Hopkins to offer online degrees to grad students
Eileen McGurty, Associate Chair of the program, believed the Hopkins GIS certification would be different from other online courses offered elsewhere.
"Compared to many GIS programs, ours would have a very solid, strong academic foundation for it. Advanced academic programs have been offering online courses since 2000," she said.
According to Boland, the certificate is primarily targeted toward people already in the workforce.
"A lot of these people have full time jobs; they have families, and they have pressures for time. It is hard for them to attend the classroom course," Boland said.
Although the program is offered online, most of the students taking the class will be from the Baltimore-Washington area. The certificate is only somewhat marketed to students in other areas.
"We won't see many students from very far away," Boland said.
With regards to foreign students, he added, "We'd be happy to have them."
No prospective students could be reached for interviews. Hopkins students on campus had varied opinions about the certificate.
"I don't see any objections against it; I mean, it sounds like a good idea," undergraduate Jennifer Yang said.
"If we let people get online certificates, which are kind of pseudo-degrees, from Johns Hopkins, it sullies our name," freshman Justin Porter said.
The program's success will remain unknown until the end of its first semester, but administrators remain optimistic, based on past successes in online teaching.
"Compared to many GIS programs, ours would have a very solid, strong academic foundation for it. Advanced academic programs have been offering online courses since 2000," she said.
According to Boland, the certificate is primarily targeted toward people already in the workforce.
"A lot of these people have full time jobs; they have families, and they have pressures for time. It is hard for them to attend the classroom course," Boland said.
Although the program is offered online, most of the students taking the class will be from the Baltimore-Washington area. The certificate is only somewhat marketed to students in other areas.
"We won't see many students from very far away," Boland said.
With regards to foreign students, he added, "We'd be happy to have them."
No prospective students could be reached for interviews. Hopkins students on campus had varied opinions about the certificate.
"I don't see any objections against it; I mean, it sounds like a good idea," undergraduate Jennifer Yang said.
"If we let people get online certificates, which are kind of pseudo-degrees, from Johns Hopkins, it sullies our name," freshman Justin Porter said.
The program's success will remain unknown until the end of its first semester, but administrators remain optimistic, based on past successes in online teaching.
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