Introduction and executive summary:

PEOI exists to give anyone in the world the ability of going through a professional course at no charge. If a student choose to enroll in a professional course with PEOI, he will receive a certificate of completion after taking an in-person final exam. The learning can be used for degree purposes if enrolled at a university or college, or for promotion at work. Books, distance education of universities and professional training web sites constitute the major part of the competition. This competition cannot serve the needs of a large proportion of aspiring professionals because of its high cost. Textbooks alone cost more than PEOI’s fees for course completion, whereas access to PEOI’s text is free. Moreover, scholarships are available for the fees that PEOI charges. Another competition comes from a lot of free teaching material on the internet. This competition is too fragmented and does not allow recognition of knowledge as PEOI proposes with its certification at modest cost.

To fulfill its mission, PEOI must attract authors of professional courses. This will depend on its ability to raise funds to develop new course content, and to acquire a recognition for quality content which universities and colleges will want to recommend to their students and faculty.

Service provided by PEOI

PEOI offers graduate university level course content and a number of services that allow optimum use of such course content.

The course content is an electronic equivalent of a textbook, with full text supplemented by review questions, assignments, tests, cases, references and comments. As such, it constitutes all the material a student would normally need to study for a course. As of June 2002, PEOI has one professional course and four review courses. The review courses are here only because they are prerequisites for studying professional courses. (PEOI's goal is to expand the number of professional courses to 100.) Each course is conceived as an open and permanently updatable platform with comments, new research findings and links expanding the body of knowledge continuously.

The course content is accessible to all free of charge. All materials can be copied, downloaded and combined with other text by all with no restriction, but only a request of proper citation of the source.

The auxiliary services available at PEOI are intended to help users of PEOI course content take full advantage of learning with it and receive a certificate of course completion. These procedures have been already created and substantially tested. They are

- student registration which is necessary for being able to enroll in a course

- student enrollment in a course for a student course record to be created and to accumulate grades in a student grade sheet

- registered students course progress/completion record open for public inspection

- single chapter quiz with random question selection, automatic grading and grade recording

- comprehensive test of all chapters with random question selection, automatic grading and student grade recording

- faculty roster with faculty credentials for student selection of faculty to supervise course work

- faculty registration for entry in faculty roster after verification of credentials

- faculty grade book with summary of all enrolled students in that faculty member courses

- faculty grade composition (i.e. course work load) modification for each course and each individual student

- faculty recording of grades for corrected written assignments into a student course grade sheet

- course author or faculty access to course content data banks for corrections and update

- course author or faculty access to questions data banks for corrections and expansion

- course author registration for access to course content

- public access to data bank of prior final exams

 

There are several possible ways that a professional course can be completed and a certificate of completion earned:

- when a student is enrolled at any university or college in a course for which the instructor chooses PEOI course content as electronic textbook;

- when a student takes a PEOI course as self-study under faculty supervision at a college or university;

- when a student completes course requirements under supervision of a PEOI registered faculty member, or an instructor affiliated with a corporate training facility;

- when a student studies without faculty supervision and only takes a PEOI final exam at a testing service provider.

At present, PEOI is not and does envisage to be soon a full-fledged university: its scope is limited to professional course content delivery. However, appropriate accreditation will be sought, such as that of AACSB, in the future.

 

In order for a student to have PEOI grades recorded, he/she must register. Anyone can register: there is no cost for student registration and no restriction of any kind. PEOI registration is absolutely blind as to gender, age, domicile, race, ethnic origin, educational background or any other criterion. Student registration gives access to enrollment in a professional course. A fee must be paid for enrolling in a professional course. There is no fee for enrolling in review or fundamental courses. It is up to the student to choose one of the ways a professional course can be completed (as described above, i.e. with or without faculty supervision). An instructor is recommended. Normally, there is no time limit for completion of course requirements, but that is up to the arrangements between student and instructor. It is also up to the student to make sure that he/she has sufficient background knowledge by, for instance, completing a comprehensive on-line test in each of the fundamental review courses present on PEOI. Instructors set the work load with grade composition percentages. For students without faculty supervision the final is worth 100% of course grade. Review tests can be taken on-line. Assignments can be emailed to instructors. For professional courses all students must take an in-person final. Final exams are arranged at universities and colleges that are affiliated with the Association of College Testing Centers, or at computerized testing service providers, under the supervision of an official proctor. A fee is charged for taking a final exam and student identity is verified by proctor. No professional course completion certificate is awarded without an in-person final test.

