Executive Summary This Executive Summary is provided to Villanova University in response to your current efforts to launch an undergraduate degree in Media and Technology. Background For over 40 years, Bisk Education has been a pioneer and thought leader in the delivery of education at a distance. Beginning with our early adoption of emerging technologies to provide self-study examination preparation and continuing education to working professionals, we have grown to become one of the nation s largest facilitators of online education. Our mission statement is to be the end-to-end solutions provider of lifelong learning that allows adult learners to reach their personal and professional goals through education. Our guiding principal is providing leading edge technology and comprehensive bestof-breed marketing, enrollment and support services to our customers, academic partners and their students. Since 1996, our University Alliance Online division has worked exclusively with select, regionally accredited, not-for-profit universities to provide Associate s, Bachelor s, and Master s degrees and certificate (non-degree) programs 100% over the Internet. These programs have grown from inception to service tens of thousands of active students online today. Our relationship with Villanova University began in April of 2001, with the launch of a non-credit certificate program in project management. Since then, together we have created and currently support over 40 non-credit programs that provide valuable skills and information to over 20,000 professionals from the Fortune 1000 and around the world each year. In September of 2008, we agreed to launch our first online degree program together, the Master s in Human Resource Development, followed this year by the launch of your MPA. We have been successful in attracting to those programs a wide diversity of adult learners from across the country, who are succeeding at the highest academic levels. The HRD program has graduated over 200 online students, producing highly qualified HR professionals each term that generate retention rates in excess of 80%. Evidence that we are producing high-quality students fit for your high-caliber programs was demonstrated by a recent Villanova Graduate Studies student survey, which reported 91% of respondents would choose to attend Villanova again. We are also in the midst of an important launch for your School of Nursing to offer the RN to BSN program, in the Spring of 2013. Some of our other current partners include: University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business (Executive Certificates) Michigan State University, Broad College of Business (Executive Certificates, Launching Degrees) The University of Florida (Executive Certificates) The University of Vermont (Executive Certificates) Florida Institute of Technology (Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees) University of Scranton (Graduate Degrees) University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) (Graduate Degrees) Jacksonville University (Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees) Dominican University (Chicago) (Graduate Degrees) We are a privately held company, whose 850+ employees serve on a beautiful 15-acre campus located in Tampa, Florida. We have no debt, annual revenues in excess of $100 million, and considerable cash reserves and assets. Our financial statements have been audited by Deloitte for the past 15 years. A partnership with Bisk means meeting your online objectives, with virtually no risk and very reduced capital investment on your part.
Bisk s Value Proposition We seek a customized and integrated relationship with every partner institution. Villanova has been no exception. Bisk has a staff of over 100 people dedicated exclusively to your online programs, a vital commitment on our part to provide effective representation of your brand to support high quality, scalable online programs. You initially decided to partner with Bisk in order to rely upon our long years of experience, financial commitment and resources. That decision has proven to be a good one. The final results in every program we support can be measured in terms of successful graduates and satisfied participants. Among our accolades, in 2007 Notre Dame honored Bisk with its Partner in Innovation award. We are very proud of our legacy of success. Scalable Value Chain In our experience, it requires significant expertise, purpose-built infrastructure and dedicated staffing, along with generous financial resources, to develop and effectively offer online programs that provide the highest levels of academic quality, matched by an exceptional student and faculty experience. We offer a proven, comprehensive business model that addresses each and every element of this value chain. We are the most experienced service provider in our industry, uniquely qualified to provide a truly endto-end offering. That value chain is currently fully developed for Villanova, with marketing, enrollment, information technology integrations, course development, student and faculty support, back office and retention services all fully engaged, trained and functioning at a very high level. Your administrative operations and ours have worked together seamlessly for years, instituting processes, policies and procedures that would require significant amounts of dedicated time and resources to duplicate. Your new program will instantly tap into this online operational scale to meet the pressing needs of your students, thereby securing every element of your vision of increasing access to