The Redgate Read On Online Learning

This past Monday, the news of the launch of the Jack Welch Management Institute (www.jwmi.com) at Chancellor University spread like wildfire across the globe.  The following link to a Wall Street Journal article highlighting the Institute was what kicked off all the interest: 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124562232014535347.html

 

The Jack Welch Mangement Institute at Chancellor University is the only online and on-campus MBA program that fully incorporates Jack Welch’s winning business practices and principles throughout the curriculum.  Students who are accepted and enroll in JWMI will gain a full understanding of Jack’s philosophy on leadership development, candor, team building and more. 

 

Also, the online aspect to the Institute has a truly global reach.  Online education has evolved to become a truly effective and academically sound way for people to earn their degrees and build their careers while maintaining the work/life balance they need.  Throuhg its online degree offering, The Jack Welch Management Institute has broad reach with content that really matters in today’s global economy.

 

These are exciting days at Chancellor University!

In recent years, online education’s selling propositions have included convenience and flexibility.  Although I am convinced that those propositions will remain part of the equation, I see an underlying current that will in the near future bring to the surface ‘performance indicators” as key metrics in evaluating online institutions.  Those indicators will include retention and graduation rates, learning outcomes, course section sizes etc.

An important building block to these performance indicators is Student Services.  In today’s virtual space, those services include academic advising, orientations, resource and library services, tutorials, academic advising, and technical support.  These certainly are the most common Student Services but as this market becomes more competitive, these foundational services need to be consistently enhanced and improved.  It is also critical that additional, less common services be introduced that enhance that all important student experience. 

If you are a prospective online student, these services should be an integral part of what the school you are interested in is providing.  If you are currently a student, you need to take full advantage of any Student Services that your school offers, and even make suggestions for new ones.  If you curently work at an institution that has online offerings, you need to champion how to enhance what I call that all important “student experience.”

More to come …

New owners, many changes offer Chancellor U. a chance

 

While enrollment is up, former Myers University still must prove itself to accreditation commission

By SHANNON MORTLAND

 

4:30 am, May 18, 2009

Through name changes, financial turmoil, threats to close and cash infusions from new ownership, one question has remained for Chancellor University: Will the school survive?

The new owners of Chancellor, which was Myers University until last September, are trying to assure Northeast Ohioans that the answer to the question is, “Yes.” They maintain that the beleaguered institution now is a stable place for first-generation college students and adult learners to earn a degree.

“We have a new leadership team and mission,” said Shaun Redgate, Chancellor’s chief operating officer. “We have really bolstered our foundation.”

Significant Partners LLC of Solana Beach, Calif., bought the former Myers last September for $5.25 million and changed the school into a for-profit university. The company also owns Grand Canyon University in Arizona.

 

Though school officials would not disclose how much money has been put into Chancellor, the school has hired 60 people, created 30 online courses, boosted full-time faculty to 26 from 16, and now keeps about 300 part-time faculty members on call, up from 100, said Jennifer Scott, provost and chief academic officer.

 

Chancellor officials also lowered tuition in an effort to entice students, Mr. Redgate said. Undergraduate tuition was reduced to $250 per credit hour, down 30% from $360, and graduate tuition is now $395 per credit hour, 14% lower than the previous $460 per credit hour.

 

“We want to earn Cleveland’s business back and urge them to give it a try,” Mr. Redgate said. Read the rest of this entry »

Has anyone heard of a monopoly in the Learning Management Software industry?  Check this out — http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/05/07/bb 

Many students, campus and online, utilize federal financial aid to help pay for their education.  There has also been a resurgence of discussion surround federal aid due to the President’s stimulus plan and several recent personnel appointments at the Department of Education. 

Personally, when I was going through school, I was the recepient of federal aid and I could not have attended otherwise.  I have also helped several of my children apply.   Although the process seems fairly daunting, to the well informed student should be fairly straightforward.  I have identified eight milestones that every student who is applying for financial aid should be aware of:

1.  Get a Federal Pin.

2. Completion of the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

3.  Completing other aid applications.

4.  Complete the federal verification process, if required.

5.  Obtain loan assistance.

6.  Determine your financial aid package

7.  Complete any financial check in your school requires

8.  Expect payments or disbursements to your account.