A Message from a Vice Provost: Week of 9.08.25

September 11 | 2025
 

Hello everyone, 

Over the coming months, Provost Alexander has offered Academic Affairs areas the chance to take over the Provost message, and I’m hitting lead off (with Anne back next week). For those I haven’t met, I serve as Vice Provost for Online and Continuing Education, a role I’ve held since 2022. Our team guides UW’s efforts related to online and hybrid program development, course development and design, marketing, recruitment, retention, and program sustainability. We assist faculty in online course design and teaching, ensure programs meet student and employer expectations, select and support instructional software, and administratively support noncredit and professional development programs. If it involves teaching and learning beyond the physical classroom, we likely provide some element of assistance in collaboration with ECTL and IT. 

 

Given online learning is a relatively new area of growth for UW, let me lean on a few data points to paint the picture of our progress over the past few years. Since the end of the pandemic, UW online program enrollment has steadily increased, and the trends are encouraging for both overall enrollment and in-person learning (more on that below). First, online student headcount has increased 29% since Spring 2022, with undergraduate enrollment up an impressive 46% and graduate enrollment up 16%. Fall 2025 numbers are still being finalized, but online student headcount will be up around 8.5% from Fall 2024. Similarly, credit hours for online program seekers are up 25% since Spring 2023, with the strongest growth in lower-division courses. Again, Fall 2025 numbers are still being finalized, but online student enrollment will be up around 13% from Fall 2024. 

 

These data highlight how UW is succeeding in attracting new audiences through online programs; however, we also desire to solidify a vibrant, engaged campus experience and this couldn’t have been more important coming out of the pandemic. In part, this meant ensuring in-person students were taking advantage of our on-campus learning spaces and all the opportunities campus life provides, and the good news is we are succeeding in returning in-person students into in-person classes. Enrollment in online sections by all students, including main campus students, has decreased by 17% overall since Spring 2022, reflecting our goal of revitalizing campus life while still offering online flexibility. This number for Fall will likely be down another 1%.

 

These data points highlight the results of our collective work and guideposts for next steps, and we are achieving these goals due to the incremental, passionate work of every staff member, academic administrator, and faculty member engaged with online learning. To support everyone’s efforts, we’ve been busy rolling out new services, and more are on the horizon: 

 

·       Online program seeker tuition and fees continue to flow to the Colleges, and this year Colleges will receive estimations of these numbers in advance of the budgetary process to include funds in their planning. 
·       The ECTL online course design process is in full swing and into its second year, and a call for new courses for development will be sent to Deans and Department Heads in October. 
·       A new virtual orientation for online program seekers will roll out this Spring to ensure online UW students are prepared to succeed. 
·       A newly-designed Canvas template will be shared in Spring Canvas shells to improve the student user experience. Faculty will be able to retain the design of their existing courses if preferred or can choose to use the new design. Instructions will be provided before the release of Spring course shells. 
·       UW has changed from TutorMe to Tutor.com as our virtual tutoring provider. All students can access virtual tutoring 24/7/365 in every subject taught at UW.  
The progress and effort described here shows that online education isn’t just a secondary option for learning, it’s an essential part of how we connect with students and fulfill our mission. If you’d like to dig deeper into any of these data points or want to learn how to add online options to your courses or programs, please email, call, or Teams chat me and we’ll get together.
 
Finally, thanks for every effort you put into making UW better in big and small ways on a daily basis.
 

Cheers,
Matt Griswold
Vice Provost, Online and Continuing Education