UPDATED: Feb. 17, 2020 at 10:52 a.m.

Syracuse University faculty members have expressed concerns about an online degree program SU created in partnership with a for-profit education technology company.

The university announced the creation of an online master of social work program in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics’ School of Social Work on Sept. 12. The program was created in partnership with for-profit company 2U, Inc.

Faculty members in the School of Social Work voiced several concerns about the program prior to its implementation, with some citing the program’s financial viability, faculty’s lack of control over curriculum and 2U’s business dealings, said Ken Corvo and Eric Kingson, tenured professors in Falk.

2U specializes in designing and managing online degree programs and provides recruiting and admissions services. Faculty have expressed doubts about the company’s track record, Corvo and Kingson said.

2U shareholders have accused the company of securities fraud — providing investors misleading information about its earnings potential — since July 2019. 2U’s stock experienced an immediate 66% drop in value, and the company currently faces several lawsuits.

Faculty are also concerned that 2U’s financial model will strain the school’s resources, Corvo and Kingson said. Under the company, a majority of the tuition costs for an online program — at least 60% — would not go to SU, Kingson said.

“Your students would only be paying approximately a third of their tuition for the purpose they believed they were,” Corvo said. “The majority of that would be going to a for-profit corporation.”

The company has also been partially credited with pushing its longest-running partner, the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, into a financial tailspin, The Los Angeles Times reported. Some faculty members fear SU’s School of Social Work will experience a similar fate if it launches an online program through the company, Corvo said.

“We already have a case study with their longest standing client, which caused financial collapse in the unit,” Corvo said. “If and when that occurs at the School of Social Work at Syracuse University, the faculty will be blamed for it.”

SU has successfully collaborated with 2U to deliver online graduate programs for the past five years, said Diane Lyden Murphy, dean of Falk, in an emailed statement. Offering an online MSW will allow the university to attract students who are interested in an MSW degree but don’t want to relocate to Syracuse, she said.

2U’s media contact did not respond to a request for comment.

Some professors also question whether the online program would financially succeed at SU, Kingson said. The university will face increasing competition from cheaper and more prestigious social work programs around the state and the country when it launches the program, he said.

Numerous fully-online programs may exist, but it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to adopt one, said Paul Caldwell, a tenured professor in the School of Social Work, in an emailed statement.

“Syracuse University’s venture into the space, if even for only financial gain, is risky business that will tax the School of Social Work’s staff and faculty at the expense of the existing MSW program,” Caldwell said.

The School of Social Work’s current, practice-oriented program is what makes the school great, Caldwell said.

Faculty passed a resolution in support of an online social work program in May 2019, Kingson said. The resolution stipulated that faculty would only proceed with the program if they could review the university’s agreement with 2U to ensure it met certain ethical and academic standards, he said.

School of Social Work faculty voted in favor of creating an online MSW program through 2U a week after the program was already announced in September, with eight faculty voting in favor, five voting against and 11 abstaining, Corvo and Kingson said.

It’s normal for faculty to express a range of opinions whenever a new online program is considered, said Peter Vanable, dean of the Graduate School, in an email.

“Faculty in the School of Social Work have engaged in extensive internal discussions and deliberation over the past five years to consider the potential merits of offering their MSW program in an online format,” Vanable said.

The online MSW program at SU will launch in fall 2021, pending accreditation, according to a 2U press release.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, the date of the second vote to create the 2U program was misstated. The vote happened a week after the program was announced in September 2019. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on February 16, 2020 at 11:08 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu