1. A University at the Crossroads:
Rethinking the Weave Between
Distance and Brick-and-Mortar
Education
Maggi Murdock1, Alan Greenberg2, and Scott
Seville1
1 University of Wyoming Outreach School
2Wainhouse Research
2. How many of you…
(Polleverywhere.com)
• Have inherited an organization designed for distance
education as it was practiced in 1990?
• Believe you have the best organization possible for delivering
distance education?
• Are experiencing 10% to 20% growth student enrollment over
past 3-5 years?
• See increased demand from partners, constituents, students?
• Are struggling with sustainable financial models and
processes?
3. The University of Wyoming Outreach
School 2010
• 10-20% annual distance education enrollment increases
• Pressure from within and without for new courses and
programs
• Staff and budget limitations
• Systems and processes developed over years that were
not all connected to mainline University systems
• Inconsistent and unsustainable financial agreements with
units and faculty
4. What to do?
• External review to identify
system, process, and financial issues as well as
constituent perceptions of Outreach School.
• Initially looked within the institution (outside
Outreach School) for consultant.
• Turned to external consultant for strategic
reasons.
5. Wainhouse Research Methodology
• Onsite Interviews
• Review of Documents
Phase I
• Identification of Comparator Institutions
• Interviews with Comparators
Phase II
• Assimilation of Phase I and II data
• Development of Recommendations
Phase III • Final Report
6. What Works – Outreach School
• Fulfilling its mission
– Students served
– Faculty engaged
• Perceptions of Outreach School
– Responsive and flexible
– Leading with technology
– Strong marketing
– Additive
• Outreach School embedded in fabric of UW
7. High Touch U
• “Students are well served, and remote learners feel
that they are part of the university. Ask our
students: they may not feel part of Laramie but feel
they are part of UW.” (Department head)
• “Outreach doesn’t just help with the technical
side, but also with the human side” (Admin/Dean)
Polleverywhere.com- Does your organization wrestle
with balancing human touch with scalability?
10. Insufficient Budgetary
Transparency
• General lack of understanding of cost
structure / revenues from OS
• Lack of reports / regular reporting
Receive Know how
funding? much you
receive?
Yes 9 6
No 7 3
Unsure 2
11. Program Creation
• Programs appear to be created on an ad hoc
basis. Are there metrics for assessing need?
• Central Position Management (CPM) model vs. OS
agreements: the crux?
• Creation seems to be based on champions and
high touch from Outreach School. This may not
be bad, but stifles innovation and results in hodge
podge of new program creation, without clear cut
support defined (market need, marketing
involvement, technical support).
12. Mixed messages
• Delivery van?
• School of knowledge/expertise?
• Professional services organization?
13. Comparator Institution Interviews
• Identification of Institutions
• Methodology of Interviews
• Areas of Interest:
– Demographics and Institutional Structure
– Faculty Participation in Distance Education Programs
– Development of New Programs
– Distance Education Student Experience
– Finance Structures / Revenue Flows
– Distance Education Organization Behaviors
14. Demographics
Student FTE Distance education FTE F/T Faculty or Adjunct
Student FTE DE FTE Faculty Faculty
UW 13,000 3,000 730 FTE 86
Instructors / 135
DE (subset)
U#1 66,000 7000 50 – DE ONLY 50
U#2 34,000 300-400 334 DE ONLY X
U#3 11,240 6,260 630 FT, 332 DE 600
ONLY
U#4 25,000 3,000 1,200 ALL X
U#5 14,000 12K credit hours 800 ALL Yes
U#6 30,000 13,000 750 DE ONLY 2250
U#7 22,000 22,000 500 ALL X
U#8 24,000 4,100 3,500 ALL X
U#9 63,000 2,500 50 DE N/A
15. Institutional Structure
Centralized / De-centralized / Other Comments Growth Rate /
Scalability
UW Centralized + distributed 11 outreach centers, OCP, OTS, UW/CC Medium
U#1 Central admin, courses de-centralized 2 “shops” – semester-based & 9-month Slow
enrollment
U#2 Shared: DE through provost’s office and Distance education part of academic Strong
academic departments mission
U#3 De-centralized; strong in individual depts. Mix of delivery methods. Strong
U#4 Centralized 7,000 credit hours per semester DE Strong
U#5 Very de-centralized; DE organization handles 12,000 credit hrs through extended U Slow
logistics but courses through academic depts.
