LUO Offers Out-of-Town Intensives

Liberty University Online (LUO) on-campus intensive courses are extending to out-of-state locations for the benefit of students who do not live close to Virginia.

Intensive courses condense an entire semester of a class into one or two weeks of concentrated focus on the subject with some pre- and post-intensive work as well. Online students are given the opportunity to study hands-on in a classroom environment.

Dallas, Texas and Orlando, Florida have been chosen as the first locations to host a Liberty intensive course. According to Executive Director of (LUO) Enrollment Tamela Crickenberger, there are currently 148 students registered for the Dallas session and 159 students for the Orlando session.

Crickenberger said one of the main reasons for taking the intensive courses out-of-state is to accommodate students who do not live close to Lynchburg and must pay a higher price for travel.

“We have offered intensives on-campus for many years,” Crickenberger said. “We did a focus group and asked what the barriers were in attending, and it was cost. We looked at locations where a good block of our students are.”

Students are able to fly in and be shuttled to the hotel where the intensives will take place. In Texas, the event will be held at the Omni Dallas – Park West. In Florida, it will be held at the Renaissance Orlando.

Crickenberger said although Liberty chose towns in which there were a great number of online students within a 500-mile radius, students are still able to come to Lynchburg to complete their intensives.

“While we wanted to test out the viability of offering intensives in locations that were convenient and affordable to students, we also wanted to give the power of choice that if the student desires to travel to Lynchburg to experience their campus, which many do, they can do so,” Crickenberger said.

President Jerry Falwell addressed the decision in an interview with the News & Advance.

“Research suggests students are more likely to attend online classes from a college or university that has a physical presence within a certain radius of where they live,” Falwell said.

The courses being offered are specific to the education and counseling degrees, due to the fact that those are the schools of study with the most intensive students.

On-campus professors will be flown to the remote locations to teach the courses. Crickenberger said that, ideally, she foresees having local professors of the out-of-town spots join the intensive team.

“The same professors who are teaching our intensive courses on-campus are also teaching the Dallas and Orlando intensives,” Crickenberger said. “Our hospitality team, led by Debbie Windsor, who serve and support our students at their intensives in Lynchburg, are present and performing the same tasks at the out-of-state intensives.”

Although this is the first time Liberty is holding intensive courses at remote locations in the country, the directors at LUO feel optimistic about the outcome.

“It is always our goal at Liberty to provide a stellar academic experience regardless of where we are teaching, and we have been able to achieve that at these out-of-state intensives,” Crickenberger said.

For more information on out-of-town and on-campus intensives, visit www.liberty.edu/online/intensives

DALLAS, Texas
EDUC 504 – Mar. 28-Apr. 1
EDUC 741 – Mar. 28-Apr.1
COUN 505 – Mar. 28-Apr. 1
COUN 512 – Apr. 4-8

ORLANDO, Florida
EDUC 504 – Mar. 21-25
EDUC 741 – Mar. 21-25
COUN 505 – Mar. 21-25
COUN 512 – Mar. 28-Apr. 1