Nathan J KerrHeider College of Business

Creighton University

“For online universities, like Liverpool and the University of Phoenix, if prices drop by 60% they still make money. But for the vast majority of traditional universities, if the prices fall by 10% they are bankrupt; they have no wriggle room. So I'd be very surprised if in ten years we don't see hundreds of universities in bankruptcy” Christensen, 2013

The overall focal question I would ask if psychics were real is, should (the ficticous) Ivy University move to an online platform?

ForceForce Local or Macro Rank 

Technology is readily available via the internet Macro 9

 Society demands a cost effective approach to education especially in

austere times.Macro and Local 5

 It is Economically cheaper to deliver information via broadband/ remotely

and share resources such as books, library journals etc.Macro 8

 Building more buildings, parking structures, using energy (driving,

utilities) etc. is more expensive and hinders the environment.Macro 7

 Although coming on par, learning with fellow students is more conducive

to tacit knowledge than remotely.Macro 4

Politically, this disruption will hit selective colleges commanding large sums for tuition and admissions competition last but hardest

(Christensen, 2013) 

Macro 1

Colleges are hiring more “adjunct” lower paid professors affecting livelihood and possibly quality of services rendered Local 10

Students can garner needed skills for employment (especially STEM)Skills trade will still need to be partially on-site learned or practiced (e.g.

healthcare, HVAC etc.)Local 6

Will have initial costs of investment for IT such as video sharing software (Webex), teaching software (Blackboard), bandwidth Local 11

Will revolutionary research be affected as more brick and mortar closes?  Local and Macro 3

 Although regional accreditation will remain, how about special

accreditation such as AACSB for business or ABA for legal courses?Local 2

Key Characteristics* Long term vision* Divergent paths to get there* Lack of communication from different departments* Strategies adapted. Lack of stakeholder buy-in Knowing that integrating online education is a key to survival, Ivy University can come up with a long-term vision and each department can decide for itself the level of online learning, in-class requirements, and resource allocation in the budgetary process.  Each department will propose and approve a plan as a “small-business unit” for which its faculty believes will be as least disruptive yet revolutionary enough to compete with other selective AND non-selective colleges while attempting to maintain its tuition levels and selective image.  Although better than nothing, at the target time of 2020 for full implementation, the world of college education will have fully been disrupted by Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC’s) at the highest levels of college and online for-credit college courses at all levels of education.  Some departments may be ahead of others in deciding which courses to offer as MOOC’s for “price-point” advertising, window-shopping, and community benefit (e.g. developing countries able to take algebra or computer science course for certificate of completion) whereas other departments lagged hurting the overall image of the university.  Stakeholders (trustees, students, parents, teachers, alumni etc.) are not entirely sold as the university seems to be at odds of how they are getting there and no consistent message has been relayed.

Key Characteristics* Long term vision of what change is* Able to prepare students and faculty/ stakeholders* Evidence based changes with time to fix glitches* Complete buy-in with an overall vision for change Due to foresight on behalf of all departments and a common vision of where Ivy University is moving, key influencers for each department overtime and with much though and debate were able to create this common vision and how to get there by 2020. Knowing that technology is already available to offer courses online, the business school and the school of criminal justice decided to begin offering undergraduate level courses that could easily be taught online as well as the liberal arts department with general education requirements. This was done by first offering “free” MOOC courses to the general populace which showed the stakeholders free of charge where the college was going and what capabilities it had harnessed. It also expressed on a mass level the challenges involved so that when the courses are offered for credit, they were ready.  By partnering with and researching other schools, especially primarily online schools such as the University of Phoenix, they were able to learn best-practices so that when Ivy University goes hybrid with both online and offline courses, they delivered a Ivy level education which allowed it to command premium prices for its past, present, and future reputation.

Scenario one leads to more flexibility Scenario two leads to more harmony in

style and message

1. Each department has one developed MOOC offering for non-credit certificates of achievement by SY 2015 using differing teaching software platforms.

2. All departments will converge and evaluate then select a common platform for online instruction. This will also be a symposium of best practices.

3. Each department offers at least one core “for-credit” course completely online using agreed upon technology platform by SY 2016.

4. By SY 2019, a review will be made to ensure all classes than can be taught equally as well or better is offered both online or in-class.

5. BY SY 2020, 10% of total student population will be conditional enrollments in lower level general education classes online. These students will meet all other requirements such as SAT scores and minimum high-school GPA’s but were not otherwise selected for on-campus enrollment.

If another education facility at the same level of accreditation teaches a course better, can we enter into memorandums of agreement for online course offerings collaborating with each other with the student receiving dual credit for the home-school and school of teaching?  Will the political environment regulate and/ or mandate this collaboration? Will public tax-dollars be held over the heads of each school? We will have to lobby the accreditation standard so that Strayer University is not forcing students on MIT or vice versa.  If college is not disrupted as planned (highly unlikely scenario), will IVY University forge ahead anyways and capture market? The obvious answer is yes, but may be able to forge slower and at a less costly pace.