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Distance Education
-- Philosophy Statement
UNCA's distance learning policy must accomplish two goals. First, distance
education should defend the integrity of the traditional liberal arts emphasis
which is the foundation of UNCA's mission. This commitment to liberal education
manifests itself in both curriculum structure and the learning environment.
Second, distance education should capitalize on the increasing opportunities
generated by information technology. As information technologies become an
integral part of society, it is incumbent on UNCA as a public university to
exploit their advantages, to improve its educational efforts, and to prepare its
students to use them effectively and wisely.
A Liberal Arts degree from UNCA indicates that students have sufficiently
mastered the university's core general education requirements, a set of
specialized and coordinated courses constituting the major, and a group of
electives which supplement the student's interests. UNCA's teaching emphasis has
created a tradition of collaborative learning. One of the characteristics of a
liberal education generally, and of UNCA's approach specifically, is extensive
face-to-face interaction among students and between students and teachers. UNCA
faculty believe extensive personal contact is essential to developing
intellectual skills and humanistic values. Distance education should be
incorporated to the degree to which it enhances this learning environment and
helps the institution achieve its goals.
Since UNCA is committed to developing distinctive programs which enhance its
mission, distance learning technologies should be exploited when appropriate.
Generally, the university administration is responsible for monitoring trends
and developments in distance learning, keeping faculty abreast of important UNC
system policy requirements and regulations, and providing faculty and students
with the resources and incentives essential to taking full advantage of
information technology. Because UNCA faculty are selected for their commitment
to both teaching and UNCA's liberal arts mission, it is their responsibility to
ensure that the implications of the information revolution are fully understood
by students and that new technologies are employed in ways consistent with the
university's mission and Guiding Concepts.
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