China media group sees online learning success at Stevens

HOBOKEN, N.J. —A delegation of sixteen representatives from a variety of Chinese broadcast-technology and media institutes was hosted this month by WebCampus.Stevens, the award-winning online unit of Stevens Institute of Technology. The group came to witness advances made possible by the Internet and interactive Web-based education. The delegation chose Stevens as one of the premier US sites when WebCampus was named “Best Online University” by the prestigious Sloan Consortium last year.

Robert Ubell, Dean of the School of Professional Education and Director of WebCampus, hosted a morning event in Stevens’ Trustees Room in the Wesley J. Howe Center. Ubell spoke to the group through an interpreter about the advantages of the WebCampus approach.

“Learning can take place anytime, from anywhere,” Ubell said. “As long as you have an Internet connection, you can log on to WebCampus and do your coursework.” Pointing to the growing numbers in WebCampus online courses, Ubell reported that enrollment now runs to more than of 2,500 a year. Most students are “busy professionals seeking career advancement through an online graduate degree or graduate certificate.”

“WebCampus was founded in 2000 with only three courses and 23 students,” Ubell recalled. “Today we offer nearly 160 courses in eight master’s degrees and 25 graduate certificates.”

“The principle behind the effort,” according to Vice President Maureen Weatherall, “is to give access to students who can’t come to Stevens Hoboken campus, but who need to advance their education, especially in the areas where Stevens is a world leader—in engineering, science and technology management.”

“If the Internet had not been invented,” Ubell mused, “Stevens would have had to invent it for such students. Luckily, the Internet came along at just the right time.”

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Daniel Gallagher and WebCampus Program Director Robert Zotti presented details of how online instruction works. Prof. Hong-Liang Cui of Stevens Department of Physics, active in opening agreements between Stevens and Chinese universities, addressed the visitors in Chinese.

WebCampus now delivers online programs to students in 37 US states and 28 countries aboard, including the Peoples Republic of China. It has an active presence at Beijing Institute of Technology where a master’s program in Telecommunications Management will graduate 21 students in January. Stevens has also signed agreements with three other Chinese universities to launch Web-based graduate programs.

Led by Yan Xue Qian, Deputy Director of the China Youth Center for International Personnel Exchanges in Beijing, the Chinese delegation was coordinated by Jialin Wang, President of the Farview Promotion Company of Flushing, N.Y. The visit to Stevens was part of fact-finding tour that also included the University of Southern California and the University of Connecticut.

Among those in attendance were Du Zhi Ao, President, Zhumadian Television University, Hena, China; Li Shirong, Vice President, Jining Radio and Television University, Shandong; Shen Zuan, Vice President and Professor, Jiangsu Xuzhou Municipal Radio and Television University; and Ren Wenzhao and Zhao Guosen of the Beijing Radio and Television University.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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