Starting an Online Program
Department’s Considerations to Start an Online Program
When deciding whether to launch an online program, academic departments must take several factors into consideration. These include:
- Faculty availability to teach in an online program
- Courses to convert into an online format and into an 8- or 16-week part of term
- Potential changes in curriculum
In addition to program-level considerations, in collaboration with UTEP Online, a program will complete a
- Market analysis
- Financial viability analysis
Market Analysis
Programs interested in transitioning to an online format or starting a new program online must first participate in a UTEP Online-led evaluation process to determine if the program will be competitive in the online market. Programs must go through this process to be approved for fully online delivery.
UTEP Online will collaborate with Anthology Educational Marketing Services and UTEP’s Marketing and Communication to consider the following:
- The program’s mission and goals
- The program’s current enrollment and financial standing
- The current details of the program such as number of hours required, differentiating features, and other factors that might distinguish the program from others
- A comparative analysis of other institutions offering the degree to understand the competitive landscape in Texas and the nation
- Job prospects for graduates using U.S. Department of Labor data
When the evaluation is complete, UTEP Online staff will meet with the program leaders to discuss the options which may include considering adjustments to the program to make it more competitive in the online space.
Financial Viability Analysis
If it is determined that the program will be competitive, we will then work with the academic college’s CAO to develop a preliminary financial model to ensure that the program will be able to support itself and eventually generate revenue. While a more detailed financial analysis will be completed in Phase Three below, if the results of this preliminary process are positive, the official online program launch process will begin.
Program Launch
Phase One is the information gathering stage.
Building on the information collected for the approval, UTEP Online works with the academic program to understand program goals, curriculum, capacity, and timeline for launch.
Phase Two is the approvals stage.
Simultaneous to the information gathering stage, the academic program director must coordinate and secure approvals from the Curriculum Effectiveness and Improvement Office at curriculum@utep.edu. This is important to do as soon as possible, particularly when any changes to the curriculum are required.
Once all approvals have been secured, a new program code will be generated with –ONLINE to distinguish your online students from the face-to-face populations. This ensures that the online students a) are charged the correct tuition and fees and b) they are counted in your online program population.
For example: BA-CRIJ-ONL for the Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice online
Additionally, Extended University’s State Authorization Manager works with the program director to ensure that all federal, state, and licensure requirements are met. Please see the State Authorization webpage for more information.
Phase Three is the development stage.
The development stage is when the most work is done to create the program, incorporate it into various university-level processes, and begin developing a story for it.
Course carousel
UTEP Online courses are offered in 8- or 16-week terms. This provides flexibility for online students and enables them to focus on 1 or 2 courses at a time. For online students, it is imperative that they do not experience any bottlenecks or roadblocks that may impede their progress. It is also important that the online program does not offer too many course options relative to the size of enrollment. Therefore, the course carousel is a cornerstone to a successful online program at launch. It is required to develop the financial model and begin course development.
A course carousel identifies and sequences the courses offered in the online program. They are mapped for the first three years to make sure that the program is offered as efficiently as possible and to ensure that students can make progress toward completion. The course carousel also includes an estimate of instructional costs associated with teaching the courses.
Planning the course carousel also considers the number of starts, or the number of entry points, into the program. Many online programs benefit from as many starts as possible so that admitted students do not have to wait to begin. For graduate programs, that is usually 3 starts (start of fall, spring, and summer). For undergraduate programs, it can be as many as 6.
Additionally, online programs with few or no prerequisites are preferred so that students can jump into the program at any time and do not have to sit out a term to wait for the course they need to make progress.
Once the course carousel is approved by the program director, several other processes can begin:
Financial model
The Extended University Business Center will work with the program and its college CAO to ensure financial viability. This includes:
- Establishing a detailed budget outlining costs for course creation, marketing, technology, and staff, along with a realistic timeline for launch
- Determining the tuition and fees for the program with the Division of Business Affairs
- Assessing the financial viability of the program, forecasting future revenues and rates of return to ensure it makes sound financial sense to offer the program online
If all is positive, we will request approval of the financial model from the Vice President of Business Affairs. Please note that it is possible at this point to determine that the program may not be financially viable. In that case, either adjustments will need to be made to the course carousel, or we will conclude the process and not launch the online program.
Course development
The academic program will identify faculty who will develop the online courses, and UTEP Online will coordinate with the Center for Instructional Design to develop the first courses offered in the carousel. Course development will thereafter be scheduled to follow the carousel; not all courses will need to be developed prior to program launch.
In accordance with HOOP policy 4.24.3.6, the program director or chair must ensure that faculty for the online program complete the Teaching Online Academy (TOA). Faculty can register for the next available TOA on Minetracker.
Marketing, Recruitment, and Advising
At this time, the academic program will work with UTEP Online’s marketing, recruitment, and advising teams. Marketing will work with the program to develop a webpage and other digital content (one-sheeter, ads, messaging, etc). The program will be asked to review the documents.
The recruitment team will also request information about your program so that the designated enrollment counselor will represent your program positively and accurately.
Finally, if the program is an undergraduate one, the advising team will meet with the program to understand the features of the degree program and explain other services offered to online students.
Phase Four is program launch.
Ideally, several months prior to the first part of term, marketing begins, and the program's application is opened. Enrollment counselors cultivate and follow-up on leads; students are admitted and advised (by either UTEP Online advisors or their graduate program advisor). As noted above, course development follows the course carousel until all courses are developed and offered.
