Rutgers professors fight deal to offer online degrees, citing ‘academic freedom’ concerns

By Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger

PISCATAWAY — Rutgers University faculty members are fighting a lucrative, seven-year deal the school signed with Pearson eCollege earlier this year to dramatically boost the number of classes and degree programs offered online.

Under the contract, Rutgers and the private company are scheduled to split tuition from students who sign up for online classes taught through Pearson’s online site. But the graduate school faculty on Rutgers’ New Brunswick-Piscataway campus approved a resolution today rejecting the contract and calling on the faculty union to negotiate better terms.

Many graduate school professors, who would be among those teaching the online courses, are concerned the contract gives too much money and control of courses to Pearson, said Deepa Kumar, a Rutgers associate professor of journalism and media studies who helped organize the meeting.

“Money raised through tuition should be spent on students, not profits for a company like Pearson,” Kumar said.

More>>