Thursday, April 16, 2009

Online university founders: University of Illinois' Global Campus face uncertain future by Jodi S. Cohen

This article hits home for all us down in Chambana. University trustees are considering shutting down Global Campus, which has taken up a considerable amount of time and money and fallen short of its goals.

The article does a pretty good job summing up the situation. I would have liked to see Burbules bumped up a bit- he is heading up a group developing an alternative model for Global Campus. The article talks about the program's failures and the lack of administrative support but takes a while to get to the fact that moving forward is still a viable option.

Even more deserving of being bumped up, I felt, was the reaction of a Global Campus student. The article takes us through a nuanced, complex and frustrating situation-- and doesn't really give us a human face until the very end of the article. What are all the Global Campus students going to do if the program shuts down? Will those hours apply elsewhere? How will it affect their lives?

Fundamentally, the story is about the program's fate as it rests in the hands of the administrators. It was great and fresh to hear that students' voice, but I felt like it should have been showcased a little more to give more weight to what the administrators are considering.

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