quality education. We will continue to invest substantial resources in the start-up of this new program, providing you with capabilities to efficiently and cost-effectively offer high-quality online courses and degrees that will enhance Villanova s visibility, access, affordability and diversity. Clearly Defined Roles The integrity of your educational experience and academic reputation is paramount. One of the hallmarks of the Bisk model is that Villanova maintains complete control over your programs, including the following important functions: selecting the degrees and curriculum, choosing and assigning all faculty, establishing academic outcomes and requirements, and governing instruction and assessment. You have sole responsibility for making all admissions decisions, and awarding financial aid. You also have singular control over the awarding your credentials. In our model, there is no material change in your involvement with online students from your traditional classroom-based students. Dr. Lindenmeyer put 2
this best when she stated, following the launch of the HRD program, The team at Bisk has proven to be a highly responsive collaborator with decades of experience in distance education and an abiding dedication to academic quality and integrity. The partnership has allowed us to extend the reach and promote the mission of the university, without in any way compromising our standard and values. Where Bisk takes up responsibility is for the non-academic elements necessary to offer high quality, scalable courses and programs online. Our services are outlined in our Six Principles of Excellence below. We partner with you on many levels, working closely with the academic units and individual faculty on course development, creating student recruiting and enrollment services and interfaces, and developing detailed integrations and relationships at every level of the Administration, to ensure a seamless and valuable offering to all distance students. Villanova Responsibilities Policies Leading Faculty Superior Curriculum Accreditation Financial Aid Academic Advising Granting of Degree/Certificate Bisk Responsibilities Strategic Planning Expertise Instructional Development & Faculty Support Online Brand Stewardship Student Recruitment, Support and Retention Services Technology Applications and Integrations Textbook Fulfillment Development Capital Bisk s Six Principles of Excellence 1. Strategic Planning: Bisk s RAMP methodology provides a 360 value chain analysis to assist you in determining institutional readiness, as well as identifying marketability of specific programs. We have already conducted a thorough analysis and completed pro forma enrollment expectations, based upon our years of experience representing your educational brand online and research into the marketplace, for the Media and Technology degree. We have provided detailed recommendations on the steps necessary to create and launch this program. We will follow this up with a thorough launch process that involves each of the five remaining principles. 2. Program Development and Instructional Design. We have a long history of partnership between your faculty and our highly experienced instructional media team, in the design, development and presentation of custom online courses, via our learning management system. You have already experienced our special focus on faculty development and support, throughout not only the course development process but for the life of the course. We regularly harness technology to provide learning objects and interactions, as required by your faculty, to ensure learning outcomes and objectives are met. We offer a state of the art, proprietary online learning management system, replete with streaming video, a host of communications tools, mobile capabilities, secure testing facilities, interactive grade book, faculty training modules, student reports and automated messaging, comprehensive faculty development and student training modules, and much more. We have an enterprise agreement with Proctor U for live online proctoring (for an additional per-test fee). We also have standard integrations with Smarthinking for live online tutoring in Math and Communications. 3. Systems and Integrations. We have worked closely with you to install custom integrations between our proprietary systems and your student information system, to support 3
applications, registrations, enrollment and billing for a widely dispersed adult learner audience. Our comprehensive infrastructure is designed to minimize added responsibility to your existing administrative staff, allowing you to leverage Bisk s resources to operate online efficiently and cost effectively. Your new programs will benefit from our specialized marketing and lead management capabilities, already tested and honed to a high degree, which will provide an excellent prospect development and enrollment experience. 