Decision-Making Process San Antonio Fast Track Proposal Timeline: One week from posting for comment

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1 Date: March 10, 2010 Decision-Making Process San Antonio Fast Track Proposal Timeline: One week from posting for comment Originator(s): J. Kim McNutt- AVPCL 1. Define the problem, issue, concern, that needs to be addressed. Declining enrollments in WEC undergraduate programs. Expensive, takes too long to complete the program. 2. Why is it a problem? Current model not cost effective, not attractive to adult degree completion community. Or non-traditional students. 3. Identify the stakeholder groups affected by this issue. SBL, SPS, CAS, WEC, Faculty, Enrollment Management, Finance, registrars, adult students 4. Identify who should provide input. Deans, Executive Leadership, FT/PT faculty teaching undergraduate WEC courses, prospective students, current students 5. How will this input be obtained? Student surveys, interviews, polling potential students. 6. Determine possible solution or list of alternatives. 7. Do (or should) possible alternatives be circulated back to stakeholder groups for final input? 8. Is approval necessary for a change? If so, identify who needs to approve a change. 9. How will the decision be communicated? And, by whom? 10. When does it need to be implemented? 11. What is/are the process/steps for checking if the decision, once implemented, is working? 12. Should there be a regular review of this decision? If so, how often? Implement Fast Track in SA using current Houston model. Refine what was put together, regular status reports. Yes. Admin. Council. Follow Houston model. Campus leadership, Marketing & Communications, WEC, Colleges Target Date: 2011 Enrollment data, tuition generated, retention, polling students in program. Focus groups. Yes. Every semester using metrics above. Contact: J. Kim McNutt AVPCL, jkmcnutt@ollusa.edu

2 San Antonio Fast Track White Paper Introduction San Antonio (SA) Office of Continued Learning and Weekend College, in collaboration with School of Business and Leadership, proposes to offer Fast Track beginning 2011 with a soft start while simultaneously marketing the accelerated program aggressively for This timeline will allow the logistics, planning and budgeting process to be monitored and perfected for a full roll out in 11. SA Fast Track will begin with undergraduate business degrees from the School of Business and Leadership. The every other weekend format will remain the same for graduate programs. Reasons to move to this delivery format include, but are not limited by: Undergraduate Weekend College enrollments have declined over the years due to changing demographics and increased adult education providers in this market Non competitive tuition Align schedule with needs of growing population of adult working population Increased competition with the advent of ADCAP offered by University of Incarnate Word and for profit education providers specifically targeting adult learners Value Proposition The SA Fast Track undergraduate degree program will offer courses in two 8 week sessions delivered in the traditional 16 week semester time frame, allowing students to take two courses (or more) each 8 week session, resulting in an earlier graduation date. The program will be staffed by a cadre of professional adjuncts, under the guidance of full-time OLLU faculty and administration. The courses will be offered on the weekends, when campus space is underutilized. This will result in lower operating costs and maximizing the contribution margins to the bottom line. The primary audience will be non-traditional students and adult learners in San Antonio. OLLU Houston Fast Track Launched in 2007, Houston Fast-track offers students the opportunity to graduate quicker by taking two classes at a time every eight weeks. This enables students to complete four classes in a semester, versus only two. In the traditional semester (every other weekend), students often complained that by the time they met again, or when it was time for finals, they had forgotten what they learned in the first weeks of class. In contrast, Fast-Track students and faculty have commented that information is more easily retained from week to week and students remain more interested in the material throughout the course. In fast-track, students have higher attendance rates, retention rates increase and assignments are submitted on time.

3 Other highlights include: Experience in Houston demonstrates students are motivated to finish degrees faster than the every other weekend format Students are more involved in the learning process due to compressed schedule With the shortened program length, student retention is higher since they see the light at the end of the tunnel earlier in their degree program (Demonstrated in Houston). Fast-track is an advantage to students on financial aid (FA). Students who take two classes in fast-track A and in B are taking 12 credit hours (fulltime) allowing students to utilize their FA benefit to the fullest. With the current format, students can only take two classes per semester, which is part-time. This chart shows headcount since implementation: Summer Summer Fast Track FT B Sprin2010 Program # Students BA/HUM.SCI BA/LIBERAL.STUDIES 20 BA/MGMT BAS/BUSINESS.04 6 BAS/HUM.SCI.04 6 BAS/LIB.STU/SC.ST.04 2 BBA/HUMAN.RES.MGMT 20 BBA/MANAGEMENT BS/ORG.LEAD.04 5 Total 180

4 University of Incarnate Word- Adult Degree Completion Program (ADCaP) UIW offers 7 undergraduate degrees mostly in business, through the ADCaP program. The program began in Enrollment figures were not available/could not be obtained. UIW Highlights include: 50% tuition reduction from regular undergraduate per credit hour rate Financial Aid and VA benefits available Charge fees for application, records, university fees, student fees, parking Student ratio average 18:1 Mean-time to graduation, approximately three years Free E-text books (program began summer 2009) for ADCaP students Community College transfer credit option Courses offered evenings M-Th and Saturdays Offer courses at four San Antonio area locations and one in Corpus Christi Conclusion OLLU Continued Learning should implement Fast Track accelerated degree program beginning Tuition reduction should mirror Houston s rate to compete in the local market against UIW. Once metrics have been established by launching the BBA, other degree programs can be rolled out including School of Professional Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences. Using this model up to 5 class starts is possible in a calendar year. To minimize instructional costs and maximize contribution margins, adjuncts should be used to launch program with oversight by SBL. Students will follow the cohort model and be force enrolled into pre-scheduled courses to ensure sufficient course enrollments. No real additional costs will be realized as the OLLU campus is already open on the weekends, classrooms are readily available (based on inventory study 10) and infrastructure costs for electric, water, etc. are already sunk operating costs. OLLU has nothing to lose by implementing this model and much to gain in the way of additional students and tuition, even with a discount. Once baseline tuition is generated to cover instructional costs, additional revenue is profit which will grow based on increased volume semester over semester. The cost to add a new student is negligible once minimum course enrollments are achieved.

5 Estimates: Income: 50 x $695/hr. = $208,500 x 3 starts = $625,500 Expense: Recommend using P/T adjuncts at Lecturer II pay status: Lecturer II Next Steps MASTERS $1, $2, TERMINAL DEGREE $2, $2, payment for 3 hour lecture Collaboratively work with faculty, chairs, students and administrators to discuss implementation and viability of moving WEC to Fast Track model. This is being achieved with the Decision Making process template. Poll current students and obtain community feedback via focus groups and information sessions. Collaborate with marketing and admissions units to ensure success of migration to Fast Track model.