UIS to offer online master's degree in educational leadership

February 25, 2000

SPRINGFIELD -- The University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) will offer an online Master's Degree in education, the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership (EDL) with a Master Teacher Leadership (MTL) concentration, beginning with three online classes this fall. It is the third online degree offered by UIS.

"This online master's degree in EDL is the first of its kind in the nation," said Dr. Larry Stonecipher, Dean of the UIS College of Education and Human Services. "While conducting math education workshops in Illinois, I have been asked over and over again by classroom teachers when UIS was going to offer an online Master's Degree for teachers. Well, now we do."

UIS received over $240,000 from the University of Illinois Online initiative to cover the cost of developing the online courses. A significant portion of this funding was provided by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to the University of Illinois. The Sloan Foundation is a national leader in the area of Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN), and has funded a number of online programs throughout the country designed to increase access to high quality, instructor lead, educational opportunities via the Internet.

The Educational Leadership program will continue to offer the concentration for school principals on the UIS campus, but all ten courses of the MTL concentration will be offered entirely online. And, unlike some of the other online courses UIS offers, none of the MTL courses will require a visit to campus.

The online master's degree will focus on the needs of the elementary and secondary classroom teachers who want to grow professionally, work on certificate renewal, and improve the curriculum and instruction in their own classrooms.

"In addition, at the completion of the degree, teachers will be prepared academically to take the National Board's exam for the Master Teacher Certificate," said Dean Stonecipher.

The goal of the MTL concentration is to provide practicing teachers with the opportunity to earn a high quality master's degree that could be used as a step toward Illinois or national board certification. Practicing teachers in Illinois began a new, tiered certification process on February 15, 2000.

EDL is the second online master's degree online by UIS. The first, in Management Information Systems (MIS), began in the spring of 1999. UIS also began offering its first bachelor's degree online, in Liberal Studies, in the fall of 1999. This semester, 567 students are enrolled in 30 online courses at UIS in MIS, Liberal Studies, and other subjects.

For more information about the EDL online Master's Degree, contact Dr. Allan Cook, at (217) 206-6682 or Cook.Allan@uis.edu.