1. The VCU Project: NLII Annual Meeting New Orleans, Louisiana -- January 28, 2003 Virtual Colleges and Universities in Transition

3. “At a certain point in history, they may have been the lubricant needed for a massive shifting of the gears in higher education. For state virtual universities, the moment may be passing. ” The notion that VCUs are not needed is “ likely to be a ‘ cover argument ’ by individual campuses to avoid collaboration... Following this path would lead to destructive competition, poorly served students, and very unhappy stakeholders and funders. ” “Expanding Access to Learning: The Role of Virtual Universities,” July 18-19, 2002, Aspen, Colorado Pew Symposium

4. Venture Units “The system should provide for new pilot or demonstration sites to be established within the system that are separate, preferably isolated from, other units so as to increase the chances for innovation and improvement.” Terrence J. MacTaggart (1996) Restructuring Higher Education

5. The Growth of VCUs

7. VCU Project Goals Identify and describe the types of VCU models in use by states Determine and understand statewide goals for VCUs Discover and describe major successes, barriers, and unexpected outcomes

8. Principle Investigators Rhonda M. Epper Director of Online Program Development, Community College of Denver Myk Garn Chief Academic Officer, Kentucky Virtual University Research assistance provided by: Susan Winter, SHEEO Webmaster/Policy Analyst

9. Advisory Team Fred Hurst Dean of Distance Learning, Northern Arizona University Sally Johnstone Executive Director, WCET Val Lewis Commissioner, Connecticut Dept. of Higher Education Paul Lingenfelter Executive Director, SHEEO Tad Perry Executive Director, South Dakota Board of Regents

10. VCU Project Phases VCU Literature Review 2002 SHEEO/WCET VCU Survey Follow-up interviews SHEEO Report WCET – Hewlett Edutools Policy Page

11. Research Questions Are virtual universities meeting statewide goals for which they were created? What are the different VCU organizational models? How have VCUs transitioned themselves since founding to meet current demands? What are the major successes, barriers, and unexpected outcomes of virtual universities?

12. Literature Review 100+ studies, articles, state reports 15-20 core resources Goals, mission, organizational structure, financial models, collaboration models, policies that enable VCU to operate effectively in a state Ways to describe VCUs: Taxonomies

13. VCU Definitions Wolf/Johnstone Taxonomy Change Magazine, July/August 1999 Three types of non-consortia VCUs Four types of consortia VCUs VCU-1: Degree-granting VCU-2: Mutual services & formal articulation VCU-3: Linked services & informal articulation VCU-4: Independent services & little articulation

14. VCU Models Investigated The VCU Project is focused on entities and endeavors that operate primarily within single states and that were founded by, or comprise membership of, the state's public higher education institutions. These models appear to occur in two VCU forms - systemwide and statewide.

15. How VCUs Define Themselves VCU Type Number of Responses* Percent of Responses* VCU-100.0% VCU-22654.2% VCU-3714.6% VCU-41531.3% Total 48 * Preliminary data

16. Preliminary Findings VCU Goals Funding Models Services Enabling Policies

17. VCU Goals in Transition Expanding access Serving underserved populations Increasing Goals Declining Goals Reducing costs / Centralizing resources Increase communication/collaboration Better educated workforce

18. Funding Models of VCUs Direct state appropriation Fees from services to provider institutions Tuition/fees charged by VCU Partial tuition (e.g., split with provider) FTE funding from state Membership fees Donations/partnerships with private sector

19. Funding Models of VCUs Percentage of VCUs noting funding source as “major” or “primary”

20. Initial Capitalization of VCU Average: $976,359Median: $600,000

21. Operating Budget of VCU Average: $1,169,513Median: $500,000

22. VCU Funding Plans Is your VCU currently self-supporting? If not, is the VCU planning to become self-supporting in the future? 50% No plans to be Self-supporting 23% Currently Self-supporting 23% Plan to be Self-supporting

23. Services Provided Library services Online catalog Online application Online registration E-commerce Bookstore Technical help desk Academic help desk (e.g., tutoring) Online financial aid Coordination of test sites and proctoring Marketing Faculty/staff training and development Course hosting Internet Service Provider (ISP)

24. Enabling Policies “Home College” model Common course numbering Policy development including: quality assurance, tuition, development, transfer/articulation, property rights, fees, revenue sharing Standardization & scalability Statewide or systemwide articulation

25. Future Analysis Audience Sector/Credential influences Primary/Emerging Disciplines External Competition Barriers Unexpected Outcomes Examples of Best Practice

26. For More Information Contact: Rhonda Epper rmepper@msn.com Myk Garn myk.garn@kyvu.org