Just over a year ago, I wrote a letter to the University of Illinois’ President, B. Joseph White, suggesting that the University could benefit and contribute tremendously to the Open Courseware Initiative, a collaboration between M.I.T. and several other universities that provides virtual courses for free over the internet. My letter is below (if you’d like to read it before continuing).
“President White:
It is with tremendous enthusiasm that I write to you today about a program I believe the University of Illinois can both greatly benefit from and contribute to. As you may be aware, advancements in internet technology, data storage and communications speed have culminated in the creation of an Open Courseware Initiative, a program by which Universities and learning institutions the world over are making their course materials available openly and freely to anyone with internet access. It is an unprecedented and ambitious program designed with one goal in mind – the fast, free, open sharing and dissemination of the world’s collective knowledge.
Advancements and ongoing research in every field imaginable are now in the process of being placed on the internet, allowing students, teachers, and lifelong learners the opportunity to benefit from a larger knowledge base than ever before. As the program grows, it stands poised to become one of the grandest academic accomplishments in history. And it is with this goal in mind that I write to you today.
As an alumnus of the University of Illinois, I have firsthand experience with some of the amazing faculty, facilities and resources that the U of I has to offer. Without question, the instructors, advisors and researchers that I have been fortunate enough to know during my time here are on the leading edge in each of their respective fields. As a result, their departments and their students are capable of expanding both their own knowledge and that of others around them.
Through the Open Courseware Initiative, the University of Illinois has the chance to extend that reach worldwide, encouraging discussion of the latest findings and enhancing future research. The U of I continues to seek out teachers and academics at the top of their fields, thus keeping the university on the leading edge of education. Likewise, participation in the Open Courseware Initiative provides an opportunity to enhance and augment the University’s already prestigious standing, while at the same time benefiting students, teachers and learning institutions across the globe by making the most up-to-date educational material available.
It is my sincere belief that the University of Illinois can make contributions to the Open Courseware Initiative above and beyond that of nearly any other institution, and in so doing will continue to uphold the outstanding reputation and academic vision that the U of I is renowned for. While other universities and learning institutions are already involved, the program is still in its infancy and can only benefit enormously from the University of Illinois’ involvement.
I am unaware if discussions are already taking place about how to get the U of I involved in such an ambitious project, but I sincerely believe that my interest in such an undertaking is far from isolated. I hope you and the entire University of Illinois staff, some of which I have copied on this letter, will further investigate this outstanding opportunity to keep the University at the forefront of education in the 21st century.
Best Wishes,
J. Brown”
Unfortunately, at the time the University was working towards launching a project called “Global Campus”, which is not a free resource, but does aim to make University of Illinois-level education available to those who can’t be a part of the physical campus. The response that I received to my letter from the President’s office essentially stated that that’s where they were focusing their energies.
As luck would have it, I came across a piece in the Daily Illini from yesterday, pointing out that in spite of their best efforts thus far, and in spite of spending upwards of $3 million on the Global Campus program, it currently claims only 10 enrollees.
Additionally, it appears that President White’s intentions were not initially aligned with maintaining and upholding the University’s high academic standards, but rather the goal was to develop a quick revenue-generating stream that would provide the University with an additional source of funds. According to the letter from a University Faculty-Student Senate representative, it was only at the behest of the University Faculty-Student Senate that equivalent academic standards were implemented as part of the program. The letter is available here at the bottom of the page. (Daily Illini Opinion Page from 04/08)
While the tone and tenor of the representative’s letter may need to be taken with a grain of salt, it nonetheless points to the significant failings thus far with the program, and the amount of money (which is desperately needed by other departments and programs within the University) that has been essentially “thrown out the window”.
What is equally disconcerting is that, to my knowledge, the only department with a well-functioning online education program (the school of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois) was not consulted in the creation/implementation of the Global Campus. I’m familiar with several people who have completed graduate studies through this program, and have had nothing but positive comments about it overall.
Why the University would neglect to call upon LIS for advice, and reference them as an example of a successful program that they could scale up to a larger overall offering, is beyond me. Additionally, I fail to understand why the University of Illinois feels that it could or should compete with established online programs like the University of Phoenix, etc.
I can understand the desire to find new revenue generating streams, since money has been in (seriously) short supply at U of I for the last 6-8 years. But it would appear, at this point at least, that the Global Campus is not functioning according to plan.
Were the University to offer certification programs, rather than attempt to offer credit and degree-relevant courses, they may have an easier time attracting students and bringing in money. The oversight needed for full-blown courses requires a level of instructor commitment that is virtually impossible to provide with an already overtaxed staff. Certification courses and professional development, on the other hand, would not require the same level of staff time or infrastructure. Moving to a system that focuses on these sorts of courses or programs would then allow the University to seriously consider participating in the Open Courseware Initiative, which could only benefit from the U of I’s involvement, and requires little, if any, development time (as M.I.T. and others have already done most of the work).
Of course, that assumes that President White is comfortable giving knowledge away for free, to the betterment of everyone, everywhere. It would appear, however, that this is not his M.O. Additional hikes in tuition and fees (both of which have nearly quadrupled at U of I since my 1998 enrollment) cannot simply increase unabated without eventually leading to a serious backlash in one form or another. Thus, new sources of revenue are needed, but so far the Global Campus has only served to lose money for the University. Reducing costs is the next logical step, but not at the expense of the high standards that have garnered the University its good name.
Being an admitted “green freak” as I am, I would assert that an easy way to lighten the expense burden on the University would be to explore energy conserving changes campus wide. But that’s obviously only one step. Hopefully the “powers that be” will take up the task of ensuring the bright and well-funded future of the University and roll out some changes in the coming months and years that will benefit faculty, students and the city as a whole.
