Western Governors University, wherefore art thou? Two years ago Montana and twelve other western states each ponied up $100,000 to participate in this virtual university (six other states have since joined). According to the original business plan, the initial demographic prognostications were for approximately 1,000 students to enroll during the first quarter of business. As of August 1999, 214 students are actively enrolled. According to Mr. Greg Gough, Director of Enrollment at the WGU, six of these 214 are from Montana (1).
Recent Census Bureau projections for rural and eastern Montana paint a bleak, though not surprising demographic portrait. A number of rural counties east of the Continental Divide have lost population due mainly to the now-chronic economic malaise that has afflicted much of rural America, Montana most definitely included (2). The 2000 Census will undoubtedly reveal the largest out-migration of eastern Montana's population since the catastrophic homestead bust years of the 1920s and '30s. The farm kids, who presumably are potential "customers" of the WGU, aren't staying on the farm. Neither are their parents. Those privileged folks who are moving to rural Montana and into blissful isolation are already of the illuminati and have all of the college education they'll ever need; does anyone honestly believe the nouveau riche are going to be signing up for WGU courses anytime soon?
The dearth of high speed Internet phone lines and the outright absence of any Internet service in many rural areas (presumably those areas that the WGU wishes to reach) also has had an impact on distance education in Montana. A recent report by the Internet watchdog group, iAdvance Coalition, notes that Montana is one of the "Disconnected Dozen" states; we lack even a single high-speed Internet "hub" or high capacity connection. By contrast, heavily urbanized California has 177. Moreover, the costs to a business (or an institution of higher learning) in a sparsely populated region such as Montana to purchase a high capacity connection is fifteen times higher than in urban areas across the country (3). In Billings a 33K connection to our local dial-up server is a good day. We can all have the latest desktop machines with the fastest processors currently available, but because of the slow transmission of data over the local phone lines, the amount of time it takes to transfer information from one computer to another is compromised significantly. For imaginative instructors who desire to create web-based courses that integrate sophisticated graphics and multi-media containing elements of video, sound, and/or large imagery files this means that they must confront the unpleasant reality of our current limitations while undertaking the hugely time-intensive task of distance course development. Most vexing, it is next to impossible for students to download this type of material on their home systems--provided they even have home systems and, most crucially, the dial-up connection capability. In Montana, web-based courses are currently limited to text-based delivery primarily with forays into the point and click world of hyper-links to various ancillary web pages and assorted resources in cyberspace.
As Mr. Gough patiently explained during a conversation, the huge initial expectations for enrollment were mostly politically rather than academically driven. In all fairness, too, he continued, the WGU is evolving into more of a clearinghouse of web-based courses, rather than a direct provider itself. In the future it's goal is to assist students in identifying appropriate on-line courses delivered by other universities, package those courses and any other academic competencies the student may have acquired along the way, and provide them a degree. Currently, the WGU has four associate degrees it awards in addition to a baccalaureate in Information Technology and a masters in Learning Technology. It is in the midst of accreditation and its students are eligible for federal student-aid programs (4).
The jury is still out on the WGU and on web-based education as a whole. Yet as a subcommittee of the University of Montana Faculty Senate--comprised of some of the state's most distinguished and well-respected scholars--reported in a response to recent Board of Regents mission statements, "Few education theorists dispute the view that learning in a face to face community is still the setting most conducive to learning" (5). It seems abundantly clear, too, that higher education administration in this state has crossed a threshold where making education convenient at any cost has somehow become the new benchmark of academic excellence. It is beyond any dispute that distance education continues to be an enormously expensive proposition and as those of us in liberal arts disciplines know all too well, precious resources have been drained from traditionally strong programs which deal in face to face education to fund these initiatives. At some point, however, there will have to be some type of payoff--for students, faculty, administrators, taxpayers--and not simply a payout.
The original business plan is confidential and not in the public domain. Figures are from phone conversation between author and Mr. Greg Gough, Director of Enrollment, Western Governors University, 13 August 1999.
"County Population Estimates for July 1, 1998 and Population Change for July 1, 1997 to July 1, 1998," Population Estimates Program, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census <http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/county>.
"Montana Left Out of National High-Speed Internet Network," Billings Gazette 29 July 1999.
Phone conversation between author and Mr. Gough, 13 August 1999.
Faculty Senate-UM-Missoula, Memo, 4 May 1999. Full text of mission statements and response reprinted in this issue of The Montana Professor.