U.S. News ranks Wright State online programs among best

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Wright State University’s online graduate programs in education, business and Industrial & Human Factors engineering as among the best in the nation.

The magazine ranked the Wright State graduate engineering program 38th among the 80 schools responding to the survey, ahead of well-known universities such as the University of Alabama and University of Arizona.

Wright State’s education program was ranked 47th. That was among the top 20 percent of 252 respondents, topping Purdue University and the University of Iowa.

And the Wright State Raj Soin College of Business’ master’s of information systems and master’s in logistics and supply chain management was ranked 53rd out of 127 respondents.

The magazine based its rankings on instructor engagement with students, student services and technology, faculty credentials and training, admissions selectivity and peer reputation.

The Industrial and Human Factors Engineering (IHE) program offered by Wright State’s College of Engineering and Computer Science enables students to earn their master’s degrees either partially or completely online.

Associate professor Frank Ciarallo says the program has been growing for more than 10 years, is driven by world-class faculty and gives students a rich experience by enabling them to interact with online and on-campus students through the Pilot learning management system. The program also has ties to major industries and the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

“Best of all, the demand for industrial and human factors engineers is very strong so our graduates are very successful in placing into new jobs as well as getting promoted in their current job,” said Ciarallo. “For someone that is already working as an engineer, the flexibility of the online master’s degree is fantastic.”

Wright State’s College of Education and Human Services offers four asynchronous online programs, two leading to a Master of Education and two leading to an educational specialist degree.

Two of the programs focus on curriculum, instruction and professional development for educators who want to mentor younger teachers, develop curriculum, improve teaching strategies or oversee special programs for students. The other two programs provide coursework for those who aspire to be principals and superintendents.

These online programs have their roots in the former Teacher Leader Program, which began in the 1970s as a way to reach out to students by sending faculty members to teach courses in outlying areas where there were a significant number of students, such as Wapakoneta, Marysville, Washington Court House, Batavia and Forest Hills.

As online technology developed, the program morphed initially into a hybrid model and then to synchronous online delivery. In 2013, the four programs were redesigned and marketed for asynchronous delivery. The programs now have more than 120 students enrolled and celebrated their first graduates in December 2014.

The programs are delivered by faculty in the Department of Leadership Studies. Jill Lindsey, department chair, credits the programs’ success to the excellent program oversight provided by its director, Grant Hambright, and its coordinator, Ally Copper.