An old real estate cliche should play a key role in the long-term future of online education at the University of Idaho, according to Terry Ratcliff, recently appointed executive director of distance and extended education.
“Just like real estate — location, location, location,” he said, speaking at Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting.
Citing a national study, Ratcliff said 80 percent of fully online students live within 100 miles of their institution.
Contrary to popular belief, Ratcliff said most online students choose institutions they recognize and live near. He said while UI may not have a large amount of students nearby, UI is a prominent university that should reach out to the 20 percent of online students not close to the university
Ratcliff announced plans to add two to three fully online academic programs by fall 2015. He said he plans to identify the new fully online programs on Nov. 3 and shortly thereafter begin a marketing plan and draft a memorandum of understanding between UI administration and the academic departments.
Ratcliff said faculty involved would have completed their academic plans for the new online programs in late November.
By mid-December, Ratcliff said his department plans to notify both the State Board of Education and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, a regional accreditation organization, of the additional programs.
Proposals for the online programs were submitted and analyzed over the summer, he said.
Bill Smith, a member of Faculty Senate, asked Ratcliff about the possibility of additional online programs that are not currently in the works.
Ratcliff said his department does not have the capabilities to take on further online programs at this time, but encourages departments to have conversations about future online programs.
“I’ve had several meetings with department chairs from other departments that didn’t submit proposals,” he said.
Ratcliff said his department and the university will need to pay particular attention the demographics and trends occurring in online education to create high-quality programs.
He said many online students are older, career driven and often have other responsibilities in their life.
“Traditional ed students go to college instead of doing something else, but adult students go to college in addition to everything else that they’re doing,” he said.
In one national study, Ratcliff said the report showed 75 percent of fully online students were over 25 years old.
He said the vast majority of online students have commitments, such as family or job responsibilities, that restrict them from participating in face-to-face courses.
Ratcliff said UI has 22 fully online graduate programs and two undergraduate programs.
He said UI must do a better job of specifically marketing those programs as online-only programs to prospective students.
Ratcliff said UI is late to the market of online education, as other public universities have developed nation-wide programs. He said UI could find success by targeting niche markets within Idaho with the hope of expanding those programs outside of the state.
Ratcliff was appointed to the position in mid September and said the catalyst for his position was the President’s Leadership Retreat in May. It was UI President Staben’s idea, he said, to create an administrative position to coordinate online and distance education.
As Staben looks to expand online education and enrollment, Ratcliff said online enrollment could have a significant impact on the enrollment efforts at UI.
As executive director, Ratcliff said he tasked with creating a short-term plan and long-term vision for online education at UI. He said his long-term goals are to determine which administrative actions can be centralized and which responsibilities should be left to individual departments.
Ratcliff said he is fitting into his new position and is excited to establish new online programs.
“I hit the ground running and am still running,” he said. “But this is what I love to do, so it’s a good match.”
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected]