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Sloan Foundation provides $1 million to World Campus
	The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded a $1 million grant to Penn State in support of its World Campus—a distance learning environment where students and faculty, separated by time zones and continents, can learn together through information technology, providing access to the University’s finest academic resources.   The World Campus is a University-wide, technology-based delivery initiative that is extending Penn State’s signature academic programs to learners around the world. It brings together the expertise of renowned faculty members, learner support services and resources such as library access, orientation, registration and records, advising, logistics, assessment, career services and informal learning and social opportunities structured to meet the needs of today’s busy adult learner.   “With the World Campus, significant populations of motivated lifelong learners from around the nation and world now have access to Penn State faculty and academic programs,” Dr. James H. Ryan, vice president for Outreach and Cooperative Extension, said. “We are grateful to the Sloan Foundation for its generous investment in this major initiative. This grant will help us to continue the momentum we have generated in our first full year of operation.”   In 1997, the Sloan Foundation first awarded a $1.3 million grant to Penn State to help launch the World Campus. The new grant will help Penn State continue its leadership in Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN).   According to Dr. Frank Mayadas, foundation program manager, the foundation has provided 130 grants totaling $30 million to more than 60 institutions during the last five years for ALN projects, including two at Penn State. The foundation believes that a revolutionary movement toward the “virtual university” is under way and is urging higher education to make the leap to distance learning on a large scale. These projects set the stage for universities to create long-term, sustainable ALNs.   “The Asynchronous Learning Network is aimed at providing access to learners who can’t attend traditional classes because of their locations, family and job commitments. Our goal is to make learning available anytime, anywhere. Penn State has one of the country’s most ambitious and successful distance education programs,” Mayadas said.   The Sloan Foundation seeks programs that show a potential for a large-scale, sustainable asynchronous learning network. It has become a leader in advocating for the use of asynchronous learning and providing support for ALNs.   “Penn State has a long and rich history of distance education, and it seemed to us that we should talk to them,” Mayadas said. “It was one of the first institutions we approached. It became very apparent that we shared the same vision for ALNs.”   The foundation believed it was important to begin large-scale programs as soon as possible, and Penn State’s World Campus was one of the programs that could begin implementing what was learned in the experiments on a large scale.   “Penn State did a substantial amount of market research and advertising to make its World Campus work. There was also substantial faculty involvement, and much thought went into determining what programs would be most attractive to asynchronous learners,” Mayadas said. “The whole initiative is run very professionally, and we see a major commitment by President Graham Spanier and the academic leadership to this project.”   In January 1998, with the initial support from the Sloan Foundation, the World Campus offered a pilot semester with its first four courses. The World Campus is now completing its first full year of operation, offering an initial 33 courses in 11 certificate and degree programs. More than 7,000 individuals from all 50 states and 61 territories and nations have inquired about World Campus programs, and more than 700 students from across the United States and eight countries on four continents have been admitted into these programs. In five years, University officials expect to have 10,000 enrollments in 30 degree and certificate programs.   “We have made significant progress in our first year,” said Dr. Gary Miller, associate vice president for distance education and executive director of the World Campus. “Partnerships were forged with several major organizations and associations and a national advisory board, comprised of education, business and technology leaders from across the United States, was appointed. This grant from the Sloan Foundation will enable our faculty and staff to continue high-quality program development.”   World Campus programs use the Internet and other technologies to present course content, provide students with access to learning resources and to create a highly interactive learning community among distant students and faculty. To ensure that World Campus offerings meet Penn State’s rigorous academic standards, the Center for the Study of Higher Education is engaged in an ongoing comprehensive evaluation of key variables such as creating access, student performance and satisfaction, faculty satisfaction and learning effectiveness.   Penn State has more than 100 years of experience in delivering distance education—first delivered to farmers via the rural free delivery system in 1892. More than 20,000 students now enroll in distance education programs annually at Penn State.