Human Resource Management as a Virtual Class:

A Summary of the Planning and Implementation

of a Virtual Class Pilot Project

at USC Beaufort, Spring 1996

Gerald A. Merwin Jr., Rick D. Boulware, and William T. Cordray
Business Administration
University of South Carolina Aiken and Beaufort
{Article published in The Professor as Teacher (Spring 1997).}

Abstract

Alternative media for communications and class delivery are needed to attract and appeal to a larger pool of current and potential students. To this end, AMGT 374 Human Resource Management was offered virtually in the spring of 1996 at USC Beaufort using the Internet and E-mail. This report details the history of this class from its inception to its conclusion. Based on the positive feedback from student participants, the implication of this pilot project is that other courses which lend themselves to this delivery format should be offered.

Human Resource Management as a Virtual Class

The business management baccalaureate degree program is offered at USC Beaufort (USCB) through a joint venture of the School of Business at USC Aiken and the faculty at USCB. Circumstances at USCB offer a unique challenge to scheduling and meeting the needs of a very diverse population of students in the business program. USCB offers classes at four locations: the original campus in downtown Beaufort, the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, and the Hilton Head Island College Center. Commuting from Beaufort and surrounding counties (Jasper, Hampton, and Colleton), the students range from young, traditional high school graduates to older, non-traditional working parents and adults to military personnel and their dependents. Because our large, non-traditional student population is employed primarily during the day, the majority of courses in the management degree program is offered in evening classes at the downtown Beaufort campus. These students frequently have problems with work schedules and class conflicts, and they are often frustrated in their attempts to take the classes needed to complete the degree.

We tried for several years to develop a workable plan for establishing a virtual class, offered through the Internet, which students could take from home, work or other locations where a computer, modem, and telephone line are available. To this end, two grant proposals were written to seek funding for the equipment and Internet connections needed to hold a virtual class. No funding was forthcoming to solve our problems.

In the Fall 1995 semester, Jerry Merwin contacted the manager of Hargray Interstar, a division of Hargray Telephone Company on Hilton Head Island and the only existing Internet Service Provider for Beaufort County and surrounding area at that time. He proposed that Hargray provide free of charge a maximum of 20 accounts for faculty and students for the Spring 1996 semester for the purpose of a pilot study. Hargray management agreed to the plan and was very excited about the project. The eventual value of their part of the project was estimated between $7000 and $8000. Additionally, Hargray reduced the price of its access software from $50 to $30. The only costs to students and faculty were for modems, if needed, and software. One student who did not have a computer bought one as soon as the project was approved.

We sought information about other institutions offering courses online. We learned that there were several colleges and universities offering curriculum courses over the Internet. Following is a summary of those educational activities. The Chronicle of Higher Education (December 15, 1995) section on Information Technology included an article "Campuses in Cyberspace" which reports that a "virtual university" is being considered by the Western Governors Association. The governors assert the new concept could lower costs, plus provide more flexibility in meeting changing enrollment needs and improved access to education (http://chronicle.merit.edu/).

The Globewide Network Academy (GNA) operates on the Internet providing links between colleges and universities offering courses online and students wishing to study online. A search of the GNA directory under the topic Personnel/Human Resource Management produced many courses from various institutions: (http://uu-gna.mit.edu:8001/gna-catalog/). A typical Personnel course being offered through the University of Southern Colorado (E-mail: dunnjr@spot.colorado.edu) has a course description for a traditional junior-level Personnel Management class for management majors:

"Recruiting, testing, interviewing, training and evaluating workers; planning for personnel needs; establishing personnel functions; employment laws; establishing pay plans. 12 lessons with 12 assignments using a Lotus spreadsheet on a personal computer, 1 term paper, 2 proctored exams."

The University of Nebraska Lincoln (www.unl.edu/conted/decisp.html) also offers a Personnel course for curriculum credit, in addition to accounting, statistics, finance, and marketing. Other institutions offering courses through GNA include the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth (www.umassd.edu/cybered/ distlearninghome.html), Indiana University, and University of Wisconsin. GNA also lists other programs around the world.

Method

Jerry Merwin served as the instructor for the HRM class and took primary responsibility for the communication with students and training on the software. He distributed the syllabus and related handouts at several small group meetings held the first week of the semester. Students also received training on using the software to access to the Internet. Individual contacts were used to resolve questions or problems students had with the software. Rick Boulware helped students who had the Windows 95 operating system in dealing with connection and file transfer problems.

The primary form of communication was through electronic mail (E-mail) for students to keep in touch with other students on team projects and with the three faculty members involved. Voice messaging and telephone calls were also used as needed. Students could set up, as necessary, private meetings with the teacher. Testing was accomplished through individual appointments and with the use of USCB's Academic Success Center (at the downtown Beaufort campus) and the library and administrative office at the Hilton Head Island College Center. Two group meetings were held for individual and group presentations. Billy Cordray and Rick Boulware, academic dean Lila Meeks and Chris Plyler, Dean of the USCB Campus, attended the group meetings.

Individual and group projects were to locate and report on topics relevant to Human Resource Management using the Internet. Topics included telecommuting, Intranet (use of Internet applications for communication among members of an organization), virtual organizations, career planning and development, and the impact of the Internet on human resource processes.

Results

Students' interest in the virtual class project was high, and feedback has been very positive. Many students said they appreciated the opportunity to learn to use the Internet and solve their scheduling crises at the same time. On the whole, these were successful experiences for both students and the participating faculty, with students making grades comparable to what they make in traditionally-delivered classes. Some students said they missed the interaction provided by the traditional classroom situation. Students went to lecture classes voluntarily as a way to keep up with discussions and material not presented in the text. A few students reported that they were prone to procrastination and would benefit from the structure of a regular class meeting.

Discussion

The virtual class project helped to meet the needs of non-traditional students who typically commute to class. Since the time of the pilot project, we have worked with individual students to arrange for contacts with faculty who are willing to use the Internet on a case-by-case basis.

Future plans include the addition of video conferencing through the Internet. We have requested the purchase of CUSeeMe software to allow students at various locations to view the class while in progress and take part in discussions. Equipment, software, and the Internet connection for this video conferencing method is relatively inexpensive as compared to telephone-based conferencing methods.

We believe virtual classes and other cost-efficient, innovative media are keys to meeting the needs of students on the Regional Campuses of the University of South Carolina. For more information contact Jerry Merwin, Rick Boulware, or Billy Cordray.

(See the web pages developed for the Virtual Class Pilot Project in Spring of 1996. They are part of the Virtual Class Archive.)