UCCS Online Communication Degree Audit

Prepared by Howie Feller, Connor Underwood, Jason Velarde

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

May 5th, 2016

Table of Content

Executive Summary…..…………………………………………………………………….…....2

Intro…………………….………………………………………………………………….….......3

Background……………………………………………………………………….……...4

Department Recommendations………………………………….……….…..….……...4

Literature Review……………………………………………………………………….…….....5

Health Effect…………………………………………………………………….…...…..5

General Trends………………………………………………………………………......8

Comparative Research………………………………………………………………....13

Current Status of UCCS…………………………………………………………….…17

Methods…………………………………………………………………………………….…...19

Results…………………………………………………………………………………………..20

Recommendations……………………………………………………………………………...24

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Executive Summary Coming in the Fall semester of 2016, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs is looking to introduce a brand new degree for a bachelor of arts in communication, that will be completely online. In order to release this program with the most efficiency and quality possible, this audit has been created and conducted, addressing multiple aspects of this program as it comes to its release. Background research has been conducted in regard to online degrees in general, and to relevant information that may prove useful to the construction and execution of this new program. Within this body of literature, you will find secondary research that looks at the following: The effects of having a sense of belonging in a college course has on an individual’s health, current trends and aspects of online degrees in general including both internal and external factors, comparative research conducted between several competing universities of similar standing to UCCS, and a look at the current status of UCCS. Additional primary research was conducted, in the form of several interviews of individuals deemed appropriate to the development of this program. A survey intended for current communication students has also been created and, while it has not been released, it can act as a potential key source for further insight. From all of this research it has been concluded that, with the current market growing and becoming much more viable, there is much potential in creating this online degree and UCCS is making a good decision to go through with this. However, there are some potential problems in the development of the program that this audit addresses. There is a lack of clear communication and verbiage interdepartmentally when regarding specific components and policies that the degree will contain, with the inclusion of a mandatory public speaking course, and requiring that it be taken in person, at an accredited university. There is also no set way to measure and evaluate the success of the program once it starts, and there are general uncertainties in the effectiveness of the program, for both prospective students and faculty alike. In response to these potential problems, it is first and foremost recommended that all parties involved with the development of this program unify and solidify their verbiage and tactics. An auditing instrument should also be developed to ensure quality and growth for the degree, additional recruitment and allocation of faculty should begin for future increases in enrollment, a tutorial course intended to familiarize students with the workings of online courses should be made, and the survey included should be released to its intended audience. Finally, an online adaptation of the mandatory public speaking course should be developed, in order to maintain truth in the claim of a purely online degree, and to accommodate students in less accessible areas. If followed, we believe that this audit and its recommendations will optimize the effectiveness of this new degree, and make UCCS continue to grow and excel as a university.

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Intro

When looking into where and how to go to college there are always a couple factors to

look at. What do you want to do? And what is the best way to get there. For many students, the

answer is an accredited institution that is somewhat affordable and successful. These are some of

the factors that we considered when researching for the University of Colorado at Colorado

Springs (UCCS) Online Degree Audit.

What we found out while doing our research is that UCCS is just as competitive and

would make a great online program in comparison to similar universities for the same degrees.

This is very important to keep in mind as UCCS Communication department is attempting to roll

out a new fully online degree program in an interest to help more students.

This audit looks primarily at the structure and organizational components of the coming

online degree, namely the current hindrances that are slowing the progress of the program. Three

main problems that the program is facing are: the lack of shared verbiage between departments

that is needed to define and solidify policy and structure; the lack of influence and reach into

prominent mediums of social media, including platforms like Facebook; and the issue of

requiring that the necessary course of public speaking be taken in­person at an accredited

university, and having the credibility to claim the program as existing purely at an online level.

Given the time constraints of the projected release of the program for the fall of 2016,

this audit is limited by the amount of research and analysis that can be done, including the

constructed survey that could not be issued; this survey can be found in the appendix.

Additionally, with this program being entirely new, much of the data concerning the program is

comparative between other such programs.

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Background

To gain a better understanding of the current programs available in relation to UCCS’s plan to

expand with an online communication program. Currently some of the issues discussed by the

Communication department heads is that it may not be as personal as needed. Issues like Public

speaking which is not currently offered online would need to be created. While we do not

currently have a program, Pikes Peak Community College has an online program so it would be

possible. Additionally there is an issues for who in the department would take point and be

responsible for Advising, Who would be responsible for deciding course equivalents for transfer

students and whether or not it would be too much stress for the current faculty and point person.

Another problem was that FCQs were almost always lower with online courses, this would need

to be addressed.

Department Recommendations

FCQs – almost always lower with online courses – how does this impact promotion,

tenure, raises, etc.

Caps for online courses to be set at 25 – in some cases caps may be lower such as

Research Methods.

Simplification of pay for developing online courses.

Additional pay when course is taught by someone else.

Overload pay for Online courses must be higher – at least equal to Weekend University

pay.

Additional faculty when a critical mass is reached in Online Track enrollment.

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Public Speaking must be taken in person at UCCS or at any accredited institution of

higher learning with the credit being transferred to UCCS until an online public speaking

course has been developed.

Fully online comm degree (main point)

Public speaking must be in class for online degree (ppcc has online)

General ed holding comm degree up

Want to target new vast audience

UCCS Connect has no verbiage

Literature Review

While the knowledge and existence of online degrees is still relatively new, there is much

in the way of studies and aspects in regard to the topic that must be considered when developing

an online degree. These aspects are detailed below as follows:

1. The effects of belonging and having physical human interaction in an environment of

higher education, in both a psychological and physiological sense, coming to show that

having sense of belonging is beneficial to students on multiple levels.

2. General trends of the current environment for online degrees in higher education. Aspects

like enrollment rates and prospective employer perspectives are analyzed.

3. Comparative research between several competing universities with similar programs,

with regard to pricing, student opinion, and more.

4. Current status of UCCS in terms of university assets and general ranking, to be

considered for the sake of developing a competitive edge among other online universities.

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1. Health Effects of Belonging

Besides the obvious difference of a physical presence in a classroom, a purely online

degree brings with it potential differences in the psychological health of those who enroll in such

programs. In a traditional college program, there has been extended literature that has found the

importance of social interaction for first year students, not just among their peers but with their

instructors as well. While there are many nuanced characteristics of a successful college program

in regard to the students, emphasis has been put on the importance of student interaction and

participation, as well as the organization and warmth of the instructor (Freeman et al., 216­217).

Such a thing is not too daunting of a task when in the classroom but when online,

achieving this can become more of a challenge, as “distance learners may be prone to feeling

isolated from, or out of touch with, their instructors when they do not see them regularly”

(Dennen et al., 67). These kinds of feelings are especially present in students who may have a

particular comfort with social interaction and, as a result, there have been studies on what can

possibly remedy this. One such study looked at varying amounts of instructor involvement with

students in an online course to find that, through techniques such as email and frequency of

posting, instructor involvement with students is vital for student responsiveness, but only in

moderation. In general, a healthy medium of instructor involvement is needed; when

involvement was high, student responses became shorter and less frequent (Mazzolini &

Maddison, 252).

Complementary to this, Dennen found that students especially preferred to receive both

quantitative and qualitative feedback, only after submitting their assignments. This is to suggest

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that the instructor who takes a more laissez faire and distanced approach will be seen as

unattached, and lessen student participation, but the instructor who posts very frequently and

with a large amount of substance may be viewed as overbearing, giving students less to respond

about, resulting in an equal effect of a lowered quality and rate of student response.

The findings of these studies agree with the principles of uncertainty reduction theory,

which postulates that when people meet, the primary concern is to reduce uncertainty in the

relationship, which is done through communication and self disclosure between the two parties.

In this instance, there is clearly expressed anticipation in knowing that the student will be

studying under their instructor for the minimum duration of a semester. There is obvious

incentive in the relationship, as the student is looking to hopefully earn a good grade and pass the

course, while the instructor may be looking to maintain their status and improve the knowledge

of the students. Finally, the amount of instructor presence is most closely related to the deviance

component of uncertainty reduction, as an extremely low level of presence would result in a high

level of deviance, just as an extremely high level of presence would do the same and negatively

impact the relationship.

In the topic of student responsiveness and favorability when enrolled in an online course,

preferences have been found for other variables, outside of the direct interpersonal technique of

the instructor. Students were found to respond positively to the uses of various media utilized in

the course, through forms such as video, audio recordings, tone of language, and even just being

able to see the instructor’s face (Russo & Campbell 226­227). In student surveys, Russo and

Campbell also found that in having repeated electronic contact with their peer through group

projects, students reported feeling closer to the members of their group than others, and that

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interaction in the group was more human. Despite this, in regard to the mediated presence of

their peers, there was a significantly lower rating, due to their “concern about how their

comments will be received by others and resulting reluctance to contribute, as well as social

loafing” (Russo & Campbell 228). In general, students were found to prefer techniques and

mediums of an online class that included tools beyond simple text and email to give the work

and instructor a greater need for involvement and relation.

In addition to the mental and emotional effects that can come from creating a sense of

belonging and inclusion in students, these factors can also have benefits and consequences on the

physiological health of an individual. In studies conducted by Turner and Cobb, it was found that

creating a sense of exclusion during simulated tasks for college students increased their heart rate

during and after the task, as well as negatively impacting mood. Not only this, but for those who

were more greatly included in the task not only experienced a return to their prior heart rates but

had a further decrease, as well as improved mood (577). These results can stand to support the

idea that not only can social belonging and inclusion act as a preventative component to health

risks, but it can go beyond this to improve an individual’s base level of health.

2. General Trends

Having consideration for implications on health that an online degree program would

involve is important, but the current environment and workings of the general industry of online

higher education must also be considered. This section is divided into the following areas:

­ Enrollment Rates of Online Programs

­ Online Program Credibility

­ Employer Perspectives on Online Degrees

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­ Best Practices

Enrollment Rates of Online Programs

The recent trends for enrollment in general higher education and for those who are

choosing to enroll in an online degree differ in opposing ways. Recent trends are finding an

overall decrease and slowing of enrollment rates for higher education; these trends include a

rising rate in employment, a widening gap between financial aid and rising tuitions, and a

declining number of high school graduates (Clinefelter 2014) which, while it might not impact

online degrees as intensely as traditional enrollment, still has an effect. Despite these slowing

rates of overall enrollment, according to a study of enrollment in 2013 conducted by the Institute

of Education Sciences, 11.3% of undergraduate students had enrolled in online courses and

degrees exclusively, with a slightly larger percentage of 15.1% of undergraduates enrolling in

some, but not all, online courses for their degree, and these rates are only accelerating and the

numbers growing. This further highlights the open market for online degrees, given the lack of

such programs in both the public and private sectors of higher education (Clinefelter 2014). The

demand is there, but the problem may lie in defining one’s own program as exceptional to the

many other emerging programs, which can now reach a global audience. For further reference,

below is part of a table from the National Center for Education Statistics, detailing undergraduate

enrollment percentages of distance education from 2013. Based on this table, it is clear that those

enrolled in online, or distance, courses are still very much a minority within higher education,

but these numbers are significant, and with the projected growth of this enrollment, these

numbers will become vital for the university to not only survive, but excel and advance beyond

others.

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Number and percentage of students enrolled in degree­granting postsecondary institutions, by distance education participation, level of enrollment and control of institution: Fall 2013

Level of enrollment and control of institution

Percent of students

Total

No distance education courses

Total, any distance education course(s)

At least one, but not all, of student's courses are distance education courses

Exclusively distance education course(s)

Total 100.0 72.9 27.1 14.1 13.1

Level of enrollment

Undergraduate 100.0 73.5 26.5 15.1 11.3

Control of institution

Public 100.0 74.6 25.4 16.7 8.7

Private nonprofit

100.0 80.0 20.0 6.9 13.1

Private for­profit

100.0 40.7 59.3 7.6 51.7

ADAPTED FROM: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2016). Digest of Education Statistics, 2014 (NCES 2016­006), Table 311.15. Online Program Credibility

While current trends are suggesting a rapid growth in the use and enrollment of online

undergraduate degrees, there still lies the stigma and perceptions of credibility of such programs,

coming from employers. In many past instances, there has been a variety of academic criticisms

of strictly online degrees and what they may imply about the graduate, including “social isolation

risk, increased potential for academic dishonesty, potential for information overload, limited

computer access in some areas, inadequate computer equipment” (Kaupins et al. 222). These

threats can unfortunately carry over to the employer’s side and, even though perceptions and

favorability of online degrees is improving, there is a mixed spread of consensus. Kaupins and

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their team found that in a 2010 survey of human resources professionals, 39% viewed no

difference between an online and traditional degree if applicants had identical work experience

and education, and 41% preferred a bachelor’s degree earned in a traditional program (as cited in

SHRM). In a national survey of 159 healthcare administrators in 2007, a stunning 95% of those

surveyed said they would prefer to hire a graduate with a traditional degree over online, if given

the choice (as cited in Adams et al.), and these kind of figures persist through other fields and

industries. Of course this data is somewhat aged, and favorability is growing, but these margins

are still too significant to ignore completely.

Employer Perspective

This use of technology to create a purely online degree is relatively new when regarding

the history of higher education, but this negative stigma may still be caused by the individual

experiences of the hiring professional themselves. In a more recent study of HR practitioners in

2014, it was found that “if respondents were satisfied with their own online course experience,

they were most likely to view their organization as treating an online degree as equivalent to a

traditional degree for hiring or promotional purposes” (Kaupins et al. 227). It was concluded that

having a simple familiarity with the workings of an online degree did not correlate with

favorability towards the program so much as the respondent’s personal experiences with an

online degree; if a company had hired a human resources manager who has had a negative

experience with online courses, then said manager may likely view their organization as abrasive

towards promoting those with online degrees (Kaupins et al. 228). These results can shed some

light on why the recent trends for employer perceptions of online degrees look the way they do.

If an older generation of employers had little to no experience with online degrees or with most

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modern technology, they would be more prone to having an abrasive attitude towards them. But

as the numbers of management and hiring personnel grow into a younger generation who has had

more experience in a more positive way, then it would make sense to see an increase in

favorability, though there is still a large amount of employer dissent.

Best Practices

While online degrees themselves are relatively new when compared to their traditional

counterparts, there are already emerging trends and techniques that are finding success among

students at various universities.

One of the largest reasons for the negative stigma towards online degrees is the lack of

instructor­student interaction, which may result in things like unanswered questions,

ill­explained concepts, academic loafing, and general violations of social information processing

theory. One practice being executed at the University of Southern California for their social work

program is a kind of synchronous instruction, via video conferencing. What this does for students

is it allows them real time instruction from their instructor, as well as more realistic assignments,

some of which involve an actor who is to portray a real client for students to work with and, later

on, discuss results and practices that had worked best with the class (Quillen 2015). Something

like this adds a much more humanistic approach to learning, while also giving a component of

realism for students, as they interact with who could end up being a real client in the field.

In regard to social information processing theory, which assumes that individuals are

motivated to form impressions and develop relationships despite the medium, including a live

and real time interaction may aide in maintaining more authentic relationships from and between

students. This theory believes that despite the lack of cues found in the nonverbal environment of

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online interactions, people will still strive to encode and decode messages, and according to

media richness theory, these messages will likely be lacking, and may even come off as cold and

limiting. In the case of an online course without any kind of video or live interaction with

professors or peers, this threat becomes far more prevalent. Simply including something like

text­based submissions or even an online discussion board may still allow a reduction in

communication richness as students only seek to complete the minimum requirements or even

misinterpret messages they receive to decode. These threats brought to light by social

information processing theory and media richness theory stand to support the successful use of

real time mediums like video conferencing to be incorporated into purely online courses and

degrees.

