Master’s now earned online

By Jillanne Johnson
Staff Reporter

Members of the TCU Staff Assembly discussed Tuesday the different programs the university offers through distance learning said Leo Munson, associate vice chancellor for academic support.

Distance learning, as defined by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, is any means of electronic communications between faculty and students away from the main campus, Munson said.

Distance learning is providing students with opportunities they may never have otherwise, said Kathleen Baldwin, director of graduate studies for the Harris School of Nursing.

Photo by Tim Cox - Skiff Staff Kate Brodine, a freshman nursing major, does some homework from her computer for her online sociology class. The TCU Staff Assembly met Tuesday to discuss the new online master’s programs.

TCU is now offering a Master of Liberal Arts and a Clinical Nurse Specialist master’s degree earned through online courses.

“This program is designed so someone who doesn’t have an option to go back to school can go back and improve,” Baldwin said. “If you don’t give this opportunity, you are inhibiting people’s chances to continue their education.”

The five students enrolled in the accelerated master’s program for nursing have associate degrees and are completing 24 hours of TCU credit online before beginning the master’s program. Baldwin said, pending approval by the state Board of Nurse Examiners, 12 more students will join the pilot group to open the master’s program in fall 2001.

Baldwin said the online option allows nurses who may not attend a school that offers a master’s degree in nursing in their area to further their education.

She said many of the students this program will attract will be in their mid-30s or 40s and have families.

“Some of these students will be single heads of families,” Baldwin said. “School would not be an option without the flexibility of the Internet.”

The MLA program has nine students enrolled who live outside the Fort Worth area. Munson said these students have the opportunity to choose from 33 classes which have been developed for online use.

“These courses are not fluff — they have substance,” he said. “We have been encouraged by the informal responses we’ve been getting.”

Munson said professors have the opportunity to supplement classroom instruction with distance learning.

Keith Whitworth, a professor of sociology, teaches three first-year sociology classes using an Internet supplement. He said he doubts students will be able to buy a textbook without an online supplement two years from now.

“I like (the Internet supplement),” Whitworth said. “I don’t think I will teach another course without it.”

He said it takes about three times as long to develop an Internet class but believes the work is worthwhile. Whitworth said many times, face-to-face interaction creates barriers for students when communicating with professors while Internet supplements allow students to interact less formally. Where students might not approach professors in person, Internet supplements often require responses on chat boards or in threaded discussions.

“Because of the increased or required interaction, there is more opportunity to dialogue with students and get to know students better,” Whitworth said.

Baldwin said the online nursing classes allow undergraduate students to interact with the accelerated master’s degree students as well. She said this program could open doors for employment and bring a TCU presence into Dallas health care.

Munson said distance learning provides a different level of interaction and could also go a long way to publicizing what the university has to offer.

“I have been pleased with the willingness to try to figure out if distance learning is part of the next step for the university,” Munson said.

Jillanne Johnson
j.johnson@student.tcu.edu