The Provost's Advisory Committee on Distance Learning has endorsed the development of nondegree programs to be delivered by distance education, as well as the creation of a separate legal entity to develop and distribute those programs.
The preliminary report from the committee, issued July 11, noted that the two endorsements were subject to seven principles.
According to the report, the committee has focused only on nondegree programs, specifically executive education and continuing education courses, "where plans for distance learning are well advanced. They include programs in the School of Hotel Administration, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations." The committee has not yet reviewed the different issues raised by possible extensions to other programs.
"The committee emphasizes that residential programs are the core of education at Cornell," said William Arms, professor of computer science and chair of the committee. "For carefully selected programs, however, distance learning provides a great opportunity for Cornell to reach out far beyond the Ithaca campus."
After reviewing the committee report, university Provost Biddy Martin said: "I am very grateful to Bill Arms and to the entire committee for a thoughtful report that combines appropriate caution with a desire to develop innovative approaches to education."
The report did not take a position on whether a for-profit entity is appropriate. "The committee does not recommend whether a for-profit or not-for-profit entity is most suitable. Any strong entity will have its own dynamics, and it is essential that the university's interests be protected by a strong contract with continuing leadership and oversight in the general area of distance learning by a senior academic officer."
The endorsement was made subject to the following principles:
·Academic oversight and strategy: "The proposed new entity should be a part of a broader overall academic strategy toward the use of computer-mediated learning and distance education at Cornell."
·Faculty control of academic content: "The academic content and standards for each program should be under the exclusive control of the faculty of a Cornell college or other academic unit."
·Right of first refusal: "There should be no requirement that a new distance-learning program (or course) be offered to the new entity unless (a) Cornell's name is attached to the program and (b) the Cornell unit involved is considering use of some other commercial entity for comparable purposes. In such situations, the university may give the proposed new entity the opportunity to convince the unit to work with it rather than with third parties, but, after a period of good-faith mutual exploration, there should be no compulsion to do so."
· On-campus use of distance-learning materials: "The new entity should make all distance-learning materials that it develops available under reasonable terms to the university for use in courses taught to matriculated Cornell students, subject to the intellectual property rights of the Cornell faculty and others involved."
·Public contract: "The relationship between Cornell University and the separate entity should be defined in a contract."
·Use of Cornell name: "Cornell should control the use of its name. The separate entity will offer programs under the name 'Cornell,' but the entity should not have 'Cornell' in its name; the university would license the use of the 'Cornell' name, including variants such as 'e-Cornell' or 'e-Cornell.com,' for use with specific programs only."
·Separate agreements: "Each program should have a written agreement with the separate entity that spells out specifics for the program, including academic oversight, ownership of all course materials, prerequisites, fees, revenue distribution, etc."
"In the process of the discussions this spring, it has become clear that we are creating a unique kind of hybrid organization -- one that is non-profit in its mission of education and for-profit in its structure," said Vice Provost Mary Sansalone, who is overseeing the distance-learning project. "The challenges are created at the interface between the mission driven parent -- Cornell University -- and e-Cornell, which shares the mission of its parent but by necessity has a different business model. The principles that the Provost's Advisory Committee have articulated will help us navigate these new waters."
Sansalone said the university faculty committee will meet late in July to review the preliminary report. She said the Provost's Advisory Committee will continue to meet at least through the fall of 2000. The committee will consider other distance-learning issues (some related and others not related to e-Cornell), including whether Cornell might want to offer online professional master's degrees, how online technology might be used to enhance cooperative extension and what role distance learning might play in undergraduate education.
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