Campus Hubs on Michigan Online bring new visibility to online learning opportunities and help schools reach their strategic goals
Sean Corp, Associate Director of Communications
Every school and college at the University of Michigan offers learning opportunities that it wants to share with learners around the world. They increasingly offer online courses, certificates, graduate programs, and other flexible learning opportunities.
But for many academic units, helping people discover and understand the full range of what they offer can be challenging.
“Over time, we’ve developed a rich portfolio of online learning opportunities, but they weren’t always easy to find in one place,” said Mark Newman, professor at the School of Information and chair of the school’s Alternative Learning Initiatives Committee. “Learners might love their online course experience and want to go deeper, but not realize everything else we had available, from additional online courses to degree programs. We are excited to partner with the center to be able to tell the complete story in one place.”
That is why the Center for Academic Innovation worked with school and college partners throughout U-M to develop Campus Hubs – dedicated pages on Michigan Online that bring together the unit’s online learning opportunities in one place. It can feature an array of opportunities, from brief educational videos to open online courses to full online degree programs.
“Campus Hubs create another discovery pathway for learners while giving schools and colleges a way to showcase the breadth of their online learning offerings,” said Sarah Dysart, chief learning officer at the center. “Each Hub is designed with the academic unit to reflect priorities targeted to its specific audiences. Our goal is to work together to showcase the best of what our partners have to offer while helping connect new learners with opportunities they may not have otherwise discovered.”
The first Campus Hubs, developed with the College of Engineering, Michigan Law, the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and the School of Information, demonstrate how schools can maintain their distinct identities while benefiting from a shared destination for online learning at U-M.
For participating schools, the value goes beyond a simple webpage.
“Our own website remains the primary home for our programs,” said Joan Remski, interim vice provost for research and dean of graduate studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. “The Campus Hub complements that work by reaching learners who begin their search through Michigan Online. It helps us extend the visibility of our programs without changing how we communicate with our existing audiences.”
That complementary approach is central to the initiative. Rather than replacing school websites or marketing efforts, Campus Hubs create an additional entry point for learners seeking online education at the University of Michigan. The center is also providing new data insights to schools about activity on their Campus Hub pages to help identify opportunities to further expand the offerings showcased there and to gain insight into their potential online learner audience.
The partnership also supports a broader evolution of Michigan Online, which is expanding into a university-wide gateway where learners can discover online educational opportunities across schools, colleges, and disciplines.
Participating schools also see long-term value in the shared platform.
“We’re excited not only about reaching more learners, but about understanding how they find us,” said Andrea Schuitman, director of marketing, business development, and professional education at Michigan Engineering Online & Professional Education. “Better insight into learner interests and discovery patterns will help us think more strategically about how we continue to grow our online learning portfolio.”
As more schools and colleges participate, those insights will help both academic units and the center better understand how learners search for online education, what topics capture their interest, and how they move between different learning opportunities.
Campus Hubs are one component of the center’s expanding portfolio of services for academic units, alongside course design, digital learning infrastructure, hosting services, and credentialing. Together, these services are helping schools reach broader audiences while making it easier for learners to discover the full breadth of online education available across the University of Michigan.
