Distance Education Financial Expenditures in North Carolina Community Colleges
The purpose of this study was to identify and assess direct costs of distance education at the institutional level within the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) in accordance with the System-level mission of reducing barriers to higher education within North Carolina. Through a quantitative analysis of distance education expenditures, this study provides insight into the cost of each of these expenditures to individual institutions and to the NCCCS as a whole. Data provided in this study were used to develop a model through which community college administrators may assess the cost of distance education at their respective institutions in a clear and consistent fashion. Data were collected through a survey of the population, which included chief financial officers and directors of distance education at the fifty-eight community colleges in North Carolina. The survey instrument consisted of electronic, paper, and phone surveys which collected data on thirty-seven research questions and elicited data on personnel, equipment, and support services costs. Responses were received from forty-four institutions. Results of the study indicated that medium-sized institutions spent more on distance education per full-time equivalent student than their small or large-sized counterparts. Additionally, urban institutions had higher expenditures on distance education than rural institutions. Finally, distance education programs typically costs $878.44 more per full-time equivalent student than was generated.
Managing the Changing Nature of Distance and Open Education at Institutional Level
Distance and open learning face changes that are similar to those confronting all higher education institutions, but have particular consequences in the case of off-campus delivery because the distinctive elements that have given purpose and assured quality in practice are likely to disappear. The responses necessary to this different operational context require management intervention, for the bases on which teaching staff are employed and the culture within which they operate make them unsuited and unlikely to adapt to the new order sufficiently rapidly.
First Insights into the Draft Genome Sequence of the Endophyte Paenibacillus amylolyticus Strain GM1FR, Isolated from Festuca rubra L.
ABSTRACT Paenibacillus amylolyticus strain GM1FR is an endophyte isolated from aerial plant tissues of Festuca rubra L. Here, we report the draft genome sequence (7.3 Mb) of GM1FR containing 6,241 protein-coding genes, some of which are potentially involved in plant growth promotion and biocontrol.