Nichelle

**The Citadel ** **Problem Summary ** According to the Institution of Education Sciences (2010) one out of every three colleges or universities offer basic or introductory online courses in most majors and at least one fully online degree. These programs allow students that may be unable to attend classes in a traditional setting the opportunity to take courses from a location and time that is convenient. The costs associated with implementing an online program can be quite expenses (expensive) . These costs may include course/learning management system licenses, training faculty and staff, and computer hardware. However, they may be off-set by charging more for distance learning courses as compared to traditional courses. Currently, there are no distances or online programs offered at The Charleston College. As a result, a large amount of revenue that could have been spent at The Charleston College is being spent at other institutions. Students returning home during summer break needing to take courses during the break attend colleges in their home town or at other institutions at a distance. Non-traditional and graduate students that work full time prefer taking courses in the evening or online. Colleges that do not offer online learning programs miss out on a great source of revenue for their schools. Are there accomadations on the campus for mutli-handicapped students? Keith 1/15/11 **Background of Organization ** The Charleston College is a small liberal arts college located in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1842, The Charleston College has approximately 2200 students enrolled in its undergraduate Corp of Cadets and about 1100 students enrolled in its graduate school programs. The Corp or Cadets draws a diverse population of male and female students from over 40 states and several countries. These students learn under a traditional military system which molds them in to leaders. Approximately 33% of the students enrolled in the Corp of Cades enter the military after graduation. A link to The Charleston Colleges website is provided below. http://www.citadel.edu. **Stakeholders and Decision-Makers. ** The stakeholders include Citadel students, faculty, administrative staff and Board of Visitors. The administrative staff such as the provost and director and staff in the Office of Instructional Technology will implement the plans once they are put into place. The Board of Visitors, which contains 12 members, is the governing body of The Charleston College. All new programs and policies must be approved by the Board of Visitors. A distance learning liaison will be appointed to gather information and solicit feedback. One faculty member from each department, the Blackboard administrator, the instructional designer, the Provost and the Director of Information Technology will be interviewed. The faculty and other administrative staff will create the online courses for full deployment. **Performance Gap: Cause Analysis ** Approximately 65% of the students enrolled in the Corp of Cadet take classes at other colleges or universities during the summer break or other vacation periods. Six percent of theses student are happy with their choice. However, 59% of the students taking courses at other institutions would prefer to take courses online at The Charleston College during the breaks if they were available. Have they been surveyed as to why they go to other colleges? **Actual Current Performance. **Sixty-five percent of student enrolled at The Charleston College take courses at other institutions during school breaks. This results in a loss of revenue for The Charleston College and possible credit transfer issue for the students. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Desired Performance. . **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Fifty-nine percent of students taking courses during vacation and other breaks will take online courses at The Charleston College during these breaks. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Performance Gap. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Six percent of students choose to take courses at other institutions during summer break. Approximately 65% of students actually take courses at other institutions. The gap exists with the 59% of the students that prefer to take courses at The Charleston College. Taking these courses from The Charleston College online would assure easy credit transfer. It would also limit the hassle of getting approval before taking a course to be transferred from another institution. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Cause Analysis. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The powers that be are strong in tradition. They believe that an online program will take away from The Charleston College’s long line of traditions. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Is there a program that can be delivered to the powers that be which shows how online programs can be integrated with the traditions at Charleston that do not threaten them and enhance their traditions? Keith 1/15/11 **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Organizational History and Background ** **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Goals. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The Charleston College’s academic goals relate to producing graduates with the insight of today’s issues and societies issues. Many potential graduates or left out of this mix because a traditional setting is not advantageous. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">**History.** In 1842 The Charleston College’s board of visitors established The Charleston College, The Military College of South Carolina an all male military academy. In November 1846, the first class graduated from The Charleston College. Citadel Cadets have participated in every was since the Mexican War of 1846. In 1966 the undergraduate evening college was established. The graduate school was established in 1968. // In the fall of 1996, women were admitted to the Corp of Cadets for the first time in history. //  **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Mission and Vision. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">“The Charleston College’s mission is to educate and prepare graduates to become principled leaders in all walks of life by instilling the core values of The Charleston College in a challenging intellectual environment. Its vision is to achieve excellence in the education of principled leaders” (Citadel, 2011). **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Three Intervention Strategies ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Implementing an online program is imperative to keeping valuable resources at The Charleston College. Solutions for implementing an online program may include rolling out one online course each semester, rolling out an online program one department at a time or rolling out an online program for all departments all at once. As all of the solutions are viable, there are pros and cons associated with each solution. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Low end intervention. ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; text-indent: 0in;">A low end intervention solution for implementing a distance learning program is to roll out one new online course each semester. One course per academic department is moved to an online format. Overtime, there will be enough courses online so that students may get degrees fully online. The cost associated with this plan will include paying one faculty stipend per department each semester and the cost associated with faculty training and course development. This solution is the most economical solution. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; text-indent: 0in;">Would there be any quality assurance checks out into place? The problem with having faculty 'put up' courses is that most traditional faculty do not understand how to build online content, how to track students progress, how to properly assess in written format etc. -Karen
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Establishing a Distance Learning Program **