In his same article, Quillen describes how the New England College of Business and

Finance created a kind of “gamification” for their programs on both an undergraduate and

graduate level. Using the ambition and drive of the students, the university had students run their

own digital business or website, and compete to make the most success from their creations. In

the world of communication, which also touches on topics like advertising and public relations, a

method of “gamification” may prove to be equally as beneficial in motivating the students and

allowing them to apply learned theory and concepts through a digital means.

Brown University put together a brief list of best practices for teaching online with

faculty from the Pre­College program, which addressed more personal methods for the

individual instructor. In this list, they put emphasis on an early engagement with students to

establish a sense of instructor presence, and even suggested creating a survey or a first

assignment using a “Get To Know Each Other” forum, in order for the students to learn about

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each other, and offer the instructor an opportunity to appeal to the expressed interests of the

students.

Going in tandem with the importance of instructor presence in the online classroom,

Brown also recommends daily review and commenting in discussion forums, including specific

responses to student responses that may have been answered in a particularly adept fashion.

Using a choice of channel that may go beyond simple email in order to provide effective

feedback should also be considered. Lastly, this list puts emphasis on time management, just like

the students. The instructor should express response time expectations to their students, and

possibly pose a question to the students regarding how they themselves will manage their time;

doing so can identify any potential concerns for completing assignments, such as extra activities

or obligations that would interfere with their work in the class.

3. Comparative Research

Colorado State University Global Campus University of Wisconsin

Bellevue University Arizona State University

Thomas Edison State College University of Phoenix

Brandman University Online University of Maryland University Campus

University of Nebraska at Kearney University of Texas of the Permian Basin

Franklin University University of Minnesota Crookston

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Walden University Indiana University East

When considering where to go, many people will look at the cost of the program, its

credentials or accreditations and its online success as well as its in class success. These are the

main factors that we focused on when creating comparative research. To complete this research

we first looked at the current available programs that offered sociology degrees as that is the

most similar in cost to communication degrees. After finding the top schools with comparable

programs we then narrowed the focus to four schools to get a better understanding of how the

UCCS programs can compete in today's market. When comparing the cost of an online

sociology degree from UCCS to that of a online degree from Arizona state, UCCS cost

$411­$510/credit compared to Arizona state's $490/ credit the two universities are easily

comparable although physically one is larger. By looking at the comparative chart shown above,

the cost of tuition at UCCS is very similar to most other programs with the exception of some

smaller schools like the University of Texas of the Permian Basin who has a low price of just

$276 per credit hour. While each school has nearly the same tuition comparatively, UCCS is just

under the average of $531.08. With the competitive pricing of UCCS and its advantage being

slightly below the average cost of comparable programs, UCCS is a very smart and viable option

for new and returning students who are looking to change from traditional in class programs to

an online program.

While our research was extensive as this is a new program, for our case study we decided to

focus on three schools in particular. To gain a better understanding of comparable programs we

decided to focus on Arizona State University, Colorado State University Global, and The

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University of Phoenix. When looking at these schools we found that the actual cost of each credit

hour is Arizona State University at $490, UCCS at $410­510, and CSU at $350.

Cost per hour of schools with comparable Sociology Degrees as UCCS

Colorado State University Global Campus. $350/Credit

University of Wisconsin $553/Credit

Bellevue University $395/Credit Arizona State University $490/Credit

Thomas Edison State College $499/Credit University of Phoenix N/A

Brandman University Online $500/Credit

University of Maryland University Campus $1,363.00/Credit

University of Nebraska at Kearney $355/Credit

University of Texas of the Permian Basin $276/Credit

Franklin University $484.00/Credit University of Minnesota Crookston $391.54/Credit

Walden University N/A Indiana University East $303.40/Credit

When looking at the Accreditation and Credentials of each school, I found that UCCS

was ranked amongst the most accredited universities out of the four that we focused on. To find

out how UCCS ranked up with the other universities I first looked up what the accreditation is

and where it comes from. According to to the U.S. Department of Education, accreditation is is

not decided by the U.S. Department of Education however the Secretary of Education is required

to post a list of nationally accrediting agencies that are recognized by the U.S department of

Education. To be specific, The U.S. department of education says the roll of the accrediting

agency is “to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable

levels of quality. Accrediting agencies, which are private educational associations of regional or

national scope, develop evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations to assess whether or not

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those criteria are met. Institutions and/or programs that request an agency's evaluation and that

meet an agency's criteria are then "accredited" by that agency.” According to the most recent

comprehensive database, all four schools focused on were accredited and considered institutions,

however some schools had more accreditations than other. For example, Colorado State

University had multiple pages of accreditation including The american Veterinary Medical

Association, The American Psychological Association, and American Occupational Therapy

Association compared to the University of Phoenix which just had a basic Accreditation as an

institution who met the teaching and educational standards needed. With this information in

mind, UCCS came in second only to Colorado State University and Arizona State University as

they have been around a similar length in time. The University of Phoenix had the shortest list of

Accreditations. In combination with prices, UCCS is at a very competitive price point but is not

the cheapest option.