 

The following procedure is planned for final exams administered by PEOI:

- questions and instructions for the exam are delivered by email at a designated time to student(s) and proctor;

- receipt of questions and instructions is confirmed by student(s) and proctor immediately, and the test starts;

- prior to expiration of allowed time, students sent their answers by email to PEOI;

- the proctor certifies student attendance, students identity and lack of unauthorized assistance by email at expiration of test allowed time;

- failure to return answers by a student during allowed time, or proctor certification of students identity nullifies the test for that student.

 

The questions on the final (but not the answers) are kept on record, and can be viewed by any interested party (anytime and at no cost) as proof for the extent of work performed by a student in a course. The aim of keeping finals on file is to facilitate transfer of credits.

 

The charge for a final exam covers writing of questions, date scheduling, hiring of authorized proctor, renting computer facilities and grading answers. The cost is expected to be in a $20 to $100 range depending, in particular, on the number of students taking the same test on a given date. If the final exam is administered by PEOI, the fee for the final must be prepaid. In the case of regular in-class accredited university courses (i.e. the case where PEOI course content is used as an electronic textbook), PEOI need not be involved in administering the final or collecting any fee; award of certificates to students is possible as soon as the instructor provides the questions of the final and student grades to PEOI. However, the instructor and each student in the class must have been registered at PEOI and enrolled in the course, and, in addition, the content of the final exam must meet the level of difficulty of other final exams administered for that particular course, which means that instructors should have their final checked by PEOI before administering it.

 

Aside PEOI fee for administering final exams, a student may have to pay regular tuition if enrolled in a PEOI course at a regular university or college, or a negotiated fee for supervision by an independent instructor. PEOI is not involved in the work of independent instructors and has no control over fees or tuition charged by universities. PEOI does not collect any tuition for itself or on behalf of anyone (other than the fees for course enrollment and administering final exams). It is believed that the majority of users of PEOI courses will be matriculated at a university or college and will enroll in PEOI courses as part of a program of studies leading to a university degree.

 

In order for an independent instructor or a faculty member offering an in-class course based on PEOI course content, to be recognized as an instructor by PEOI, that individual must be registered at PEOI. There is no cost for registering as instructor. But, there is extensive verification of the information contained in the registration. PEOI will ascertain that the instructor is the person who registered, and that he/she has the appropriate qualifications to teach the subject involved. With promotion of PEOI course content to professional trade associations, an invitation to act as instructor will be presented to professionals. Authors of course material will normally be desirable instructors. Earning opportunities for authors extend from supervision of PEOI course student work, writing test questions, to proctoring of final and grading.

 

Aside the usefulness of curriculum to individual faculty members on PEOI web site, PEOI is intended to be an important resource for universities and colleges themselves. Especially small colleges would be able to enroll students in PEOI courses for which they could not have sufficient regular in-class enrollment, and this, at no charge to the college. However, to offer a PEOI based course, the college must have qualified faculty. PEOI can only determine that on the basis of that person's registration at PEOI as instructor.

 

Target population of potential beneficiaries

 

The target population is the entire population of current and/or aspiring professionals in each field.

 

In the case of the professional course available at present on PEOI, Financial Analysis, the professionals who could benefit from such course are those who know English and are interested in finance. It is known that over 10,000 individuals took CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) tests in English worldwide in 1999. This CFA test is one of the most demanding and costly of all professional credentials. PEOI does not plan to substitute for AIMR which administers the CFA test, but to make it possible for a larger number of individuals to prepare for that test and/or acquire these skills, especially those who do not have the means to pay for graduate studies. The number of such aspiring financial professionals is estimated at 20,000 per year.

 

Beyond the immediate present, PEOI's goal is to attract faculty who already have some material on-line for their students, to write complete course content in their area of expertise. For each professional field the very minimum of potential interested students is that of the most demanding CFA test, or 10,000 individuals per year. A desirable number of course offerings is 100. Consequently, the potential target population is one million per year.

 

The population of beneficiaries would multiply once course content is translated in a few foreign languages, such as French, Spanish and Russian. There are several reasons why PEOI should seek to serve aspiring professionals outside the United States. The most important one is that, in many professional fields, American methods, practice and writings are at the forefront of the profession, and it is believed that sharing this knowledge will benefit not just the recipients but the United States as well (in terms of goodwill and access to qualified professionals abroad).

