Online Expansion Update and Town Hall Recording

Hello All,

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!

It was wonderful to see and hear from many of you at our Town Hall last week. I wanted to share a brief summary of the update I provided on expanding our online programming and the recording of the Town Hall (which can be viewed on Panopto).

Our strategic priorities continue to be:

• Strengthening and evolving our in-person programs and fostering campus vibrancy
• Launching new online programs to reach more and more diverse learners
• Deepening our connections with Middlebury by bringing more undergraduates to Monterey
• Adding non-degree offerings for professionals

Our Town Hall focused specifically on expanding online programs, with our panelists sharing the process of developing our new fully online MPA in Sustainability Management.

Why We’re Expanding our Online Programs

• The most critical component of our business plan from a revenue standpoint is launching new online programs.
• The #1 reason that students don’t come to the Institute is the cost. Adding more online options will allow us to reach more people and expand access.
• We are identifying new online programs to launch based on market data, focusing on those that serve in-demand fields and are aligned with our strengths, content expertise, and mission.
• Over the next 7-10 years, we hope to launch 10+ new programs total, ultimately serving a total of 1,000 – 2,000 online learners. 
• It’s important to note that these are not 10+ completely separate and siloed programs, but that one of our goals is to identify core competencies and build out courses that could serve students across different programs.
• Successfully launching new online programs takes a significant investment over several years. We’ve built some great experience in this area with the launch of our online TLM, TESOL, and IEM programs with DLINQ as a key partner. However, we need to increase capacity and resources.
• To this end, we are in negotiations with Wiley Educational Services, an online program management company, to provide support in marketing and recruitment, as well as student support and retention, which is a bigger issue for online programs.

Launching a New MPA in Sustainability Management for October 2023

• Market research helped us identify this degree, which leverages our strengths:
  • Large market: Over 12K MPA conferrals annually, as well as strong markets for programs related to the environment and climate change.
  • Strong career options: Huge and growing demand for sustainability professionals, with Sustainability Managers in the U.S. making a median salary of $126K.
  • Mission-aligned: Climate change is driving the urgent need for professionals working across industries and cultures.
• The program will be designed for working professionals: fully asynchronous, three starts a year, 30 credits, with students taking one course at a time for 7-8 weeks (exact length TBD).
• Collaboration between MPA and IEP faculty, working closely with DLINQ.
• Targeting launch for October 2023.

The team has used a wide range of data and a survey of current/prospective students, faculty, alumni, and employers to inform the core competencies of the degree and is in the process of determining the curriculum and course sequencing. 

Thank you to our wonderful panelists, who invited us into the process: Mahabat Baimyrzaeva, Jeff Langholz, Jeni Henrickson, and Heather Stafford. Other critical members of this project team include Toni Thomas, Lyuba Zarsky, Scott Pulizzi, Amy Collier, Sarah Lohnes Watulak, and Muchadei Zvoma.

I hope to see many of you this Friday at Transforming Conflict: An Interdisciplinary Conversation, a day of dialogue, storytelling, and discussion featuring our 65 Conflict Transformation Fellows, as well as faculty and staff. See the full schedule of the day’s events.

Wishing you all a wonderful end of the semester.

JDJ