UAGC's core courses now align with regents' standards, U of A says

At a Board of Regents meeting Thursday, UA Provost Patricia Prelock said the board had given the UA an extension till June 30 this year to work on three areas for the integration — general education, course numbering and faculty appointments.

Prelock gave the board an overview of the UA’s modernization plan for its online initiatives, which include UAGC, which caters in particular to nontraditional university students, and Arizona Online, where online students learning virtually can earn the same UA degrees as on-campus students.

“Our market focus is a little different in each of those areas, but we have integrated them,” said Prelock.

“In terms of academic design, on the Arizona Online piece, it’s really utilizing UA faculty-led pedagogy — so they’re the same courses but they’re just online and taught by the same faculty,” she said. “The academic design on UAGC is much more self-directed and experience-driven learning to make sure that students are getting the experiential pieces, because we’re being responsive to what the employers’ needs and what the military needs are.”

Prelock said UAGC’s general education requirements are now aligned with the ABOR-approved framework that the main UA campus also follows along with Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. It dictates a standardized 32-credit minimum core curriculum that all students must take to graduate.

She also said UAGC’s graduate course numbering conventions have been realigned to meet the board’s requirements.

Finally, she reported that the UA conducted a review of UAGC faculty and academic administrators in a three-step process. First, all of UAGC’s academic administrative positions were posted for rehiring through an open internal search process.

After this, a review committee — including members of shared governance bodies at the UA — made recommendations to Prelock that UA’s career-track faculty should serve as academic administrators. Prelock said she approved those appointments in January this year.

The next step was to have all other UAGC faculty prepare “dossiers,” including teaching portfolios, letters of intent and what they hope to accomplish as UAGC faculty. The final step was to review all adjunct faculty at UAGC and confirm those appointments for the upcoming fall semester, she said.

Controversial acquisition

UAGC, formerly the for-profit, private Ashford University, was acquired by UA for $1 in 2020 under controversial circumstances from its former parent company Zovio Inc.

A California court found in 2022 that Ashford, before UA's acquisition, frequently lied to students to get them to enroll and that its recruiters misled students about the college’s accreditation, costs and the amount of time it would take to graduate.

The U.S. Education Department, under the Biden administration, had said in August 2023 that it would move to recoup $72 million from the UA after the government canceled student loan debt for 2,300 Ashford borrowers.

UA officials said at the time that the university was not responsible, directly or indirectly, for the actions by Ashford and Zovio Inc., which occurred before UA acquired the online school. Zovio and Ashford retained all liabilities associated with Ashford’s operation prior to the sale, the UA said.

The Education Department under the Trump administration recently informed the UA that the federal government has dropped its efforts to get the $72 million from the UA.

How the UA's two online units differ

At Thursday's regents’ meeting, Prelock also outlined the mission, audience and functions of Arizona Online and UAGC.

In terms of admissions, Prelock said the standards for Arizona Online are exactly the same as the main campus, but for UAGC, it’s a “much more open access enrolment” strategy. She said the academic calendars for the two are also different, with Arizona Online being the same as the UA and UAGC having terms that start every two weeks.

“We’re really trying on the Arizona Online piece to give the students a flagship experience, but in a digital way with identical faculty and curriculum,” she said. “On the UAGC (piece), much more open access platform for adult learners that requires a lot more flexibility, so that they can learn where they’re at from an identity perspective.”

Prelock said Arizona Online uses research-intensive faculty, whereas UAGC employs practitioners or professors of practice. An Arizona Online degree is the same as a UA degree, while a UAGC degree is a UA degree with a global campus designation, she said.