 

One limiting factor for the potential beneficiaries is the access to a computer and the knowledge of how to use it. It is not PEOI's mission to deal with this issue. Moreover, there are numerous commercial and nonprofit organizations that address this specific need. Yet, by providing useful content that justifies the purchase of a computer, PEOI contributes to stimulating the use of computers by individuals who otherwise would not be interested in acquiring computer skills or buy a computer.

 

Competition

 

Competition comes from books, distance education and professional training.

 

Textbooks and in particular textbook electronic publishing (which is expected to explode in the next few years) are direct substitutes for PEOI course content. The cost of professional course textbooks, that currently often exceeds $100, is a limitation for many potential students. In developing countries and countries in transition, where the cost of a book may equal to a month's income, and/or where books are not available at any price, it is believed that this form of competition is the thinnest. Some of the textbooks have question data banks, study guides and on-line updates. But they do not extent into grade compositions and recording of grades offered by PEOI.

 

Among the various forms of distance education, the most direct competition comes from on-line higher education. A Forbes article of September 11, 2001 (pages 307-309) reviews the leading on-line educational providers whose fees range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per course, and which include practically all the major universities. Most courses have rigid semester schedules and strict admission requirements. They offer a broad spectrum of courses and have degrees that are highly sought by employers. PEOI is not - and may never be - in this league. PEOI seeks to serve a less wealthy clientele than the one the major accredited universities attract.

 

A less serious competition comes from the professional education providers. The same Forbes issue discusses corporate training and mentions that the market is expected to grow to $11 billion by 2003. It goes without saying that the course content of this professional training is jealously guarded. Many courses are well designed, but short and very expensive. Also most training of this sort does not lend itself to accreditation or incorporation in degree programs. Although, it bears the same name as the title of our web site and has the same target population, the criteria for using it (i.e. accessibility, standards of course delivery and above all price) make our service a different product.

 

Another source of competition stems from the number of professors who have lecture notes, assignments and other course material for their students on the web (a number that may be in tens of thousands). Their material rarely covers more than a portion of the course, and is often only useful for the intended students of a particular class and semester. Nevertheless, because most of it is free and has unrestricted access, it can be seen as the most immediate competition to PEOI offerings. As such, it is very disperse and diverse. The administrative procedures and record keeping that PEOI offers, as well as the certificate of completion, should be important features that make PEOI course content more valuable to a wide spectrum of students.

 

The high prices demanded by most existing competition suggest that the demand for the service is very large. PEOI does not intent to duplicate the sound effects, visual graphics and software wizardry of the existing commercial sites. PEOI should not attempt to serve the needs of those who can afford paying for learning at leading universities or corporate training sites. It is the individual who has the capabilities but not can't afford in terms of money and time to pay the existing education, that PEOI seeks to help. PEOI emphasis must be on content quality, extended record keeping and minimal or no cost.

 

How are beneficiaries informed of PEOI courses

 

PEOI intends to work with colleges and universities. While a large proportion of these have their own distance education, the offering is restricted to courses their faculty can offer. These universities and colleges should welcome PEOI's professional courses as a source of additional revenue from students who would take a PEOI course to complete their program of study, at no cost to the university. Young people can also be reached through information circulated through student associations and education guidance services. All free promotional opportunities on the web will be used.

 

Employers will also be notified of the presence of on-line training for the current and potential employees. They may, in turn, require that these employees enroll and complete specific PEOI courses. Trade associations and trade conferences may also be vehicles for informing current professionals who may want to upgrade their skills.

 

How is a PEOI course content used

 

As described above and in the "Service to Universities" section of the main menu, the course content available from PEOI can be used in several different ways. It can be a resource for faculty teaching a course in a regular classroom context. For instance, students can save on the cost of buying textbooks. In developing countries and transition economies, such textbooks are not available even in libraries. If the teacher has already assigned a text for a course, the material on PEOI can be used for review, cases and on-line research assignments.

 

For subjects that do not attract sufficient number of students for regular classroom teaching, PEOI course content is likely to be used for special studies that a professor may supervise, so that a student may complete degree program requirements. PEOI courses are designed to be flexible: offering assignments, but allowing instructors to insert their own assignments and to modify grade composition.

