Low-key leadership: Collegiate correspondence study and “campus equivalence”
Title:
Low-key leadership: Collegiate correspondence study and “campus equivalence”
Author:
Pittman, Von V.
Appeared in:
American journal of distance education
Paging:
Volume 12 (1998) nr. 2 pages 36-45
Year:
1998
Contents:
Correspondence study represents the first and most persistent distance education format in American universities. Later called independent study, it enabled universities to disseminate instruction far beyond their campuses. Yet, national-level leadership provided by the National University Continuing Education Association (NUEA) and its divisions has been relatively restrained. In contrast, leadership in the private correspondence school sector has been assertive, and sometimes even aggressive. The NUEA and its members shunned this approach, choosing instead to lead by persuasion and example. The NUEA developed standards of practice concerned primarily with replicating on-campus teaching styles and values, rather than the promotion of distance education. With the abolition of its division structure, the NUEA's successor, the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA), has opted out of a leadership role in independent study. This paper concludes that the NUEA's initial attempt at leadership in distance education— while reasoned and principled—contained flaws that made failure inevitable.
Journal description