Sorry to be so late chiming in on this thread. I thought I'd hear something
from the RPI faculty about the phasing out of HCI distance program, or
clarify what is happened, and I haven't yet.

I am a product (PhD) of the same dept and took many of the core classes that
are part of this program. This is also the dept that initially invented the
field of technical communication and offered graduate degrees in it.

Knowing the way RPI works, and the strength and commitment to their
offerings (and having at one time been responsible for that entire distance
learning web site, in the mid-1990s, mostly just catalog updates, as I could
not do too much structurally), I am also familiar with the RPI distance
learning system, which, I believe has been around 20+ years now. Not many
distance learning programs can say that. It confers very high end masters
degrees in specialized engineering, polymer chemistry, really wonky stuff,
in addition to t-com and HCI.

Not just courses. Entire graduate degrees.

So what's going on with this? It was a few years back that the technical
communication certificate and master's degree in the distance learning
program morphed into the HCI concentration, and I'm guessing what they are
really doing is morphing it back to a broader focus.

I really don't believe the degree is going away, unless enrollments have
fallen way off. RPI is an expensive, private engineering school, and the
economy sux right now, so that could be having an effect. But at the same
time, there will be a lot of laid off people needing to retool their skill
sets.

The larger issue, as I remember from the 1990s, was the nature of their
distance learning program, which was VERY high quality compared to a lot of
these fairly new distance learnning university offerings which are just one
step away from lite correspondence courses, if you ask me.

RPI has always used elaborate video conferencing with satellite link-ups,
even before the time of the web, before the days of WebEx, when professors
there wrote the software to run it. Also, it tended to cater to big
corporate clients who provided the on-site satellite link for the live
interactions in the classroom with mixed face to face students and distance
students. In addition, the university always had high standards for
computer-supported collaborative work, and studio courses had big project
and collaboration components, in which the distance students were expected
to participate fully.

I know I sound like a PR person, but if you could imagine the elaborate
system around all those video teleconferences (now supported on web
software, I hear), dedicated distance classrooms with multiple cameras and
professor view controls, etc. What I'm saying is it ain't your basic
"Blackboard" setup with a prof on a phone line and some email
correspondence.

And RPI has been out in front in innovating on multi-disciplinary design, so
if they are moving away from the HCI angle, it could be likely that they are
gearing up to blaze another trail in a new area. Like I said, I sound like
PR, and I was involved in the founding of the RPI EMAC degree program, so I
know how they decide to do these things. Absent a major revenue shortfall,
that is what I would expect.

Chris

On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 4:05 PM, sharon <sharongreenfi...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>  I wonder how much of it goes back to findability and information
>> architecture (but I can be a little biased thinking most problems come back
>> to these things).
>>
>> Placement in search engine isn't really high (and didn't even seem them
>> for "online hci program" and the like) and then the description provided
>> seemed accidental and had an odd subdomained URL that didn't give you the
>> university's name or program in it.
>>
> I've had a tough time finding programs in most university's convoluted
> information architecture.
> This is the URL:
> http://www.rpi.edu/ewp/distance/course_masters/ms_hum_comp_int.html
>
>  When you go to the program site you arrive at from some of the more
>> obscure search terms, I didn't see a mention of format (online vs oncampus).
>> There was a link for "working professionals". Mmmm...here's the mention:
>> "live on-campus and, by electronic means". I guess in the months I spent
>> searching for an online program I never Googled for "masters program HCI
>> electronic means".
>>
> Wow. I found it trough 'distance learning', but you are so right, that term
> above is ridiculous in this day and age.
>
>  In my experience, disambiguating on-campus only programs from distance
>> ones was a challenge. Trying to winnow them down via search engine alone was
>> impossible and even as noted above...it was kind of a treasure hunt on their
>> program sites.
>>
> Agreed! It really is hard to find programs nowadays...
>
>  Why is noone interested in this program?
>> There are only two online HCI programs to my knowledge - Rensselaer's
>> and Brigham Young University.
>> RPI's name has cachet and prestige. I know some nuclear engineers who
>> graduated from RPI - smart school for smart people.
>>
>> I think they are phasing the online HCI program out because they
>> didn't have enough applicants.
>> Does no one have an interest in working while getting a degree remotely?
>>
>>  ________________________________________________________________
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