OPMs play an increasingly large role in online education. Opinions vary on their overall effect, but it is clear they have introduced valuable innovations. Former OPS executives share successful OPM principles and how to apply their approaches to launch, grow, or revitalize online programs on any budget.
In less than 20 years, Online Program Management (OPM) companies have disrupted the online higher education landscape. And while the OPM revenue-share model – long-term, shared-risk partnerships between non-profit institutions and for-profit service providers – has its detractors as well as its adherents, no one disputes that OPMs’ market-based focus and investments in staff and technology have changed the landscape in online education. Universities can harness the ideas that were incubated or improved by OPMs, and build on these principles to launch, grow, or revitalize their own online programs, regardless of budget.
The session presenters worked for multiple OPMs for nearly two decades. They are excited to share experiences that university administrators, faculty, and program managers can put to use in their own institutions. This session is intended for OLC participants who are curious about how successful OPM firms think about scalable online growth and want to learn cost-effective ways to apply these concepts.
The presentation is structured around six topics, each of which explores a facet of online program development and management. To enhance the relevance of the session, we will survey the audience and prioritize the topics by interest level. The session will conclude with a robust Q&A session that connects the presented topics to participants’ individual experiences.
1. Program selection. OPMs invest substantial energy into determining which programs are likely to be successful. They use forward-looking research tools to assess external factors such as employment trends, and proprietary measures such as student lifetime value to evaluate potential profitability. What do OPMs consider when identifying an “investable” program? What resources do they use to gauge future viability? Session attendees will learn about some of the most popular tools, including estimating student lifetime value and measuring demand through crosswalks that connect IPEDS program data to in-demand occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
2. Building the business case. OPMs build program models to validate their research findings and forecast the investment required to launch new programs. How do OPMs forecast new student starts and model student retention? What staffing ratios and marketing budgets should you include in your own plans for program growth? Session attendees will gain exposure to tools that project realistic revenues and expenses during the first year of operation, including student projections, faculty and administrative costs, marketing budgets, and staffing thresholds.
3. Online marketing. It may seem like only the deepest pockets can afford to invest in online marketing channels, making these options off-limits to home-grown programs. But savvy marketers at OPMs and elsewhere know the value of research methods to reach specific audiences effectively. Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook provide free analytical tools that enable you to manage your program budget, regardless of size, and meet your target student goals. How do you build a marketing campaign that finds next year’s students wherever they are today? Which platform maximizes your marketing dollar? Session attendees will develop an understanding of social media marketing on a budget by using free online digital marketing tools to forecast leads and costs.
4. Relationship-based recruitment. Most OPMs practice a consultative recruiting approach, investing significant one-on-one time with each prospective student. Prospects need to speak with program representatives to understand if their life goals and current situation align with the outcomes and demands of the program. And building the personal relationship before enrolling helps to reduce student melt rate, as students are more successful when they feel that they have a personal champion who is invested in their education success. What is an effective communication rhythm with prospective students? How can extend your limited staff by automating certain touchpoints? Session attendees will gain insights into the philosophy and technologies used by OPMs to create a high-touch relationship, even with limited staff engagement.
5. Engaging and orienting faculty and students. Strong OPMs do an outstanding job of preparing both students and instructors to succeed online. They do this for economic reasons: Retaining existing students and faculty is far less expensive than recruiting new ones. What do faculty really need to know to start teaching online? Should orientation modules be mandatory for students and faculty? How can you utilize engagement in the orientation to help a student become part of the institutional community? Session attendees will learn the methods that OPMs use to orient students to the modality, the program, and the institution.
6. Effective course scheduling. OPMs use prescriptive models to determine which courses should be offered, and when. Their methods help to control course development costs and timeframes and result in higher student retention and on-time graduation rates. How can proper course delivery structures reduce instructional expense without restricting flexibility? What is the best way to balance student choice against budget constraints? Session attendees will learn how to develop course rotation models for new programs and how to transition students onto such a model for currently-running programs.