UIS online bachelor’s degree programs ranked among the top 10 percent in the country

The University of Illinois Springfield’s online bachelor’s degree programs have been ranked 34th best in the country (out of 357 institutions) by U.S. News and World Report.

The 2021 ranking put UIS among the top 10 percent of best online bachelor’s degree programs in the United States.

UIS’ online master’s degree programs were also ranked highly by U.S. News and World Report. The management information systems online master’s degree was ranked 53 out of 184 in the non-MBA business category. The UIS online master’s degree in education was ranked 91 out of 317 degrees.

“UIS has ranked among the top tier of U.S. News Best Online Program rankings of undergraduate programs since their inception in 2012,” said Ray Schroeder, UIS associate vice chancellor of online learning. “We are honored to once again be ranked among the top 10 percent of online programs by the rigorous and highly respected rankings by U.S. News. With this recognition comes our promise to continue to provide excellence in all of our online classes and programs.”

This story appeared on WAND January 26, 2021.

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UIS Webinar Aims To Help Parents Cope With Remote Learning

Parents who are still struggling with online instruction for their children may find help in a webinar scheduled for next week through the University of Illinois Springfield.

The online event is designed to serve as an introduction to techniques that parents can use to help their children navigate remote learning. 

This story appeared on WMAY on September 9, 2020.

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Thoughts on Creating an Inclusive Environment in Online Classes

The following article was written by Ray Schroeder, Associate Vice Chancellor or Online Learning at the University of Illinois Springfield.

In preparing for the fall term, most colleges and universities are responding to the renewed public consciousness about equality, inclusiveness and fairness for all students.

As we reflect on American history and, in particular, the history of our institutions of higher education, we see that in so many conscious and unconscious ways we have failed in our responsibility to promote the core values we express as a society, most notably inclusion and equity. The country has been reminded that Black lives matter -- not that all lives don’t matter -- but, that despite the Civil War, despite Emancipation, despite the civil rights legislation over the years, we still are not equally united across racial, cultural and gender lines. This is abundantly clear in widely reported horrifying acts of racial violence against minorities, but is also evident in the disparity of salaries for the same work, disparity of diversity in positions of prominence and disparity in preparedness and success of youth entering higher education. Polls show that most Americans agree that we must do better. And the time to renew our commitment is today.

The opportunities to begin to make a difference are endless through the online platform, where that platform is equitably available. Not limited to students recruited to the campus, not limited to students who can relocate and come to campus, online programs reach across cultures and locations to serve students where they are. And yet, minority and low-income students do not thrive at the same rates as others in the current system. So where can we begin in developing more successful diverse and inclusive online programs?

This article appeared in Inside Higher Ed on August 26, 2020.

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UIS to assist private, community colleges with online transition

The University of Illinois Springfield is stepping up to help private and community colleges transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UIS Center for Online Learning, Research and Service (COLRS) has won national honors for being an online learning leader. Its officials are taking multiple steps to help these colleges, along with state agencies, move online.

Steps include creating a resource page for private and independent colleges, which will feature tips for remote teaching, how to put content online, how to teach lab classes online and how to make digital content accessible for students.These moves are happening as a result of a request from the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

"COLRS staff maintains the highest quality of knowledge in delivery of online learning and is pleased to be able to share this knowledge with our colleagues across the state,” said Vickie Cook, UIS executive director of online professional and engaged learning, research and service.

UIS is offering help to state agencies, including the Department of Human Services, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Central Management Services, for free.

This article appeared on WAND 17 on April 9, 2020.

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UIS Puts Its Hands-On Learning On Remote

Like many colleges, University of Illinois Springfield classes have transitioned to an online-only format to comply with the state’s efforts to combat the new coronavirus.

The transition has not been without difficulty for instructors. Some professors, by the very nature of what they teach, have run head-long into plenty of online obstacles.

Shane Harris is an associate professor of ceramics at UIS. He said teaching his ceramics course remotely is something he was a little apprehensive about. “I’ve been asked multiple times to teach online, but the reality is it’s a hands-on course,” Harris said. “You learn by making and doing and interacting, and, so, virtually it’s a lot more challenging to do that in my field.”

To keep it hands-on, Harris has had to figure out how to send physical art supplies to his students. His director told him to use department funds to pay for it. “So I ended up, with my student workers, called every single one of my students and asked them, ‘are you going to be back on campus? Can you pick up the clay? If not, then I am going to ship it to you,’” Harris said.

Harris said he’s not tech-savvy and says he never used the teaching website Blackboard before last week, but he said his students are helping him learn the ropes.

COLRS Director Vickie Cook said her department anticipated teachers quickly having to convert classes into a different medium. “Having that collapsed time to take what normally they would have several weeks to prepare, and in the middle of the semester, try to change tracks for modality is very difficult,” Cook said. Cook said the center has been helping teachers with the transition by introducing faculty to a bunch of different online teaching methods. ”And they’re doing that primarily through readings, interactive activities online that they’ve pulled together, videos that they have done or pulled together from other faculty in those same disciplines that have allowed their videos to be used,” Cook said.

