Board officials and trustees of The University of Virginia were not pleased when they discovered that the president of the institution, Teresa A. Sullivan, did not plan on moving forcibly forward with steps to incorporate online education into the university’s current offerings. In recent weeks, many esteemed universities, such as MIT and Stanford, have announced their plans to allow a broader range of prospective students access to their course materials by offering lectures online, but it seems as if Sullivan did not intend on following suit, and this caused an outrage among those charged with overseeing the future growth of the institution.
With this in mind, board members insisted on her resignation, stating that they needed to follow in the footsteps of some of the most highly regarded institutions around the country, and with Jeffrey C. Walker, the board member of the McIntire School of Commerce Foundation stating that this was “a signal that the online learning world has now reached the top of the line universities and (The University of Virginia needs) to have strategies or (they) will be left behind” it seems as if they are planning to charge ahead with their plans to make this happen.
The Emails That Shook The University Of Virginia
In emails that were released by the rector and vice rector of the University, plans were outlined that included the resignation of Walker, as well as intentions to move ahead with strategies involving opening the university’s doors to online education. As far as the university board members are concerned, online education is a method of reaching out to a wider base of students, as well as an opportunity to cut down on the costs associated with higher learning.
Universities Follow Suit Or Get “Left Behind”
When this information was released, the University of Virginia was inundated with supportive emails, and they couldn’t have come at a better time. It seems that universities are finally coming to the conclusion that online education is the future, and with the recent upheavals that have taken place in some of the most esteemed institutions around the country, it is clear that many more are going to follow suit. As Walker stated in one of the emails that have now become viral among those patiently waiting for online education to become a real possibility, and those choosing to offer it, higher education institutions need to follow suit or they risk being “left behind”.
It seems as if it is only a matter of time before online courses become a staple diet for those seeking higher education opportunities in the hopes of obtaining qualifications that will ultimately determine their career paths and offer them more options when it comes to their studies.
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