Building Learning Bridges

Transcription

1 Building Learning Bridges

2 Asbury University Seeking a date to the prom is completely different than finding someone to marry. In the same way, said Asbury University Registrar Bill Hall, choosing a vendor is not the same as starting a relationship with a solution provider. One can be a quick fix, but the other can offer the whole package. Asbury, located in Wilmore, KY., decided a couple of years ago to venture into online distance education, but it wasn t sure exactly how. The school s mission involved impacting the world and serving students wherever they were, but that was increasingly difficult when students had to be on campus. So they called on Knowledge Elements to discuss what they could do. Providing technology was on the list, but so were best practices in instructional design, course development, and delivery. Since then, the school has moved ahead to launch its first complete online degree program using the Knowledge Elements platform. It took time, Hall said, as well as lots of meetings, demonstrations, and conversations. And there was plenty of discussion to make sure Knowledge Elements lined up missionally with the school. But when it came time to kick off the new online program, an interesting thing happened. For the first time Hall could remember, representatives from all of the related support services were in one place. Each department from the business office to student development does its work in its own offices, and rarely meets as a group. But working on the new program has torn down walls, and as a result, we re moving toward the model of having more and more people cross-trained, so that when you answer the phone, you don t have to send that person three separate places, he said. Working with Knowledge Elements, he said, has opened up numerous opportunities, and this is a group we want to be in partnership with for the next five, ten, fifteen years. The financial arrangement is 25 percent of the relationship, he said. The rest of that, the 75 percent, is the goodwill kind of stuff. It is the partnering aspect. It is iron sharpening iron. I push on them for certain things, they push back on me. We challenge each other to create this great program. Those are the pieces that you can t buy, the really good people or partnerships. It doesn t work that way. You have to discover them. Hall said he has received reference checks for Knowledge Elements from others in the registrar network, and the top thing they want to know is whether Knowledge Elements is real. And my answer always is yes, he said. What they say is exactly what you ll get. You ve got to have this conversation. It s not picking up the phone and calling a vendor for a solution. It s picking it up and saying, These people know what s going on in Christian higher education in the online space. They live it, they breathe it, they know. It s like having a journal on distance higher education with all of this information and choosing not to subscribe to it. It doesn t make any sense. 19

3 Crossroads Bible College It s often hard for churches to consider reaching their communities in new ways; the fear of compromise looms large. The same challenge exists for Christian schools; new methods of delivery and novel programming set a college on a new course one that some are bound to find uncomfortable. Crossroads Bible College was facing just such a barrier: The idea of adding an adult degree completion program and online coursework originally met with mixed reviews. But now, the Indianapolis-based college has 140 students in its School of Accelerated Studies, has increased the number of degrees it offers, and has expanded into three new geographic areas. With the help and guidance of Knowledge Elements, said Dr. John Crabtree, VP of Academics, Crossroads has seen a change in culture and the benefits have gone beyond the additional enrollment. What we ve been able to do is help everyone understand that methodology is not tied to theology, so to speak, he said. You can do things differently without compromising your faith, or truth, or anything like that. Since the fall of 2004, hundreds of students have made use of Crossroads online program; they ve chosen a majority of the online courses that the Knowledge Elements Education Network (KEEN) offers. The school experienced a 59% increase in online students during a two-year period. We re a firm partner with Knowledge Elements, he said. We see our partnership as key to not only our growth in terms of total students, but also in our understanding of what the different educational opportunities are. Knowledge Elements also helped Crossroads with the accreditation process for the adult degree completion program. Experiential learning may well be an important aspect of education in the 21st century, as Crabtree puts it, but it still can take some convincing for those steeped in traditional educational methods. The insight gained helped the program receive accreditation on its first pass. If a school really wants to provide the type of education that will make a difference in the lives of people today, experiential learning philosophy is part of that, he said. Knowledge Elements, I believe, can help not only in training and providing those types of opportunities, but also in being a great partner. We re into partnerships, and the key partnerships we have are the ones based on personal touch, trust, and integrity. That s what we have in our relationship with Knowledge Elements.

