NMC expands number of online courses

Northern Marianas College president Sharon Y. Hart led yesterday the official launch of several non-credit online courses at the institution.

This was made possible by the college’s partnership with ed2go, a company that offers a wide range of highly interactive courses that one can take entirely over the Internet. The company, which works only with accredited colleges and universities in the United States, has partnerships with over 1,800 colleges and universities across America.

NMC, according to Hart, is the organization’s newest member and is now able to offer over 300 courses and certificates online to Commonwealth students.

Hart described these courses as typically 24 hours in length, open every month, and allow students to cross-engage in the whole learning process.

Among the hundreds of courses now available for offering by NMC are accounting and finance, business, computer applications, health care and medical, language and arts, law and legal, personal development, teaching and education, technology, and writing.

Hart said the fee for each online course is $95.

About a third of the online fee will go to NMC, Hart said, while the rest will go to ed2go, which will bear all the cost of this “partnership” with the college.

Besides incoming college students, NMC also encourages private sector employers to avail of these courses. Hart said these courses will assist personnel of private companies in their education or training needs.

“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with ed2go in expanding the options for students who are seeking more training opportunities to advance their careers,” said Hart, adding the partnership also allows students to take affordable online career training programs to prepare them to launch new careers or advance in existing ones.

According to NMC officials, through well-crafted lessons, expert online instruction, and interaction with fellow students, students will gain valuable knowledge at their convenience. They will also have the flexibility to study at their own pace combined with enough structure and support to complete the course.

Hart said the new sessions for each six-week course start monthly-with two lessons released weekly (for a total of 12). Each course includes comprehensive lessons, quizzes, assignments, and a discussion area. For the online career training programs, these start anytime and range from three to six months.

ACCJC gives green light

Hart said the college sought the accreditation commission’s permission prior to securing this partnership with ed2go. The commission later approved the proposal.

The Legislature and the Board of Regents were also informed and given all information about the plan prior to signing the contract with ed2go.

It took NMC about eight months to finalize the partnership with the organization.

NMC is also working on a partnership with another online company, JRE, to boost its online offerings.

“Online is, by far, the fastest growing industry in higher education. So we are making sure that we are providing this opportunity to those who want to avail of distant educational courses,” said Hart, adding that it is her goal to see NMC offer at least a thousand online courses within the year.

In the last semester alone, the college saw a 70-percent increase in its number of online courses, according to Barbara Merfalen, NMC’s dean of Academic Services.