242
sustaInaBlE FashIon : a handBooK For Educators
challEngEs oF oFFErIng coursEs across unIVErsItIEs
Determining how to actually offer the courses by one
instructor to students at three institutions was challenging.
We had to resolve the following:
- How students would gain access to a course taught
by an instructor at a university in which they were not
enrolled (e.g., Cornell students taking a course offered by
Dr. Dickson at the University of Delaware). - Whether and how to provide students with a uniform
“look and feel” for the courses so that technical
difficulties of navigating the course websites would
be reduced. - Where the courses would be housed (i.e., on one server
at one institution). - How the instructor teaching the course would be paid
for teaching students enrolled from another university. - What instructional delivery system would be used
(e.g., Blackboard, WebCT). - Whether student credits would be transferred from
one university to another, or whether all students would
enroll at their home institutions. - Whether the courses would be required of students at
the three institutions or whether they would
be electives. - How much to charge students for enrolling in the
courses and how to collect or find funding given notable
differences in tuition among the institutions.
For the initial course offerings, the University of Delaware’s
division of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS)
agreed to host the courses on its server and to use its
award winning UDOnline platform for delivery of the
courses. PCS also facilitated electronic access for students
from all three institutions. After consideration of a number
of proposals, we made arrangements through PCS for
faculty to be paid for each student in the class, regardless
of the home institutions of the students. Pay for faculty was
deducted from course tuition for University of Delaware
students enrolled through UDOnline. Cornell paid access
fees and instructor costs to the University of Delaware
for its students through grant funding. Colorado State
University paid access fees and for faculty instruction from
a portion of the tuition revenue earned from students
enrolling in the courses. For the initial offering of the
courses, students registered through their home institutions
and paid tuition rates at those institutions; courses were
accepted by curriculum committees at all three institutions
so no transfer of credit was required. We decided to
maintain a similar look and feel for each course and utilize
the WebCT instructional delivery system.Participation has been consistent at the University of
Delaware (UD), probably because the courses are
combined into a certificate that adds a distinguishing
credential to students’ transcripts, and includes the
possibility of direct enrollment into the certificate program.
As well, UD is requiring a portion of the courses in its
Master of Science in Fashion Studies. Participation at
Cornell University has been strong as well, enhanced
by flexibility in the master’s program and faculty
encouragement of students to take advantage of the
unique opportunity. Colorado State University student
participation is lower, probably because the university
requires that students pay extra to enroll in courses taught
through the Internet.The support of administrators and faculty at the three
institutions has also influenced the project. Strong
administrative support is necessary to “make things
happen”. Implementation of the courses at the University
of Delaware was facilitated since Dr. Marsha Dickson is a
department chair and had the active support of University
of Delaware’s assistant vice provost for professional and
continuing studies. The faculty in Dr. Dickson’s Department
of Fashion and Apparel Studies also fully embraced
social responsibility and sustainability as a programmatic
focal area and readily incorporated the courses into
the department’s Master of Science degree. Cornell
administrators facilitated payment of additional fees in a
unique way so as not to negatively impact students taking
the courses.Toward objective 3, during the 2007/08 academic year we
taught seven of the1-credit courses through the Internet,
and the remaining three courses were offered for the first
time in Fall 2008. A total of 127 student credit hours were
generated and the average course enrollment was 13
students. The highest enrollment was 21 students.Student learning from courses that were taught in Fall 2007
was evaluated by the Office of Educational Innovation and
Evaluation at Kansas State University. An online survey
measured the extent of students’ perceived abilities in key
content areas covered in each course; students agreed
that they have the expected abilities. As well, the survey