Promoting distance education at Naval Postgraduate School

Abstract

This thesis defines and supports five recommendations for Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) to promote its distance education program. The research and interviews in this study were primarily done to find the current barriers and requirements needed to conduct distance education on a larger scale. The research began with defining the Department Chairmen's concerns with distance education at NPS. Each recommendation, developed from the concerns is supported by interviews with Department Chairmen, Educators, and Administrators as well as literary findings. Implementation requirements and benefits to both the DON and NPS are also provided for each recommendation. The first recommendation this thesis supports is for NPS to develop a mission and vision statement for distance education. The second is to establish a NPS Distance Education Support Center to centralize campus efforts in distance education. The third recommendation is to institute a NPS Distance Education Marketing Plan to find potential customers and increase distance education interest on campus. The fourth recommendation is for NPS to immediately determine the cost for distance education in order to request additional funding from DON. Finally, the study recommends NPS begin a pilot program as a model for future distance education for active duty officers in the fleet. The proposed pilot program presented in this study is with HSL-41, a LAMPS Mark-III Squadron. With these recommendations, this thesis looks to make NPS the 'Navy's Distance Education University.' This study concludes with a time-line for implementing these recommendations.