COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY'S "TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY" MODEL

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY'S "TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY" MODEL

Colorado State University’s (CSU) Division of Continuing Education (DCE) falls under the Self-Funded Independent Unit business model. Under Colorado state law, DCE operates as an enterprise unit that pays its own bills from the tuition dollars it generates in its distance education degree and certificate programs (online and other distance learning delivery modes), credit and non-credit courses (delivered both on-campus and at a distance), and custom training for businesses and industry (delivered both on-campus and at a distance).

DCE is the sales, marketing and coordination unit for all these offerings. It is also responsible for registering students and assisting students with their access to distance education courses. For our purposes here, we are focused on DEC’s distance-delivered courses and programs.

Responsibilities

The academic units are responsible for course and program development and get assistance from the CSU Office of Instructional Services (OIS), which is the university-wide organization responsible for providing media and instructional technology support for instruction, outreach, and other purposes for faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants. Depending on the curriculum, an on-campus or off-campus unit handles technical support (Embanet is the outsourced company used for business courses). As noted on the OIS website, “all distance education programs that originate from CSU are conducted in cooperation with Division of Continuing Education and are at full cost recovery. Methods of cost recovery vary based on transmission media.”

Where It All Begins

DCE Program Director for Certificates, Online and Independent Learning Al Powell characterizes the DCE business model as one that seizes “targets of opportunity” that start from a variety of sources, including, for example, outside industry training program opportunities, internal department requests to increase access, or a local market of community college graduates seeking four-year degrees.

When potential targets of opportunity present themselves “two things happen simultaneously,” says Powell. “ We start talking to the academic department involved, and we try to figure out a way to do market research that will tell us what the prospects are for success.” This early discussion and research process is followed through with a business plan that outlines development costs and timelines. As part of DCE’s coordination efforts, Powell and other executive-level staff members make curriculum development suggestions based on their market studies.

Quality Control

Once a program of study is in full swing, the customary student and faculty evaluation processes and surveys one would find in any CSU on-campus program are used for distance education, and the evaluation results typically drive improvement and change accordingly. For instance, “student feedback can lead to updating [electronic] course materials,” says Powell.

Overall, DCE is in a non-academic role. However, both Powell and Program Director for Distance Degrees Debi Colbert have indirectly assisted with finding adjunct faculty members to teach DCE courses. “We are big proponents of sheer dumb luck,” Powell says jokingly, referring to one instance where he helped find a highly qualified and talented economics instructor though a listserv he belonged to.

Organizational Structure

DCE has an efficient organizational structure that includes divisions for Enrollment Services, Finance, Distribution and Information Technology. Eight program directors oversee the following business units: Distance Degrees and Certificates, Online and Independent Learning offered through its Online and Distance Learning division; graduate degrees and certificates and professional development seminars offered through its Denver programs; and evening credit/contract courses offered through its Northern Colorado programs.

“Each program director has a chunk of business that they specialize in, but we do move back and forth and support each other as needed,” says Powell.

Revenue Split

Eighty percent of all DCE revenues come from distance education programs. “When we enroll a student, the tuition is split between us and the department, or us and the instructor and the department,” says Powell. “We have to keep our agreements with the departments as such that everybody can stay alive.”

“We are closer to having one kind of split,” adds Colbert. “Currently they are a little scattered, but we have to pay our overhead to the university, and we have to make a certain amount just to keep our doors open. Then we try to give the majority of the revenues back to the department.”

“It varies a lot,” Powell concurs. “Each program director sets up an agreement with each department relative to the program they are teaching.” For example, the revenue distribution percentages for evening credit classes or independent learning classes, or correspondence courses are different than the revenue distribution percentages for distance degree classes. “But we are right now making the process more consistent and more uniform and more predictable than it has been in the past.”

Faculty Compensation

Regarding instructor compensation for teaching, Powell explains that “most of the time the money travels from us to the department, and then the department makes its own deal on how that money is shared.” For course development compensation, Powell says that there are multiple models in place, as well as “a lot of evolution taking place.” For instance, some of the more technologically savvy faculty at CSU have already converted much of their on-campus courses to the online modality on their own time and therefore are not seeking any serious compensation to officially offer their course online. Or, where there is a need for an online course that has yet to be developed “we can go to a faculty member and find out if they are willing to develop it and start negotiating with them on what it will cost,” says Powell. “The average cost for development of an online course over the last seven years has ranged from $3,000 to $5,000, with it being closer to $3,000 most of the time.”

Ad-Hoc vs. Formal

DCE does have formal mechanisms in place for keeping track of its financial strength and planning primarily through the diligent work of its program directors who are given a great deal of authority to operate as revenue producing business units. “Every program we have must be set up as a financially sustainable business model,” says Powell.

However, the structure for the early processes for determining whether or not a curriculum goes online, compensating faculty, and ultimately managing quality and learning effectiveness seems to happen more on an ad-hoc level, which Powell believes is advantageous to DCE. “I think it speeds up the process and lets people work together without getting caught up in structure,” he says. “CSU is not a highly formal institution in character as a Land Grant institution, and because it is located in a part of the United States where people tend to be a little less formal.”

New Developments and Future Steps

In the meantime, DCE recently added on a positive new development to its order of business and is about to implement a new, revenue-enhancing initiative to its offerings. DCE signed a contract with the State of Colorado to become the continuing-education-approved entity for all state employees, both at a distance and in face-to-face classes. In addition, DCE will soon be offering reduced-priced, non-credit enrollment options for its historical for-credit, online offerings. “There are plenty of courses we offer that have value,” says Powell, adding that the lower-priced courses may entice a viable market of non degree-seeking adult learners who are interested in the many courses offered by DCE that are professional-development and work-skill-enhancement oriented.