INTRODUCTION

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

1947 SIXTY YEA R S 2007

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Throughout the world, there has never been an institution of higher education quite like University of Maryland University College (UMUC). Sixty years ago, no one would have predicted that a small, newly established branch of the University of Maryland’s College of Education would become a major university itself, recognized internationally as a leading institution of higher education for adults. No one could have foreseen

its phenomenal growth—from a single office administering a few off-campus programs around the state of Maryland to a global university with headquarters in Adelphi, Maryland; Heidelberg, Germany; and Tokyo, Japan. And no one could have imagined that during its first six decades, this university would serve more than 2 million students through courses taught in more than 80 countries on seven continents.

In 1947, the College of Special and Continuation Studies, as it was then called, was established by the University of Maryland to provide off-campus, evening, and weekend courses for adult, part-time students throughout the state. From the beginning, this unique unit of the University of Maryland functioned as an alternative to more conventional collegiate programs by offering classes at times and places convenient for adults in the workforce. The program was so successful that, within its first decade, it became a separate, degree-granting college of the University of Maryland, providing higher education not only in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, but also at U.S. military installations in Europe, the North Atlantic, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

In 1959, the institution’s name was changed to University College, and, in 1970, it became known as University of Maryland University College, a separately accredited institution of the University of Maryland. Today, UMUC is one of the 11 degree-granting institutions of the statewide University System of Maryland—and the only one whose primary mission is to serve adult students pursuing higher education on a part-time basis. With an annual enrollment of more than 90,000 students, UMUC is now the second-largest component of the University System of Maryland and the twelfth-largest degree-granting institution in the United States, serving students from all 50 states and in dozens of countries around the world.

During its first 60 years, UMUC established a reputation as one of the world’s largest and most innovative providers of high-quality university degree programs and professional development programs for adults. Most of its students are individuals age 25 or older, with jobs, families, and community commitments that preclude full-time study at a traditional college or university. When

UMUC was founded in the late 1940s, those socalled “nontraditional” students constituted only a small and peripheral part of the total enrollment at colleges and universities in the United States. During the second half of the 20th century, however, an increasing number of adults began to enroll part-time in higher education programs, for a variety of reasons: to earn degrees, to get jobs, to keep jobs, to acquire new skills, or to seek selffulfillment through learning. Many of those adult students were first-generation college entrants, including women and minorities, who had not previously had the opportunity to pursue a higher education. By 2007, these adult, part-time students constituted more than half of all students enrolled in colleges and universities across the United States. The type of students who were considered “nontraditional” 60 years ago had become increasingly important members of the modern higher education community.

Throughout its history, UMUC has been recognized as a pioneer in extending higher education programs to members of the U.S. military stationed overseas. From the first courses taught at a handful of U.S. military bases in Germany in 1949, to its on-site education programs in Afghanistan in 2007, UMUC has been a leader in providing higher education opportunities for military servicemembers, U.S. government employees, and their families around the world. No other institution in history has provided such a wide range of higher education programs to members of its nation’s armed forces while they were serving their country abroad.

UMUC was the first U.S. university to offer academic courses and degree programs at U.S. military bases abroad (Germany, 1949); the first to send its faculty to teach in a war zone (Vietnam, 1963); and the first to confer bachelor’s degrees at U.S. military installations overseas (Germany, 1951). More than 50 flag officers of the U.S. military are graduates of UMUC, and more than a million U.S. servicemembers have taken courses with UMUC. Without UMUC’s pioneering efforts, members of the military community at home and abroad would have missed many opportunities for professional and personal advancement. By educating so many U.S. servicemembers around the world, for more than half a century, UMUC has strengthened the United States in a fundamental way.

During its first six decades, UMUC evolved in response to changing social, political, and economic conditions within the United States and around the world. The university’s own development as an institution often paralleled—and certainly was affected by—many of the major movements and events of the time: the influx of veterans after World War II, whose higher education was funded by the new GI Bill; the civil rights and women’s rights movements in the United States; the advent of new types of information technology and the revolution in distance education; wars cold and hot, from Germany to Korea, Vietnam, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf; the change from a draft to an allvolunteer army; and new trends in higher education in the United States, particularly the emphasis on lifelong learning. Likewise, UMUC’s own mission evolved from providing courses regionally to adult, part-time students in the state of Maryland to offering degree programs around the

world, on-site and online—not only to U.S. citizens abroad, but also to an international clientele of students across the globe. At the time of its 50th anniversary in 1997, UMUC was offering undergraduate, graduate, and noncredit courses at more than 200 locations in the United States, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, South America, Asia, and Australia, in such far-flung places as Hungary, Uruguay, the Marshall Islands, New Zealand, and Siberia. And by its 60th anniversary in 2007, UMUC had become one of the largest public providers of online education in the world.

