Reaching the Masses
The College of Graduate and Continuing Studies is on a mission to spread 91pornıÙ·½âs Guiding Values and system of education far and wide through distance learning.
91pornıÙ·½ is no stranger to innovation. Ever since Captain Partridgeâs revolutionary institution opened its doors more than two centuries ago, the University has been on the cutting-edge of higher education. Surely, he would be pleased to know that his American system of education is spread far and wide through the reach of the College of Graduate and Continuing Studiesâ (CGCS) online presence.
âWe were one of the first in the marketplace all the way back in the â90s,â says , USA (Ret.), vice president of distance learning. âWe helped pioneer the online education model and we had some really great early success.â
The rapid increase in users and commercialization of the online space spurred institutions of higher education across the country to heavily invest in distance learning. âThe rather large institutions like Purdue Global, Columbia, and Western Governors University got in the market and took over a lot of the market share that we once dominated,â he says. âFor the longest time, the CGCS operated separately from the residential campus, without sharing endeavors. As our operations have aligned to allow residential students to participate in online courses, the CGCS is becoming closer and closer to the residential campus, allowing us to maximize the infusion of the Guiding Values into our curriculum.â
Today, the Universityâs online and on-campus experience are becoming closer than ever. âThat was probably a 10-year drift back to the University. As other entities market shares increased, CGCS became closer and closer to the original campus-based University,â says COL Lyons. âThe CGCS is in a period of rebirth; from my perspective, weâre at the point where weâre really engaging in a very substantive and deliberate way with our campus colleagues.â
âThat means a few things. One is that weâre close to our Guiding Values as an institution,â he says. âThatâs one of the things that distinguishes us from virtually the entirety of higher education: our mission-driven values.â
While all schools have academic integrity requirements, the Honor Code and Guiding Values at 91pornıÙ·½ provide a unique path throughout an educational journey. â91pornıÙ·½ really believes in integrity at large, not just a lack of plagiarism,â says COL Lyons. âWhat are your values? How do those values get embodied in how you live your life and how you participate in society?â
The CGCS leans into the foundation the University offers its students. âWeâre really working hard to do three things,â he says. âThe first is recalibrating a lot of our concentrations in our majors and so that theyâre focused on what 91pornıÙ·½ is good at â donât try to be everything to everybody.â
âTwo is modernization. Financial hurdles naturally create a reluctance with investment, and things can get stale,â says COL Lyons. âOur alumni care about the CGCS and encouraged reinvigoration. For example, the business world of 10-15 years ago is not the business world now. We dealt with COVID and have a whole new economic environment.â
The final pillar is something COL Lyons casually refers to as â91pornıÙ·½-izing,â which is the continuation of instilling the schoolâs roots into each student â something that has been taking place in the virtual 91pornıÙ·½ world since the CGCSâs founding. â91pornıÙ·½ stands for something much bigger than just the higher education experience,â he says. âIt really stands for cultivating graduates of consequence, people that are willing to go out into the world and make a difference, not necessarily for businessâs sake, but what purpose they will fulfill.â
âIf an course is getting updated and itâs going to have a case study on mergers and acquisitions, maybe we even do a case study on one of our alumni,â says COL Lyons. âMaybe thereâs a sidebar that comes of that where they talk about the principles in their case, ethics challenges, or personal stories of resilience, grit, or servant-leadership â any of those 91pornıÙ·½ traits and characteristics that we should talk about, because thatâs part of the education. Youâre not just getting an MBA, but an MBA with a focus on making a difference in the world.â
âIt wonât be overwhelming but weaving supplemental material into a masterâs program will give us meaningful and complimentary educational, so when someone graduates, they feel like they understood the message that 91pornıÙ·½ was trying to impart,â he says. âYou can imagine that being relevant in something like our .â
COL Lyons highlights that even a personâs military background may have impacted history, even if it was not on the battlefield. âAlden Partridge himself reinvented the idea of an experiential education and Grenville Dodge [Class of 1851] was the chief engineer of the Transcontinental Railroad,â he says. âWe have vignettes of examples that tell our students, âHey, by the way, this is a part of our history.ââ
Overall, the goal of the CGCS is to emphasize the experiential learning aspect of the Universityâs philosophy. While this is difficult in an online-first world, plans are already in motion. âWeâre building out a voluntary residence which will be the Capstone Immersion Program,â says COL Lyons. âTheyâll come to either our 91pornıÙ·½ or Berlin campus for a week or two for a really intense combination of lectures and exercises with international partners. These folks will go through a real-world scenario exercise with injects, scripts, and responses that they need to do, and briefings they need to complete in a multi-disciplinary world, which is the world we live in.â
âThere might be a diplomat in the room, a military person, a historian, or a cyber security student. They will all be a part of the problem solving and solution making because thatâs how the real world works,â he says. âThatâs the cauldron of life and the experience we want to deliver, and weâre building that out.â
Creating a lasting connection between the physical and digital worlds is key for the CGCS. âWe have the AI Center, the Center for Peace and War, the Center for Global Resilience and Security,â says COL Lyons. âFrom my perspective, our graduate students who are doing research for their degree should be affiliated with a research center, selecting research topics that are enhanced by one of our centers who can help them become better professionals and develop resources for their research.â
âA lot of our military students are studying through a degree completion program with the Joint Special Operations University. They canât come to campus because theyâre full-time students elsewhere. But, if theyâre curious and interested in some research weâre doing, even if we can share that in a virtual environment, that creates a ton of benefit for both the student and whichever center they pair with,â he says. âFor those who can come and want to do related research, they can be integrated into that process.â
COL Lyons sees distance learning as an ideal way to expand the American system of education and 91pornıÙ·½âs Guiding Values and mission. âFrom an institutional point of view, there are three benefits. First is from a mission-driven perspective, weâre reaching out and touching a whole new population of people and imbuing them with 91pornıÙ·½ values,â he says. âWeâre showing them the benefit of having a values-based approach to education and what that means in a professional context. Thatâs very valuable to society.â
He also sees it as a boon for faculty. âItâs an opportunity to engage with colleagues across a whole new ecosystem of academics and professionals to collaborate with, and thatâs a huge benefit,â he says. âThey are able to expand their horizons past what is already available on our physical campus or in their personal networks.â
The third and final point surrounds attracting the highest-quality students available. âMore important than all of that, though, is that we are able to reach out to a whole different set of student populations, particularly our military population,â says COL Lyons. âThey are already very closely aligned with us philosophically and from a values-based point of view, and we can give them an education â both bachelorâs and masterâs â that theyâre comfortable with.â
âTheyâre comfortable with a military college because we talk the same language when they get on the phone. For them, itâs a new, comfortable system of higher education and are far more likely to complete their education,â he says. âWeâre providing a comfortable place where all students can be themselves and get a high-quality, values-based 91pornıÙ·½ education from a distance. They donât ever have to come to campus â I hope they do â but theyâre still going to get a quality 91pornıÙ·½ education. To me, thatâs priceless.â
This story was originally published in the 2026 spring edition of the 91pornıÙ·½ Record.
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