Dear University community,
In September 2018, we announced our plans to invest in digital learning initiatives and have since taken steps that take us to the forefront of eLearning innovation. Our vision is to be the premier eLearning provider in Missouri and contiguous states with the goal of reaching 25,000 new learners by 2025. With student success at the core of all we do, we must work collaboratively to increase enrollments, enhance student services and experiences, enrich faculty development and support, and improve the quality of courses and programs offered by our four universities. In order to achieve this goal, we need consistency in our programming—from course to course, university to university. We also need to be able to enhance our marketing efforts so that we can target our online degree programs to learners who will benefit from enrolling in them.
We would like to thank the eLearning Task Force, and the numerous committee members, which included staff, faculty members, deans, provosts and vice provosts from each of the four universities, for their valuable input on this project over the past year and for their ongoing involvement. As our engagement with EY Parthenon concludes, we have taken many of their recommendations and worked closely with the oversight committee, including the provosts, to develop a plan that will increase enrollment and enhance the services we provide our students. These steps will bring together the best of each of our universities to yield stronger results.
Effective Oct. 1, Mizzou Online, Course Design & Technology (ET@MO), UMSL Online and UMSL ITS Academic Computing and Emerging Technologies will move under the direction of Matthew Gunkel, UM System chief eLearning officer. This change will not affect the way in which programs and services will be delivered, but rather help us evaluate the best way to deliver one support platform and operation resources systemwide. Employees involved in this transition will remain at their home university and continue to serve our eLearning needs systemwide. Additionally, we will continue to evaluate opportunities with UMKC and Missouri S&T in the near future. These changes will not impact tuition revenue at the individual universities as all tuition dollars will remain at the university offering the degree or program.
As we continue to evaluate additional changes in our eLearning efforts, we are committed to seeking input and feedback. Matthew plans to attend faculty meetings on each university campus in the coming months. Additionally, he will provide an update to the Board of Curators during the next public meeting on Sept. 26 at UMKC.
Thank you for your support of this important initiative. We will continue to invest in digital learning initiatives that help us meet our goal of increasing online learners. To stay up to date on the latest progress, visit our eLearning page. This is an exciting opportunity for the UM System.
Sincerely,
Mun Y. Choi, UM System President
Matthew Gunkel, Chief eLearning Officer
Reviewed 2019-10-15