With the dread of impending budget cuts looming for Louisiana higher education, online learning could help keep the University afloat, said LSU Online Interim Director and Instructional Design Consultant Amanda Major.
With 378 students from all over the country enrolled in various online degree programs, Major said LSU Online will continue to be a source of revenue for the University. While a portion of the revenue generated by LSU Online goes back into the program, it also goes toward funding several University positions.
“We’re hoping that because we’re generating revenue for the University … we can counteract [the budget cuts] to help the University continue to operate and function,” Major said.
LSU Online launched in March 2013 with a total of 17 students enrolled in three masters degree programs — business administration, construction management and human resource education with a concentration in human resources and leadership development.
LSU Online allows students and its faculty to participate in the learning experience from any location at any time. There are six start dates every year, and courses are condensed into seven-week long modules.
“That’s also helpful for professionals,” Major said. “They can really focus in on the material in a shorter amount of time, and usually they’re working in bursts anyway to get their coursework completed.”
LSU Online offers two additional masters degree programs in educational leadership and education with a specialization in higher education administration as well as an undergraduate professional certification in construction management. Major said the program has even expanded to attract students outside the U.S. and U.S. citizens studying and working abroad.
The biggest difference between the traditional classroom setting and the online learning experience is the ability to reach out to students on a global scale and make higher education accessible to those who might not normally pursue an on-campus education, Major said.
“Students who are professionals who have families and homes to take care of who are working full-time or in the military travelling from place to place,” Major said. “Online education is imperative because they can in their free time, which they have very little of, attain higher education.”
Online courses are as effective if not more so than a traditional classroom setting, Major said. LSU Online utilizes course standards provided by Quality Matters and the Online Learning Consortium’s Quality Scorecard as well as faculty-generated feedback to continually enhance courses.
“You don’t have to be in the classroom at a certain time,” Major said. “You still have to attend to the subject matter, right? You still have to read what you have to read, and you have to complete the activities, but you’re not sitting in a room and hearing a lecture at 3 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday.”
There is no plan at this time to add any new undergraduate programs to LSU Online’s degree offerings, but Major said her office is working to support undergraduate courses throughout the University.
The LSU Online office works alongside an advisory council and a team of University faculty members and professionals dedicated to launching and sustaining online courses.
“I believe you can put any course online,” Major said. “The technology is there. I’m aware of labs, virtual labs that are as effective if not more effective online because students can manipulate the chemicals or manipulate the circuit board, and maybe not physically hands-on, but through using mouse clicks.”