Faculty Leaders Wary Of Virtual University Plan Teachers Worried About Drain On Resources, Fraud Potential

Faculty leaders at the University of Idaho and Idaho State University are concerned about the cyberspace Western Governors University being pushed by Gov. Phil Batt.

“There are a number of questions out there that haven’t been addressed,” said Idaho Faculty Council Chairman Bill Voxman.

He and other educators appeared Wednesday before the Senate Education Committee at the Statehouse.

Developing an on-line catalog of courses through the so-called “virtual university” is a sound idea, Voxman said. He compared the idea to Idaho’s engineering outreach program.

Still, Voxman wondered whether the new concept will drain resources from the state’s four-year schools and cause students to stay in their home towns.

Voxman also is skeptical about the Western Governors University’s plan to conduct competency testing for some certificates and degrees. Much of what students learn is outside the classroom through interaction with other students and faculty members, he said.

“There would be a question if they are educated,” Voxman said.

Russell Wahl, chairman of the Faculty Senate at Idaho State, said the new university could lead to the transfer of bogus credits and weak degrees into Idaho’s universities and Lewis-Clark State College.

Lewis-Clark President James Hottois said he’s more comfortable now with Idaho’s participation in the Western Governors University than he was a year ago. Then he was “extremely skeptic,” he said.

Boise State already offers a master’s degree program in educational technology via computer, Hottois said. His Lewiston school offers more than 50 courses on the Internet and is putting together a degree program to offer on the Internet.

Pennie Seibert, president of the Boise State Faculty Senate, said a number of her students are forced to return to their home towns, and could use the help of the proposed new university to complete their degrees.