U#6 Centralized within CE 50% of degree programs must be face-to- Slow
face
U#7 Centralized Accelerated degrees Strong
U#8 Centralized 200 undergraduate degrees, 80 graduate Medium
U#9 Infrastructure / registration central / courses 4 regional campuses; 50 distance education Slow
de-centralized courses
16. The Four Stages of Distance Education
Phase 1 Decentralized structure,
experimental distance education
in departments
Phase 2 Decentralized / Centralized,
some central control but
wildcatters drive
Phase 3 Centralized structure, central
group providing support to
departments
Phase 4 Centralized / Decentralized –
Greater autonomy given to
departments while central
organization provides leadership
and coordination
17. Where is your institution?
(Polleverywhere.com)
• Phase 1
• Phase 2
• Phase 3
• Phase 4
18. Is your institution facing
integration challenges?
(Polleverywhere.com)
• Yes
• No
19. Primary Success Factors
Constant renewal
Market research Marketing
Leadership
Transparency
Clear and
consistent funding
Partnerships
models
21. A more integrated future for
outreach at UW
• “A very significant portion of the entire university student
population is taking distance education courses. That’s
the part that’s growing. It seems like we should move
beyond the point that it’s an add-on program; why would
we treat revenue generation any differently? This is a
fundamental way of delivering college education in this
state. Don’t treat it as something ‘extraneous.’” –
Administration representative
22. Consistent, Transparent Processes
Related to $
• Eliminate variable revenue sharing models
• Centralize tuition distribution management
• Establish processes for routine reporting
• Enhance Outreach School accounting
beginning with audit of technologies and best
practices
23. Scalability
• Reboot course development processes
• Improve internal guidance provided by
Outreach School
• Review approaches to registration,
drop/add, and payments
• Eliminate summer school differential pay
• Revise faculty participation policy
• Provide growth incentives
24. Wainhouse Implementation
• All recommendations accepted by OS
– OS prioritized recommendations
– determined actions required to implement each
recommendation
– developed timeline and assigned working groups
for follow through
– presented recommendations to Academic Affairs
and academic deans
25. Implementation Today
• #1 Priority- New Financial Model-
1. Academic Affairs
2. Deans Council
3. UW Executive Council
4. Negotiations
26.
27. Questions
• Dr. Maggi Murdock, University of Wyoming,
Murdock@uwyo.edu
• Dr. R. Scott Seville, University of Wyoming,
SSeville@uwyo.edu
• Alan Greenberg, Wainhouse Research,
agreenberg@wainhouse.com
Editor's Notes
“The spirit of the Outreach School is incredibly welcoming, collaborative, and helpful. It’s one of the nicest places on campus to work with. (Program director)“The Outreach School has enabled non-traditional students to get an education” (Department head)
Summer school differentialsUse of part-time academic lecturers
“The reason they (Outreach School) can’t give us a clear picture is because they don’t understand the picture. If infrastructure were to improve we could probably (increase proceeds to Outreach School). We’re not hung up on the amount but more on lack of transparency.” (Department Head)“No one has ability to communicate. I want a report three times a year and I have to keep asking. When we stopped asking we stopped getting anything.” (Department head)
“Dean says get more people into summer school – we see the money – but Outreach School is saying teach through us and we’ll pay you more.” (Department head)“We need more capacity!” (Dept head)
MSU, Ohio State, Oregon State, U of Alaska Anchorage, U of Missouri, U of OK, U of TN, WSU, WGU, Wiche ICE
More instructional design, more tech supportBlueprints and cookbooks (timelines, action items, process)“Outreach support is necessary to launch at the regional and national level.” (Prof/Director)