Part of UMUC’s success can be attributed to the wide variety of talented professionals that it has always attracted as faculty and administrators. Another major factor is the nontraditional structure of the institution, which allows it to be innovative, flexible, and responsive to the needs of the people it serves. As Julie E. Porosky, UMUC vice president of Continuing Education Services and University Outreach, noted in the mid-1990s,

It speaks well of us that we couldn’t take education in the well-worn paths of traditional academia. We found them too constraining, and we went looking for something that was out there on the frontier. We wanted to dream that there were other possibilities for what higher education could be and what it could mean to students.

Pioneering was always a tradition at UMUC. And as UMUC entered the 21st century, the newest frontier in higher education had become distance education “delivered” online, in which students and faculty at computer consoles anywhere in the world could meet together in “virtual classrooms” for teaching and learning. Gerald A. Heeger, president of UMUC from 1999 to 2005, noted shortly after he took office,

Since 1949, University of Maryland University College has been a widely recognized pioneer in distance education. Finding the best way to reach our students no matter where they are has always been a priority. As a result, we now have more students enrolled in online courses than any school in the world. To continue building the technological infrastructure of the global university we envision, we’ll need a new kind of bricks and mortar.

And the following year, Heeger reiterated UMUC’s role in the new millennium:

In our definition of “university” there are no ivy-covered buildings, no gated green lawns, no four-year-long interruptions in the life of a student. Most important, no barrier separates education from people’s everyday lives. We envision the university as a lifelong resource enabling all people to continue improving their skills, sharpening their minds, and achieving their goals— all while they continue to work, participate in their communities, and enjoy their families.

Since its founding 60 years ago, UMUC has never been a typical bricks-and-mortar university. And the one constant at UMUC has been change. A year after becoming president of UMUC in 2006, Susan C. Aldridge said,

This year UMUC celebrates six decades of excellence, providing accessible, applicable, and affordable higher education to adult learners throughout Maryland, across the country, and around the world. Yet as successful as we are at UMUC, we must continue to meet the challenges and embrace the opportunities that abound in this highly competitive adult student market. As an institution, we welcome them. Our “brand” is a strong one, and our record of achievement, unsurpassed.

And looking to the future, she added,

In keeping with our vision of bold, global leadership in higher education for working adults, UMUC must help shape the process of change, preparing our students to become knowledge leaders in today’s rapidly evolving knowledge economy.

UMUC has always been proud of its role as an institution dedicated to the personal and professional growth of its students. “We value our students,” said T. Benjamin Massey, president of UMUC from 1978 to 1998.

Every decision we make results from recognition of their determination to pursue their education while they juggle other major responsibilities. We know we must be where they need us, when they need us. Our programming and scheduling reflect our commitment to meeting those needs. Our faculty and staff exist to serve students. Serving part-time students is our full-time job.

More than 166,000 students received their degrees from UMUC between 1947 and 2007. Many more took courses with UMUC at locations around the world; at home or at work through distance learning formats; and at UMUC’s own headquarters in Maryland. And most of those students would agree that UMUC offered them an opportunity for higher education that they might not otherwise have had.

At age 47, Jody Nelson, a California resident, enrolled in a UMUC online degree program. She graduated from UMUC with a BA in English in 2005—the same year that her daughter graduated from another university. Nelson wrote,

UMUC caters to us older students and allows us a state-of-the-art education. . . . I felt all of my professors were exceptional, professional, and approachable. I graduated with a 3.8 GPA, of which I am very proud, and will put my education up against anyone’s. My diploma from UMUC is framed and hangs on my wall where I see it every morning. It stands as a reminder that, no matter how old we get, we still have the ability to accomplish what we never thought possible. I have done a lot of things in my life, lived many places and worked many jobs, but I am prouder of that diploma from UMUC than I am of almost any other thing in my life.

For individuals and institutions alike, the half-century point is usually a milestone at which to pause, reflect on the past, and speculate about the future. For UMUC’s 50th anniversary in 1997, a commemorative history book—titled Never an Ivory Tower: University of Maryland

University College—The First 50 Years, 1947–1997—was written to document the innovations and achievements of this unique institution. By the time of its 60th anniversary in 2007, UMUC was well into the new millennium, and the world of higher education had changed considerably. During the intervening decade, UMUC had changed, too. So this new edition of UMUC’s history—now titled Beyond the Ivory Tower—was written to update the university’s narrative and to document the ways in which UMUC has been transforming itself, over the past ten years, into “the global university of the future.” This book tells the story of how UMUC was founded 60 years ago, how it grew and expanded during the second half of the 20th century, and how it developed into the institution that it is today. That story is also part of the personal history of everyone who has been associated with UMUC at any time during the past six decades—the thousands of students, faculty members, and staff who made it all happen. When UMUC celebrated its semicentennial in 1997, it looked back on its history with pride— and forward to its future with confidence. Today, building on the foundation of its singular, remarkable history, UMUC looks to its future in the 21st century as a time of unparalleled opportunity for continued pioneering in the field of higher education—with other new frontiers just over the next horizon.