Nothing but 'net
OCU tweaks energy master's degree programs
Oklahoma City University's Meinders School of Business is broadening its hunt for new students to fill slots in its energy master's degree programs.
The school's dean said this week he believes moving the programs entirely online for students seeking to obtain either an energy legal studies or energy management master's degree will attract additional participants from outside of Oklahoma.
The courses had required students to routinely attend classes on campus or via livestream. They provide graduate-level educations designed to enhance their future success in obtaining leadership positions in the energy industry.
Continuing education, the course's online materials state, is important to working professionals who must contend with an ever-increasing complexity of regulatory and legal issues as they navigate always-changing economics impacting companies' financial and operational profiles.
Steven C. Agee, an economics professor who is the Meinders school's dean, said OCU has seen changes in enrollment, over time.
“Demand for the programs, not completely unrelated to prices for oil and natural gas, have fluctuated, as you can imagine,” Agee said. “That's one of the reasons why we are going to an online format.”
But another reason, he said, is that university officials believe it has reached a saturated level of participation from students who work at Oklahoma City-based oil and gas firms.
“We know there is a broader audience than just Oklahoma,” Agee said. “We are going to try to broadcast this out to a larger audience by taking it entirely online.”
Agee said the tuition for OCU's online energy programs is$23,200 and is affordable for students who are able to tap into tuition reimbursement benefits offered by their employers.
While he stressed the courses will be fully online starting with the coming fall semester, students still will be required to participate in two on-campus residencies that come at the program's beginning and end.
At those events (each lasting two days), students will get chances to network with fellow students, alums, faculty and energy industry leaders, he said.
Comparatively speaking
After moving entirely online, Oklahoma City University's program will look more like one offered by the University of Tulsa's Collins College of Business.
Linda Nichols, an energy professor who is director of the college's School of Energy, Economics, Policy and Commerce, said Tulsa began offering its online master's of energy business program to professionals already working in the energy industry in about 2010. It, too, is offered entirely
online, though it also requires students to visit the University of Tulsa campus at the program's beginning and end.
Tulsa's online format helps with recruitment, she said, reporting that nearly half its students are from throughout the country and globe, including places as far away as Pakistan and China.
And while Nichols said students initially might grumble about the need to attend a residency at the program's beginning, she added their attitudes quickly change.
“They really enjoy meeting each other,” Nichols said. “They create networks for life.”
The program features practical and applied course content that is completely energy-focused and can be completed in as little as 24 months.
Tuition for the program runs about $38,000. Nichols said it currently has 58 students enrolled, after graduating a sizeable number in December.
New students for the upcoming academic year are being recruited now, she said.
OCU recognized
Agee said about 75 students are enrolled in the master's degree programs at OCU now and that it has graduated more than 300.
He said the master's degree program for energy professionals was created to address concerns expressed by top industry executives who had told university officials there was a need to provide master's level programs to industry executives who were well-versed in topic-specific areas but not prepared to take on either management or legal-related responsibilities at those firms.
In January, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school's energy master's degree programs best among those offered in Oklahoma in 2018.
The publication evaluated programs on student engagement, faculty credentials, and student services and technology.
Only degree-granting programs offered primarily online at regionally accredited institutions were considered.
“The high quality of this program is nationally recognized,” Agee said.