How a Historically Black College University (HBCU) Established a Sustainable Online Learning Program in Partnership with Quality MattersTM

Abstract

This case study describes an initiative approach to establishing online learning at a medium-size historically black college university. The study reveals the collaborative efforts between university administration and faculty, Quality MattersTM, and Blackboard. The strategic initiative spanned a period of five academic years (2010–2014) during which online learning grew incrementally and set the stage for fully online certificates and degree programs. The output of this initiative involved six hundred to seven hundred online learners each semester and twenty-six hundred students across five years and a 26% increase in the total number of online courses offered to students. Learner outcomes: 19.7% increase in A–D pass course grades, 66.6% reduction in failing F course grades, and 23.5% reduction in course withdrawal over a five-year period of tracking pre-/post-Quality Matters course-design interventions. The initiative’s success was due to its data-driven approach to evaluate early attempts at online education; perform gap analysis; assess technology use by faculty through an annual content analysis; implement robust professional development strategies to increase capacity; develop new policies, practices, and processes to support online education; develop and implement an approach to teaching certification; and establish strong partnerships to benchmark and support the online program.