 

It is expected that the most common format of PEOI course uses will be in distance education. A PEOI course can be offered at any college or university that wishes to include it in its program but does not have teachers to teach the course. If an instructor is needed, it can be provided by PEOI from the pool of registered instructors.

 

Some individuals may choose to read or download the text, drill on review questions and complete assignments without faculty supervision and without taking a formal final test. Even if students do not receive recognition for completing the course, this may be sufficiently valuable for them to become more efficient at work. Moreover, PEOI course content is to be updated continuously keeping professionals at the cutting edge of their skills.

 

Why authors should be interested in placing their course content on PEOI web site

 

As indicated in the risk factors below, attracting authors of new course content is likely to be the critical aspect of PEOI potential. It is important, therefore, to question the chances of securing these authors. Oddly enough, a market research would seem to be more productive in this area than on the client side (i.e. student population), where it is most common for business plans of commercial firms.

 

For authors, PEOI's immediate competitors are textbook publishers and distance education providers. The arguments that PEOI can offer to potential authors, pertains to three aspects. First, PEOI should be able to offer greater exposure to authors if PEOI achieves its planned international presence. Compared to textbooks that are costly and/or inaccessible for a large number of potential users in remote locations, and compared to existing proprietary and secretive distance education, PEOI assure a potential audience of millions of readers. With wider exposure comes greater recognition for an author.

 

The second argument relates to the slowness of book publishing. Although the speed of bringing a book from manuscript to library shelves has risen dramatically from several years to even less than one year for many books, and much less than that for a few highly sought after selections. Still, promotion, ordering and shipping of most books is expensive and time consuming. PEOI can assure authors of a much quicker turn around time for publication. This is likely to change as electronic publishing replaces hard copy textbooks, and PEOI may lose some of its competitive advantage. The superiority of electronic publishing becomes even more clear-cut if continuous revisions and updating based on latest research finding are added to a faster turn around time. But what is placed on-line free of charge by publishers is a tiny selection to attract potential buyers and does not allow understanding of the full text. PEOI will retain its superiority in this aspect as long as publishers do not decide to place their textbooks on-line at no cost, and PEOI is, therefore, in a position of assuring authors a wider audience faster.

 

To be able to compete with textbook publishers in attracting authors, PEOI must be able to offer comparable or better earnings opportunities. At first sight, this does not seem to be possible for a charitable organization that has little direct revenue from clients. But it is. Authors earn royalties from books that are sold, with a small portion of the potential royalties paid out in advance. Earning royalties from a textbook can take several years to materialize for most specialized subject, as all professional courses are. The speed with which PEOI courses are brought to market makes it likely that the potential for student enrollment will materialize years earlier than in the case of book sales. Thus, PEOI should be able to use this information (on the strength of student enrollment for a new course) in pricing the course content of a recently introduced new offering. On the basis of strong demand, PEOI ought to purchase the copyrights from the author outright. Consequently, the author is likely to receive a much larger sum than any advance would be, and possibly larger than the present value of future royalty payments, as well. Where would PEOI get the money to pay such sum for author's copyright? The answer is fund raising. To the extent that a course is used by a group of professionals, potential employers will have a vested interest in making such course accessible. For courses that are useful to a larger number of beneficiaries, foundations and government training programs may want to provide for seed money. Beyond that, future course acquisitions should be funded with alumni support. In addition, see authors' earnings opportunities discussed above.

 

 

Risk factors

 

Being recognized as a public charity in order to have the ability to raise funds from employers, foundations and individuals is naturally essential. IRS letter of advanced determination (dated July 2, 2002) grants PEOI status of foundation under 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) until end of 2005. This means that PEOI will have to derive a substantial portion of its support from public sources over the next three years, which it definitely intends.

 

Raising seed money is anticipated to be especially difficult in the beginning because of the need to finance the hiring of personnel that will subsequently write grant applications. Recent pronouncements by business leaders to encourage funding of organizations that will breach the information technology divide, and recent congressional commission recommendations of increased appropriations for such spending suggest that after the initial funding difficulties, access to funding should not be as limiting. However, the federally funded LAAP program (Learn Anytime Anywhere Program) received no funding for 2002. After PEOI has established a track record of training employable professionals, funding sources should shift to employers of these professionals as they may more fully appreciate the training their employees receive at PEOI. In the more distant future, the alumni who become professionals ought to be the major source of support.