4. Brand and Image Management. The new program will be assigned to your exclusively dedicated professional marketing services team, with the continuing support of our awardwinning, full service in-house advertising agency. Our highly trained team of traditional and digital marketing professionals is solely focused on university brand & reputation stewardship. We make a long-term commitment to managed growth, with a dedicated Business Relationship unit that serves as your single point of contact. Chris Wilford, Director of Villanova University Marketing, is in his 9th year of service to Villanova. Chris leads a team of dedicated brand and marketing management personnel that exclusively focus on Villanova University marketing efforts. Your new program will also receive global exposure to prospective students through our exclusive marketing relationship with U.S. News & World Report. The online marketplace for higher education has become increasingly competitive and expensive. As you consider alternatives, it is important to remember that we have built a powerful marketing presence for Villanova on the Internet over the past decade. Efficiency and clarity of message are key ingredients for the success and affordability of the marketing effort. There is potential risk of channel conflict higher costs and student confusion - should third parties be added to this marketing mix. More is not necessarily better in this case. 5. Enrollment Management. We offer comprehensive and exclusively dedicated student acquisition teams, using student services best practices following your protocols, including established custom data integrations to your student information system. Currently, dozens of Bisk enrollment specialists dedicated to Villanova on both the certificate and degree teams are speaking to thousands of prospects every month. Our teams handle inquiries, relationship management, application and registration, and all levels of customer service. All of our enrollment staff undergo significant training and development, including detailed instruction on your history, mission and all program specifics. Every enrollment specialist is subject to regular quality assurance oversight, with a focus on regulatory governance and adherence to a strict code of conduct. Our systems are designed to provide a highly responsive and customized experience for your online prospects. 6. Relationship Management. Retention of online students represents a unique challenge, so our services include a mature, dedicated team and functional process designed to embrace new and returning students, to ensure their continued participation and success. Our offering covers full accounting services, including billing, collections and existing financial relationships with many of the Fortune 1000, along with detailed reporting each term. We provide a complete online bookstore, and have a large materials production facility and shipping operation to timely supply all required texts and materials for online students worldwide. We also have a trained customer service team, as well as a technical support team that is exclusively housed and managed in our US-based operation with 24/7/365 coverage. Our legal team is currently providing your counsel with regular updates on regulatory matters as these relate to online programs. We heavily assisted in recent state authorization filings with the states of Minnesota and Maryland, and are now 4
focusing on three additional states to ensure that Villanova is making a good faith effort to meet Federal Requirements. Agreement Terms Our agreement with you is a long term one that covers our entire, turnkey service bundle. Our fees are a share of actual revenues generated by the programs, and these are fairly well-established in our current agreements, and in our negotiations and planning for the new undergraduate programs. We view our relationship as a true joint venture, with Bisk making a substantial investment alongside Villanova. Each of our services represents an important element of a successful online program. You may elect not to have us perform some of the described services, and we are open to this discussion, so long as we are ultimately confident that all of the elements of a successful online program are assured in the final document. The terms of our agreement are typically exclusive, insofar as we would not want another vendor, or Villanova, to offer the same or similar online certificates or degrees simultaneously, thereby creating market confusion (channel conflict) and uncertainty around attribution for revenue generation. Otherwise, we are flexible in many of the terms and conditions of our relationships. Rather than prenegotiate any of these terms or our compensation, we prefer to put everything on the table and then have a discussion around your expectations and long term desires, on a program by program basis. In every case, this had led to mutually beneficial and acceptable terms with Villanova and our other partners. Our agreements cover in great detail the respective responsibilities of the parties, most importantly the areas of the relationship where Villanova retains control of the offering. Intellectual property rights are fully covered, along with regulatory responsibilities and Bisk s related representations and warranties. Delivery Capability We have the capability to rapidly deliver our services and products to meet your goals and objectives. No one will be able to deploy your new programs with the dexterity and quality that Bisk can provide through our existing relationship. Bisk s end-to-end service methodology is scalable to support the addition of new programs, leveraging our experience, management, technology platform, data systems, marketing and enrollment processes, and physical plant, combined with the addition of strategic new staff to supplement and manage your program s enrollment demand. Our program launch team is made up of dedicated, senior-level project management and technology integrations staff, and marketing and accounting services specialists, all of whom have completed numerous large scale online program implementations, and are dedicated to a process designed to ensure access, excellence and seamless compatibility. We have a proven ability to launch comprehensive, scalable new degree programs in a timely fashion, with the highest quality. 5
