The Legislative Analyst’s Office has released an evaluation of the California State University Cross-Campus Online Education Program, finding that CSU needs to enroll more students, provide more courses, improve access and provide better data on the online programs.
Before last Wednesday’s report, CSU was already planning a pilot program through Quottly, a company that provides cross-campus search services. CSU has been working with online campus coordinators on the project over the last five months.
“Accessibility to a high-quality degree is a key tenet of the CSU mission, and online offerings provide students with additional opportunities to earn a degree,” CSU Director of Public Affairs Toni Molle wrote to Techwire.
The effort to provide cross-campus online education is part of Chapter 363, which stems from AB 386, “also requires CSU to (1) adopt a systemwide definition of online education, (2) report biennially on certain enrollment and performance data related to online education, and (3) report on the feasibility of developing an online bachelor’s degree completion program for students who started college but never obtained a degree,” the report reads.
The pilot program will offer a new way to search lower-division general education courses in CSU and the community college system. The prototype can be seen here.
“The pilot project will involve partnering with a provider who has developed a 'Kayak-like' service,” Molle wrote.
The program is meant to provide campuses with more data about what courses students are seeking, especially at other campuses. This could then help with enrollment planning, according to Molle.
“We’ll be getting lots of feedback from campuses about how they want to communicate and integrate these services with their campus initiatives and what flexibility is needed to address the diverse needs and goals across the CSU,” Molle wrote.
Collaborations across campuses is expected to begin in January.
The report also recommended implementing one learning management system (LMS) across all the campuses, in an effort to streamline things for students.
The current cross-campus site can be seen here.
