Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance

Colorado State University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Texas Tech University Michigan State University, University of Missouri, Montana State University, University of Nebraska North Dakota State University, Oklahoma State University, South Dakota State University

Collaboration Benefits

Deans' Comments - Faculty Empowerment and Enrichment - Societal Benefits
Remaining on the Cutting Edge - Financial Stability

Deans' comments on the benefits of joining Great Plains IDEA:

• provides visibility on campus
• leverages resources
• enhances efficiency and effectiveness
• provides possibilities in program development otherwise not possible
• shares leadership
• enhances higher education scholarship
• converts traditional stagnant graduate programs to dynamic programs
• could not do by ourselves
• learn shops
• allows us to offer quality programs that are accessible
• top of the line professors
• a professional network for professors who are often alone on their campuses.

Institutional collaboration offers a means by which an institution can motivate and invigorate its faculty. Peer interaction within specialized academic disciplines is enhanced by inter-institutional collaboration. It provides a wonderful opportunity to create a communication network that generates faculty excitement about new and emerging fields in higher education. The establishment of a faculty “community” across institutions offers reassurance that their work is meaningful and important in the academic world while simultaneously providing an outlet for faculty creativity.

A grassroots approach to institutional collaboration empowers department heads and faculty to play an active role in the growth and development of their department. A program alliance (versus an institutional alliance) allows faculty to take an active role in shaping the future.

Combining the most up-to-date technologies with faculty creativity across institutions bridges the gap between higher education and population segments that have historically lacked access to the benefits of higher education. The implications of institutional collaboration are quite profound. Institutional collaboration erodes many barriers to education by offering new educational opportunities.

It has been said that our progress as a culture and a world can be no swifter than that of our institutions of education. Collaboration is the future. Combined with the medium of distance education, it has the power to fundamentally change the future of education.

A constantly evolving culture and economy places a corresponding demand on the evolution of higher education institutions. To find a balance between the growing demands on education and a tight fiscal environment, institutions of higher education are being forced to take on the role of the entrepreneur.

Institutions often find that they are not capable of keeping up with the rapid emergence of new fields. They simply don’t have the resources. Forging institutional alliances can craft universities into entrepreneurs.

Distance education is on the cutting edge in higher education. A recent eCollege First Quarter 2003 Earnings Results Conference found that distance education is:

“by far the fastest growing sector of the higher education market. Of the 15.5 million students that the Department of Education says are in higher education, 73% are non-traditional. Of these, according to the Department of Education data, roughly 200,000 were taking online courses in 2000. We believe that that number was about 600,000 students, or roughly 1.8 million online enrollments last year.”

The same eCollege conference concluded that:

“online distance programs are usually a profit center for an institution. If done properly, they drive high margin, incremental revenues. If we can add value to an institution by driving profitable revenue for them, we feel that we can build long-term, strategically meaningful customer relationships.”

Distance education alliances allow institutions to embark on exciting new paths in higher education that enhance their credibility and expand their outreach while simultaneously generating a new source of income for their programs.

"According to state budget experts, the state budget shortfall is growing by leaps and bounds. States are facing an aggregate shortfall of about $50 billion for fiscal 2003. The shortfall for 2004 is expected to hit about $70 billion. The state fiscal crisis is likely to last for another three to five years. Governors and state lawmakers are considering unprecedented cuts in key programs, such as public schools, higher education and Medicaid, to stem the deficits." Newsweek Business Information Inc., Wednesday, February 5, 2003

In times of financial uncertainty, institutional resources are certainly not expanding. Faculty and administrators are struggling to acquire the resources to respond to emerging needs. Consequently, academic deans and administrators are forced to choose between “the bottom line” and the integrity of their institution and programs. Inter-institutional collaborative agreements offer a solution to this painful dilemma.

In terms of graduate education and specialized degrees, the demand is rising. The Washington-based Council of Graduate Schools expects post-secondary enrollments to increase between 5% and 10% at schools across the nation this year. An inter-institutional alliance allows institutions to collectively respond to emerging needs such as this by combining their resources to maximize each of their own institutional resources while expanding the institution’s outreach.

The “bottom line” is that institutions lose big money on small classes and small programs. Alliances increase the class-size while expanding a program’s capabilities, which makes it both affordable and profitable to universities.

The Institute for Academic Alliances at Kansas State University can provide you with further information and assistance in developing collaborative academic programs.