a very successful participant in the Online Consortium of Independent Colleges and Universities (OCICU), used online Saint Leo courses to help students who dropped out go on to complete their degrees. Their strategy has been very effective. They leverage their brand identity with those who know them best and already demonstrated a desire to earn a Culver-Stockton degree. According to the 2004 report “A Matter of Degrees: Improving Graduation Rates in Four-Year Colleges and Universities” from The Education Trust, six out of every 10 college students do not complete a bachelor’s degree within six years. So this market is sizable for any school. OCICU schools access online courses to meet a variety of different student needs without having to invest in course development or expensive new marketing campaigns.
What is required? The first component of success is institutional commitment. Far too many schools falter because of vocal pockets of faculty resistance and lack of strong leadership. Smaller private not-for-profit colleges remain the least likely to offer online classes or programs. Yet a majority of them embrace a mission to educate working adults and/or depend upon those students to balance budgets. While chief academic officers generally believe that faculty accept the value and legitimacy of online courses, fewer than half of private college CAOs believe their faculty do so.
Those opinions ignore mountains of data that demonstrate no differences in learning outcomes between online and classroom courses. They also ignore the National Survey of Student Engagement, in which “distance education” students reported being more engaged than traditional students. Negative faculty opinions run counter to those of business leaders. According to Excelsior College/Zogby International’s online survey of business executives, among those familiar with online programs, “83 percent strongly believe that degrees earned via online programs are viewed favorably compared with those earned in a more traditional way.”
The Chronicle Research Services study warns, “[w]hen it is common for private colleges to give away their product at about a 40 percent discount, it might be time to question whether the business model can continue.” That comment is given in the context of the study’s conclusion that the elite schools will be fine and “the model for for-profit and community colleges is also strong. The fact that they cater to older students who … want and need courses at times and in formats that fit their schedules” sounds an alarm—or should.
Robert Sevier, senior vice president of strategy at Stamats, Inc., commenting on the Chronicle study, identified leadership as the key issue. He wrote, “[i]t is the quality of leadership—not external market forces—that will spell the difference between an institution that thrives and one that is marginalized or even fails.” He calls on presidents and their cabinets and boards to “squarely face the issues, develop a compelling vision, outline a clear strategy, work together and execute.”
I could not agree more—and for most, online courses and programs need to be part of the strategy.
Arthur F. Kirk has been president of Saint Leo University (Fla.) since 1997. This essay is part of the new book President to President: Views on Technology in Higher Education - Volume II, edited by Jacqueline Powers Doud, president, Mount St. Mary’s College (Calif.); Marylouise Fennell, Senior Counsel, Council of Independent Colleges; and Scott D. Miller, president, Bethany College (W. Va.), and published by CIC and SunGard Higher Education. It is available for download at http://www.presidenttopresident.com
