The Hindu Business Line : `Corporates are realising the merits of online education'

Established in 2001, U21Global has used the Internet to deliver its learning programmes across the globe. Currently, U21Global offers an18-subject Master of Business Administration (MBA), a 12-subject Master of Information Systems Management (MISM), a 12-subject Master of Global Business as well as shorter 4-subject certificate and 8-subject diploma programmes.

In a unique coming together of 19 universities in 10 countries and Thomson Learning, a player in the tailored learning solutions segment, U21Global (the 21 in the name stands for 21st century), aims at providing corporate students an opportunity to learn while balancing work, travel and family life. Employees from Wipro, Satyam, TCS and IOC, among others, are using this learning advantage to equip themselves with management degrees.

In an interview with The New Manager, Girish Rangan, Country Manager, India, U21Global, speaks on the trends in the e-learning industry and the online school's activities in the country.

In the global professional learning area, there is a clear transition towards online courses and programmes. Is India following the same trend?

In India, corporates are rapidly realising the merits of online education to upgrade the skill sets of their employees. The Indian industry, in most sectors, is witnessing a metamorphosis:

Prevailing and forecasted growth rates are far higher than the decadal growth rates.

Competition is more intense - every square inch of the market turf is won through huge investments in media, promotions and highly trained manpower.

Employee attrition is at high levels in several industries - "talent retention" and "growth-from-within" are buzzwords in most companies.

Becoming an "employer of choice" is the dream of every progressive CEO.

However, as observed with every new wave of change, the online education field is dotted with more than its fair share of charlatans, pretenders and fly-by-night `universities' / `institutes.' Corporates are learning (some, the hard way) that there are extremely few options available for bonafide, high-quality online learning.

Do corporates too recognise that online courses are the next best option to actual classroom learning due to time and distance constraints?

Absolutely. In fact, the tail has begun to wag the dog! Corporates are swiftly recognising that e-learning is better than actual classroom learning, for the following reasons:

In a classroom environment, students can afford the luxury of daydreaming and dozing. In an e-learning course, the degree of mandatory participation in discussion boards and online projects is far higher, leading to a higher extent of true learning

Companies cannot send large numbers of key /critical employees on learning sabbaticals to the brick and mortar institutes. These employees are central to the effective functioning of the organisation and their absence (if they go away to attend long-duration courses) can have significant negative impact.

e-learning has another huge advantage — the employee can apply his or her learning real-time. The learning, therefore, becomes internalised and embedded

Employees, too, prefer the e-learning option to taking a learning sabbatical because they can continue to earn and grow in their organisations while simultaneously completing the course.

Employees and corporates alike value the flexibility of asynchronous online learning, which allows employees and their organisations to better balance their work lives, their family lives, their travel and their study and learning time

Can you give some details on the corporate tie-ups you have in India?

Leading Indian corporations with whom U21Global is currently working include Satyam Computer Services, Wipro, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services, Aditya Birla Group and Tata Motors. In addition, discussions are at an advanced stage with over two dozen leading Indian corporations.

Currently, what is your student intake form India? Can you throw some light on the student mix for U21G courses.

U21Global has successfully enrolled nearly 2,000 students from 53 countries around the world including those from Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, since it opened its classes in August 2003. Indians account for over 50 per cent of this student mix

What are the courses offered by U21G in India?

The graduate programmes draw upon the best resources available in course content development and online courseware design. All courseware and degrees have been approved by `U21 pedagogica', an independent quality assurance body created by the U21 parent universities to ensure that the curriculum, admissions standards, and assessment processes meet the rigorous academic standards of all 19 of the Universitas 21 member universities. Currently U21Global offers an 18-subject Master of Business Administration (MBA), a 12-subject Master of Information Systems Management (MISM), a 12-subject Master of Global Business as well as shorter 4-subject certificate and 8-subject diploma programmes

Can you give some indication of the fee structure for various courses?

The full-blown 18-subject MBA programme is priced at $12,000 - the admissions committee screens every single case to assess the extent of scholarship support that can be extended to the student by U21Global.

What about faculty? Are they from the 19 universities/colleges that form the consortium?

The `21' in U21Global is a reference to the 21st century and not to the number of universities in the consortium. The Universitas 21 Consortium is made up of 19 research-led universities, which include:

North America: University of British Columbia; McGill University; University of Virginia; Tec de Monterrey

Europe: University of Glasgow; University of Birmingham; University of Edinburgh; University of Nottingham; University College Dublin; Lund University

Asia: Fudan University; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; University of Hong Kong; Korea University; National University of Singapore

Australia and New Zealand: University of Queensland; University of New South Wales; University of Melbourne; University of Auckland

The faculty is drawn from the best universities and institutions of higher education from across the globe, and not just from the member universities of the U21 consortium. At present, U21Global has over roughly 150 full-time and adjunct faculty. The minimum qualification required to be considered for the position of adjunct faculty is a Ph.D., supported with significant and noteworthy original research papers and significant graduate level teaching experience.

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