Finally, one of the last major factors that students consider when making the decision to

go online and also when choosing to go online, is how successful they will be both after they

graduate and in comparison to success rates of in class students. To gain a better understanding

of this we first looked at the success rate of each programs recent graduates. According to CSU

Global, 90% or graduates reported being happy and 96% of graduates reported gainful

employment. With rates like this CSU has been able to maintain a regional accreditation which is

highly regarded as it is above a national accreditation. Unfortunately no data was available for

UCCS online students however there are over 2000 UCCS online students as reported in 2015.

According to the University of Arizona, in 2013­2014 43,236 students attended the university

and only 1,693 of the students were fully online. With only 209 students graduating that year.

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With statistics this low, it is impressive that the program does not have more students but it is

representative of the similar figure produced by UCCS. While these programs are somewhat

popular as statistics show most students take at least one online class it is not indicative of a

highly popular program option for everyone. In comparing the Online Success vs in class success

I first at a comparative study that looked at student and educators view on online classes.

According to potatomac.edu up to 70% of students agreed that online classes were just as good

and 77% of educators agreed that online classes were just as good. Additionally, the research

showed that of the graduates in the us approximately 30% graduated online. When considering

this study it is also important to note that regardless of whether the student were traditional or

online, 67% of all students agreed that videos, blogs, and media were important for student

success. With numbers like this in mind it is important to consider proximity and the availability

of classes. For many students who work as well as go to school a fully traditional program is not

an option but an online class that does not require you to park but rather work at your own pace

may be a much more practical solution to meet the requirements needed to graduate.

4. Current Status of UCCS

Enrollment

Cited from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs website, in the fall semester of

2015, there were 11,299 students enrolled on campus, with more than 2,000 students enrolled in

online courses, and more than 2,000 military veterans, active duty, and military family members.

Thus far, these numbers have been a record high, and enrollment rates are only projected to

grow, just as the university continues to expand its programs and capabilities.

Communication Program

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The program branches into five tracks of focus: Leadership, Digital Filmmaking and

Media Arts, Organizational/Strategic, Media Studies, and General Communication. In general,

the program requires 36 credit hours of communication courses, with 18 of an upper division

range. Graduation requires an exit exam, and a minimum of a 2.0 GPA. It requires minimal

credits towards natural science, and begins with a focus on theory, and delves deeper into

advanced application in the upper levels.

University Assets

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs is one of few universities that houses its

own communication center, dedicated to “promote excellent communication and academic

success for all students, faculty, and staff,” as stated in the UCCS communication center mission

statement. This center offers aide with both written and oral presentation skills, as well as help

with citation and interviewing skills, among other such services.

The university has been, and continues to expand its infrastructure with new learning,

recreational, and housing facilities. This might not directly impact the effectiveness of an online

degree, but it does offer credibility and reputation as a successful university of quality, which

continues to attract a growing clientele. While the university is currently growing and catering to

an increasing number of traditional students out of high school, it has been and still is a

commuter school. This has made UCCS home to many non­traditional students who have felt

welcome. An online degree is appealing to non­traditional students who may not have the time to

attend a class in person due to a profession, family, or other obligation, and having a background

as a university with a history of accommodating students who face these challenges, the

university can stand out with its reputation.

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Another appeal to the university lies in some of the faculty, and their renown within their

respective fields. Having well­respected professors who can offer a wealth of experience and

knowledge appeals to prospective students who have knowledge of academia, and who take

value in the professionals and scholars within the field. This particular audience would have

great potential for the program as students who recognize these professors from around the

nation, or even the world, would be able to study under them without having to commit to a

physical move.

University Ratings

UCCS ranks at number 10 out of 37 universities of the Western region, in terms of best

public schools as ranked by USNews.com, and it ranks at number 586 in the nation as a whole,

as rated by Forbes. Unfortunately, UCCS continues to not rank quite so high, placing at number

313, nationwide for its communication and media studies program, as ranked by

collegefactual.com. However, with so many different institutions who conduct college rankings,

and with so many nuances between criteria and opinion, these numbers can of course not be

taken quite so seriously. Despite these numbers, one of the stronger marketing components for

UCCS lies within the word of mouth, based on things such as the cost, class size, and

geographical location.

Methods

To gather information we interviewed several staff members involved with UCCS

Connect and Communication degree. Interviewees were Carley Ries, Janice Thorpe, and Regina

Lewis; all those interviewed were done so with their own expressed consent. A copy of the form

issued for consent can be found in the appendix.

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In part for the comparative research conducted, three of the schools looked at were

contacted via email in hopes of setting up an interview on their program design, but there has not

been any response of significance from any of them.

Additionally, a survey has been developed, to be given to current students at UCCS who

are majoring in Communication. This survey is designed to address student opinion of an online

communication degree and to provide insight as to whether or not students have the time or

capacity to succeed in an online program; we believe this survey would be beneficial to

developing strategy and analysis of the online degree, and a copy of this survey can also be

found in the appendix.

