We have high visibility in Waltham and the campus is surrounded by technology-oriented companies. So people who already have an MBA or an M.S. in an engineering field are coming back for one of these specializations. The certificate programs also lead nicely into our graduate degree programs. Quite a few potential students who express an interest in a certificate program end up applying to a degree program, and even more are looking in that direction. The network distributes course lectures to students on videocassettes.
Students communicate with one another and with their professors via the Internet, phone and fax.
Courses can also be delivered to remote classrooms, often at corporate sites, using videoconferencing technology. Many say they feel they have more contact with their instructors than on-campus students do. As more departments at WPI begin developing distance learning programs, Banks says time in the university's television studio will be at a premium. Recognizing this, the Department of Management is exploring other distance learning technologies to assure that it can maintain its capacity to meet the growing demand for its programs. As it worked to revise its graduate programs, the department has also been taking time to reinvigorate its undergraduate offerings.