Brian Chen is an assistant professor of public health at UIS. He attended the two workshops COLRS set up for faculty members to help prepare teachers for the transition. He said he learned how to connect to a VPN from his home when conducting class “[If] the faculty or instructor needs to work from home, they need to connect their office computers, then this is the knowledge they need to learn,” Chen said. He said instructors now have the choice to gather with students and interact in “real time” or to prepare course materials for students in advance. Now it’s in the students’ hands.

This story appeared on NPR Radio on April 2, 2020..

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How Online Education Helps Career Changers in the Automation Age

The mention of artificial intelligence (AI) elicits varying reactions. We have seen sensational headlines for years about its potential, typically propagating two extreme outcomes: a doomsday in which AI turns against humanity or a utopian future where the hardships and drudgery of the pre-automation days are distant memories.

With the growing adoption of AI across the globe, we can see that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

The McKinsey Global Institute recently found that a whopping 16 million to 54 million workers in the United States may need to switch occupations by 2030, learning new skills or increasing their level of education in order to find work.

The National Center of Educational Statistics (NCES) said that between 2001 and 2015, there was a 35 percent increase in college students between ages 25 and 34, and that between 2015 and 2026, enrollment in that age group was projected to increase another 11 percent.

These days, distance-based learning is more widely accepted and offers several unique advantages. Online education gives students the freedom to fit their school work around their existing obligations.

We asked Vickie Cook, executive director of online professional and engaged learning at the University of Illinois Springfield, to help us weigh the pros and cons of pursuing online learning later on in life.

“What I’ve seen is that more and more students who are older are coming back and getting advanced degrees, certificates, or taking a course, “Cook said. “A lot of these students are caregivers for parents, as well as having children of their own, so the online option is really convenient,” she said, adding that she believes there is “more acceptance by employers today for students who have been in the workforce for a while and want to go back to school.”

This story appeared on Online Education.

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UIS online bachelor's degree programs ranked among top 10%

The online bachelor's degree programs at the University of Illinois Springfield are receiving national attention.

U.S. News and World Report ranked the university's programs among the top 10% in the country. The programs ranked 33rd out of the 353 institutions. This is the second year the school's programs have ranked high on the list.

Right now, UIS offers 14 online bachelor's degree programs in the following areas: Business administration, Communication, Computer Science, English, Health Care, Informatics, History, Information Systems Security, Liberal Studies, Management Information Systems, Mathematical Sciences, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology and Teacher Education.

“UIS offers a unique perspective to online learning,” said Vickie Cook, executive director of UIS online, professional and engaged learning. “We believe that connecting students to exceptionally qualified faculty through strong instruction and online technologies is key to providing experiences that will serve students in their careers and in their lives. UIS faculty often share their experiences of working with great students who are developing the skills needed to be successful.”

This story aired on WICS Newschannel 20 on Jan. 14, 2020.

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Quantum Computing at the University of Illinois Springfield

Quantum computing was once the sole purview of science fiction writers. Today, however, it’s fast becoming a reality that higher education can get on board with.

Ray Schroeder, Associate Vice Chancellor of Online Learning at the University of Illinois Springfield and Founding Director of the National Council for Online Education, joined the Enrollment Growth University podcast to discuss what the advent of quantum computing means for higher education.

What Is Quantum Computing? “Shohini Ghose has a quote that I just love,” Ray said. ‘If you’re confused about the quantum computer, don’t worry, that means you’re getting it.” Even Einstein called quantum computing spooky.

We’re accustomed to computing in binary digits, bits, ones, and zeros. That’s the way in which we do all of our coding and all our computing. Quantum computing, however, uses cubits, which are quantum bits.

The difference between binary bits and cubits is that cubits can represent one or zero, but they can also can represented as one and zero. In some cases, there can also be a direction or phase quantity added to that. “So there are multiple states for every cubit,” Ray said, “whereas, for every bit, there’s just a zero or one.

And usually, these are held on photons or electrons or some other subatomic particle or wave.” You can call them either a wave or a particle because they behave both as waves and as particles.

So with a cubit, we can do much more because we’ve got three or four different representations for every cubit. That allows us to process information much, much faster. In fact, in a quantum computer, works about 10,000 times faster than the standard supercomputer today.

This article appeared on www.helixeducation.com on July 26, 2019.

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Online Learning and the Future of Education with Ray Schroeder

As a leading expert in online education, Ray Schroeder brings an unmatched depth of knowledge and passion for advancing the field.

He’s the current associate vice chancellor for online learning and founding director of the Center for Online Learning, Research, and Service at the University of Illinois Springfield. He’s also the founding director of the National Council for Online Education at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association.

In this episode of Leading Learning, Celisa talks with Ray about the evolving role of learning businesses, continuing education, and online learning— particularly when it comes to workforce development issues and the skills gap. They also discuss how advances related to artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, badges, blockchain and more are impacting the future of learning.

This article appeared on the Leading Learning website as an article and podcast on July 1, 2019.

Click here to access both the article and podcast.