Survey for new online students (already developed)

Show if the students have the time or capacity to do online

Results

Interviews ­ Three interviews were conducted and are as follows, with Carley Ries,

Janice Thorpe, and Regina Lewis.

Carley Ries

We interviewed Carley Ries the extended studies director for UCCS and found some very

interesting conflicts ongoing between the communication department, the regents and UCCS

Connect. When asked if any information has been presented or given to the extended studies

Carley stated “Once verbiage is given it will take one to two weeks to put the information on the

website.” Also when asked about our worry about public speaking being a required to be taken in

person she replied with “The vice chancellor will not accept that for a fully online degree.” As a

result of this answer raises many red flags especially regarding communication among the

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groups. No one is on the same page or keeps pointing fingers to the other people involved. This

led us to look into if other schools offer public speaking online and how they run it. Pikes Peak

Community College has an online public speaking course and we will be taking with them to see

if we could offer a solution to the online degree to truly market this as an online degree. We also

talked about many things including benefits and disadvantages including UCCS Connect

accreditation which is a major benefit because having an edge over other online degrees as it is

certified. Negatives of this Carley highlighted students may struggle with self identification, to

much flexibility, and the online service is not fully prepared as an institution. We also asked

what has recently influenced UCCS as a business? In what way? Carley responded “The school

has run out of space in classrooms and is moving to more online to keep up. Competition from

other schools taking students away from UCCS which has now responded with theses online

degrees.” Other problems that Carley foresees in the future but is a problem UCCS is dealing

with now is the current options for online classes are already filling up and fast how are we going

to accommodate students who are fully online and don’t have access to on campus classes that

traditional students have. We asked Carley about maybe giving preference to online students or

how can we tailor sections to just online students. She didn’t have a definitive answer to that

question but did agree some system needs to be put in place.

Janice Thorpe

Janice Thorpe is a senior instructor at UCCS as well as a head for the creation of the

online communication degree and, as such, was interviewed in regard to the degree.

Thorpe outlined multiple strengths and potential in the program, for both prospective students, as

well as for the university itself. For students, these benefits included the cost effectiveness from

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not needing to put forth any funds for travel­related expenses, the extra flexibility and

self­pacing for each course, as the student would not need to attend a class at a regular set time,

allowing them to study and complete work to their own preferred timelines and methods.

However, Thorpe did speak on different learning styles of different students, saying that “an

online degree is not for everybody;” this supports prior literature on the subject. For a response

to this issue, Thorpe spoke of potentially offering a kind of “gateway” course for an online

degree to students, for the sole purpose of familiarizing them with the style and workings of an

online course; this course would be free of charge, and offered for no credit hours to the student.

For the university, Thorpe outlined that such a program offers the university a greater chance to

expand its reach and enrollment of prospective students, while simultaneously not needing

additional infrastructure to accommodate the extra amount of enrolled students. Seen through

this scope, the degree seems to have little to no detrimental effects on the university. With the

area and resulting clientele of UCCS, the program would stand to have extra appeal to those of a

military background, as it would offer great accessibility to a student who may be extra mobile.

However, the majority of problems do lie in this creation stage. Thorpe spoke about the cycle of

the courses for the communication degree and how, much like the traditional degree, not every

course would be offered every semester. In lieu of this, the department is in the process of hiring

a faculty member who would be teaching courses at an exclusively online level. One prime and

major concern for the program is the lack of and the need to develop an instrument for assessing

the effectiveness of the program’s outcomes.

The conflict of having a required in­person public speaking course with the credible

claim of the program being truly online was brought to Thorpe’s attention, to which she

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responded that, based on credit count, the program is in fact still to be considered a fully online

degree. This is in the interest of maintaining a standard of quality that lies within the UCCS

communication degree, and not wanting to lower these standards for the online degree.

Having a strong military presence, Thorpe spoke about potentially allowing any students

with prior public speaking experience in the military the chance to test out of having to take the

course, and waiving the requirement, on this basis of experience or even through a submitted

video; this approach is still in a preliminary status, and is still simply an idea. It was added that

attempting a policy like this would receive resistance in the name of academic quality and

proficiency in a vital skill, which would benefit from the theory and technique that is taught in a

traditional accredited university.

Regina Lewis

Regina Lewis director of Pikes Peak Community College (PPCC) communication

department was someone else we interviewed, because the college has online public speaking, so

we questioned her about how it works and requirements that are associated with their class.

PPCC requires that six people watch and you can show proof that six people watched your video,

along with this PPCC provides interaction with online students through their portal D2L and cafe

(didn’t catch the name) to interact with teachers to ask questions and get feedback about

speeches. While interviewing Regina we found out that PPCC also had the same problem with

the online communication degree and required public speaking to be taken on campus, but since

moving public speaking online with some trial and error found success and required them to

open more classes then anticipated because of the demand for the online version. PPCC also

conducted research as to the success of online public speaking versus on campus public speaking

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and found that there is no noticeably difference in terms of results. When asked about the

positives of online public speaking to which her reply was “Getting to choose your audience

whether it be friends and family but comfort in your surroundings.” When asked about the

negatives first ones that came to mind where “Not being able to watch others present as this is a

primary learning tool for students also not being to have immediate feedback from peers and the

teacher.” This interview is very insightful as it shows that PPCC has seen the same problem that

UCCS is facing right now and has prevailed through it and being successful that they were

forced to open up more public speaking online to accommodate the popularity of the class.

