Whatever happened to the Computer Sciences plan at UMPI...

[elcastor21]

From this and the sister forum had understood that UMPI was going to add a Computer Sciences degree, had it authorized by January 2023 and where going to start in August-September if the Brightspace migration was done, which is the case.

Any ideas on what happened to those plans?

[Tswede]

I think they were adding an on campus CS program first, with the YP portion to come in the future at an unspecified time.

[ss20ts]

From this and the sister forum had understood that UMPI was going to add a Computer Sciences degree, had it authorized by January 2023 and where going to start in August-September if the Brightspace migration was done, which is the case.

Any ideas on what happened to those plans?

That was a bunch of people making a great deal of assumptions based on very little info. No where has UMPI ever stated that they were going to offer a CS degree in YourPace. They want to expand the YourPace offerings over time. When people started those threads, UMPI was in the processing of starting their on campus CS program which was brand new.

The move to Brightspace was supposed to take place over a year ago. The move was delayed due to student feedback.

[bjcheung77]

I think they were adding an on campus CS program first, with the YP portion to come in the future at an unspecified time.

That was a bunch of people making a great deal of assumptions based on very little info. No where has UMPI ever stated that they were going to offer a CS degree in YourPace. They want to expand the YourPace offerings over time. When people started those threads, UMPI was in the processing of starting their on campus CS program which was brand new.

The move to Brightspace was supposed to take place over a year ago. The move was delayed due to student feedback.

@elcastor21, Exactly what Tswede and ss20ts mentioned, in brief, they're starting a new on campus butt-in-seat computer science program. They've not got that fully off the ground yet, they'll work on the Your Pace option if there is a demand and also after they've got their campus version completed and running 'according to their schedule'. Until that is complete, they'll delay the Your Pace option until further notice...

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

All I ever found was a 2021 report by a NECHE evaluator about UMPI: https://www.maine.edu/unified-accreditat...ible-1.pdf

It concluded with this: "Increasing need for more YourPace programs. UMPI plans in August 2021 to submit a Substantive Change request to allow Criminal Justice and English: Professional Communication to deliver its programming in the CBE modality. It plans to submit a subsequent request in August 2022 to deliver Cybersecurity and Psychology, with Computer Science and Health Administration scheduled for proposals in 2023."

The CJ, EPCJ, and Psychology programs were added to YourPace after publication and prior to the transition to Brightspace, so we know that alone was not a stipulation. I never found any updated reports and wonder if the initial proposal was presented. CSci is an obvious growth path for an expanding online CBE program.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, they've got the Psychology Your Pace program up and running, but seems their Cybersecurity one is lagging behind... If they follow through with that program, they'll most likely create the program for Computer Science right after and then finally the Health Administration program after that... All in all, it seems they've delayed things and working out the kinks before they can actually move forward. Hope they get the BA Cybersecurity up for Your Pace if they can and then hope for the best for the BA Comp Science...

[Duneranger]

Hmm, they've got the Psychology Your Pace program up and running, but seems their Cybersecurity one is lagging behind... If they follow through with that program, they'll most likely create the program for Computer Science right after and then finally the Health Administration program after that... All in all, it seems they've delayed things and working out the kinks before they can actually move forward.  Hope they get the BA Cybersecurity up for Your Pace if they can and then hope for the best for the BA Comp Science...

I wonder if they are lagging because WGU sort of has that market cornered. In addition, degree programs like healthcare admin are pretty saturated or graduate degreed, especially since a lot of admin roles dont require the admin degree (MDs, RNs etc don't usually need or get them since they have their own terminal degrees).

[ss20ts]

All I ever found was a 2021 report by a NECHE evaluator about UMPI: https://www.maine.edu/unified-accreditat...ible-1.pdf

It concluded with this: "Increasing need for more YourPace programs. UMPI plans in August 2021 to submit a Substantive Change request to allow Criminal Justice and English: Professional Communication to deliver its programming in the CBE modality. It plans to submit a subsequent request in August 2022 to deliver Cybersecurity and Psychology, with Computer Science and Health Administration scheduled for proposals in 2023."

The CJ, EPCJ, and Psychology programs were added to YourPace after publication and prior to the transition to Brightspace, so we know that alone was not a stipulation. I never found any updated reports and wonder if the initial proposal was presented. CSci is an obvious growth path for an expanding online CBE program.

The BA in Psych doesn't actually begin until October so it starts AFTER the transition to Brightspace. UMPI doesn't even offer a cybersecurity program on campus yet. Many things were held up with Covid restrictions and then the move to Brightspace was delayed by over a year. U of M also change accreditation so now the entire university system is under 1 accreditation instead of each campus and this seems to have slowed down a lot of things.

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I wonder if they are lagging because WGU sort of has that market cornered. In addition, degree programs like healthcare admin are pretty saturated or graduate degreed, especially since a lot of admin roles dont require the admin degree (MDs, RNs etc don't usually need or get them since they have their own terminal degrees).

They're not worried about WGU. The degrees offered by UMPI are degrees local employers and Maine employers are seeking in hiring. That's why they offer an MAOL instead of an MBA. U of M has an MBA and they don't want to cannibalize another campus. If UMPI were worried about WGU they wouldn't offer their BABA or accounting programs.

[ecdw94]

From this and the sister forum had understood that UMPI was going to add a Computer Sciences degree, had it authorized by January 2023 and where going to start in August-September if the Brightspace migration was done, which is the case.

Any ideas on what happened to those plans?

That was a bunch of people making a great deal of assumptions based on very little info. No where has UMPI ever stated that they were going to offer a CS degree in YourPace. They want to expand the YourPace offerings over time. When people started those threads, UMPI was in the processing of starting their on campus CS program which was brand new.

The move to Brightspace was supposed to take place over a year ago. The move was delayed due to student feedback.

"The major will be offered both in a live modality and UMPI’s competency-based YourPace programming"  - https://www.maine.edu/board-of-trustees/...042220.pdf

But its a 5 year plan. So, theoretically we should see something before 2026.

[ss20ts]

"The major will be offered both in a live modality and UMPI’s competency-based YourPace programming"  - https://www.maine.edu/board-of-trustees/...042220.pdf

But its a 5 year plan. So, theoretically we should see something before 2026.

5 year plans change. The plan was also created before Covid. Covid changed everything.