Supporting Online Program Quality Through Online Enterprise-Level Standards

Background

One of the characteristics of a distance learning leader is competency in strategic planning. Strategic planning is built on strategic thinking (Bates & Sangrà, 2011). Online learning continues to be a dynamic dimension of institutional enrollment strategies, yet online program strategies often focus on transactions between the student and the instructors, as noted in a recent Enrollment Management Report (Allen & Seaman, 2016; Hope, 2017). Of the ten key strategies suggested by Hope (2017), not one item addressed quality or institutional commitment. While this one enrollment management-focused example does not represent all of higher education, it is an artifact of a perspective in postsecondary education that does not prioritize the role quality assurance and institutional commitment have in growing rigorous and successful online programs. This perspective, one that does not address quality or institutional commitment in online operations, reinforces the long-held belief by many that online instruction lacks rigor and is mainly a ‘cash cow’ for institutions. Online education, when done well, achieves student outcomes with no significant difference from other course modalities (Russell, n.d.).