Recommendations

Our clients came to us to address certain areas of the online degree. We found a bigger

problem at hand with stipulations that the communication department wants for public speaking

with requiring it to be taken on campus. With Janice Thorpe heading this program going into fall

of 2016 we believe that her experience redesigning on­campus classes in user friendly online and

imposing rules that the communication department believes is comparable to public speaking

similar to an on campus public speaking for content and speech giving. Interviewing PPCC’s

Regina Lewis was very insightful because they ran into the similar problems for an online

associates degree. Yes trial and error may be required at first for public speaking online trying to

figure out the best method about developing the course making it user friendly while instilling

the university standards to class.

The following section is split into the different recommendations as follows:

­ Department Unity

­ Public Speaking Requirement

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­ Tutorial/entry course

­ Auditing Instrument

­ Faculty­Enrollment Ratio

­ Entry Survey

Department Unity

A major first step the school and communication department needs to make to roll out the

this online degree is to get everyone involved on the same page and sharing the knowledge that

is currently known. While getting everyone on the same page share the working plan and who is

working on what so that questions that do present themselves can be answered or directed

towards that person who is working on the portion of the degree. Communication is essential for

a communication degree and understand what stage the program is in and where it is headed.

Having a plan going forward into fall of 2016 with the rolling out of the online degree and

making sure that everyone included in the future of this program is as informed as possible to

help current and potential students make informed decisions between choosing an online or on

campus degree.

Public Speaking Requirement

Based on current timelines and set goals for the release of this program, the current

standard of requiring a public speaking course be taken in person at an accredited university will

likely have to remain. However, with the large threat of potentially causing great inconvenience

to students who may be living in a rural or less­accessible area, we recommend that development

on an adapted online course begin, to implement into the degree later on.

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It is acknowledged that attempting to create such an adaptation may threaten the quality

of the degree and the vital theory and practice to the art of public speaking, but in designing the

course with care and consideration, it can be successful. In order to maintain the integrity and

standards of the current programs offered, this adaptation could include uses of technology that

would include assignments requiring a mandatory live video session with an instructor or peers

via Skype, for example. Just as the practice of viewing one’s own speech at a later time in the

communication center at UCCS, a live video feed is still of use to both the student and instructor.

Videoconferencing like this is becoming an emerging trend of use, and is already used at the

University of Southern California, where in some cases actors are even used to portray a

particular audience or client (Quillen 2015).

Another tool of great potential is webex an online program like skype but allows many

people to participate with other people from the same class and watch others speeches. This also

can cover the problem of immediate feedback from the teacher and questions from classmates

that may have been confusing or others may have been afraid to ask. In general the use of live

video streaming and submissions that are available today can prove vastly beneficial to creating a

public speaking course of comparable rigor and quality to the traditional course offered at

UCCS.

Tutorial/Entry course

Another tool that UCCS communication department could use is offering a week long

preterm class that helps online students with navigating blackboard. Entailed in this class

students will learn tools associated with blackboard and UCCS connect. Students will be tasked

with locating and accessing information in different tabs of blackboard. Turning in 1­2

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assignments per day then requiring them to access the grades and taking a screenshot and then

submitting that. This course may also help teachers who do not fully understand the portals

designs. This course can be used for both students and faculty because having the technology

that is built into blackboard is immense, most on campus students have not even touched half of

the tools or options available. Scheduling blogs for the class to participate to help them

understand how class participation works as well as responding to others in the group.

Scheduling a web conference and participating with a teacher on blackboard collaborate to

discuss any help or questions they may have about blackboard. Open up wikis that other students

can open and edit, engage in blackboard IM with other students and take a screenshot of your

conversation. In summary a general and exploratory class on just blackboard will benefit faculty

and students alike with understanding how to use this great portal at our hands.

Auditing Instrument

With the information gleaned from Janice Thorpe, we propose the development of an

instrument to analyze and assess the effectiveness of the results of the online degree. Having a

method of measurement will allow a standardized way to reveal strengths and weaknesses of the

program once it moves into execution, provide a long­term benefit of growth for the years to

come, as well as fit in with the regular audits that are performed on current programs.

This audit would focus in on aspects like enrollment, academic success of the students

enrolled, number of faculty involved, and other demographical components, possibly including

student input through submitted faculty course questionnaires issued at the end of each course.

This instrument of analysis would have to be developed early on in the development of

the program, though due to the new and uncertain circumstances of this program, it will likely

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have to be an organic process that can adapt and change as new needs and problems arise

throughout the lifespan of the degree.

A current instrument that UCCS uses for it communication students is an entry and exit

exam which may be beneficial to the online degree. This exam tailored towards online students

would be required to pass the test with 80% or a similar standard set by the department would be

an adequate audit instrument for the first couple of years the program rolls out and other tools

may be identified to further enhance measuring effectiveness of the online degree.

Faculty­Enrollment Ratio

It has been preferred to place an enrollment cap of twenty­five students for each course

offered, in order to maintain the integrity of UCCS and its strength for having small class sizes.

