Global University Alliance to Offer Courses

by TAA Staff ON-LINE EDUCATION HAS shifted into high gear as the Global University Alliance, a consortium of 11 universities, announced plans to offer on-line courses of its own, in addition to those its member universities offer. The consortium includes Oregon State University, George Washington University, The Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in the U.S.; Athabasca University in Canada; Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand; International Business School (Hogeschool Brabout) in The Netherlands; The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and The University of South Australia in Australia; and The University of Derby and The University of Glamorgan in Great Britain. The alliance offers on-line programs at the B.A. and M.A. levels. Students may take courses in agriculture, forestry, veterinary science, business management, information technology, education, engineering, surveying, health sciences, nursing, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, tourism, sports, leisure and visual and performing arts. Tuition is $500 per credit hour or $4,000 for a full year of courses. Consortium management hopes to begin producing and offering its own on-line courses this June, though staffing them with instructors remains an issue, according to Sir Christopher Ball, chairman of the alliance and chancellor of The University of Derby. He says that member universities will likely recruit part-time and perhaps full-time faculty from their pool of instructors. As enrollment grows, member universities may recruit new adjuncts to offer courses. "Everything ultimately is contingent upon enrollment," Sir Christopher says. He estimates that member universities could hire 80 to 100 additional faculty over the next few years. He says that he cannot specify compensation for instructors, for each university is free to pay faculty as it sees fit. "I'm confident that member universities will pay competitively," he says. "High-quality faculty cannot be recruited and retained unless they are properly compensated." The demand for faculty may be great if the alliance attracts students in Asia, which Sir Christopher sees as a growth market. To woo Asian students, the consortium is recruiting "associate" institutions in Asia to offer courses. Current associates are Mahidol University's College of Management in Thailand, and Sedaya College and Kolej Bandar Utama in Malaysia. Sir Christopher hopes to entice several more Asian universities to become associate institutions and believes they may come from Japan, South Korea, India and China. He added that the alliance's desire to attract students in Asia makes sense, given that the market may grow to more than a billion students by 2020. The alliance also hopes to make inroads in Africa and South America, continents where the consortium has yet to recruit a single university. Lower literacy rates in these continents have made the alliance cautious about expanding there. Nevertheless, Sir Christopher foresees the consortium recruiting universities in countries like Egypt and Brazil, nations with a stable government and economy. "Our potential for growth is enormous," he says. To grow, the alliance must invest in technology, or, according to Sir Christopher, a "clicks-and-mortar concept." Traditional universities may continue to exist for traditional students, but those who want to be on the crest of the wave are migrating to the on-line classroom, he says. "We are building the world's largest on-line classroom," he adds. "Our reach is truly global."