I believe the issue of on-line institutions of higher education is very interesting. I will be graduating this May with a Higher Education Administration degree and as you can imagine, this issue is a hot topic as our students and faculty discuss emerging issues and implications for our profession. Personally, I do not believe there is any substitute for interpersonal relationships, especially for traditional-aged college students. This is particularly interesting as we embrace sensitivity, understanding and diversity. Dialogues and the exchange of ideas, I believe, cannot be validated and understood unless there is a personal element to learning.
Residential campuses provide much more than book knowledge.
They do their best to instruct and teach life-skills. They work hard to teach coping strategies and accountability. These are the things that I fear may be lost with the introduction and perpetuation of on-line universities, especially with traditional age college students. Student affairs professionals find their worth and legitimacy in these developmental areas for students. If on-line universities will be the trend in years to come these schools must be careful in compiling their mission statements.