Virtual universities prepare for kick off of online sports program

Virtual universities have typically been at a disadvantage when it comes to offering extracurricular activities to their students, particularly in the area of sports. A new Internet league hopes to change this. Four Web-based colleges have teamed up to form one of the nation's first virtual university football leagues, which can be found at http://www.virtualcollegesports.com. The schools' participation in this new program is somewhat unconventional. Not only are there no actual players involved, all of the games are entirely simulated. Furthermore, there is nothing that any team can do to influence the outcome of the games -- they will all be randomly decided. Students at the four participating schools -- Kentucky Virtual University, Michigan Virtual University, Magellan.edu and the University of Texas Telecampus -- are encouraged to submit applications as to why their names should be selected for their respective schools' teams. Once rosters have been finalized, a computer program will simulate matchups between the four participating schools -- and eight other fictitious teams that have been invented to bring the league to a full 12. Students whose names are being used may find themselves the heroes of made-up game summaries recounting their exploits on the field. "Basically what we're trying to do is... create a sense of community among our distance-learning students and just have some fun," Kentucky Virtual University student Sue Patrick said. She added that the decision has garnered a lot of positive attention. "We want to provide an experience where students will want to... register again." The other schools had similar reasons for joining. Rob Robinson, a technical manager for the University of Texas Telecampus -- the distance-learning unit for the UT system -- said the school is "always looking for ways that we can build community across campuses and degree programs." Some virtual universities see the new league as a means of raising their profiles. Deborah White, spokeswoman for Michigan Virtual University, felt that the new league would "call attention to the fact that [we] exist." All of the simulated participants will be modeled on actual college football players, much like other fantasy sports leagues. KVU has even picked a name for their squad, dubbing their team "The @vengers." The lighthearted nature of the venture is amply evident on the Web site. Applicants for the teams are encouraged to include high school football experience on their resumes, and to make some up if they lack any. "It seemed like a real good way to build community," Robinson said. "I think it will be great fun."

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