In response to a statewide demand for a more qualified and skilled workforce, the Tennessee Board of Regents has developed Regents Online Degree Programs (RODP) - Campus Collaborative and Regents Online Continuing Education and Workforce Development program (ROCE).

To expand educational opportunities and enhance the skills of the workforce, TBR universities, community colleges, and technology centers work together to offer degrees, certificates, courses, and training online.

"An educated workforce is the key to successful community and economic development," said George Halford, president/CEO of the Cookeville Area-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce. "Study after study shows that a community's per capita income is directly related to the quality of its educational system. The Regents Campus Collaborative online education programs provide all Tennessee communities with quality education. If you have access to the Internet, you have access to quality higher education."

A study conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau between the years 1997-99, "The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings," shows that "each successively higher education level is associated with an increase in earnings."

According to the study, the "average earnings (per year) ranged from $18,900 for high school dropouts to $25,900 for high school graduates, $45,400 for college graduates and $99,300 for workers with professional degrees."

As wages increase, unemployment rates decrease with each advancing level of educational attainment.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in 2003 for high school graduates was 5.5 percent compared to 4.0 percent for individuals with an associate degree and 3.3 percent for those with a bachelor's degree.

"More and more, businesses and industries seeking to expand or relocate are looking for a well-educated workforce, especially in the information technology and communications fields," said Mike Neal, president/CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. "The best way to recruit new, higher-paying jobs to the state is to educate its workers, and that's what the Tennessee Board of Regents campuses are trying to accomplish with the RODP and ROCE programs."

All TBR campuses are fully accredited and the courses are entirely online. Students have the opportunity to choose a "home campus" from among the 6 universities awarding bachelor's and master's degrees, the 13 community colleges providing associate degrees and the 27 technology centers offering technical certificates and diplomas. Individuals apply for admission, register for courses, and are awarded degrees, diplomas, or certificates from the "home campus."

Other programs provided through the RODP and ROCE web site include a virtual library, online tutorials, virtual bookstore, advising and virtual career center.

Increasing access to education for all Tennessee adults is one of the many goals of the Regents Campus Collaborative RODP and ROCE programs. Another is to maximize technology to reach learners in remote areas of the state and allow flexibility for students with time-sensitive needs. Currently, over 9,000 students are enrolled in coursework or degree programs.
Mitzi Dunkley, a mother of three young children who recently reentered the workforce, realized she would have to go back to school to learn more in order to earn more.

"My light bulb moment was when I went to pay my children's school tuition," said Dunkley. "I realized that a majority of my paycheck each month went to childcare."

Dunkley learned about the RODP program through her local chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

"If the online classes had not been available, I would not be able to participate," she said. "It would be impossible for me to try to fit one more thing into an already impossible schedule."

RODP and ROCE offer the same education as TBR's on-campus universities, community colleges and technical centers. The online format was designed to offer more flexibility and accessibility for TBR students.

"The collaboration of the Regents' campuses is what makes this program such a great success" said Robbie Melton, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. "The Regents Campus Collaborative of RODP and ROCE is the gateway for students to easily access quality education via the Internet."

ROCE - a collaboration of the Continuing Education Departments of the TBR campuses - strives to satisfy Tennessee's workforce development needs by offering courses that present new skills or enhance existing skills for career advancement.

"With the globalization of the workforce, workers have to learn new skills to keep up with the demands of the job market," said Halford.

Tennessee Career Centers and over 300 public libraries have also partnered with TBR's online programs to enhance access to Internet use and advance career training.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen endorsed the Regents Campus Collaborative RODP and ROCE programs through the Governer's Books From Birth Foundation. Books From Birth partners with Dolly Parton's Imagnation Library initiative to establish a commitment to life-long learning in Tennessee's youngest citizens. The programs encourage reading from an early age by providing each child in Tennessee with an age-appropriate, new book each month until they're five years old, regardless of income.

"Regents Campus Collaborative online programs will constantly strive to measure quality while continuously attempting to improve performance standards," said Kevin Liska, director of the Tennessee Tech University BusinessMedia Center and Regents Campus Collaborative marketing coordinator. "The mission and goal of RODP and ROCE is to provide quality education that serves the many stakeholders of the educational marketplace. This includes the numerous entities promoting economic and educational development."

RODP has been rated one of the top three virtual programs in the nation by the The Center for Academic Transformation of Rensselaer Polytechnic University, a program designed to support those in higher education taking advantage of information technology to transform their academic practices.

To learn more, visit www.rodp.org, or call 1-888-223-0023.