In July 2014, Senator Jack Hill reported an increase in
online course offerings throughout the University System of Georgia from 1571
in 2009 to 4737 in 2013, representing a 201.5% increase. “These courses,” he
notes, “are designed to not only be a time and cost effective alternative to
traditional programs, but some have also been created to get students to
graduate in less time than the average traditional student.”

In “Notes from the Senate, August 1, 2014,” Senator Hill
further argues that

In the
Appropriation Bill for fiscal year 2015, the University System of Georgia was
directed by the General Assembly to, “Develop a strategic plan for
increased utilization of online educational resources and pricing structure
reflective of costs associated with providing such education.” The
University System, at the end of their research, should be able to provide a
tuition structure for online courses. In response to this directive, the
University System has assembled the Task Force on New Models of Instruction to
examine implementation pathways for online courses. The System has also created
a new system office position that will be dedicated to advancing affordable
degree completion options for students. Hopefully the findings of the Task
Force will allow Georgia to not only expand online course opportunities but
also create a tuition model that will provide affordable access to Georgia
residents hoping to advance their education.

Forces are moving to accelerateonline courses and degree
programs. Rising tuition prices, the concern over student debt and the
rapid growth and availability of technologyis pushing colleges and
universities, some screaming and resisting all the way, into the bold new world
of competitive pricing for higher education. Those that are nimble and
quick to seize the advantages in pricing that on-line courses can offer will
gain headway in what will become a more competitive market place over the next
years.

The Georgia BOR and Senator Hill do not specifically discuss
writing courses, nor do they address the effectiveness of these courses beyond
the issues of cost-effectiveness and time-to-graduation. The CCCC Position Statement
on Principles and Example Effective Practices for Online Writing Instruction
(OWI) is available at https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/owiprinciples.