Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

The USM in 2010: 

Responding to the Challenges that Lie Ahead

Distance Education

Off-campus education will continue to grow as the USM responds to the needs of Maryland students who are best served by venues other than our traditional campus sites due to time and travel constraints.

The USM has developed a variety of options to enhance access to our institutions, including online education, which is explored in greater detail below. Other off-campus alternatives include: USM regional education centers (e.g. Shady Grove Center); centers run by a single institution (e.g., Frostburg State University's Hagerstown Center and UMUC's Annapolis Center); multi-institution centers (e.g., HEAT Center and the Southern Maryland Center); the USM's Interactive Video Network (IVN); instructional TV; and courses and programs delivered at public schools, community colleges, and other locations.

Off-campus education makes efficient use of USM academic resources. For example, through IVN, engineering and nursing courses are transmitted to Western Maryland, thus providing access without the need to duplicate these expensive programs for a small group of students. In fact, the number of courses transmitted via IVN has steadily grown, from 12 in FY 1993 to 68 in FY 2000. IVN's success is based on the early adoption of technical standards that focused on providing professional and technical education programs to underserved areas of the State. Without IVN, these programs would be unavailable to Maryland's rural communities.

Since 1992, enrollments in the USM institutions' off-campus programs have doubled. The most recent data suggest that around 12% of the students enrolled in USM institutions are enrolled in off-campus centers. This trend corresponds to the increasing need for workers to constantly upgrade their skills and train for second careers, and is expected to continue to rise.

Furthermore, as traffic congestion in the State's two largest urban areas increases (the Washington metropolitan area already has the second worst traffic congestion in the country), the delivery of USM programs at off-campus centers will provide important alternatives to commuters. For example, many of these students will take advantage of the USM's regional education centers (Shady Grove and the planned Hagerstown Center).

In this regard, a particularly innovative program is the Universities at Shady Grove, which is currently getting underway at the USM Shady Grove Center. Students graduating from Montgomery College and other regional community colleges will be able to transfer seamlessly into this daytime, full- and part-time undergraduate upper division program, which will offer approximately 15 complete majors from nine different USM institutions. The State of Maryland has provided the start-up funds necessary to get the program off the ground and the first classes will be offered in fall 2000.

The retirement of baby boomers is also likely to result in an increased demand for higher education and second career training. Retired boomers are also likely to enroll in courses for personal enrichment purposes, particularly in the Washington region, which has the nation's most highly educated population over age 65.

USM Response

USM institutions will:

• Ensure that regional centers provide student-centered, user-friendly environments.
• Ensure that the courses offered by all USM institutions in a regional center are articulated and transferable from the Centers just as they are from the sponsoring institutions.
• Support the introduction of undergraduate programs geared to full-time undergraduates at the Universities at Shady Grove.
• Open a new USM Hagerstown Center in Fall 2003.
• Continue to expand distance education offerings, particularly to underserved areas of the State.
• Expand the breadth of online learning offerings and continue to enhance the effectiveness of the online learning environment (see "Online Learning" below).
• Enhance videoconferencing capabilities.
• Affirm the Regents' policy on charging Maryland residents taking courses in regional centers tuition rates equal to the rates charged for courses taken on campus.