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Announcement from Laureate Education, Inc. Walden/NTU Merger
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What factors led the organization to undertake this change? Situation: Today, the higher education environment is significantly different, and the NTU partners have themselves initiated distance education programs, changing the fundamental nature of their relationships with NTU. As this environmental change has unfolded, NTU has been continually challenged to remain financially viable as a small, stand-alone, cutting edge university. Laureate Education, Inc. (then Sylvan Learning Systems) purchased the institution, bringing significant additional financial resources, and set about making investments in marketing, academic infrastructure, and current technology, taking NTU back to the cutting edge where it began. Even with these investments, the financial viability of the institution as a free-standing graduate school of engineering in this adverse environment has been a challenge over the last several years. Given that NTU is still, at its core, being driven by engineers, the university development plans were revised to turn this "adversity" to "advantage". Summary: The purpose of this merger is to support the advancement of the NTU mission and the financial viability of its academic programs by aligning NTU with Walden University, an institution with whom it shares many common characteristics, including a parent company that has already built a robust infrastructure both academically and technologically, and has demonstrated enhanced academic quality and improved financial performance as it has expanded over the last three years. This merger of the institutions represents the next logical step for NTU and Walden. The Laureate Online Education (LOE) division of Laureate Education, Inc. is the division that now wholly owns – and for the last several years has operated -- both Walden University and NTU. It uses an innovative management structure where common “corporate” services support both universities. These corporate services include:
Redesign Process: In the process of developing a strategic plan with and for both universities in the spring and summer of 2004, LOE recognized that the financial outlook for NTU did not show sustainable positive trends. At the same time, the purchase of the remaining minority interest in Walden University reached a satisfactory conclusion and in September, 2004, LOE became the sole owner of Walden. This change provided the opportunity for LOE to consider a suggestion to merge the two universities by analyzing the plans for both institutions to find ways to improve efficiencies and strengthen programs. The Boards of Directors of both institutions were consulted about the feasibility of creating a single institution as they reviewed the strategic plans of their respective institutions in the fall of 2004. Approvals for the merger by the Walden University Board of Directors and the National Technological University Board were completed on January 17, 2005. Teams of faculty and staff within the institution have been working together on planning -- both academically and operationally -- for the merger.The academic team included the academic deans of all the schools at Walden University, the NTU Provost, faculty from NTU and the Walden University School of Management (whose programs are most closely related to those of NTU) and relevant academic support staff, including the library staff at Indiana University Bloomington (who support the Walden University virtual library) and research and assessment personnel. Staff from all LOE corporate services (listed above) worked together to form an Operations team. The Walden University Registrar served on both the academic team and operations teams. Special focus was given to planning appropriate student information systems to support degree completion for students admitted to NTU prior to July 1, 2004 and for those in degree programs that will not be continued into Walden University. (top) What degree programs will be offered in the new School? The following NTU master's degree programs will be transferred to the NTU School of Engineering and Applied Science at Walden University. The formal transition of degree programs will begin May 2005.
My degree program isn't listed above. What will happen to me? Current students in degree programs NOT transferring to Walden's NTU School will continue to pursue their degrees in the traditional manner from the NTU School and take courses from partner universities. New students will only be admitted to programs being transferred. For example, a currently admitted student in Mechanical Engineering will continue to take courses in the Mechanical Engineering curriculum from NTU School and will receive a Mechanical Engineering degree from Walden's NTU School. New students, however, will not be admitted into a mechanical engineering program in the NTU School of Engineering and Applied Science at Walden University. As a current student, will the NTU School help me deal with the myriad schedules and registration procedures from other universities? A major benefit gained by changing our revenue-sharing relationship with the partner universities is our increased ability to objectively evaluate their services. We will help direct you toward those institutions that provide the best services. We will be your advocate and make access to their services as easy as possible. How will students benefit from this transition? Most importantly, a new tuition structure for NTU-produced courses will be announced when the merger is complete. Students will also see a reduction in tuition resulting from their ability to take courses from other universities with reduced tuition rates. Is Walden an accredited higher education institution? How can I learn more about it? Walden is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, the same accrediting agency that accredits NTU. Please see www.waldenu.edu for more information about Walden. (top) How will I convince my employer and others that my degree is substantial? The acronym “NTU” will not disappear. We will be the “NTU School of Engineering and Applied Science” at Walden University. NTU has derived its reputation from the faculty at partner universities for many years. We will continue to utilize the very best faculty from the very best engineering institutions in the world. We will continue to rely on, draw attention to, and market the outstanding reputations of all our faculty and contributing scholars. Will NTU's office location or other contact information change? No, our academic personnel currently share the same building with Walden University in Minneapolis. All the previous contact information for NTU will apply. Can you give a timeline for when all this will occur?
