An outside consulting firm presented the Cal State University with more than 10 ways to enter the online education market last July, including one called CSU Accelerator, which would offer “bottleneck” or high demand courses online to current students for a “premium” price.
But, before the university can move forward with the initiative or even consider the options presented by the firm, it has to hire an executive director, who will ultimately determine the structure of a program that will receive more than $1 million in initial funding from the CSU’s 23 campuses.
Each campus has pledged a one-time $50,000 contribution to support the public university’s jump into the online world.
“The form of this will develop as we get this person in place,” CSU spokesman Erik Fallis said, stressing that the program was still in its initial stages. “Everything is on hold until they find this person.”
The CSU announced the position in late August and a consulting firm presented the university’s Technology Steering Committee (TSC) with 12 versions of an online university in late July.
These included a full-fledged, degree-granting online university dubbed CSU Online, a master’s degree-granting university, which would also offer an “executive” master’s of business administration degree at a “premium” price, and, CSU Quick Start, a program focused on California high school students.
The different options were created by the consulting firm based on a variety of policy goals set by the TSC, including promotion of access to the CSU, reduction of time it takes to earn a degree, and increasing new revenue for the cash-strapped university.
Although the executive director of the program will be presented with these options, Fallis said some might not even be on the university’s radar.
The CSU stopped accepting applications for “full consideration” on Sept. 29 and plans to hire an executive director by Oct. 30.
The CSU also plans to begin marketing the program by Feb. 1, 2012, with a launch date in fall 2012.
The TSC is an advisory board to the CSU chancellor and executive chancellors on matters related to technology and is primarily composed of campus presidents, including Cal State Long Beach’s F. King Alexander.
An executive director search committee was formed by the TSC in September and, although it does not include Alexander, Cal State Long Beach Associated Students Inc. Treasurer Michael Quibuyen will serve on the committee in his capacity as a California State Student Association representative.
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