MU distance ed forms Mizzou Online

This year marks the 100th anniversary of distance education at the University of Missouri. It also marks the strategic merger of the two offices that coordinate distance education — both fully online and hybrid programs — for MU’s schools and colleges.
MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education and the Center for Distance and Independent Study have combined to form Mizzou Online. The integration of operations and processes will continue throughout the upcoming academic year. The Mizzou Online main office will be in 136 Clark Hall.
“We celebrate not only a century of service to students outside Columbia but also the tremendous growth in distance offerings and student credit hours generated,” Dr. Jim Spain, interim vice provost for eLearning, said. “Mizzou ranks second in the Big 12 in the number of distance offerings and offers more distance degree and certificate options than any school in the Big 10.”
Dr. Gera Burton and Dr. Kim Siegenthaler will serve as interim co-directors of Mizzou Online and will work with several campus offices to fully integrate processes and increase efficiencies to better serve the unique needs of distance students.

Mizzou Online supports the more than 8,000 distance students who are enrolled in one or more of the 540 MU distance courses.
The MU Faculty Council, in cooperation with the MU Provost’s Office and the interim vice provost for eLearning, has formed a faculty task force to address academic policies and operational issues associated with online and distance education course development, approval and assessment on the MU campus. The task force, under the direction of Dr. Leona Rubin and Dr. John David, will facilitate a series of faculty forums throughout the fall 2011 semester.
“This is an exciting time for the University of Missouri,” Spain said. “We look forward to building on the 100-year history as we continue to make Mizzou accessible to students from across the state and around the world.”