Key Relationship Manager Qualifications Judith A. Dwyer, PhD Dr. Dwyer has been Bisk s Chief Academic Officer since early 2011. Her role at Bisk includes serving as the senior academic liaison with our university partners, setting policy for course development, faculty development and student interactions, and serving as the chair of our Retention Task Force. She has served at an executive level in higher education for more than 17 years, most recently as President and Chief Executive Officer of Saint Xavier University from 2003-2009. Previously, she was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Saint Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota; Academic Dean at St. John s University in New York; and Assistant Dean of Arts and Sciences at Villanova University in Philadelphia. Dr. Dwyer holds a Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America and has completed post-doctoral work at Harvard University s Graduate School of Education and Northwestern University s Kellogg School of Management. She is a former Fulbright scholar, has published extensively on issues related to higher education, and currently serves on the Leadership Council of Harvard University s School of Public Health. Adrian Marrullier, MBA Mr. Marrullier has served as Bisk Education's Executive Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing since 2006, and as Chief Marketing Officer since 2003. He takes an active role in the formation of each new partnership, serving as the senior manager of both the Brand and Enrollment Services teams dedicated to each university. Prior to joining Bisk, Mr. Marrullier's 25 year career includes roles as General Manager of WestWayne Advertising in Tampa, FL; Director of Business Development for Philip Morris International in Lausanne, Switzerland; Director of Business Development for Virgin Clothing & Cosmetics in London, England; Director of Marketing Services for Prince Tennis and Benetton Sportsystem; and as a Brand Manager for Philip Morris USA in New York. Mr. Marrullier, who is fluent in four languages, earned his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Advertising from the University of Kansas and a Master of Business Administration from the American Graduate School of International Management in Phoenix, AZ. Chris Wilford, MBA Mr. Wilford has served as Director of Villanova University Marketing since 2009, and previously served as Villanova Senior Brand Manager starting with Bisk in 2004. He takes a leadership role in launching, managing and growing all Villanova programs. This includes marketing strategy and development, managing university relationship, student satisfaction and program operational and business management. He has managed the launch of over 30 non-credit Villanova programs, the HRD and MPA graduate degree, and the upcoming RN to BSN program (February). Prior to joining Bisk, Mr. Wilford spent 14 years in the information technology sector in various product management, strategy development and marketing roles for companies such as Novell Inc., and Avaya Inc. Mr. Wilford received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Brigham Young University, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. George J. Straschnov, MA, JD Mr. Straschnov has served as Bisk's Vice President for Strategic Development since 2007, and as Chief Legal Counsel since 2003. Mr. Straschnov has senior level responsibility for the development of new university relationships and the implementation of new partner programs. In addition he oversees Bisk s legal function, including enterprise contracting and all education regulatory matters. He has managed the launch of more than half a dozen new university partnerships over the past six years, working diligently with his counterparts on campus to achieve their online objectives. Prior to joining Bisk, Mr. Straschnov 6
spent seven years as an Internet entrepreneur, founding two successful companies specializing in services and proprietary content delivery, including a top 10 financial information portal. Mr. Straschnov has practiced as a commercial litigator, and previously served in the Sarasota County Attorney's office. He also served as an editor for a governmental advisory commission in Washington, D.C. He earned a Bachelor s of Arts from Colgate University, a Masters of Arts from Georgetown University, and a Juris Doctorate from the Valparaiso University School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Florida, and is a member of the Florida Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel. Walter Kerce, BS Mr. Kerce has served as Bisk Education's Chief Technology Officer since 2007, and previously served as Director of Technology Development, then Vice President of Technology and Course Development, going back to the early days of Bisk s LMS development in 1998. In his role, Mr. Kerce oversees both the course development technology and the instructional design and interactive design staff. He takes an active role in new program development, overseeing a detailed approach to course design and delivery. Prior to joining Bisk, Mr. Kerce worked for Arthur Andersen's Tax Technology Group. He later transferred to the Arthur Andersen Business Consulting practice. Mr. Kerce has over 18 years of experience delivering custom technology solutions across numerous industries and over 12 years directly focused on online education. Mr. Kerce received a Bachelor's degree in Computer Information Systems from Florida A&M University. 7