 

Attracting authors of new courses is perceived as the major risk factor. Long before reaching the 100 courses level, PEOI needs to have a critical mass of courses (of maybe a minimum of a dozen courses) that can be of interest to a significant population of students, employers and universities, and that justify promotion expenses. Once PEOI is recognized as an alternative to publishing textbooks, finding new authors may not be as difficult.

 

Reaching the potential student population will determine the long term desirability and viability of the concept. This risk will develop over several years of operation if the course offering does not correspond to sought after skills, or the quality of delivery does not match student expectations. This risk factor may be dealt with feedback quality surveys to monitor student attitudes, and by exploring all possible improvements to on-line content delivery. Keeping abreast of and participating in distance education accreditation standards formulation and improvement is also imperative.

 

Resistance of universities and colleges may be a risk factor if they perceive PEOI as a competitor. Since PEOI is not their competitor but a source of revenue, it is imperative that public relations emphasize this strongly from the start.

 

 

Sequence of events or actions

 

As of June 2002, the work completed includes a basic software structure for course content and all auxiliary services (described above). One professional course and four fundamental courses are present. The organization is incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania, has an Employer Identification Number (06-1611940), a bank account with First Internet Bank of Indiana and has filed form 1023 for IRS determination letter of public charity in March 2001. On July 2, 2002, PEOI received a letter of advanced determination that it is exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

 

It will take one half year to solidify the organization which requires to

- recruit immediately three directors to assure an independent board

- seek additional directors to reflect the major preoccupation of the organization (funding, attracting authors of new course offerings, interacting with colleges and universities, attracting interested students, thinking of how to serve target population better, approaching employers, improving on-line course delivery); PEOI bylaws require that the directors be independent

- approach potential donors for seed money and funding of other projects (see below)

- place (subject to funding) help-wanted ads, receive resumes and identify potential individuals for the three key positions of general manager, faculty/editor and information technology specialist

 

If things go well in the introduction year, the next phase of a year or two would be to establish the organization as a fully operating entity:

- conduct a feasibility study of the proposed Virtual Partnership in Universal Professional Education

- hire best qualified individuals for the key positions

- hire supporting staff

- issue press releases about PEOI existence

- inform universities and colleges

- use all opportunities of potential students and professionals exposure to PEOI offerings, such as participation in professional association meetings and conferences, writing articles, presence on all web search engines, and other low cost advertising and public relations methods

- write grant applications to foundations with professional and on-line education interest

- monitor if there are US Department of Education grants that PEOI can apply for

- actively promote PEOI services to colleges and universities, especially those that offer few professional courses

- offer to every faculty member that has advanced university course content on the web to complete a course as PEOI offering and negotiate potential royalties (subject to funding)

- conduct case writing competitions among graduate students to raise their awareness of the potential to write course content for PEOI after completion of their doctorate

- secure reviewers specializing in each field of study in order to control the quality of new course content

- inquire from authors of textbooks if they would like to place their material on PEOI

- work with other distance education organizations and universities to develop best practice standards for teaching on the internet

- secure funding for professional fields from potential employers for the courses especially useful to these employers

 

If establishing the organization was supported by a positive outcome to the feasibility study, a subsequent phase of long term international expansion follows while continuing the domestic growth of the previous phase:

- set up mirror locations in all countries where professional education is not available free from the government

- translate course content in most commonly used foreign languages

- promote PEOI services to foreign universities and colleges, as well as local ministry of education

- attract non-English speaking authors of professional course content

- find funding for non-English specific professional subjects from local employers and/or international agency sources

 

After a few years

- solicit financial support from professionals who obtained employment or promotion with PEOI's help

- continue expanding the course offering and improving delivery

- obtain accreditation from distance education accrediting body

- explore other fields and levels of education where the format can be duplicated

- offer PEOI knowledge of professional education to assist international aid agency in helping countries train professionals

 

Personnel needed

 

Personnel is the only significant resource PEOI will need to secure, as shown in the key variables of the proposed budgets 2002-2008.

 

The positions that need to be filled immediately are described in Employment section :

- General manager with support of one assistant, one secretary and one accountant.

- Faculty and editorial staff of one full time professional the first year, and one additional for each major subject areas in the future.

- Information technology specialist for maintaining web site, expanding course offerings and facilitating student record keeping.

