Distance Learning Successful Tool For Increasing UC's Reach

Rapid growth in distance learning efforts is broadening the University of Cincinnati's reach and bringing hundreds of successful new students into UC programs. That was the message brought to university leaders at a special presentation on distance learning at the Nov. 25 meeting of the UC Board of Trustees.

"In a nutshell, I think UC today is certainly leading the other public universities in Ohio, and I think this is also a response to what is an increasingly competitive higher ed market," UC Provost Anthony Perzigian told the board.

Some of UC's strongest academic areas are now reaching out to new students in ways that were never available before, thanks to distance learning. "This selection of programs that are entering into this new arena really represent some of the best programs at UC," said Perzigian. "We're taking our best programs and making them available nationally."

Perzigian, senior vice president and provost for baccalaureate and graduate education, and Dr. Jane Henney, senior vice president and provost for health affairs, introduced a delegation of educators from across the university who outlined their distance-learning experiences for the board.

"All of the research shows that the learning students do in distance learning outperforms what students do in the traditional classroom," said Frank Cullen, UC Distinguished Research Professor in criminal justice. "I was a person who for a long time said I had a preference for proximate learning to distance learning, but I'm a convert now."

Cullen is the director of a program that offers a master of science degree in criminal justice, duplicating through distance learning the same curriculum taught to on-campus students. Because of the program's standing - ranked No. 1 nationally in criminal justice research - the opportunity to earn a UC degree has proven very popular with the program's primary source for distance learning students, professionals already working in law enforcement. The program has attracted students from 38 states and as far away as the Saipan Islands.

The first group of 15 students began the distance learning program in 2001 and graduated last summer. Now the program has grown to an enrollment of 230, and projects to have 400 students enrolled by next year.

The largest distance learning program at UC is the Early Childhood Learning Community program offered out of the College of Applied Science. It provides an avenue to child-care providers for earning an associate of applied science degree. Lisa Holstrom, academic director for the program, told the board that the program has produced 480 hours of video that can be streamed across the Web to students.

Current enrollment in the Early Childhood Learning Community is 1,942 students, and that number is projected to increase to more than 2,500 by next year.

UC's renowned co-op program is also benefiting from distance learning through a unique program set up through the College of Engineering. Students in the Accelerated Engineering Degrees program (ACCEND) take distance learning courses while on their co-op assignments, compressing the time frame needed to earn their degrees. Within the normal five years it takes to earn a bachelor's degree while including co-op, ACCEND students can earn both their bachelor of science and master of science degrees.

College of Engineering Dean Stephen Kowel praised two opportunities in particular created by the ACCEND program: the chance to pair together forward-thinking degree combinations for a high-tech world, and the opportunity such a program creates for continuing education of engineering professionals. Engineering is in the developmental phase of creating such a continuing education option.

Henney, UC's new head of the Medical Center, introduced a pair of programs from her campus, along with news that the College of Allied Health is examining the idea of developing a master's degree distance learning option along the lines of the one offered by criminal justice.

Lou Ann Emerson, associate dean in the College of Nursing, discussed the most international distance-learning degree program based at UC - the Pediatric and Nurse Practioner training program for South Korean students. It is the only program for developing nurse practitioners in the whole country. The three-phase curriculum, taught in conjunction with Yonsei University, is a "means of enhancing women's and children's care in Korea, particularly in rural areas," said Emerson.

Two cohorts of 15 students each have completed the program, with a third cohort due to arrive in the spring.

The College of Pharmacy has entered into a distance-learning based Non-Traditional Doctor of Pharmacy degree program, after changes in the last decade led from a five-year bachelor's degree to a six-year doctoral degree as the standard for students graduating from pharmacy schools.

The program's students are using audio recordings of lectures streamed over the Web, along with Blackboard access and support materials, to complete the coursework necessary for their doctoral degrees. "At the end of the program, we believe the product will be the same," said William Fant, assistant dean for clinical and external affairs in the College of Pharmacy. "The (distance learning) students are actually out-performing their full-time peers, and some of these students are now expressing an interest in coming in to attend some lectures in person."