In an attempt to reduce startup costs and to utilize faculty and other resources efficiently, the University of South Carolina (USC) has developed a program for the M. Ed. in Educational Technology that is offered jointly by two of its campuses. As the first of this type of program offered in the USC system, the program offers students the opportunity to take all of their courses on either campus, or some combination of both. Faculty from both campuses are involved in the delivery of the courses. Several courses are offered via distance education (web-based or two-way video); it is these courses which incorporate sections of students from each campus and are taught by an instructor from one campus. Other courses are team-taught face-to-face with collaboration between campus sections via a course management system (Blackboard) and two-way video.

This paper will discuss the factors that have contributed to the success of this innovative graduate program and to the challenges that are yet to be addressed. These include administrative issues such as admissions and financial aid policies, faculty from different departments and campuses teaching in the program, and pedagogical issues such as the quality of online and two-way video courses, and collaboration among students and faculty between campuses.