Lessons in Launching Web-Based Graduate Courses.

As this goes to press, the Internet-based courses are being offered for a second semester and additional courses are under development. I The enormous growth of the Internet has opened new means of delivering university courses without geographic boundaries. As a result, educators are faced with a number of opportunities and challenges. If a school ignores this chance, it faces losing students to other institutions that act quickly to exploit a new method of reaching them. Those academics who leap into this new arena are faced with numerous challenges that must be overcome. Their restitutions must be assured that students who earn credits on the Internet have accomplished the learning objectives that are appropriate for those courses. This article describes the alliance of two universities to facilitate their entry in Internet-based distance learning. The report outlines the steps taken in launching graduate credit-bearing courses using the Web to connect professors and students and covers the institutional partnership, strategy, course selection, course development, students, course structure, technology, post class survey and lessons learned. As this goes to press, the Internet-based courses are being offered for a second semester and additional courses are under development. Institutional Partners The University of Dallas Graduate School of Management (UD), located in Irving, Texas, and Pace University's School of Computer Science and Information Systems (Pace), located in New York City and White Plains, New York, have joined forces as institutional Internet partners. Pace University's School of Computer Science and Information Systems has been offering graduate degrees in computer science, information systems, and telecommunications since 1983. A variety of distance learning methods have been used during the years. Professors have taught courses using IBM's CNET, a one-way video, two-way audio satellite network, as well as using the University's internal closed circuit TV network. Since 1995, with funding provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Pace has been actively involved in the development of courses to be taught asynchronously over the Internet and the World Wide Web. In 1996/Pace introduced a number of non-credit and credit-bearing courses for Internet delivery. The University of Dallas Graduate School of Management has been offering specialized MBA degrees for over 30 years. For most of that time UD has been involved in distance learning. UD participates in the Dallas-Fort Worth Alliance for Higher Education, where professors lecture using closed-circuit TV from the campus to students' places of employment. In 1994, UD launched the Health Services MBA over Westcott Communications' nationwide satellite-training network to health care professionals. Learners never have to travel to campus except for the graduation celebration. With these and other initiatives, UD is no stranger to distance learning and, in early 1997, wanted to begin using the Internet as an additional tool to reach students. The University of Dallas and Pace University each offers a graduate degree in Telecommunications (Pace has a Master of Science degree and UD has an MBA). Both offer a telecommunications certificate as a subset of their degree programs. In the spring of 1997, UD developed a plan to offer its five-course certificate program on the Internet. In order to facilitate the rapid deployment of these courses, UD decided to partner with Pace. This report focuses on UD's launch of Internet-delivered, graduate level credit-bearing courses and its experience in doing so through its partnership with Pace. Course Development Pace University's strategy is to offer the full Master of Science in Computer Science and Master of Science in Telecommunications degrees over the Internet. The short-term goal is to offer the six-course Certificate in Telecommunications by the spring of 1998. …