From UIS Chancellor Richard D. Ringeisen March 14, 2007 Dear Colleagues: I’m concerned about misconceptions you may have if you saw the articles in yesterday’s State Journal-Register and Chicago Sun-Times about UIS and its relationship to the Global Campus Partnership. The Board of Trustees yesterday approved the establishment of the Global Campus as a unit organized at the university level. Here is a link to a pdf file of the board’s official action item. That 52-page PDF document includes not only what the board did, but also the many concerns expressed by the Campus Senates from Springfield, Urbana-Champaign and Chicago. The concerns are worthy of your attention. The board had a spirited discussion yesterday and asked many questions before giving its approval. Among those invited to respond to specific questions were UIS Associate Professor Terry Bodenhorn, chair of the Senates Conference (the organization representing all three Campus Senates), and myself. The two articles published yesterday indicated that UIS might not participate in the Global Campus, as if we were being deliberately excluded. They also said the creation of the Global Campus might bring serious harm to UIS. I don’t think either is accurate, and I want to explain why. What is true is that our faculty have expressed reservations about the implementation of the Global Campus. I’m pleased that our faculty are guardians of academic quality. They should be. I’m also pleased about the success of our many online initiatives at UIS. We know how to offer high-quality online programs, and we will continue to do so. But it’s not accurate that UIS has been excluded from the Global Campus, which still needs a lot of development in its details. One board member said at the meeting she was very concerned to hear that UIS would not be a part of it. I had a chance to clear that up. I told the board we never said that, and we never intended for it to be said. I explained that our delivery model is different from that envisioned for the Global Campus. What we have said is that we expect the Global Campus may not be interested in some of the programs that UIS offers online. I also said it’s possible that in programs where our academic programs can “scale up” to the level that will be required at the Global Campus, we might be interested. I also mentioned that we have much expertise that can be helpful to the Global Campus in areas such as student affairs and library services. That leads me to a key point: Decisions about UIS participation in the academic programs of the Global Campus will be made by our own academic programs under the direction of our deans with approval of the provost. Every program offered in the Global Campus will be created and designed by one of the academic departments at the three campuses, just as they are now for campus programs. Individual academic leadership and faculty will decide what programs to offer in the Global Campus and what those programs will look like. All new Global Campus programs will receive approval at the campus level using the same processes that are used now for campus programs. That means that each academic department at UIS can decide how and when to participate in the Global Campus. Another concern expressed by faculty is that Global Campus offerings might compete directly with UIS programs. True, that’s possible. But I agree with what our Campus Senate chair, Pat Langley, said at the last UIS Campus Senate meeting: Where we have to compete, we will, and we will compete from a position of strength, because we know what we’re doing. Never underestimate the high-quality reputation we have built in the world of online education. President White said yesterday that in any innovation, there comes a time when you make a strategic decision to stop talking about planning and start implementing. With the Global Campus, he believes that time is now. The Board of Trustees agreed with him. The president said the GC will begin with a few pilot programs and not many students in 2008. Then it will grow. And he quoted the Chicago Tribune editorial from March 7, 2007: “The only thing certain today is that, in the ever-expanding online marketplace, fortune favors the swift. If this is Illinois' moment, it won't last forever: Other smart universities no doubt are plotting their own new online pedagogies. The U. of I. should move ambitiously to get its Global Campus Initiative up and running--before other, more nimble players seize the opportunity.” This is such an important issue that I invite you to submit your own comments about this on my blog. Richard D. Ringeisen, Chancellor |