Abstract
Empire State College was founded in 1971 to meet the needs of adult and other nontraditional student populations in the state of New York. Its initial delivery model was individualized instruction with a student working with a full-time faculty member to develop a unique plan of study and learning contracts to support that plan. By 1979, the College established the Center for Distance Learning, which developed and still offers structured, print-based courses to students with no requirement for on-site meetings. It began to experiment with computer-supported learning activities in the late 1980s, employing professional staff to support the exploration of technology and to provide assistance to faculty in instructional design. However, it was not until 1994, with the formal creation of the Center for Learning and Technology, that the development of online courses and programs was systematically pursued. This article outlines the development of online programs since that time, emphasizing the issues and challenges faced by the institution in seeking to provide quality, cost-effective distance education.
Highlights
Description of the institutionEmpire State College (ESC) was founded in 1971, under the leadership of Ernest Boyer, the Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY) at that time
By 1997-1998, Center for Distance Learning (CDL) had developed a successful strategy for marketing these courses to its own matriculants, on the ESC web site [http://www.esc.edu/OnlineDegrees] as well as through the SUNY Learning Network [http://sln.suny.edu/sln]
While devoting considerable energy and the resources of the Center for Learning and Technology to the SUNY Learning Network and CDL’s participation in it, the College undertook two other initiatives in order to demonstrate the power of technology in all aspects of its programs
Summary
Empire State College (ESC) was founded in 1971, under the leadership of Ernest Boyer, the Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY) at that time. While the broad distribution of public colleges and universities in New York State provided geographic proximity for most of the residents of the state, SUNY did not meet the needs of those who could not take a full time course load, or could not attend regularly scheduled classes because of work, family and community commitments. Because of their other commitments, students at this College would likely require a longer period for degree completion and would, in the process, need useful academic credentials in the interim. This led to the offering of both 2 and 4 year undergraduate degrees. The history of the College, including the development of its distance learning program, is discussed in some detail in The Promise Continues (Bonnabeau, 1996)
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