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How much will it cost to have NTU School provide academic advising and keep track of my progress in obtaining a degree? It will not cost anything. We believe it is our obligation and responsibility to take care of currently admitted students at no cost to them. How will I know when partner universities are offering courses? We will provide links to the schedule pages for those universities that we know provide schedule information. We will help you identify the courses you need and help you locate the schedule pages of those universities. (top) How will scheduling for NTU-produced courses be determined? Most core courses will be offered every fall, spring, and summer (on-cycle starts) in addition to other off-cycle starts. High enrollment elective courses will be offered at every on-cycle start. Lower enrollment electives will be offered at least once per year. What if a partner or former partner university doesn't offer the course I need? Can I look at other universities? Yes. However, we will not accept courses unless we have a detailed syllabus and are confident the course satisfies your degree program requirements. You will be responsible for gathering that evidence. We will post courses taken in the past several years from our affiliated universities. It will be easy for you to get approval for these courses if they fit within your Program of Study. (top) New Degree Programs, Courses, and Fast Track What new degree programs are planned, and when will they be implemented? Due to the wide range of variables, regulatory approvals, and other considerations that have to be accounted for in the planning for new degree programs, it is difficult to predict when a particular program will begin to be implemented. As soon as the merger is complete, we plan to begin work in the following areas: Undergraduate Programs: Initial efforts toward undergraduate degrees will focus on the development of degree completion programs. Undergraduate students will obtain their general education courses from elsewhere or transfer in with associate-level degrees. We plan to begin producing the courses for such programs in the summer of 2005. It will take two or three years to complete the production of all courses in the curricula. ABET accreditation is not awarded to any program until at least one student has graduated from the program. As a result, the programs will be in "pending" accreditation status for a few years. Master's Level Programs : Our initial intention is to continue to develop programs that take advantage of the special technical capabilities and backgrounds of engineers/computer scientists to provide a management degree with far greater technical depth than is possible from a program offered in a management school (technical input, management output). This approach is similar to that taken in developing the high-tech MBA introduced in the fall of 2004. Doctoral Programs: The courses, committees, residencies, assessments, and dissertation procedures will be designed to address the research needs of doctoral candidates in engineering and applied science. One cornerstone of an engineering doctoral program is upper-level (600- or 700- level) courses to cover in-depth knowledge in very focused areas. The online equivalent of our produced courses will consist of live, web-based presentations and interaction incorporating student teleconferences with archived access to past sessions for those who miss the live sessions. (top) What is happening with the Fast Track program? Plans are to replace the Fast Track short courses that provide continuing education credit with semester-long Computer Science courses that provide undergraduate academic credit that can be applied toward undergraduate degree programs or transferred to other academic institutions. The following table shows the mapping between Fast Track courses and undergraduate Computer Science courses.
