California Lutheran University has announced an agreement with the higher education company, AllCampus, to develop new online coursework for the university.
The online program will be available to non-traditional and graduate students. The traditional undergraduate program will not be altered.
“I think a lot of people learned that there are really good tools online,” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Leanne Neilson said. “Some students learn better face-to-face, but for others with busy schedules, I think the program will work well for them, that’s why we’d like to offer both options and have the best of both worlds.”
According to the AllCampus website, they are an outsourced program that partners with over 20 of the top 50 universities nationwide. The website says that AllCampus’ goal is to help lower costs for universities in order to implement online coursework, while also creating a flexible yet structured solution for online programs.
Neilson said AllCampus is going to help turn some programs fully online. She said the first big wave of online programs will launch a year from now, and a program for the Graduate School of Education will launch a year later.
“We will also have a suite of undergraduate classes that are primarily for our bachelor’s degree for professionals,” Neilson said. “Students who are full-time employees and attending classes in the evenings will soon have a suite of coursework which will be available online once the program is implemented.”
Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Tom Hoener said that AllCampus will provide online development support to faculty, while also supporting the marketing, admissions and retention efforts for the bachelor’s degree for professionals program. This will also include several graduate programs in the School of Management and the Graduate School of Education, he said.
“If successful, there’s a real possibility that future programs may be served by this partnership,” Hoener said.
Neilson said Cal Lutheran will still be offering in-person classes for the bachelor’s degree for professionals, however, this new program will allow those who live beyond the school’s geographical area, or who are working full-time, the chance to pursue an educational opportunity via the online classes.
Dean of Continuing Education Lisa Buono said they will start working with AllCampus on the new program within the next couple of weeks. Both Buono and Neilson said after the program is installed, the bachelor’s degree for professionals will be able to admit students on a national scale.
“The goal is to create more opportunities for people to learn about Cal Lutheran and gain a Cal Lutheran education,” Hoener said.
Cal Lutheran faculty, Neilson said, will create the initial coursework, while AllCampus will assist with the online technology design and flow of the coursework. Neilson said AllCampus will also be developing the marketing strategy for Cal Lutheran in the promotion of the new program.
By comparison, Zoom classes are typically held live and there are limited options to view lectures outside of class time, and working adults need flexibility, Neilson said. She also said it is important for faculty to have some connection with the online students, so there will be synchronous parts built into these online classes.
“So for an hour and a half each week, students and faculty will meet in person in a live Zoom session,” Buono said.
Buono said with the partnership, all online courses will be designed with a live-chat function.
Once the program is fully implemented next year, Neilson said, the online courses for the bachelor’s degree for professionals will consist of eight week sessions.
Nielsen said she wants students to know that this is going to be a high quality program and that Cal Lutheran is very excited about offering it.
“We have a lot to learn, but we’re excited about where this road’s going to take us,” Buono said.
