By Andrew Beasley

Published as a part of Maneater v. 79, Issue 5

While MU adapts to the largest freshman class in school history, expansions are also being made in the virtual campus of Mizzou Online.

Looked upon as an investment, MU is directing $2.5 million to the development of distance education.

The money will be used to help with the development of 10 to 15 new online degree programs within the next few years, said Jim Spain, vice provost for undergraduate studies and interim vice provost for e-learning. These will add to the 66 programs currently available throughout the University.

With 696 courses, 590 offered online and 106 through off-campus centers, the school provides distance education to all areas of the United States as well as international students, Spain said.

With 2,900 students enrolled in distance programs and 9,000 students taking online courses, the faculty has to find ways to deal with the issue of academic integrity.

We spend quite a bit of time working to prevent academic dishonesty, whether that be through a random question generator or requiring students to take proctored exams, Spain said. For international students well work with international institutions and request their cooperation for proctoring exams.

According to the Mizzou Online website, distance education began more than a century ago with the development of Correspondence Study with the help of the postal service.

Although mail-in courses have since ceased to be offered, the success of the program speaks for itself. MU is ranked second in the SEC for a number of programs offered and third overall in the American Association of Universities, Spain said.

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MU expands online education by $2.5 million