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Middle end intervention. ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">A middle end solution for implementing a distance learning program is to start by selecting one department at The Charleston College and choosing one academic program in that department to offer totally online. The cost associated with this plan will include paying several faculty members a stipend, faculty training and the cost associated with course development and rollout. Have you considered hiring one instructional designer to complete course development? -Karen **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">High end intervention. ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; text-indent: 0in;">A high end intervention would include rolling out at least one academic program totally online for each department at The Charleston College. With this option, each department at The Charleston College will have an online presence. The cost associated with this plan will include paying many faculty members a stipend, faculty training and the cost associated with course development and rollout. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Justification for Intervention Strategy ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">My proposed solution includes starting with one academic online program. With this option, basic courses required for most majors will be offered online along with advanced courses in that major offered online. Students enrolled in other academic program will benefit by having access to basic courses online. Having one program in place before starting another may help administrator make important decisions such as how or whether to proceed with new academic online program. This option will also require less up front financial responsibilities by The Charleston College. Stipends, faculty training and course development cost can be spaced out over time as new courses are rolled out. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Rolling out one new online course per department each semester is not a viable option. It would take years for a department to produce the courses required to offer a degree totally online. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Rolling out at least one academic program by each department would be a very large undertaking. This will require all faculty to be train during the same time. The cost associated with this plan would require a large financial responsibility by The Charleston College. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">With the implementation of one fully online program, students will have access to all basic Citadel courses online, regardless of their major. Students going home during summer vacation will have the option of taking courses online. The revenue lost by students attending other colleges will no longer be an issue at The Charleston College.

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The Manager’s Many Roles ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The major role of the project manager is to design a clear plan for the accomplishment of the project goals. This includes organizing the project, keeping the project on task, managing the budget and planning the project and keeping it within the scope of the project goals. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The role of the resources manager is to manage the allocation of resources such as time and budget. Also, determine which resources or under or over allocated.

Nichelle, how do you see these vague roles being specifically carried out for your PII? Jodie 1/30/11

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">Nichelle, implementing and supporting online course delivery is extremely expensive. Do you have research that supports your statement that revenue is lost? - Jodie Hemerda (1/2/ 11)

Nichelle, is the school concerned with more enrollment,revenue lost or both? - Keith (1/9/11)

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The Manager’s Many Roles ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The project manager will design a clear plan for the accomplishment of the project goals. This includes organizing and managing the project, keeping the project on task, managing the budget and keeping it within the scope of the project goals. What resources will you use for project management? Jodie 2/13 <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The resources manager will manage the allocation of resources such as time and budget. Also, the resource manager will determine which resources or under or over allocated.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">Project Assessment **

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">The formative assessment will be conducted throughout the implementation of the online program. An open-ended survey from the online pilot group will be used to assess the quality of the program. The results will then be applied to future courses implemented. What questions will you ask? Jodie 2/13 **

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">At the end of each term, a summative assessment will be given to student. This open-ended survey will assess the quality of the online program. What will be done with the results? Jodie 2/13 ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The quality of the course design will be assessed <span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">using the Rubric for Online Course Design. The Rubric for Online Course Design is an instrument created for the Citadel to assess the quality of <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">online courses. The rubric is based on the Rubric of Online Instruction developed by University of California – Chico. It has been revised by The Citadel with their permission. The courses will be assessed by two peers and a self-assessment. The faculty will use the results of the peer and self-assessments to make revisions to their course before roll-out. After the first semester of the deployment of the courses, an open-ended survey will be submitted to both faculty teaching the courses and student taking the courses. Based on the results of the survey, the online program will continue or be revised. Copies of the assessments are available in appendices.