Program elimination part of ÎExcellence'

UA administrators announced yesterday that they will move ahead with plans to cut the Extended University.

Programs currently administered by the EU, including correspondence classes, will be operated through a streamlined and downsized Office of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach in an effort to eliminate wasteful administrative overhead costs.

Extended University was one of 16 programs slated for elimination last year as part of Focused Excellence.

"What's already happened is that we have eliminated a lot of programs, and the programs that continue will be financially self-sufficient," said Patricia Van Metre, interim dean of the Extended University.

Instead of being a separate college under a separate dean, the reorganized office will operate under the new position of Vice Provost for Instruction, a post that will temporarily be filled by Van Metre.

"We have really changed our mission. We're looking to the academic departments to decide what programs we offer," Van Metre said.

Sally Jackson, vice president of learning and information technologies, has guided this reorganization and said the EU has been in the process of downsizing for some time now.

"Even though we're only just announcing this, it has been going on for a while," Jackson said. "There has already been a substantial downsizing of EU."

Despite the downsizing, Jackson said the size and diversity of correspondence classes offered should remain intact.

"In the case of correspondence classes, there is a strong demand, and I imagine that demand will remain. It will be determined by demands, not by our intentions. You only know when you present it to the community and see how they respond with interest," Jackson said.

The operation of summer and winter sessions will also be affected.

Summer school has been administered by the Extended University.

"It will now be administered by departments like fall and spring semester classes," Jackson said. "It is an important part of disentangling EU from the rest of the university."

The project director for summer school will report to the Office of Curriculum and Registration, Van Metre said.

The newly formed Office of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach will assist with the administration of programs previously under the EU, with the exception of summer school, Jackson said.

These programs include credit outreach, correspondence, distance education, evening/weekend programs and computer education.

The Office of Continuing Education will also assist in the business and marketing aspects of these programs.

"One of the problems in the past with EU is that there weren't a lot of outlets on campus that knew what we had to offer," Van Metre said.

Although jobs have been lost in the downsizing of the EU, no new jobs are expected to disappear, with the exception of the dean and vice dean positions, Jackson said.

Despite the fact that correspondence classes will now be administered more directly through the UA, students will still be unable to pay for correspondence classes with financial aid.

However, Van Metre said the matter is under deliberation and it is a cause that she is advocating.