I need a Sustainable Solutions paper by Friday

[SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS PAPER PROPOSAL] 1

Running head: [SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS PAPER PROPOSAL]

SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS PAPER PROPOSAL

Derek A. Smith

Walden University

Author Note

This paper was prepared for Business Strategy and Innovation for Competitive

Advantage (DDBA - 8161 - 9) Week 2 Assignment 1 taught by Dr. Steve Roussas.

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Excelsior College (Excelsior), which operates in the very competitive online education

industry, was founded as Regents College in 1971 by the New York State Board of Regents.

From 1971 until 1998, Regents College operated as a program of the Board of Regents, under the

authority of The University of the State of New York. In April 1998, Regents College became a

private, nonprofit, independent institution and changed its name to Excelsior College (Excelsior

College, 2014).

Excelsior has been rated #14 among the top 20 online Bachelor of Information

Technology Degree Programs by TheBestSchools.org (The Best Schools). Excelsior was ranked

#1 by U S News & World Report for the number of transfer students. Excelsior was also

identified by Military Times “EDGE” magazine as a "Best for Vets" college, October 2011, 2012

(Lesczinski, Excelsior named a “best for vets” college and top military-friendly school for 2012,

2011). Additionally, Excelsior was ranked by Military Advanced Education magazine as one of

the top 10 colleges serving the military (Lesczinski, 2013). Finally, G.I. Jobs magazine ranked

Excelsior as “military friendly” among the top 15% of all colleges, universities and trade schools

serving the military nationwide (Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California). Based

upon industry knowledge, two very strong competitors in this industry include the University of

Phoenix and Strayer University.

Studying Excelsior is significant because the growth of the use of the Internet has

essentially changed distance teaching and learning, and Excelsior has been in the distance

education industry for over 40 years. Excelsior, and other online colleges and universities, must

apply the benefits of constantly the “evolving information communication technology (ICT)

infrastructure” to how they do business to “improve the quality and cost-effectiveness” of the

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learning experience provided to present and future students. “Changes in technology have made

online teaching very competitive with the traditional means of teaching.” This leads to the

question of whether or not online education will lead to dramatic changes in how colleges and

universities conduct business (Leef, 2013).

The idea of value chains is beneficial for recording and refining the delivery of online

education (Elloumi, 2004). Colleges and universities must decide on what service(s) are best for

online learners. Decisions must be made on implementing strategy, business processes, structure

and culture that is best suited for the growth of online learning. This implementation must also

be coupled with using the best technological strategies for course delivery. Due to heavy

competition within the online college industry (Elloumi, 2004), it is imperative that Excelsior

College gets it right, and this proposed sustainable solution paper will offer suggestions for doing

so.

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References

Elloumi, F. (2004). Value Chain Analysis: A strategic Approach to Online Learning.

Retrieved March 15, 2015, from Theory and Practice of Online Learning:

http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch3.html

Excelsior College. (2014). Excelsior College History. Retrieved March 15, 2015, from

Excelsior College: http://www.excelsior.edu/about/history

Leef, G. (2013, 10 29). Will online education render traditional college obsolete?

Retrieved March 15, 2015, from Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2013/10/29/will-online-education-render-traditional-

college-obsolete/

Lesczinski, M. (2011, December 6). Excelsior named a “best for vets” college and top

military-friendly school for 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2015, from Excelsior Life:

http://news.excelsior.edu/excelsior-named-a-best-for-vets-college-and-top-military-friendly-

school-for-2012/

Lesczinski, M. (2013, September 17). Excelsior designated a “military friendly school”

by military advanced education magazine for 7th Consecutive Year. Retrieved March 15, 2015,

from Excelsior life: http://news.excelsior.edu/excelsior-designated-military-friendly-school-

military-advanced-education-7th-consecutive-year/

The Best Schools. (n.d.). The 20 best online bachelor of information technology degree

programs. Retrieved March 15, 2015, from The Best Schools:

http://www.thebestschools.org/rankings/20-best-online-bachelor-information-technology-degree-

programs/

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Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California. (n.d.). Vfwca.org. Retrieved March

15, 2015, from Excelsior college information: http://www.vfwca.org/images/1-

26_excelsior_college_info.pdf