With an increase in the demand for online classes, Syracuse University is working to place more undergraduate courses and graduate programs online.

SU will hold a panel on the current status of the university’s online education on Friday at 9 a.m. in University College. The panel will include directors, instructional designers and staff from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the School of Information Studies, the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and University College. The panel members will discuss how their individual schools and colleges are dealing with the national trend of online classes through the courses and programs they offer.

Full online degrees can only be obtained at the graduate level of programs within various schools at SU, with the exception of University College’s Bachelor of Professional Studies. This is due to the university’s desire to have undergraduates receive an on-campus experience, said Karen Bull, manager of online programs at University College.

Private nonprofit universities — like SU — are not increasing the criticalness of online education when it comes to the long-term goals of the institution, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

SU is not new to offering online classes — the iSchool has had online classes for more than 20 years — but the university is working to improve and increase the number of programs it offers at the graduate level, said Vicky Williams, director of online education at the iSchool.

The iSchool in particular is not looking to increase the number of graduate programs offered, but in terms of growth, they’re looking at their online course offerings in Data Science and Information Security, Williams said.

Michael Frasciello, director of online for the College of Engineering and Computer Science, said the school’s programs that involve data have seen an increase in demand.

The College of Engineering and Computer Science currently offers three degrees — a Master of Science in Computer Engineering, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Computer Science — but there are plans to expand, Frasciello said.

“SU is aggressively looking to expand at the graduate level,” he added.

IPEDS found that there was a 12.6 percent increase in the total number of students enrolled in a distance education course from 2012 to 2013 for nonprofit private institutions, and that percentage continues to increase.

Bull, the manager of online programs at UC, contributes the increase in the national trend to the flexibility and convenience of taking online classes.

“(Students) are able to move through at your own pace at the parameters of the instructor but also not be bound to a physical place or time,” she said.

The number of students enrolled in graduate online programs at SU varies by the capacity of each school and college and the programs they offer, Bull said.

In addition to summer, fall and spring classes, this will be the third year SU offers the Winterlude program, which consists of four-week long courses that can be taken online over winter break.

“It allows for the students to go home and be with their families and yet still take classes and move forward with their degrees without hindering them,” Bull said.

The number of courses offered and the number of students enrolled in Winterlude tripled from last year, she added.

Williams, the director of online education at the iSchool, said online courses allow students to access SU’s specialized faculty even if they are in a different country or on the West Coast.

“You have access to a network that can be career-changing and life-changing, and having the ability to access that in an online format is important,” she said.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the iSchool’s plans for expanding the number of CAS  it offers were misstated. The school is looking at growth in courses like data science and information security. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on October 21, 2015 at 10:20 pm

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