StraighterLine Stirs Up Staff, Students

Anger and alarm spread through students and faculty concerned about Fort Hays State University’s partnership with a private company offering online courses.

The company, Straighterline, was created less than two years ago as a subsidiary of Smarthinking, a tutoring company that works with schools and businesses. FHSU offers credit to students who have taken courses through Straighterline.

Other universities that offer credit for Straighterline courses include Charter Oak State College, Ellis University, Grand Canyon University, and Potomac College.

FHSU is the only public university listed as a partner college.

Provost Larry Gould said FHSU had examined the courses being offered and deemed them appropriate for college-level work. However, he acknowledged some faculty members have issues with Straighterline.

“Faculty might object to it because they are not aware of the process that the coursework has gone through in terms of quality assurance,” Gould said. “Another reason might be the misconception that FHSU students are being put in this coursework that will reduce the demand for FHSU coursework.”

However, some faculty members are strongly opposed to FHSU’s partnership with Straighterline. The Curriculum Committee of the English department reviewed available information about Straighterline and its benefits. According to a Feb. 17 letter, the committee did not deem the syllabus for Composition One had coursework consistent with FHSU. It also took issue with the lack of information on who are teaching the courses.

The committee specifically pointed out the person running the English program for Straighterline does not have a degree in English and would not be eligible for hire in the English department at FHSU.

“The Department of English does not wish to participate in any way with Straighterline.com,” the report said. “Moreover, courses offered through Straighterline.com should not be accepted for transfer credit at FHSU.”

Gould was unavailable for comment on the letter at time of publication.

Some students have begun organizing in opposition to FHSU’s partnership with Straighterline. Graduate student Topher Rome started a Facebook group titled “FHSU Students Against StraighterLine” that had attracted 125 students as of Wednesday.

“I believe it sets a dangerous precedent on higher education,” Rome said. “FHSU can’t police the quality of these classes. If this catches on, it basically will say we support people getting degrees rather than the education that goes along with it.”

The first sentence of Rome’s group description read “Larry Gould, as Provost, has taken steps that will inevitably cheapen the quality and value of a degree from Fort Hays State University by placing our university in bed with a private corporation that sells general education credits.”

Gould said accepting credit for Straighterline courses is no different than accepting credit from other sources.

“When I get a transcript from almost any institution in the U.S. … there might be coursework from a whole variety of places,” Gould said. “I don’t know who taught the course, I don’t know what the content looks like, but we accept them on their transcripts.”
However, some students have voiced concern FHSU has partnered with Straighterline too quickly, pointing out only four other universities give credit for Straighterline courses.

“I believe that for the students, if Straighterline were to go under, if other universities were to decide this were bad for academics, it could make us less appealing to graduate schools and employers because the credit looks the exact same on a transcript,” Rome said.

Gould said FHSU can profit from the partnership with Straighterline by encouraging students who get FHSU credit to earn a full degree at FHSU.

“The intent of the partnership is to say, ‘Okay, student from Jacksonville, FL, you took a Straighterline course, you liked it, take the rest of the work through FHSU,’” Gould said. “That’s the real purpose of the partnership.”