Driving the roads around Chattanooga, it’s hard to miss the billboards advertising online degree programs.
Schools from across Tennessee are bidding for local students’ attention, claiming their tech-savvy programs are convenient and affordable. While schools such as Chattanooga State and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville have filled their course catalogs with online opportunities in the last five years, one university has been slow to enter the market.
With budget cuts threatening classroom space and funding for faculty positions, UTC is being pressured by the University of Tennessee system to get up to speed on distance education offerings, said Phil Oldham, provost at UTC.
“All the campuses are struggling with capacity issues. We are pushing the limit here for capacity,” he said. “Online is a potential way to handle some of that,” he said.
This spring 450 students at UTC took online courses, compared with the 1,000 students who took online courses at UT in Knoxville and the more than 500 at UT in Martin, Tenn. At Chattanooga State Technical Community College 2,470 students are taking courses online.
Some faculty and some students at UTC don’t want more courses online, arguing that moving education to the Internet will water down quality of instruction.
“I don’t think there is a substitute for what goes on in a classroom that is inspired by a really enthusiastic professor,” said Marcia Noe, a professor of English and director of the women’s studies program at UTC. “I am not a big fan of online education.”
Dr. Noe and other professors worry that online education is cold and impersonal and that there is not a way to ensure that students are the ones doing the work online.
“How would a professor make a recommendation for a student they have never met?” she said.
Mike Russell, a professor of history at UTC, said he thinks administrators are concerned about the bottom line.
“This will make it possible to eliminate some of the faculty,” Dr. Russell said.
Michael Reese, a junior majoring in physical therapy, took an online course in medical terminology, and, while he felt like that class worked online, he said he does not want to take other courses on his computer.
In many cases, a face-to-face relationship with a professor holds students accountable for their work, Mr. Reese said. Also, he said he enjoys the opportunity to interact with other students in a classroom environment.
“I don’t feel like UTC should expand their online classes,” he said.
Nearly all of UTC’s current online programs are concentrated in engineering management, education, physical therapy and nonprofit management. Officials are working to develop online courses in criminal justice.
There also is a move to put some of the university’s required general education courses online, said Beth Dodd, director of continuing education at UTC.
“With growing educational needs, the university wants to reach outside the downtown boundaries,” she said. “It is not just us. Online is a growing wave across the country.”
While there are some faculty members concerned about expanding online courses, Dr. Yegidis said other faculty are excited about it.
She said online programs will not fit every area of study and that the university will insist that any online courses offer a quality experience. In the next five years, she said, she hopes to see more than 10 percent of courses online.
“This is the wave of the present and future,” Dr. Yegidis said. “I know some people have concerns, but there are many people who are ready to jump on board.”
Joan Garrett has been a staff writer for the Times Free Press since August 2007. Before becoming a general assignment writer for the paper, she wrote about business, higher education and the court systems. She grew up the oldest of five sisters near Birmingham, Ala., and graduated with a master's and bachelor's degrees in journalism from the University of Alabama. Before landing her first full-time job as a reporter at the Times Free Press, she ...
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