Extended Studies Quarterly Newsletter
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Volume 3, Issue 1 | October 2024
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 We've Moved!
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Extended Studies has moved to a new location! Our address is 2205 Artemesia Building, 8400 Baltimore Avenue, College Park, MD 20740.
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Continuing Education
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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
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The UMD MOOC program provides global outreach while increasing brand awareness and educational access. As the university’s largest outreach program, it enrolls thousands of learners weekly. The table below shows the number of UMD MOOCs open for enrollment by year for the past five years.
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In August, Cybersecurity For Everyone became Coursera’s #1 cybersecurity offering. Cybersecurity For Everyone finished ahead of nearly 300 cybersecurity courses offered on Coursera, including Google’s top offering. To date, Cybersecurity For Everyone has enrolled over 350,000 learners from nearly 200 countries. In Fall 2024, Dr. Harry will release a third cybersecurity course, which will join Cybersecurity for Everyone and A Strategic Approach To Cybersecurity to form a new cybersecurity specialization.
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A new School of Public Health offering, Public Health Leadership: Leadership in Crisis, will launch in October. The course will feature the MOOC program’s first dean as an instructor. Dean Boris Lushniak will teach one of three courses in a new specialization entitled Public Health Leadership.
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edX’s parent company, 2U, recently announced a chapter 11 filing. UMD courses will continue to be offered on edX for the foreseeable future. Extended Studies will continue working with campus units over the next year to make the majority of UMD courses currently on edX also available on Coursera (around 40). By offering UMD courses on both edX and Coursera, we anticipate enrollment growth for the MOOC program in the coming years.
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Coursera and edX expect demand to increase in content areas that serve businesses such as AI and cybersecurity. UMD will be releasing courses on these topics later this year.
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Open Learning enrollment continues to grow despite fewer offerings in FY24 compared to FY23. The table below shows Open Learning offerings and registrations by year for the past five years.
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Extended Studies has simplified the Open Learning application process. We are developing a new Open Learning application in TerpEngage that will provide further enhancements to the submission, review, and approval processes. The new application is expected to go live in FY25.
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Executive Education serves private agencies and organizations who seek customized programs developed by University of Maryland campus units. These tailored non-credit, closed enrollment offerings are designed to transform or build a more effective organizational leadership and include educational programs and courses, trainings, and coaching.
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All non-federal Executive Education agreements should run through Extended Studies. Each year, UMD provides more than a dozen custom Executive Education offerings to municipalities, institutions, and companies across Maryland. Please visit our Executive Education Administrative Website for additional information.
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Meet with Extended Studies
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Let us know if you would like to discuss Continuing Education or other opportunities for self-support programs with us. We are currently scheduling meetings for the fall. Complete our Google Form to set up a meeting.
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Team Member Spotlight
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Coordinator,
Continuing Education
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Sandra joined Extended Studies in February 2024 but is certainly no stranger to UMD. Her 25-year career includes roles in the Career Center, Corporate and Foundation Relations, and Accessibility and Disability Services. In her new role as the Continuing Education Coordinator, Sandra provides assistance for MOOCs, Executive Education, and Open Learning. Her responsibilities include providing technical and administrative support to campus units, supporting the non-credit course lifecycle, consulting with faculty and staff to help identify and achieve instructional goals, and serving as a liaison between EXST, campus units, and various non-credit platform providers.
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Program Updates
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Over 95% of Winter Session registrants are current University of Maryland students and over 90% of courses offered during the Winter Session are offered online. Winter Session enrollments are evenly split between General Education and major/elective courses.
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Winter Session registration opens on October 15. The Winter Schedule of Classes is slated to post on September 13. Students often view this only once. It is imperative that all course information appears before the Schedule of Classes goes live. For information on scheduling a Winter Session course, contact winter-sched@umd.edu.
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Summer Session 2024 enrollment saw a 4% increase from 2023. Demand remains high for courses that fulfill major and General Education requirements. Extended Studies is piloting a Summer Wish List through which students can highlight courses they would like to take over the summer. This information will be shared with each college.
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In September, the Summer Session scheduling instructions will be available on the Extended Studies administrative website. Online scheduling in SIS opens on September 9. The deadline to complete online course scheduling is October 21. After this date, all scheduling updates must be submitted via email to summer-sched@umd.edu.
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This summer, 230 students participated in Terp Young Scholars (TYS), the University of Maryland's pre-college program for academically talented high school students. If your academic unit is interested in participating in Terp Young Scholars, we encourage you to reach out to tys@umd.edu without delay.
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For Summer 2025, the cost of TYS is being significantly lowered in response to reduced demand for planned extracurricular events. Instructors will continue to foster community in the classroom and staff will highlight the many academic and social resources available to students outside of class.
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Courses in Freshmen Connection typically roll over from year to year. Academic units interested in proposing new courses or adjusting existing courses for Fall 2025 should reach out to fc@umd.edu before the end of October.
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Student and Program Services Updates
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Summer 2025 scheduling began on Monday, September 9 and Fall 2025 scheduling on Monday, September 30.
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Marketing and Communication Resources
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Extended Studies will launch its annual brand awareness marketing campaign for Professional Graduate Programs in October. Digital advertising will be live through March 2025. For those offering professional graduate programs that are administered by Extended Studies, a toolkit for marketing your program is available.
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For units offering courses in Winter Session 2025, marketing resources will be published on the Extended Studies administrative website on October 15.
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University of Maryland Extended Studies | exst.umd.edu
2205 Artemesia Building, 8400 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD 20740
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