Research and Publishing Activities APU Brochure FINAL 6 | Page 2

Introduction
Pioneering in Online University Research
Only a few years ago the whole idea of online study was controversial,
and that is an understatement. The resistance to it seems strange now,
as the most prestigious institutions have entered the field on a large
scale.
One of the issues has been how involved an online university can be
in research and publishing. The American Public University System
has been an early, possibly even the first effort, in developing a full
network of conferences, journals, book projects and other substantial
activities that enable its faculty, students, and alumni to participate in
a meaningful way in serious scholarship. And in sharing all this with a
very large audience outside of the APUS family.
When I am asked to speak about this, I often take the example of
single parents who want to return to college or who have never gone to
college, and are bound by family and work commitments to a schedule
that precludes the frat house and Saturday football that is often the
collegiate stereotype.
Offering a full menu of academic activities is not only practical with the
advent of all the online technical advances, but in some cases, as this
catalogue suggests, the online experiences seem to me to be superior
on occasion to the conventional ways we have so doggedly pursued.
American Public University has played an important role in this major
change, a central factor in the unfolding story of online learning—and
we are only at the start of what this means for education.
Paul Rich
President
Policy Studies Organization &
Westphalia Press
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