Every semester, student senate hosts Student Speak-Up, an opportunity for students to come together and voice their concerns directly to AU administrators. 

   Last semester, Speak-Up occurred in the wake of 15 untenured professors losing their positions next year. 

   The Student Center Auditorium was packed with students, angry students demanding an explanation for the decision that had just been made.

   Last Tuesday, student senate again hosted this semester’s Student Speak-Up. 

   This event had lower attendance than the previous semester’s, but the senators in attendance found another single issue to focus their questions.

   Students expressed a great deal of concern and opposition to the creation of a separate adult and online education college. 

   Student senate had recently passed a resolution against the creation of this separate college, and all but one of their questions centered on this issue.

   William Crothers, AU’s interim president, Doug Fiore, AU’s interim provost, and Deanna Romano, chair of the Educational Foundations and Instruction department and the interim associate provost, took the majority of the students’ questions. 

   Students were concerned a separate adult and online education college would harm the university’s reputation and ability to deliver quality education. 

   However, Crothers does not think that is a reason to stay out of the market.

   “Harvard University has not ruined its reputation because they are doing degrees online,” Crothers said.

   Romano went an additional step, citing a study that claimed students actually would prefer online education.

    “Studies have shown research with developing online courses, if done right, if engaging for students, if their interactive, students are learning better in online environments,” she said.

   Students tried to make clear throughout the night that they did not oppose online education. They did not see creating a separate college as necessary. Crothers, however, disagreed.“I think we need a separate, or another, college because it’s a totally different kind of market than we’ve been serving,” he said, “and we need to have a group of faculty who are interested in serving the adults online, having dual appointments in the college they are in and the college are online and that faculty need to be the key decision makers in program design and delivery and so forth due to the uniqueness of the program.”

   Crothers regularly compared the separate college to AU’s seminary, which independently offers programs that do not directly correspond to anything offered by the university.

   Another critical component of the decision to launch AU more fully into the adult and online education market is the university’s financial situation. 

   Stephen Storck, AU’s VP of business operations, said that the university’s undergraduate program loses money annually. 

   Even if each student who came paid full cost without any type of gift aid, the university would lose money on each student that attends AU. The graduate and online programs subsidize the undergraduate program, allowing the on-campus program to exist.

   There is also no plan or intention to draw any funds away form the undergraduate program in order to start up a potential new college.