With the rising popularity of online courses among students, we acknowledge a strong possibility

of demand for additional sections of a course surfacing as time progresses and the degree

becomes more well­known. Because of this, we recommend placing emphasis on hiring

additional faculty or adjunct faculty for the purposes of teaching these online communication

courses or training current faculty members to help them teach in an online setting. In our initial

meeting with Janice and David we learned that being an online certified teacher is a grueling

process. Offering incentives and compensation for teachers that do get this certification and

helping them in the process of developing online classes for this program as well as adding more

job security for your current faculty.

Entry Survey

We have developed a survey for a dual purpose after sending to Janice Thorpe and her

adding some changes this will only benefit the program going forward. The first purpose is to get

29

a feeling from current UCCS communication students to have access to online classes and the

potential asking them if they would switch if given the option. UCCS current students are very

diverse as the campus is know as a commuter school and classes that are offered online fill up

quickly and are forcing the school to open more sections online. We believe this will be the case

with online public speaking and other classes that are soon to be offered online. The second

purpose of this survey is to screen potential online students to see if they are even ready for

online classes. Many questions ask about work life, computer knowledge, and ask about time

prepared to dedicate towards online classes. This survey will help the school standardize

applications of students based on this survey response choosing students who are deemed ready

and have the greatest chance to succeed in online classes. This also gives the students an idea

about time use and budgeting their time wisely for classes. (Appendix 1)

Conclusion

Summary

In the end, the online degree for a bachelor of arts in communication at UCCS has great

potential for success and student satisfaction, effectively increasing student enrollment. The

current environment for online degrees is only growing and, though there is still a large body of

employer dissent for online degrees, this stigma is shrinking as more universities are opening

their own programs, and competition is growing.

For the online degree at UCCS, the following recommendations can improve its development

and growth:

­ It is imperative that the departments set a unified verbiage between one another and

clearly define what is planned and what will be executed.

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­ Within these plans should be the development of an online adaptation for the mandatory

public speaking course, in order to increase favorability among students who may not be

as accessible, as well as have claim for the program to truly be wholly online. Various

techniques and uses of technology that are used at other universities can be applied to aid

in maintaining the quality of the course.

­ As the degree is launched and enrollment increases, there should be further staffing

efforts made to increase the availability of class space for students, and more sections of a

course can be added.

­ An instrument of analysis should be developed to measure the overall success of this

program, as well as evaluate growth in the program and work to create further projections

for the program.

Limitations

While we find this audit to be potentially beneficial to the intended client, the communication

department of UCCS, it is limited by a lack of resources available, including time constraints and

access to various figures, data, and individuals both internal and external to the parties directly

involved in the development of the program. Also, having the primary data results from the

survey developed would have improved and findings, had it been put into practice. Lastly, this

audit is limited by access to a stable and known available budget for the program, which may

result in a lack of viability in regard to some of the recommended suggestions.

Future Efforts

With the previously expressed limitations in mind, for the future, further analysis of a primary

target audience could be conducted via this survey, and deeper comparative research through

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primary accounts of other competing universities with online communication degrees could be

conducted. Additionally, establishing a more cohesive interdepartmental structure for those

involved with the degree would stand to greatly benefit the program. With this online degree

being entirely new to the university, it will likely be dynamic and organic in nature. This means

that, assuming an auditing instrument is developed, an annual checkpoint could be made for the

program, to assess any success and failure experienced, and appropriate changes may be

considered and implemented. Keeping an adaptive design will not only prolong the life of this

degree, but it will also allow it to grow and take in all of the best practices from around the world

of higher education to become something well­respected and sought after by prospective

students.

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Appendix

1. Entry Survey Possible Survey Monkey Questions

1. How old are you? 17­21 , 22­25 26+

2. Gender: Male Female

3. How far from the campus do you live? 0­1 miles, 1­3 miles, 3­6 miles, 6­10 miles, 10+

4. What is your current degree: General Communication Organizational & Strategic

Communication Leadership Communication Media Studies Digital Filmmaking & Media

Arts

5. Have you taken an online course? If no, skip to question 8.

6. How many online classes have you taken?

7. Would you recommend online classes to other students? Scale 1­5 (five highest)

8. Rate your interest in an online degree program? 1­5 scale (five highest)

9. Would you recommend an online degree program to other students? Scale 1­5 (five highest)

10. Estimate your comfort level using a computer to learn and participate in a course[JT5] ? Scale

1­5 (five highest)

11. Estimate your comfort level with [JT6] corresponding and discussing coursework online with

your instructor and fellow students? Scale 1­5 (five highest)

12. What made you decide ([JT7] or would make you decide) to take a course online over

in­person? Scale 1­5 (five highest)

13. Would you change your current Comm degree to an Online Comm Degree if it was

available? Scale 1­5 (five highest)

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14. Considering my professional and personal schedule, the amount of time I can dedicate to an

online course is: 4­8 8­10 10­14 14+

15. Have you ever attended another college other than UCCS? Yes or no

16. If so, what is the name of the college you attended?

17. Have you ever taken a semester or more off from attending classes at UCCS? Yes or no

18. If so, how many semesters did you take off?

19. Because the cost of tuition for an online degree program is higher than on­campus classes,

how would that cost increase affect your decision to take online courses?

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