December 14, 1999
Ohio's two- and four-year public and private colleges and universities
agree to establish a consortium to work together to offer a central clearinghouse
for courses offered at a distance. This consortium shall be called the
Ohio Learning Network (OLN).
This network is created in an environment when the needs of the learning
community and workforce have profoundly changed, and meeting those needs
requires new and more creative and collaborative responses from all higher
education institutions. Certainly, place-bound and time-bound adults and
others with limited options need the opportunity to pursue higher education
within their communities, at their homes, and at their workplaces through
the most cost-efficient and effective connections within the existing
fabric of higher education opportunities in Ohio.
Ohio's colleges and universities have demonstrated leadership in removing
barriers to transferability for students and their credits for example,
partnership in the degree audit reporting system (DARS), course applicability
system (CAS), and in the management of resources to enhance educational
opportunities. This Memorandum of Understanding and its accompanying Principles
of Good Practice expand upon that work and establish operational guidelines
for participation in the OLN.
Institutions participating in OLN commit to expand higher education opportunities
for the learning community through concerted initiatives that reduce
inter-institutional
barriers and encourage an expanded number of residents to pursue higher
education as illustrated by the OLN Degree Completion project.
All institutions are strongly encouraged and expected to embrace the
best principles and practices of articulation and transfer through coordination
of curriculum and student achievement expectations, as well as to explore
dual admissions between selected institutions. All institutions participating
in OLN commit to working collaboratively to utilize resources of the state
through effective use of technology as illustrated by the central on-line
course catalog. Assessment will be conducted in collaboration with OLN
institutions; this assessment of OLN outcomes is anticipated in 2002.
This Memo of Understanding is effective beginning with this 14 day of
December 1999.
