CU-Boulder to offer online bachelor’s degrees in English, psychology

SILVERTHORNE mdash The University of Colorado's Boulder campus expects to begin offering its first entirely on the internet bachelor's degree this fall.

The new on the net psychology degree is aspect of a broader initiative to beef up and streamline the university system's on the web education offerings. The campus also expects to launch an on-line English degree inside the next 3 years, stated Chancellor Phil DiStefano.

DiStefano and other leaders from CU's campuses unveiled Thursday to the Board of Regents their program for boosting the university's presence in a tight on the net education marketplace. The regents are meeting for a two-day retreat at President Bruce Benson's ranch north of Silverthorne.

CU will not generate a separate on the web campus but rather plans to bulk up on the internet offerings at each and every campus. The campuses program to operate below a however-to-be-named systemwide online education platform, whilst also functioning together to make sure on the net degrees and programs are not duplicated across the program.

In the coming months, university leaders hope to make on the net CU courses out there to all higher schools in Colorado and launch a systemwide website for all of CU's on the web inventory.

University leaders also intend to produce an about-the-clock, net-primarily based help center for on-line students, and make it a lot easier for students to take classes from various campuses and have them count toward 1 degree.

They also program to create at least 25 new on line degree programs systemwide in the next 3 years.

Boulder leaders anticipate to boost their on the net inventory in the next three years with new undergraduate degrees in psychology and English, and expert master's degrees in electrical engineering, material science, laptop science, environmental management and legal research. The Boulder campus also expects to commence supplying master's degrees in ethics and compliance and international education.

The campus plans to very first target students who are a couple of credit hours short of a degree with the new on line undergraduate applications, DiStefano mentioned.

"We identified a quantity of former students who want just a few hours to total their degree in psychology," he stated. "We'll target that group initially, followed by English."

Beyond that, DiStefano stated, the Boulder campus mostly plans to target working professionals seeking to advance their careers with a master's degree they can earn on the web even though working complete time.

University leaders mentioned they hope on the net programs will come to be a new income supply, assist present students finish their degrees in a timely manner and boost access to a CU education.

The four chancellors assured the regents that the new on the net education initiative will make the university competitive with a plan such as CSU-Worldwide, the separate, on the web-only campus launched at Colorado State University in 2008.

"It really is an enormously crowded marketplace," stated Don Elliman, chancellor of CU's Anschutz Healthcare Campus. "It is not just CSU-Global, you're competing in a very, quite broad globe. You can't turn on a commercial radio station in Colorado for half an hour and not hear an ad for somebody's on line program."

CU online education discussions heated up in December 2013 following Regent Steve Ludwig proposed the creation of an on the web-only CU "Rocky Mountain" campus.

Given that then, the regents have pushed for a extra aggressive on the net education strategy to support CU far better compete with in-state and regional competitors. Quite a few schools have had robust on-line offerings for a number of years.

What will set CU apart, university leaders stated, is the high-quality of its on the web courses. The chancellors stated they plan to have in-residence faculty members lead the on the web programs, rather than outsource them to "shadow" faculty members.

In that sense, every campus will "own" its on-line content material, producing campus leaders and the faculty responsible for delivering the identical quality education students acquire in a brick-and-mortar setting, stated Pam Shockley-Zalabak, chancellor of the Colorado Springs campus.

"It has to be a higher-high-quality academic endeavor," Shockley-Zalabak mentioned, "not just a technological effort."

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta

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