IU joins ranks at eArmyU.com

Beginning in May, IU will offer courses to U.S. Armed Forces around the world by joining the ranks of the Army's online university, www.eArmyU.com.\nArmy University Access Online, the Army's distance-education program, was created in January 2001. The program currently offers 111 degree programs and enrolls more than 30,000 soldiers based in the U.S. and abroad in South Korea and Germany.\nThe online program allows soldiers to earn a college degree while actively stationed overseas and within the U.S.\nRecently, eArmyU has invited IU along with 11 other institutions to join the 19 institutions already participating. According to a press release, the new additions will contribute 68 new degree programs over the next six to nine months and will attract up to 80,000 soldiers by 2005.\nJeremy Dunning, dean of the School of Continuing Studies at IU, said he is excited and pleased that IU is extending its distance education program by joining the program.\n"These people who are in the military don't have the option to go study on a college campus," Dunning said. "The idea is to allow service men and women to get the best distance education in the U.S."\nDunning describes this program as beneficial because courses are not scheduled for specific times of day.\nThe SOCS, established at IU in 1975, has received more awards than any other college or university from the University Continuing Education Association and is usually ranked among the top three schools of its kind in the country.\n"Our courses are as good as they come," Dunning said.\nJames Schellhammer, the adviser of IU's relationship with eArmyU, said he agrees with Dunning.\n"We should be involved in a program like this," Schellhammer said. \nSchellhammer believes the University's benefits from this relationship will depend a lot on how many soldiers enroll.\nThe U.S. Department of Defense pays for students' tuition, course fees and books.\nBarbara J. Lombardo, an eArmyU program manager, said in 2001, 16 percent of participating soldiers either extended their enlistments or re-enlisted specifically for the opportunity to enroll in eArmyU.\nAccording to its online statement, eArmyU's mission is to "increase retention by allowing soldiers to earn credits, degrees and certificates at low or no cost to them while they serve on active duty and develop educated, technology-savvy soldiers who will succeed in the missions and on the battlefields of the 21st century."\nIU has not yet officially signed the contract with eArmyU, but they are in the final legal proceedings.\nFor more information about IU's participation on eArmyU.com, contact the School of Continuing Studies at scs@indiana.edu.