Sunday, February 13, 2011

Online degree

Online degree

Online degree

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 09:24 PM PST

Chris Knox had a full and busy life -- a professional job that required a lot of travel, a wife and three young children.

But Knox, 38, wanted a bachelor's degree.

The only way he could fit earning such a degree into his packed schedule was to complete it online. Knox, who already had two associate's degrees, enrolled in the online Bachelor of Management Arts program at Charleston Southern University two years ago.

Now, when he gets home from work at his job as an operations manager at an engineering firm, he spends some time with his children, who range in age from 3 to 7 years old, then he retreats to his home office to work on his degree. He'll be done with it in May. "I would not have been able to complete my bachelor's degree without the distance learning option," he said.

Charleston Southern is expanding its online options because there's a demand for such programs, said Jim Jones, dean of the College of Adult and Professional Studies. It now offers the entire bachelor of management arts degree online, as well as the basic core courses for all bachelor's degrees. And four more business-related bachelor's and a master's degree are in the works.

Don Kilburn, chief executive officer of Pearson's Learning Solutions, said his company worked in partnership with Charleston Southern to develop the online programs. And the company now manages the basic platform and hosts the programs.

The company works with higher education institutions across the country, he said. "There's a lot of discussion among a lot of institutions about how to be more aggressive with their online offerings."

Those offerings are especially important in today's economic downturn, when many people are seeking educational opportunities to make themselves more competitive in the job market, he said.

South Carolina's public colleges and universities offer a selection of online courses, but not many online degree programs. The College of Charleston, The Citadel Graduate College, the Lowcountry Graduate Center and Clemson University offer online courses, but no degree programs that are totally online. The University of South Carolina offers a variety of online courses and a limited number of online degree programs, most of which are graduate or professional school programs.

Jim Colman, Charleston Southern's vice president for academic affairs, said that in the past few years, more students who would have normally taken courses in the university's evening program were taking advantage of the school's online options. "It appeared we had to get in or get out of online," he said. And the university opted to embrace online offerings, he said.

And it had to explore the best ways the Christian university could incorporate faith into online courses, he said. "The Christian perspective is really the only distinction we have as a university," he said.

The school meets that challenge by properly training those who teach the courses to incorporate faith matters in their lessons and digital discussions, he said. And professors also include in their assignments for students readings from scholars who write from a Christian perspective.

Knox, who said he takes his faith with him wherever he goes, said his job isn't in jeopardy. But it makes sense in this economy to earn a bachelor's degree. And he plans to earn a Master of Business Administration, online of course, from Charleston Southern. He might want to teach at the college level one day.

But for now, he's glad his professors also have experience in the fields they teach. They understand the "real-world applications," he said.

Jones said that in the future, the university might offer not only more degree programs, but also certificate programs. It could work with business partners to develop certificates that meet a company's specific needs, he said.

It also might offer more academic options that are a blend of online and on-campus learning, he said. "Our future is limitless."

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491.

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