Plans call for a termination of support for this program in May 2005, ceasing new enrollments for Fast
Track courses
in early February 2005. Students who registered for a Fast Track course after November 1, 2004 will receive a tuition credit for the NTU-produced undergraduate course equivalent. Students who registered for a Fast Track course between August 1, 2004 and November 1, 2004 will receive a half-tuition credit for the equivalent NTU-produced undergraduate course. What is the planned schedule for production of new courses? Plans call for new courses to be produced every six months at the MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. Course updates will also be produced during these "camps". A full description of the planned course production effort is available by clicking here , including a schedule of the courses to be produced this summer, and the advanced planning for courses proposed in the winter of 2006. Who will create and teach the NTU-produced courses? A list of the Contributing Scholars shows the outstanding faculty who have authored courses for us or who have committed to create courses in the future. These Contributing Scholars come to our production studios in south Florida to produce courses of the highest professional quality. Keep watching this list. (top) Will I register for NTU School courses the way I always have? If you were admitted after July 1, 2004, you will be assigned a new "Personal Start Page", and you'll see a new Web interface for registration. If you're a current student, you will be referred to partner university registration pages to follow their procedures. Will I need pre-approval from the NTU School to take university partner courses? Yes. We are still very much responsible for the academic integrity of our programs. As a result, we must be assured that the courses students take will satisfy the curricular requirements for their degree programs. We will work with students to determine the eligibility of courses offered by other universities. There will be an approval process for each course. We will post information on acceptable courses. I'm a current student, but was admitted after July, 2004. Will I be allowed to take courses from other universities? We will try to produce all the courses that you need. However, if you, your advisor, and the chair agree there's a course we cannot offer directly, we will allow you to take the course from another university and transfer the grade (i.e. the grade will be used in calculating the NTU School grade point average). At a future time -- when we have completed production of all the courses we believe are needed for our curricula -- we will no longer allow grade transfers. We will, however, still allow credit transfers to the extent defined in our university catalog. How will I be notified of all the changes that affect me personally? The NTU School will:
(top) Program of Study/Credit/Grade Transfer Will I continue to submit a Program of Study Plan with the NTU School if I take a partner university course? Yes. A Program of Study Plan (PSP) will be required, and it will be mapped to a new NTU School Program of Study (POS). It is the only way we will be able to track your progress and guarantee the integrity of your degree. What is the difference between credit transfer and grade transfer? If you take a course that is not pre-approved by your advisor, we will treat that course as any transfer course. Traditionally, you have a limit of six credit hours you can transfer from non-partner universities, and there is a $50 transfer fee. The grade you receive for that course does not contribute to your grade point average at NTU School. However, if you obtain pre-approval for the course you want to take at a partner university, the grade you receive will be transferred into your NTU School GPA, there will be no transfer fee, and the course will be treated as if you had registered at the NTU School. How will NTU School keep track of the grades I receive in these courses if all my interaction is with the partner university and not NTU School? You will be asked to report your grades to the NTU School at the end of each term. Before you are allowed to graduate, you will need to obtain an official transcript from each university from which you have taken courses. Those transcripts will allow confirmation of the grades received, and determination of graduation eligibility. Students will still be bound by NTU's Academic Integrity policy. Where will I submit my partner university grade reports? You will submit grade reports, by mail, to the Registrar's Office. (top) NTU requires that I submit a proctor for every course. Will this process continue with Walden? If I take a partner university course, will they require a proctor? We will maintain and improve the proctor system for NTU-produced courses. For partner-university courses, you'll follow the procedure they specify for their own distance-education students. Graduation, Diploma, Listing on Vita I am a current student. Will I receive my degree from NTU or from Walden? After the merger, NTU will no longer have an accreditation status independent of Walden. To avoid graduating from an unaccredited institution, your diploma will read "NTU School of Engineering and Applied Science at Walden University." These are the directions indicated to us by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. What should you put on your CV when you've received a degree from a university that has undergone a name change? Should you leave the name as it was when you were there, list the current name, or somehow list both? You should list the degree with the old name, and then include the new name. For example, you might write "National Technological University (now Walden University), location, M.S. in Electrical Engineering, 1988." Where and when will graduation occur? Beginning in July of 2005, two Walden graduation ceremonies will be held per year -- one in July and one in January. The next commencement ceremony in which NTU School students will participate will be Saturday, July 16, 2005 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Commencement registration will begin in March 2005. How long a time period will I be given to earn a degree? The number of years you will have to complete your degree will not change. This is 7 years for students admitted prior to November, 2004 and 5 years for those student admitted since. Students are expected to take at least one course per year to maintain admitted status. Note that this requirement conforms to our current Bulletin but is different from the requirements specified in previous Bulletins. Because we are substantially expanding the universe of eligible courses, we believe students will be able to take at least one course per year. (top) |
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