Move to Andrews, online courses on tap, new dean says
Seventh-day Adventist academic administrators are optimistic about the future of Griggs University. The church's distance learning institution is set to move to church-run Andrews University next month, the final step of a two-year transfer of oversight.
The move is expected to provide increased collaboration among Adventist educational institutions and lend Griggs the opportunity to benefit from the faculty base and increased resources for curriculum development at Andrews, church leaders said.
World church Vice President Ella Simmons said the move would bring "fundamental" changes to Griggs, providing "valuable support and opportunities" for the institution.
"Both [Griggs and Andrews] will grow from this alliance; their capacity to provide education from a distance will increase in substantive ways," Simmons said.
Currently, veteran Adventist educator and academic administrator Alayne Thorpe is serving as interim president of Griggs University. Once Griggs University relocates to the Berrien Springs, Michigan campus, Thorpe will continue to helm the institution in her capacity as recently appointed dean of Distance Education for Andrews University.
"We see this merger with Andrews as a prime opportunity to expand the mission -- not only of Griggs, but of Andrews -- to make Adventist education available to students everywhere," Thorpe said, citing plans to expand the institution's online programs and collaborations.
The move from world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, to what is currently the church's Lake Union Conference building adjacent to Andrews' entrance is expected by mid-July, Thorpe said. Andrews recently purchased the conference building in preparation for the relocation, a June press release from the university said. Later, Lake Union administration will move to a site more suited to their staff and the building will be renamed.
The church's top administrative body voted to transfer Griggs' oversight last October after the distance education commission established in 2009 found that the Griggs' limited resources could not handle the church's distance education needs. Shortly thereafter, Andrews' board accepted the transfer of both Griggs University and Griggs International Academy.
"Griggs needed an academic home with resources, such as a talented faculty and versatile library facilities," Thorpe said. "These were just not available to us in the General Conference headquarters building."
Currently, 4,500 students are enrolled in Griggs, with enrollment highest in the institution's MBA program. About 1,000 Griggs students are enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12, and 2,000 more are taking college courses.
Thorpe said Griggs anticipates significant enrollment growth in grades 9 through 12, thanks to a new commitment to distance learning technologies and the expansion of a partnership with Job Corps, a federal program to equip high school dropouts with education and career training.
While many students have traditionally turned to Griggs when a scheduling conflict means they need to complete a college course independently, the institution wants to increase awareness of its grade school courses, too, Thorpe said.
"In too many places, there's a huge chasm between higher education and K-12. It shouldn't be like that," Thorpe said. By offering dual enrollment -- in which students earn college credits while still in high school -- Griggs can serve as a "vital link" between higher education and grade school, she said.
An added benefit? Young people are already comfortable with the online learning technologies Griggs is seeking to embrace, Thorpe said.
With the expansion of its online distance learning offerings, Thorpe said Griggs is also recognizing an increase in nontraditional Adventist students -- some choose not to attend Adventist schools, and others postpone college education to work so they don't incur "the kind of educational debt facing some of our young people," she said.
"The more courses we offer online, the more affordable we can make them and the better we're able to reach that market," she said.
A credit hour at a typical Adventist university runs between $400 and $700; a comparable online course from Griggs can cost half as much due to decreased overhead, Thorpe said.
Still, online students enjoy many of the benefits of traditional classroom study, she said. New distance learning technologies equip students with access to libraries, advisors and professors.
Attending classes via video conferencing is another possibility as Griggs' online programs expand, she said.