Reaching more than 7,300 enrollments in FY 2008, MU Direct’s online and face-to-face programs help strengthen Missouri’s workforce while addressing challenges faced by adults who are struggling to compete in today’s increasingly competitive global environment.
MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education
Source: MU Extension Annual Report, FY 2008
MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education partners with academic units on the MU campus to provide adults in Missouri and throughout the United States with quality educational experiences that enable them to fulfill their professional and personal aspirations.
During FY 2008, MU Direct worked with 10 MU schools and colleges to offer 41 degree options and three certificate programs, generating 7,349 enrollments in 558 courses for 21,092 semester credit hours.
Students can choose from such areas of study as: arts and science, education, health professions, human environmental sciences, journalism, medicine and nursing. Enrollments in these programs represent nearly a third of MU’s master’s degree enrollments and more than a fifth of its overall graduate enrollments. New programs are being planned and developed by these and other academic units.
Distance students usually can’t attend their graduation programs on campus, so in FY 2008,
MU Direct brought graduation to them by holding its first online commencement, which featured a
speech from NASCAR driver and Columbia resident Carl Edwards, congratulatory messages from campus officials
and a guest book for friends and family members to send notes to graduates. In his speech Edwards, a former MU student,
voiced his intention to resume pursuing a degree through online learning.
In addition, two groups — the Great Plains Consortium, involving human environmental sciences and agriculture, and the Big 12 Consortium, involving nuclear science and engineering — also are collaborating on new online courses and degree options with a number of universities.
Because students often cannot access the resources on a university campus, MU Direct takes a strong approach to customer service and works with many offices at MU to arrange necessary services. For example, distance students receive writing support through the university’s Online Writery. And coordinators contact students regularly to monitor their progress beginning early in their programs. Students also are encouraged to use MU Direct’s toll-free number so that staff can answer questions and help solve problems that may arise.
MU Direct Web site