DE Coordinators: What’s the Legislative Analyst’s Office report saying about DE in California?

1. Pat James Hanz, Stephanie Low, and LeBaron Woodyard DE Coordinators:What’s the Legislative Analyst’s Office report saying about DE in California?

2. Legislative Analysis Office’s (LAO) Report on Distance Education in Public Higher Education in California • Report is part of a series of reports focusing on the 50 year anniversary of the California Higher Education Master Plan • The report assumes a positive role of distance education in increasing access and efficiency in meeting the goals of the Master Plan

3. Issues Raised in the Report • Distance–Education Courses Subject to Same Standards as On–Site Counterparts • National Research Suggests Similar Learning Outcomes for Online Courses. • Retention a Challenge for Distance Education. • Colleges Lack Uniform Standards to Ensure Academic Integrity of Distance–Education Courses. • Many Faculty Members Remain Skeptical of Distance Education.

4. Funding and Cost of Distance Education • Fiscal Impact on Students • Fiscal Impact on Campuses • Instructional Costs Similar. • Technology–Related Costs. • Facilities–Related Savings. • Savings Through Collaboration. • Presented five examples of collaboration outside of California, including the Western Governors University (WGU)

5. LAO Recommendations • Adopt a standard definition of distance education for the state’s three public higher education segments. • Require the segments to report periodically on student enrollment and performance in distance–education courses. • Require the California Virtual Campus and California State University (CSU) to provide status reports on implementation of a planned online transfer pathways project. • Establish competitive grants to develop a repository of online course–work that would be made available to faculty throughout the state. • Require the review of new programs to consider the possibility of the shared distance-education programs instead.

6. LAO Recommendations (Continued) • Require the Chancellor’s Offices of CSU and the community colleges to study the feasibility of establishing an online degree–completion program for state residents who started college but never obtained a degree. • Create a task force to pursue development of a Western Governors University “virtual campus” in California.

7. Report on the Status of Distance Education in the CCC System Key Findings Student Authentication Academic Integrity State Authorizations Programs and Partnerships Distance Education Cost Analysis LAO Report on DE in California Public Higher Education

8. Key Findings • Student Access to Instruction • DE Enrollment Growth • Degrees and Certificates • Substantive Change Proposals • DE Delivery Methods • Course Development and Support • Available resources • Inter-College Collaboration • Faculty – Student Interaction • On-line Student Services

9. Key Findings (Continued) • Enrollment, Retention and Completion Rates • Headcount • Trends • Completion Rates by Age • Completion Rates by Ethnicity • Completion Rates by Gender • Completion Rates by Disability • Why Students Take and Drop Distance Education Courses • College Retention Efforts

10. Pat James Hanz pjames@msjc.edu Stephanie Low lows@cccco.edu LeBaron Woodyard LWOODYAR@CCCCO.edu Q&A

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12. Thanks for attending For upcoming events and links to recently archived seminars, check the @ONE Web site at: http://onefortraining.org/ DE Coordinators:What’s the Legislative Analyst’s Office report saying about DE in California?