Atlanta — November 14, 2007

Today, the Board of Regents approved the first degrees to be added to the new Georgia ONmyLINE website specifically designed to target areas of high interest and/or critical need in Georgia. Accompanying these new programs is a quick-admit process that will allow eligible prospective students to be admitted and begin their program of study within a few weeks.

In addition to hundreds of other online USG courses and degree programs already available via the new website, five institutions have committed resources and expertise to offer a number of fully online graduate teacher-education programs designed to for the working adult. Recognizing that practicing teachers and other employed professionals will be a large target audience for these new degree programs, the courses are designed to be flexible and to grow in response to demand.

“Our new model for the delivery of online programs is designed to focus first and foremost on the customer,” Dr. Kris Biesinger, associate vice chancellor for Information and Instructional Technology Services said. “Students will not have to wait for course openings because these programs will grow in step with the demand for them. The programs are responsive to a student’s schedule and, at the same time, they are set up to ensure degree completion in a reasonable amount of time.”

By Nov. 20, a brand new quick admissions process will be added to the Georgia ONmyLINE website for these education degrees. The process does not delay students from starting coursework until transcripts and other necessary admissions documentation can be gathered. Once this new process has been tested on these programs, it will become available for implementation by additional institutions. Currently, admission to all other programs listed in the GeorgiaONmyLINE site is through the existing institution process. Details can be found by program on the site.

“The teacher-education programs are just the first set of collaborative, fully online programs designed to meet critical state needs that we’ve added to the website with these new convenient features for students,” said Biesinger. “Over the next year, we will be adding new programs in other disciplines where demand is high for our graduates.”

The five campuses approved by the Board of Regents today as participants in the teacher-education programs are Columbus State University, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University, North Georgia College and State University and Valdosta State University.

Admission opens Nov. 20 for the online graduate teacher-education programs, with registration to begin Dec. 1 for admitted students who wish to take courses that start in January 2008. The programs consist of a new master of education (M.Ed.) with a major in accomplished teaching that is appropriate for all teaching levels, two master-of-arts-in-teaching (MAT) programs designed for individuals who wish to change careers and become teachers and some other M.Ed. programs Details are as follows:

• Master of Education (M.Ed.) with a major in Accomplished Teaching
  Lead institution: Valdosta State University; Collaborating institutions: Columbus State University and Georgia Southern University
• Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with a major in Special Education
  Lead institution: Valdosta State University; Collaborating institution: North Georgia College and State University
• Master of Education (M.Ed.) with a major in Instructional Technology
  Lead institution: Georgia Southern University; Collaborating institution: Valdosta State University
• Master of Education (M.Ed.) with a major in Middle Grades Education
  Lead institution: North Georgia College and State University; Collaborating institution: Valdosta State University
• Master of Education (M.Ed.) with a major in Reading, Language and Literacy Education (Teaching English as a Second Language)
  Lead institution: Georgia State University; Collaborating institutions: North Georgia College and State University and Valdosta State University
• Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with a major in Reading, Language and Literacy Alternative Preparation (Teaching English as a Second Language)
  Lead institution: Georgia State University; Collaborating institutions: North Georgia College and State University and Valdosta State University.

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