022--Objective Evaluation: A Search for Parity in an Online Geography Certificate Program Presented by: Scott Walker, Texas State University-San Marcos

Departmental decisions to continue an asynchronous, post-secondary distance education program, discontinue it, or “export” it to a continuing education department can be subject to subjective decision-making influenced by external factors such as pressure to increase student enrolment within a department or strong opinions that distance education is the “wave of the future and we need to riding the wave.” This presentation outlines a study of a departmental distance-education program. The program evaluation utilized several methods that strived to inject objectivity over subjectivity in evaluation and subsequent decision-making. A rapid multi-modal approach was taken that included evaluation methods of 1) surveying students/instructors regarding their perspectives of the online psychosocial learning environment, 2) content analyses comparing the online version of courses to face-to-face versions, 3) cost comparisons in online vs. face-to-face courses, 4) and student outcomes. The evaluation results are presented in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT)—borrowing from a model used less frequently in academia than in business—allowing departmental administrators and decision-making committees to make judgments informed by facts rather than being influenced as much by organizational dynamics of emotions, beliefs, and opinions.