2008 Woodie Awards
University of Illinois plans to add another campus
Nicole Nejati
Issue date: 10/16/06 Section: News
Media Credit: Jamison NashUI President White wants Global Campus to provide high quality education to students.
The University of Illinois has plans to create a new fourth campus, a virtual campus. Recently, U of I administrators proposed to President Joseph White to launch Global Campus.
The university currently offers online education. Approximately 7,000 students registered for online courses in 2005. However, the idea for Global Campus is different and innovative.
White has stated that not enough Americans have a college degree. So if America wants to remain a successful country, more people should earn degrees.
"I think we must proceed with the creation of Global Campus for one simple reason: the world needs it, and it is completely in line with our mission as a great public university," said White.
The Global Campus is targeting students who are not able to attend one of the UI campuses because of their families, financial situations, military duty and other reasons. White stated that he wanted to combine the academic excellence of UI with the customer service of the University of Phoenix.
"We really do need to run the Global Campus entity as a business so we can provide high quality customer service for students and keep costs very low," said Chet Gardner, White's assistant in the Global Campus endeavor.
Global Campus is set to begin operation in January 2007, and the first students would be enrolled in January 2008. The name Global Campus is a placeholder and will probably change, White said.
"We plan to start in Illinois, expand to other states and, possibly in the future, internationally," White said.
The price for Global Campus is estimated at $15 million to $20 million dollars. White has spoken with private donors and foundations about funding for Global Campus and said that he has received positive responses from people.
Although White and Gardner seem ambitious about Global Campus, some faculty members were apprehensive about the drastic change in teaching.
A concerned biology professor questioned White about how laboratory class would be held on the Internet.
"There are some things that you just can't teach online and laboratory class is one of them," said White. Global Campus is going to be a combination of hands on teaching and online teaching.
Another professor questioned the quality of an online UI education. Gardner stated that all of the degree programs have to be approved by the UI Board of Trustees as well as the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He also stated that the tenured professors would also be a part of the course constructions.
Both White and Gardner believe that U of I must launch Global Campus because it would benefit more students, create profit for U of I in time, and adapt to the mobile lifestyle of Americans today.
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The university currently offers online education. Approximately 7,000 students registered for online courses in 2005. However, the idea for Global Campus is different and innovative.
White has stated that not enough Americans have a college degree. So if America wants to remain a successful country, more people should earn degrees.
"I think we must proceed with the creation of Global Campus for one simple reason: the world needs it, and it is completely in line with our mission as a great public university," said White.
The Global Campus is targeting students who are not able to attend one of the UI campuses because of their families, financial situations, military duty and other reasons. White stated that he wanted to combine the academic excellence of UI with the customer service of the University of Phoenix.
"We really do need to run the Global Campus entity as a business so we can provide high quality customer service for students and keep costs very low," said Chet Gardner, White's assistant in the Global Campus endeavor.
Global Campus is set to begin operation in January 2007, and the first students would be enrolled in January 2008. The name Global Campus is a placeholder and will probably change, White said.
"We plan to start in Illinois, expand to other states and, possibly in the future, internationally," White said.
The price for Global Campus is estimated at $15 million to $20 million dollars. White has spoken with private donors and foundations about funding for Global Campus and said that he has received positive responses from people.
Although White and Gardner seem ambitious about Global Campus, some faculty members were apprehensive about the drastic change in teaching.
A concerned biology professor questioned White about how laboratory class would be held on the Internet.
"There are some things that you just can't teach online and laboratory class is one of them," said White. Global Campus is going to be a combination of hands on teaching and online teaching.
Another professor questioned the quality of an online UI education. Gardner stated that all of the degree programs have to be approved by the UI Board of Trustees as well as the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He also stated that the tenured professors would also be a part of the course constructions.
Both White and Gardner believe that U of I must launch Global Campus because it would benefit more students, create profit for U of I in time, and adapt to the mobile lifestyle of Americans today.
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Osvaldo GUERRA VILLAR
posted 3/08/08 @ 6:59 PM CST
Thanks for your link and article about Illinois Campus University. It is of great interest.
With Thanks,
www.traductionsogv.com
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