We might have expected that Internet technology would enable the transformation of traditional education. As teaching at a distance became practical and cost-effective, it would have been natural for universities to consider online teaching activities as "consulting", to allow their own professors to teach at institutions other than their "home" university, and to seek out the best and brightest from everywhere in the world to bolster their "virtual" faculty. In that ideal environment, we might have expected that universities to go out of their way to attract "brand name" professors who prefer to operate without a "home" university, teaching online for multiple institutions, and who are so good and so well-known that the best students seek them out.
Instead, today universities often interpret contractual terms literally and inflexibly in this new environment that wasn't forseen when the rules were written, and even add strict new terms aimed at online teaching and related intellectual property.
The conflict of Arthur Miller with the Harvard Law School is typical of the attempts of universities to interpret old contractual terms in new ways. Well-known in the areas of court procedure, copyright, and unfair competition, Professor Miller has been with the Harvard Law School since 1971. Over the years, he has, in accord with the University's contract provisions, done consulting and made TV appearances on the side. He even served as legal editor of ABC's "Good Morning America." Such activities helped to enhance his prestige both nationally and within the university. And he kept them within the contractual limit of 20% of his professional time.
Then during one summer vacation, he videotaped a series of lectures for an online university -- the Concord University School of Law, which is backed by backed by the Washington Post Company's Kaplan Educational Centers. Concord posted these lectures online and integrated them into their course offerings, with their regular faculty leading discussions and in other ways interacting with students. Professor Miller's contribution was just the taping of the lectures, and lending his reputation to the online venture as a "supplementary" lecturer. Apparently, the administration of the Harvard Law School objected that this kind of activity constituted a "conflict of interest" that put his tenure at risk. Miller, with his legal expertise, has so far been able to defend his position well. But others faced with a similar challenge might well back down to administrative intimidation.
Suffolk University in Boston is typical of institutions imposing new rules on faculty for online instruction. Suffolk's main offerings, with lots of night courses, cater to the needs of students who go to school while working fulltime. So moving to online teaching would seem to be a natural evolution, and an important supplement to their traditional business. But instead, the administration has imposed new rules by which when a professor agrees to teach for Suffolk online, all the materials written by that professor that are posted online for that course become the intellectual property of the university. That effectively prevents the professor from teaching the same course online for multiple schools. It also means that many people who in the past served as adjunct faculty, bringing with them a wealth of practical work experience in industry and business, would not even consider working for them in their online program. And, ironically, it means that people the school sought out as potential teachers because of their published books can't teach for them because the school's teaching contract conflicts with their publishing contracts.
For such universities, the glass is half empty, instead of half full -- they are frightened of the competitive dangers of the new online educational environment, rather than enthused about the new opportunities. But their rigid defensive responses magnify their risks, leaving enormous opportunities wide open for newcomers.
One of the most successful of the newcomers, the University of Phoenix, founded in 1976 and accredited since 1978, now boasts over 125,000 students from 117 campuses, including their online campus. They offer bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in such fields as business, technology, management, education, nursing, counseling, and criminal justice. Their faculty "is composed of accomplished working professionals with advanced degrees in their respective fields," teaching "at night what they do during the day." The flexibility of the U. of Phoenix contractual terms allows their faculty to teach and work elsewhere, which means they can recruit excellent people with unique experience and credentials.
Over time, market forces will probably force traditional universities to give their faculty far greater flexibility than today. But why wait for competitive economic pain to reach critical levels before making the necessary changes? Why not take advantage of new opportunities immediately -- creatively reinventing education for the benefit all today?
If we could move beyond traditional views of the role and limitations of the teacher, "educational outsourcing" would be possible. Professors as well as departments could mix and match to build/enhance online courses: focus on what they do best and "outsource" the rest. And at the same time, colleges could offer the online services of their faculty to other institutions, with prices determined by demand, which depends on reputation. Then cross-institutional online teaching could become a source of additional revenue for the faculty's home institution as well as for the teachers. And cross-institutional teaching work could help build the national and global reputations of professors and of the schools they work for.
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