su newhouse school's online startup: is earning a master's...
TRANSCRIPT
Menu Set WeatherSearchSign In
Classifieds
photo provided
Anthony Rotolo
The S.I. Newhouse School of Communications will begin offering an online digital communications masters degree inJuly. Anthony Rotolo, creator of #TrekClass and #WhoClass at Newhouse, is the new master's program director.(Mike Greenlar / The Post-Standard.)
By Dave Tobin | [email protected]
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on January 27, 2015 at 8:03 AM, updated January 27, 2015 at 10:08 AM
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Several hundred more students a year could soon be pursuinga master's degree from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of PublicCommunications.
The school is launching it first-ever online digital media master's degree, aimingto enroll several hundred students. For a school that now enrolls some 260master's and doctoral students a year, the impact could be significant, offering afinancial boon for the school.
Currently the school receives some 750 to 1,000 applications each year for 250spots in its residential master's degree program on campus, according to theschool's website.
The first class online cohort will start in July. Registration is now open.
The program is being calledCommunications@Syracuse, and will bedirected by Anthony Rotolo, who leftSU's iSchool last year to join Newhouseto start up and direct this program, hesaid.
Rotolo, 34, a native of Rome, issomething of a celebrity on campus andbeyond. He has taught a course on StarTrek, and is currently teaching a free,non-credit course on Doctor Who, a kind
of hybrid massive open online course, or MOOC. Rotolo's Newhouse profiledescribes him as "a technologist and futurist ... a leading expert on digitaltechnologies, including social media and 3-D printing." He has spoken ontechnology at the United States Senate, NASA's Johnson Space Center, the Southby Southwest Interactive Festival and the Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas.
The Doctor Who class, or #WhoClass on Twitter, has some 200 students whoattend weekly, half of whom are not SU students, Rotolo said. Another 3,000 areregistered to take it online. As a free class, it is a kind of marketing sampler ofwhat Newhouse could offer in its full, paid version graduate program, said Rotolo.
SU Newhouse School's online startup: Is earning a
master's degree @ home the future?
72shares
9
Weather: Radar,forecast & more
Opinion: Editorials,letters & more
CNY Obituaries
Real EstateFor RentFor RentSyracuse, NYSyracuse, NY Studio-1 Beds, 1 BathStudio-1 Beds, 1 Bath||
Chestnut Crossing ApartmentsChestnut Crossing Apartments
CRIME IN CENTRAL NY
Police Blotter
Search for arrests by Syracuse and Central New
York law enforcement agencies and New York
State Police.
Map: Onondaga County crimes
More Crime & Safety news »
MORE NEWS TOPICS
ACTIVE DISCUSSIONS
1 Tops owners preparing to filefor bankruptcy protection,Bloomberg reports(31 comments)
2 Court records: Teen arrested inshooting admitted toaccidentally firing gun(5 comments)
3 Teen stabbed on Syracuse'sWest Side
"It gives a taste of what we can do," he said.
David Rubin, former dean of Newhouse, will co-teach the First Amendment Lawcourse in the online program.
"I think it will clearly extend the Newhouse brand to people who cannot or choosenot to enroll for the residential program," he said. "If the program is of highquality, it will enhance the brand. If not, it won't. We intend that it will."
For the new graduate program, Newhouse is partnering with 2U, Inc., a publiclytraded provider of online programs.
SU's Martin J. Whitman School of Management began partnering this month with2U, offering an online MBA degree program. Whitman's new MBA with 2U has afirst class of 108.
SU's online graduate programs charge the same tuition or more than the on-campus rate of $1,341 per credit. Whitman charges the same. Newhouse's ratewill be $1,818 per credit, or $60,000 for the 33 credit-hour degree.
There's no semester-long housing cost and no on-campus fees for technology orhealth services. But there will be travel and lodging costs for Newhouse'sprogram, which will require two long weekends a year, one at Syracuse and one inanother city, likely New York, said Rotolo.
The Newhouse program will operate in 11-week sessions, in which students cantake one or two classes. New students can start during any of those sessions,Rotolo said. Newhouse faculty will teach all the classes. Students will be requiredto log in at least once a week at a specific time to participate in a real-time class.
All classes, whether focusing on multimedia storytelling, social media or digitalcommunications systems, will have a "huge digital emphasis," said Rotolo.
2U incorporated in 2008. SU is one of 12 schools it works with, which includes theUniversity of Southrn California, Northwestern University, Georgetown Universityand Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, where SU's Chancellor KentSyverud was dean before coming to SU.
The company helps market the online programs, recruit students, developcontent and provide support to faculty and students. It also facilitates in-programfield placements, student immersions and other student enrichment experiences,according to a company report. The company estimates the average time from astudent's initial enrollment to graduation is roughly 2.5 years. Eighty-two percentof students who began in any 2U program have graduated or are still pursuingtheir degree.
The company has incurred significant net losses since its inception, with anaccumulated deficit of $124.8 million as of Sept. 30, 2014, according to a report.
"We will need to generate and sustain increased revenue levels in future periodsto become profitable, and, even if we do, we may not be able to maintain orincrease our level of profitability," the company wrote in a U.S. Securities andExchange Commission filing.
The Newhouse program will be 2U's first graduate offering in digital media.
Contact Dave Tobin anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3277
Promoted Links
Safe Step Walk-In Tubs
The Top Rated Walk-InTub for 2017
Syracuse.com
NY teacher releasedwithout bail after she is…
Comparecards.com By Lending Tree
6 Best Balance TransferCredit Cards
Spring break in Florida It’s Like eBay, But Police: Upstate NY bar
(10 comments)
4 Police: 12-year-old arrested forthreatening to harm PortByron students(44 comments)
5 Cuomo orders state police toincrease patrols aroundschools after copycat threats(67 comments)
MOST READ
Report: Woman kickedoff plane to Syracusesuspended from NYstate job
Woman kicked off planeto Syracuse for'screaming' about seatnear baby (video)
How CNY traffic stopfor speeding endedwith driver facing up tolife in prison
Sorry, late-nightshoppers: Wegmans nolonger open 24/7 insome locations
Central NYsuperintendent onschool shootings:'thoughts and prayersmean nothing'