State Auditor Wants Clarity on UC Online Extension Courses

Yours truly stumbled upon a recent report by the State Auditor pointing to deficiencies in UC extension contracting for online courses from outside sources.

Summary

Online courses and programs have become increasingly common in higher education. Many colleges work with third-party vendors known as online program managers (OPMs), which assist in the development and implementation of online programs. OPMs generally provide instruction and support services, such as marketing, recruiting, course development, and technology-related support. In this audit, we examined the University of California’s (UC) use of OPMs at five campuses—University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley); University of California, Davis (UC Davis); University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego); and University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara)—and drew the following conclusions:

UC Uses OPMs to Teach Students in Some Nondegree Programs but Is Not Always Transparent About Doing So

We identified 51 UC contracts with OPMs that were in effect as of January 1, 2023, none of which involved undergraduate education. Of those contracts, 30 were with the five campuses we selected for further review, and 10 of those 30 related to graduate education. However, these 10 contracts involved support services rather than instruction. Of the 30 contracts we reviewed, 15 related to continuing education, which UC provides through extension units that are associated with campuses but that operate independently. Under the terms of these 15 contracts, OPMs were responsible for providing instruction. However, at the five UC campuses we selected to review, we found that the campuses provided potential students with incomplete or misleading information about the OPMs’ involvement in certain extension unit programs. Further, the recruitment materials for one or more programs at each campus may have misled potential students about the industry value of some UC cobranded programs offered in conjunction with OPMs.

UC Extension Units Have Not Provided Consistent Oversight of OPM Instruction

Because most campuses did not consistently adhere to their course‑approval processes or administer or examine student course evaluations for the OPM-instructed courses we reviewed, they may lack adequate assurance that students are receiving satisfactory education from qualified instructors. Each of the extension units at the five campuses we reviewed have adopted processes for approving OPM-provided courses, instructors, or both. These processes generally align with UC Academic Senate regulations. However, in contrast to the other four extension units, UC Santa Barbara Professional and Continuing Education (Santa Barbara Extension) does not have a process to approve OPM instructors, increasing the risk that those instructors may not be adequately qualified. Further, the extension units for UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego did not consistently follow each step of their course and instructor approval processes and thus may also lack assurance that OPM instructors are adequately qualified. Compounding these weaknesses in oversight, the extension units for UCLA and UC Santa Barbara have not consistently performed or reviewed student course evaluations to monitor the quality of OPM instruction. These campuses may be overlooking information that could help to ensure that their OPM courses and instructors are effective.

Campuses Lack Certain Guidance From the Office of the President on Contracting With OPMs

The five campuses’ contracts with OPMs largely aligned with federal law and guidance on incentive compensation. However, some of the contracts included payment terms, such as tuition revenue sharing, that may elevate the risk of OPMs using practices to recruit and enroll students that are not in the best interests of students. In addition, we identified several instances in which campuses outsourced key services to an OPM, despite best practices stating that those services should not be outsourced... 

Full report at https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2023-106/.

The report deals with three issues:

• UC Uses OPMs to Teach Students in Some Nondegree Programs but Is Not Always Transparent About Doing So
• UC Extension Units Have Not Provided Consistent Oversight of OPM Instruction
• Campuses Lack Certain Guidance From the Office of the President on Contracting With OPMs

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The report does not deal with online education in degree programs. As blog readers may recall, UC has a history of rocky relations with the Auditor. Examples:

https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2020/09/state-auditor-faults-uc-admissions.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2017/12/calm-and-sane-response-to-audit.html.