Jim wrote:
> You cited two sorts of evidence. One your own case, which you
> correctly noted was anecdotal. The second was ...
>
> > A good example: The Union Institute (a distance learning
> institution)
> > lists over 500 graduates who earned their Ph.D.s there and who are now
> > working as faculty members at major traditional institutions. Included
> > among those institutions are Yale, Stanford, The University
> of California
> > (several campuses including Berkeley), Northeastern, Duke, Purdue,
> > Dartmouth, Cambridge, and dozens of other top institutions.
>
> This is slightly better than a single case (but see below),
> assuming that we could in fact verify the validity of the claim.
> Part of the difficulty for me is that many of the players who
> present such claims have a vested interest in promoting their
> product. So it would be nice to see an independent, objective
> study of _all_ students starting programs in distance and
> traditional education systems and tracking them (more on why
> _all_ shortly). It really isn't just a coincidence that computer
> companies are promoting computer education, is it?
I'll try to address some of the other issues tomorrow, but I wanted to at
least address this one immediately.
With respect to verifying the validity of the claim, if you will visit
the url at:
http://www.tui.edu/Programs/Graduate/GradAlumni/AlumsHigherEd.htm
you will find a list of approximately 500 Union Institute Ph.D.
Graduates, all of whom are employed in higher education. The list includes
their names, the year of graduation, their current position, and the name
and location of the institution where they are employed. Those
institutions range from community colleges to the Yale University School
of Medicine, and the positions range from "faculty" to dean. In addition,
links on the page:
http://www.tui.edu/Programs/Graduate/GradAlumni/GradAlumsHigherEd.html
will lead you to other lists of graduates who are administrators at
colleges and universities ranging from college presidents to the vice
provost emerita of the University of Michigan. Other links are available
that will provide you with lists of similar graduates who demonstrate
comparible acheivements in other fields as well.
To me, those provide some reasonably strong evidence that distance
education programs are both successful and offer serious educational
opportunities.
Incidently, both The Union Institute and Vermont College provide the kind
of studies of their graduates that you ask for. If you spend some time
exploring the Union Institute web site (http://www.tui.edu) you will find
links to such information, and Vermont college publishes it in their
catalog. For example, the undergraduate school at Vermont College is able
to demonstrate that of the nearly 80% of their graduates who elect to
continue their education at the graduate level (a VERY high percentage, as
you know), over 90% are accepted by their _first_ choice of graduate
schools--including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, the
University of Michigan, and other top ranked institutions. Again, this is
available from published sources and represents what I--and I believe most
other members of this list--would consider an outstanding track record for
a college.
I'll respond to other aspects tomorrow.
Rick
