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Business leaders and University representatives guide World Campus planning By Deborah A. Benedetti
William E. Rodrigues (left), vice president and general manager, K-12 Education, for Dell Computer Corporation, and Dr. G. Jogesh Babu, professor of statistics at Penn State, attend the joint meeting of the Penn State World Campus Advisory Board and Steering Committee. photos by Dick Ackley—Penn State Image Resource Center Dr. John Cahir, vice provost and dean for Undergraduate Education at Penn State, participates in a discussion about online learning issues. Dr. David Monk, dean of the College of Education and a member of the World Campus Steering Committee, discusses online learning during the World Campus Advisory Board meeting. Michelle Lamberson, director of instructional delivery for WebCT, makes a point during a discussion at the World Campus Advisory Board meeting. Lou Pugliese, chief executive officer of OnCourse, is a member of the Penn State World Campus Advisory Board. He gave a presentation during the opening session of the meeting. Dr. Regina Vasilatos-Younken, senior associate dean of the Graduate School at Penn State, discusses faculty-student challenges in the online learning environment during the World Campus Advisory Board meeting. Ellwood Kerkeslager, president and chief operating officer of Information Futures, participates in a discussion related to World Campus planning and future goals. Dr. Janet Poley, president of ADEC at the University of Nebraska, discusses an issue affecting distance learning during the meeting of the World Campus Advisory Board.	National business leaders and Penn State faculty members and administrators discussed the Penn State World Campus and planned for future growth and development of the University’s virtual campus during a meeting at University Park campus.   “We are grateful for the extraordinary counsel the World Campus Advisory Board and Steering Committee provide us as we pursue mainstreaming the World Campus into the University learning environment,” Dr. James H. Ryan, vice president for Outreach and Cooperative Extension, said. “The World Campus continues to grow, thanks in large part to guidance from Advisory Board and Steering Committee members.”   The World Campus Advisory Board and Steering Committee met together in the fall to discuss a range of strategic planning issues.   Dr. Gary E. Miller, associate vice president for Distance Education and executive director of the Penn State World Campus, said World Campus annual enrollment reached more than 5,000 last year and is continuing to climb. There are currently 28 certificate and degree programs and 225 courses available through the World Campus.   The top World Campus programs for fiscal year 2000–01 and their enrollments are: Webmaster Certificate, 1,193; courses from the general course portfolio, 857; Geographic Information Systems, 487; Turfgrass Management Certificate, 416; Educational Technology, 338; and master’s degree in adult education, 289.   The newest additions to the World Campus are the iMBA, Master’s Degree in Applied Statistics, Web Professional Certificate programs, Education Administrator Recertification, and Distance Education Certificate.   During the meeting of the Advisory Board and Steering Committee, Miller discussed new funding for the World Campus from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. (See story.) He said the grant will focus on three areas: faculty research and standards, enhancing student services, and process quality management.   “The Sloan Foundation grant will help faculty develop standards for online teaching,” Miller said. “Online teaching is a new field. Some faculty are asking: How do I know when I’ve done the job sufficiently well? Faculty know exactly what is expected of them in the resident instruction environment. They need similar standards for online teaching.”   The World Campus will organize invitational workshops for faculty at Penn State and other higher education institutions to discuss online teaching standards.   The Sloan funding also will benefit student services by supporting exploration of creating and sustaining learning communities that welcome and support students at a distance, so these students feel they are part of Penn State, Miller said. Creation of an online student union may be one way to achieve this goal. Enhancing career services — bringing a student-affairs dimension to the World Campus is another area that will be explored.   “We are continuing to emphasize process improvements for the World Campus,” Miller noted. “We want to become more efficient in the administrative function of the World Campus by using technology to streamline our processes. Our goal is to reduce the cost per student. The Sloan Foundation views reducing costs and increasing capacity as an important investment.”   The World Campus Advisory Board meeting opened with a dinner presentation by Lou Pugliese, chief executive officer of OnCourse, a new national initiative that brings together public broadcasting and distance education. Penn State is a founding member of the project through the World Campus and Penn State Public Broadcasting. The next day, Advisory Board and Steering Committee members had a general discussion with World Campus leaders about future plans and goals for the World Campus.   Participants also discussed the role of interaction and relationship building in World Campus courses, knowledge management, interpersonal communication skills and rebalancing the teaching/learning equation. In addition, participants focused their attention on the economy, the impact of the events of Sept. 11 and external forces. World Campus Steering Committee   The World Campus Steering Committee is comprised of members of the University community. The committee guides and supports the development of the World Campus. Established in 1997, the committee is responsible for advocating for and facilitating the integration of the World Campus into the University’s learning environment. The committee reports to the Vice President for Outreach and Cooperative Extension.   World Campus Steering Committee members are: Thomas Abendroth, assistant dean for academic information, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center; P. Richard Althouse, budget officer of the University, Budget Office; J. Gary Augustson, vice provost for information technology, Computer and Information Systems; G. Jogesh Babu, professor of statistics; Patricia A. Book, associate vice president for outreach and executive director, Division of Continuing Education; John Cahir, vice provost and dean, Undergraduate Education; Diane Disney, dean, Commonwealth College;   Richard Durst, dean, College of Arts and Architecture; Nancy Eaton, dean, University Libraries; Renata Engel, director, Schreyer Institute for Innovation in Learning; Norman Freed, associate dean, Eberly College of Science; John Harwood, senior director, Center for Education Technology Services; Peter Jurs, professor of chemistry; Beverly Lindsay, dean, University Office of International Programs; Gary E. Miller, associate vice president for Distance Education and executive director of the World Campus; David Monk, dean, College of Education;   John Romano, vice provost and dean, Enrollment Management and Administration; James H. Ryan, vice president for Outreach and Cooperative Extension; Jorge Schement, co-director, Institute for Information Policy, College of Communications; James Thomas, dean, School of Information Sciences and Technology; Regina Vasilatos-Younken, senior associate dean, Graduate School; David N. Wormley, dean, College of Engineering. World Campus Advisory Board   The World Campus Advisory Board’s membership includes senior executives representing professional associations, research organizations and corporations in a variety of fields, such as agriculture, business, communications, engineering, health care, hospitality, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, transportation, computer technology and the sciences. The board assists the World Campus in identifying the learning needs of the global workforce, cultivating sources of funding and promoting awareness, understanding and involvement in the World Campus.   World Campus Advisory Board members are: William A. Burgess, consultant, Optimum online; Harry S. Burns, vice president, WorldNet Platform Development, AT&T Labs; James E. Carnes, president and chief operating officer, Sarnoff Corporation; Charles Gerhards, director, Commonwealth Technology Center, AO/Office of Information Technology, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Ellwood Kerkeslager, president and chief operating officer, Information Futures; Jill Kidwell, partner, Price, Waterhouse, Coopers;   Michelle Lamberson, director of instructional delivery, WebCT; Steven Levy, senior editor, Newsweek; Frank Mayadas, senior program officer and executive director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Janet Poley, president, ADEC, University of Nebraska; William E. Rodrigues, vice president and general manager, K-12 Education, Dell Computer Corporation; Jade Roth, vice president, General Merchandise Management, Barnes and Noble;   Terence L. Seese, vice president, Market Interface and Integration Unit, Optical Networking Group; Ron Vance, chief information officer, Tyco Electronics; Floyd W. Warner, president, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry; Cheryl Williams, vice president, Corporation for Public Broadcasting; David N. Wormley, dean, Penn State College of Engineering.