Starting next semester, Syracuse University students can enroll in three online classes offered by two other universities, as part of an initiative to expand course offerings at each school.

There is no additional charge for the classes and students will receive credit on their transcript, according to the website for the initiative, CourseShare.

There are currently four universities participating in the pilot program. The universities include: Northeastern University, Brandeis University, George Washington University and University of Miami. But SU students can only take classes from Brandeis University and University of Miami next semester.

SU students will be able to enroll in these courses from other universities: REL 330: “Caribbean Religion,” RVTM 101: “Foundations of Virtual Management Across Cultures and Geographies” and RHIN 110: “Perspectives on Health and Medical Information,” according to the CourseShare website. SU will offer REL 103: “Religion and Sports” and REL 165: “The Islamic Tradition” through CourseShare.

Philip Arnold, who is an associate professor of religion at SU, will teach the religion and sports class. But George Washington University and Brandeis University do not accept the class.

Arnold said some universities — and, until recently, even the religion department at SU— have thought of his class as “fluff,” so he wasn’t surprised that not all four other universities accepted his class.

But the class has proven popular among students, with more than 200 students enrolled last spring, said Allison Vincent, functional business analyst at University College. But the online section, offered with CourseShare, will have a maximum enrollment of 25 students, she said.

Next semester, SU students can take Arnold’s course on campus or online with CourseShare. Arnold said CourseShare is using classes like his as a test to improve interaction in the online format.

Although not every school accepts every class, the only course SU does not accept from the other schools is “Information Policy,” which George Washington University offers.

The courses were chosen to have broad interest while highlighting a local specialty from the school offering the course, said Eileen Strempel, assistant vice president for academic advancement at SU, in an email.

“This was an idea generated amongst the provosts of the participating institutions, and our provost Eric Spina was especially supportive of the idea of collaborating across institutions,” Strempel said.

Students can find information about registering on the CourseShare website, Strempel said.

“It’s very exciting, and I hope students will take advantage of the opportunity,” she said.

Currently, the CourseShare program is an experiment for the institutions involved, Paul Berman, George Washington University’s vice provost for online education and academic innovation, said in an email.

Berman said he does not expect large numbers of participants since it is only a pilot program.  He added the goal is to see how it works and determine whether to expand the program in the future.

Published on October 31, 2013 at 3:07 am

Contact Caroline: cstrange@syr.edu