Partnering with Online Program Managers for Distance Education

Book excerpt: Partnering with Online Program Managers for Distance Education offers fresh insights into the practice, implications, and outcomes of partnerships between higher education institutions and for-profit online program managers (OPMs). As colleges and universities race to build effective, sustainable distance education programs, higher education administrators often rely on third-party OPMs for marketing and student recruitment, student support from orientation to graduation, course design and delivery, and other fee-based services. This edited collection provides a global knowledge base for understanding academic quality, policy, and management in university-OPM partnerships along with actionable strategies and frameworks for selection, evaluation, and improvement. Leaders, administrators, developers, and accreditors of digital distance learning programs in higher education will come away with evidence-based guidance and realistic perspectives into the opportunities and challenges of this fast-emerging resource.