About This Session
In 2016, Claremont Graduate University broke from the mold of on-campus education to enter the unknown space of online teaching and learning — launching its first online degree offerings. Ten years later, that journey has produced not just online programs, but a lasting infrastructure, a tested set of principles, and an unexpected series of benefits for the broader Claremont Colleges Consortium.
This presentation offers an honest reflection on what it took: the initial pivots, the hidebound assumptions that had to be challenged, the stark learning curve, and the long-term institutional and consortium-wide impacts that continue today.
A Decade in Four Phases
- 2016–17The Initial Leap — First online degree offerings launched, confronting novel questions about pedagogy, technology, and institutional identity for a graduate university
- 2018–20Pivots and Corrections — Early assumptions challenged, platform decisions revisited, faculty culture shifted toward embracing online modalities
- 2020–22The Pandemic Test — CGU's online infrastructure proved decisive during COVID-19 — providing models and support for consortium institutions pivoting to remote instruction
- 2022–26Consortium Impact — Shared experiences informing LMS transitions, online modality expansion, and collaboration frameworks across the Claremont Colleges
Learning Outcomes
- Gain an understanding of CGU's history of moving into online education — including the technical, academic, and administrative challenges and decisions made along the way.
- Be familiarized with the successes and failures along the process — from the first cohort to the lasting infrastructure changes that followed.
- Articulate the lasting impacts of CGU's online learning journey on the broader Claremont Colleges Consortium through today.