Part of Spring Hill’s “Real World Ready” initiative is manifesting through the phasing of 16 undergraduate programs into the college’s Center for Online Learning beginning in 2021 in an embrace of the online learning experience.
On September 20, the college announced it is becoming more accessible and affordable by cutting tuition in half, as well as implementing the newly formed Center into the college’s learning divisions. According to the COL newsletter, the college’s “first learning phase for the Center will be professional certificate-based, to help showcase competency and commitment and ultimately with job advancement” and currently offers over thirty certification courses.
Geri Genovese, the Executive Director of the COL, revealed that the certification programs are “just one portion” of the new division of the college because it “also includes graduate and undergraduate degree programs. And that’s where we’re expanding it right now”. She explained that the college plans to add 16 undergraduate programs to the Center over the next three years. “In 2021, we’re looking at putting interdisciplinary studies at the undergraduate level fully online.” she said. In addition, Genovese said the Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing and Behavior and Cognitive Science undergraduate programs are expected to be part of the first 16 that the Center will offer.
Genovese also speaks of the college’s efforts to redesign the graduate programs that have been taught fully online for years. “We’re going to have an instructional designer work with our faculty, get some faculty development and develop some quality standards and then retool them for an online environment”. According to Study International, “In 2016, 31 percent of students enrolled in master’s programs reported that it was delivered entirely online,” pointing towards a higher demand for a flexible higher education than ever before.
Spring Hill College President Joe Lee explains the college’s intentions behind the addition of the COL. “We’re looking to reach out to the adult market” he said “To get into that market, you have to be fully online. That’s what they need. If they have families or if they’re working, they need to do it when they’re available.” The college hopes to attract more of these nontraditional students by adding a division to the college that specifically operates to fulfill their educational needs.“The Center for Online Learning was built to expand the current reach of Spring Hill,” Genovese commented. “It ties with the Real World Ready because what we want students to do is get a degree in a profession that they can then find employment in.”