CSU Online Education Transformation

The School Of Business Program Progresses Into The Digital Age

The Challenge

Scale and intuition will only get you so far. When online higher education student growth at the Colorado State University School of Business hit 25%-30% YoY, while also introducing new products and classes, making the grade was teetering on chaos.

Expenses were scattered and potentially running rampant. The introduction of the CIS and Accounting programs were added to the MBA programs, visibility and accountability were scarce at best. In aggregate there was clarity, but course by course there existed a mirage. What did it take to produce a class online? Pre-production, production, post-production could each dramatically impact profitability.

A/V online education has an infinite number of opportunities for error. Think broadcast TV quality (lighting, sound, picture quality), a classroom full of rustling students, connectivity, the internet itself, a lead generation and a payment system and instructors that might often drop the wrong word-bomb and gee, what could possibly go wrong?

The school needed real numbers, true accountability and genuine chance at meeting the needs of the school and the students.

The Solution

A “throwing bodies at it” approach was a one way ticket to disaster. What are the true break even costs? Where can efficiencies be gained? What are the bottlenecks? What were the tools, processes and people that would enable the online school to grow exponentially? The goal had to be the migration from intuitive management to systemic operations.

Alignment of teams and the formal organization of functional groups were the first steps that allowed for accurate personnel and expense measurement. To reduce errors, improve quality a number of processes were introduced:

• Pre-production checklist – Working with Faculty to deliver great content and start precisely on time.
• Tracked Errors – Did something fail in production? If so it went into the checklist.
• Formal Change Management – A/V processes would not change without due process.

Objectifying time, tools and processes rendered a clearer and clear picture of wins, losses and a sustainable path for progress.

The Result

The MBA program initially consisted 4 classes, 3 hours long with a 35 seat classroom. The online MBA program grew from 140 students to to 1500 students between 2001 and 2014. GSSE, Global Social And Sustainable Enterprise, CIS, and other specialized offerings such as BBI and Finance were added to the program.

Efficiency was increased significantly:

• 25% overall operation cost in IT
• 15% reduction in audio-video production
• Non-recurring “accidents” in production delivery quality
• Consistent 12pm posting and 12am availability for online content consumption

Today the online education program is a vital revenue source for the CSU School of Business. The organizational transformation, combined with a continued decrease in technology costs,  and a steady stream of students seeing an MBA online, provide a positive outlook for continued increases in online education revenue.