Penn to pioneer distance classes for executives

The Wharton School and a private company will team up to offer classes across the country. The future is now. Penn will combine forces with Baltimore-based Caliber Learning Network Inc. to bring executive education classes to Caliber centers nationwide via digital satellite television connections and advanced computer networking, Interim Provost Michael Wachter announced yesterday. The deal, which Wachter said was the first of its kind for a school of Penn's stature, is expected to bring the University millions of dollars in additional revenue. Penn and Caliber will share the new monies, although officials declined to comment on the financial specifics of the agreement. The "Wharton Direct" classes, scheduled to begin this fall, will pair Wharton faculty members with Caliber's technology to allow working professionals to complete certificate programs without having to step foot on Penn's campus. Instead, they will attend classes in one of Caliber's 43 learning centers in the United States, such as those in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia. Caliber was formed 1 1/2 years ago as a joint venture between Washington, D.C.-based telecommunications giant MCI Communications Corp. and Sylvan Learning Systems Inc., a Baltimore-based educational services provider. University administrators and Caliber executives also indicated that they will offer pilot distributed-learning programs for high school students beginning this fall, and are also looking into the possibility of offering similar continuing-education programs with Penn's College of General Studies. Brady Locher, Caliber's vice president of marketing, estimated that between 300 and 350 professionals will participate in each of two sections of the "Working Knowledge Series," which is designed to teach the basics of finance, marketing and organizational strategy. The course -- scheduled to meet for 18 hours over six weeks --Eis the first of five Wharton plans to offer with Caliber, all of which will be based on the school's successful Aresty Institute for Executive Training. "We have not seen a major initiative in business education, and that's why we're interested in this," said Robert Mittelstaedt, Wharton's vice dean for executive education and external affairs. "We will be managing very closely not only what the content of the course is but how it is presented." After going through Wharton's regular, selective application process, professionals participating in the program will attend classes in one of the three classrooms located on each of Caliber's campuses. According to Locher, each classroom will be equipped with 12-15 computers, downlink satellite capabilities and 70-inch projection television screens. "This project will enable the classroom experience to come live, nationwide," Wachter said. Mittelstaedt said the course, "designed for people in the workplace," will cost $2,500 per student. He estimates that "99 percent" of the tuition costs will be borne by the companies for which the professionals now work, not the students themselves. Mittelstaedt said several companies, including Hewlett-Packard and AT&T;, have expressed considerable interest in enrolling their employees in Wharton Direct courses. Based on the projected number of students for the first six-week course, the program stands to earn nearly $2 million in revenue in its first season of operation. Rather than operating on the semester system, the program will offer a new session of all of the available courses each calendar season. Additionally, all of the available courses will be offered concurrently. Although Penn was recently forced to restructure its facilities-outsourcing deal with Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. to avoid jeopardizing its tax-exempt Internal Revenue Service status, Wachter denied that the deal with the for-profit Caliber threatens the University's condition. "It took a fair amount to go through it," he said, stressing that the proposed agreement was cleared with the University's General Counsel. As part of the program, students in the same section of each course -- even if they are in different cities -- will see the same Wharton professor delivering the lecture. The participants will be able to ask questions of the professor during the lecture by e-mailing a "content specialist," a kind of teaching assistant. The content specialist will filter the inquiries based on how many students have similar questions. He will then prompt the professor to address those issues more in-depth, or direct the video feeds to allow the professor or student to interact directly in real-time. Students in different locations will also be able to collaborate with each other in discussions and on projects over Caliber's computer network. Locher said the courses will be broadcast from a "home site" on or near the Penn campus, although he stressed that the location for the site has not yet been finalized. "We have been working with the University administration to identify facilities in which to 'Caliberize' a studio," Locher said, explaining that advanced computer and satellite capabilities would have to be installed in the facility. Mittelstaedt said Wharton --Ewhich will be directly overseeing the program -- "recognizes that some faculty will have to adapt their teaching methods" to successfully teach the distributed learning courses. Although the for-profit University of Phoenix has offered both undergraduate and graduate degrees through adult education distance learning programs for more than 20 years, awarding more than 400,000 degrees, Penn officials insisted that the quality of the Wharton courses would be "qualitatively" different. "Essentially, we're being chosen by some of the best companies in the country, and then we're choosing their very best people," Wachter said, stressing the program's selectivity. Additionally, the Penn-Caliber partnership will only offer certificate programs for now, with only master's degree programs planned for the foreseeable future. Locher added that "Penn is reaching for the best students in the market; [the University of Phoenix] is looking for mass numbers." But while Wachter proclaimed that this initiative "marks the first collaboration of this type by a school of Penn's caliber," Johns Hopkins University, also located in Baltimore, reached an agreement with Caliber in February to bring their business-of-medicine program to Caliber centers across the country. Officials from Penn and Caliber also announced plans to use their technology to offer pre-college programs. Evening broadcasts in calculus and anthropology aimed at high school students are scheduled for the fall. For the future, the administration plans on expanding its continuing education programs with Caliber to include other schools in the University. "We have strength in the areas that are the most dynamic areas of distance learning," Wachter said. "Penn does expect to be the leader in distributed education among our peer institutions."