4 Laurel University In the early 1990s, the school now known as Laurel University had had 70 students for 70 years. The small Bible college began working with Knowledge Elements, however, and increased its enrollment right away. A decade or so of growth followed, but then the focus began to shift. The numbers began to dwindle. The previously successful programs hadn t been updated. The connection had been lost. Recently, however, the relationship with Knowledge Elements was renewed, with one goal in mind: refurbishing and updating the entire curriculum. What came next was the development of a virtual master s program that brought the school into the spotlight. It not only became the first accredited Bible college to offer an MBA degree, but also the first Christian college to offer an online MBA program licensed by the state of North Carolina. It uses Avatar technology to offer virtual business experiences to students. That gave the school some good PR, said Dr. Larry McCullough, who became president of the school in March 2010, just after the program was approved by its board. But having worked with Knowledge Elements in the past at other schools, he knew there was much more that could be done. The first thing I did was ask Knowledge Elements to conduct an operational systems analysis, he said. My first month here on the job, they came in and helped me as the new president to see where we wanted to be and how to get there. The report on that was invaluable. Previous leadership may have been more comfortable with keeping the school small, he said, but he brought to the table an entrepreneurial bent and desire to grow. For that to happen, we had to make sure we had the right infrastructure, and the right people on the bus, he said. New leadership positions were added, and Knowledge Elements was right there, along for the ride. In the past, I ve heard other college presidents and deans say, We want to start an adult degree completion program or an online program, but we think we can do it ourselves, he said. And five or ten years later, they re still saying, We want to start that program, and we think we can do it ourselves. Knowledge Elements, however, offers the know-how to take a dream to reality. Laurel, formerly known as John Wesley College, has gone on to merge with Universidad FLET, with 1,800 students in 30 countries worldwide. In addition to helping with the development of new courses, accreditation, the merger, and rebranding, Knowledge Elements has helped with the process of translating curriculum into Spanish. The relationship represents an ongoing linking of arms, McCullough said, and he s happy to sing Knowledge Elements praises to anyone who will listen. If I were to go somewhere else, to another school, he said, they would be my first phone call. Speed dial. 21

5 Somerset Christian College While many schools reach far and wide for prospective new students, Somerset Christian College discovered an abundance right outside its doors. Working with Knowledge Elements, Somerset found well over 1 million people in close proximity to the campus who had either started but not completed a degree or stopped with an associate degree. The result? Within a few short years, the school the only evangelical college serving the state has developed two new programs for reaching those students, added a third major, and grown into five locations, including space at a prestigious Newark address. The Life Enhancing Accelerated Degree (LEAD) program opened 10 cohorts within its first year, and the first round of 42 graduates have gone on to continue their education at institutions such as Seton Hall University, Rutgers University, and Nyack College. LEAD now makes up 55 percent of the school s enrollment. We re really pleased about the direction of it, said Dr. David Schroeder, President of the school. In many ways, the board would say this has prevented the college from closing. We just weren t getting any traction before. When Somerset and Knowledge Elements first began working together, the idea of long-term relational focus was important, he said. A member of the Knowledge Elements team was onsite at the school quite a bit, and did a lot of training and individual recruiting, speaking with prospective students, and showing them graduation plans. That team member also returned for faculty training workshops, and the school now has a number of teachers ready to go as new cohorts are developed. LEAD was an outgrowth of the Somerset mission to prepare people for excellent scholarship service and leadership. Aimed at students who had already earned credits, Somerset staff quickly recognized another need. LEAP (Life Enhancing Adult Prerequisites) now meets the needs of students with credits through Saturday classes in general education subjects, preparing them for LEAD. A third major, biblical studies, now joins Christian counseling and organizational leadership. We were quite surprised at the spiritual appetite of these students, he said. We thought they d be career driven, and take a minimalist approach. But these students are truly hungry for spiritual transformation. The school requires 30 credit hours of Bible/ Theology, and Schroeder is doubtful that any provider other than Knowledge Elements would have been able to offer the scope of courses. He s also unsure whether anyone else would have so closely aligned with the school s Christian mission.

6 Davis College Serving the needs of students has been the mission at Davis College for more than 110 years. Those needs have changed and so has Davis. The school, with campuses in New York and Miami, has found itself drawn into the online arena, filling the gap for students who needed greater flexibility in when courses were offered. The college first created independent study and directed research options, and we d have to fit it into their curriculum somehow, said Dr. Gil Parker, Davis Chief Academic Officer. The addition of online courses, however, offered a more stable way to serve those needs and Knowledge Elements knew just how to make it happen. The price was right, the variety available was incredible, and the choice for our students was phenomenal, Parker said. All of their instructors are graduates of regionally accredited colleges and universities with the appropriate degrees to teach what they are teaching. That gave it a lot of credibility. With the on-campus courses working in tandem with online, students are attracted to our college, and attracted more so because of the online opportunities. Davis has had particular success in reaching high school students who seek dual credit courses, offering credit at both the high school and college level. As the online program has shown its worth as well as contributed to the goals of the college an atmosphere of expansion has begun. The college will launch a degree completion program aimed at helping many of its graduates with two- and three-year degrees complete a four-year bachelor s degree. It also may take the college into New York City, where it sees opportunities to partner with a variety of churches. They realize they cannot come onto our campus, Parker said. These are men and women who have families and jobs and are heavily involved in their churches. But they want further training. We re having discussions about how we can help them achieve that. In the meantime, Knowledge Elements continues to help Davis further its own mission, as well. They see the bigger picture in Christian higher education, Parker said. The leadership at Knowledge Elements is on the cutting edge of what is going on in higher education, especially with online learning. They re always open, innovating with online education. As they ve been on campus, we ve found them able to answer our questions and help guide us. Knowledge Elements personnel are very flexible, responsive to our questions and the things we need to have, and to make adjustments so their programs work for us. 23

7 Since 1987, we ve helped a variety of learning institutions... rediscover passion... refine offerings... move boldly into new territories. Where would you like to go? Building Learning Bridges