Click here for a recent presentation in Acrobat (PDF) format.

NEW: Data analysis complete. e-mail rebryn@aol.com for a draft of findings or a copy of the instrument.  

This information is offered (for your personal use only) in Acrobat ("pdf") format. The size is 1.6 MB.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Internet is the opportunity it provides for sharing work without the high cost of paper, ink, and postage. I think we should use this resource to reduce the cost of sharing research. If you are also working in the area, I would  appreciate your also sharing your opinion and insights.

Click here if you need to download a free Acrobat reader

As Internet-based offerings have become an increasingly dramatic force in higher education, academics have furiously debated the opportunities and threats posed by such change. The attitudes and perceptions of presidents/chancellors are particularly important because of the powerful influence these individuals have on the vision and direction of higher education. 

There are excellent descriptive—even longitudinal— studies of Chief Information Officers and other administrators.  However, with regard to presidential perspectives, the literature has been limited to editorials, small-scale case studies,  theoretical and opinion-based articles, proceedings of panel and round-table discussions, and first person accounts.  Many of these articles are excellent.  Yet, the literature offers no direct and statistically reliable basis for a quantitative description of presidential perspectives on this topic  Because presidents are chief visionaries of higher education, their goals and perspectives are critically important in this time of stress and change. 

While some presidents have written and spoken extensively on the topic of electronic education, there has been little generalizable information about the opinions of chief executives in higher education. This study provides a quantitative and generalizable survey of one third (221) of the presidents from Research/Doctoral, and Master’s I institutions in the U.S. 

The findings suggest that presidents tend to be proactive, involved, and, with a measure of caution, enthusiastic about Internet-based applications. Most are regular users of the Internet and 97% expect the Internet to help in meeting the needs of potential students. The majority reported hoping for a major increase in the number of students who take Internet-based courses and one-quarter want to offer more completely online pro­grams.   

These presidents indicated high expectations for using the Internet to meet the needs of potential and current students, the public, faculty, and the institution. Improving institutional visibility, reputation, and quality of instruction were also highly ranked as reasons for expanding electronic offerings. Lower expectations exist with regard to cost containment.

Some prognosticators have warned that the Internet could destroy traditional, campus-based programs. Few presidents agreed with such dire predictions. Only a small portion of respondents perceived Internet-based applications as threatening to the survival or function of their institutions. Only 13% agreed that, “Internet-based competition threatens the long-term stability of my institution.” One-third did express concern that the Internet will bring excessive commercialism of higher education and 45% agreed, “My institution must offer Internet pro­grams to survive.” 

Perceptions of threats and opportunities vary somewhat with the size and type of institutions. Presidents of research/doctoral institutions tended to rate opportu­nities presented by Internet-based technology higher and threats lower than did the Master's-designated schools. The executives from larger and public schools were also more positive about electronic programs.

This research has produced a validated instrument containing scales that have been demonstrated to have internal reliability. It will be used, with some modification, in future longitudinal research.