 

 

Financing

 

PEOI is a not-for-profit organization based in the United States. In the future, mirror locations may be set up abroad some with foreign language translations. Revenue is collected only for cost of services PEOI provides such as maintaining course content, keeping grade records and arranging for final exams. It is not conceivable that revenue from fees and any possible surcharges will ever allow PEOI to be self-sustainable because that would be contrary to its mission of allowing all to use its course material at no charge. Yet, if PEOI stops striving to expand its course offering, it could reach a steady state in some 20 or 30 years when alumni support would keep it going. Expanding the professional course offering in all useful professional field is however an implied mandate of PEOI mission, and expansion of courses is what requires substantial financing.

 

To achieve its full potential fund raising is necessary in the early years to cover operating expenses and acquisition of course content. Tentative budgets are presented in financials for the next seven years, 2002 to 2008. As shown in the proposed budget, approximately $5 millions of seed money will be necessary for course acquisition and $8 millions for initial years operating deficits.

 

One should note that office rent is modest because numerous responsibilities (except those of general manager and his/her staff) can be carried out off premises. Moreover server cost is less than 4% of expenses, because the cost of (300 Megs) hosting and (5 Gigabytes) traffic is prepaid for until 2004, and is not expected to be material until the numbers of courses and students increase significantly. Aside from not having any building depreciation expense, PEOI is also requiring a small number of faculty (when compared to traditional education) because of its emphasis on courses that are professional, and that can be most effectively taken on-line with minimum faculty supervision. The role of faculty is concentrated on editing, expanding and updating course content, rather than lecturing. This content editing and expansion is most important in the early years, and consequently, faculty salaries are disproportionately large then. Once PEOI reaches its full operation plateau by year 2008, operating revenues and alumni support should cover operating expenses.

 

The proposed budget is also an optimum budget with an assumption of most positive outcomes occurring in the scenario of events described below. Yet, as clearly shown in the worst case scenario, PEOI existence does not depend on external decisions. Still, it is essential to assess properly risk factors that have the most bearing on the present strategy, and to envision alternative scenarios described below. To assess the risk factors a feasibility study (describe below) needs to be undertaken. This feasibility study is separate from the continuing operation of PEOI which needs to be funded for its own purpose, but its results dictate the future strategy.

 

Thus, funding solicitation is broken down in the following six projects.

 

a)- Seed money for operations

Operating expenses pertain primarily to the small professional staff described above and include:

- salaries and personnel related costs (social security employer contribution, medical insurance, pension plan contribution, and so on) with faculty salaries and expenses representing roughly 50% of operating expenses

- rent, utilities and server costs

- legal and accounting

- other such as advertising, travel, printing and design

This scheleton operation is needed to maintain the web site and work on applications for funding of the following five types of projects. The minimum seed money needed is $500,000.

 

b)- Feasibility study of Virtual Partnership for Universal Professional Education

The purpose of this study is to assess the extent of the major risk factors identified above. This assessment requires a survey of corporations and universities, as well as potential authors and faculty. Because the proposed model is unusual, it will require to be carefully and thoroughly explained in presentations to a sufficiently representative sample of each group. The needed 200 visitations will take at least six months, and must be planned with preparation of materials and selection of prospects. This project should be completed within the first two years of operation and will require a minimum of $1 million.

 

Corporate prospects should be approached not only with a description of how their current or potential employees could benefit from PEOI courses, but also with a sample application of new course funding described below.

 

c)- Contract for corporate funding of new courses

Regardless of the on-going feasibility study, a number of separate funding applications will be prepared for as many disciplines as the staff can handle. Each application should demonstrate the course development stages and the utilization of a completed course. The anticipated required funding is expected to range from $200,000 to $500,000. One such application should be used in the presentations to corporate prospects in the feasibility study.

 

d)- Develop course content based on public domain material

 

e)- Seek free existing on line educational material that can be transformed into professional coures

 

f)- Edit and update existing PEOI courses

 

g)- Survey students to determine what types of courses and procedures are the most useful

 

h)- Expansion of PEOI into additional languages

PEOI current web site is operational in English, French and Russian. To reach additional segments of the world population it is necessary for the web site to be operational in several other languages, such as Spanish in particular. Grant applications will be submitted for that purpose. The funds needed for each additional language is estimated to be around $40,000.

 

i)- Translation of existing courses

Although French and Russian procedures are installed, the text of most courses has not been translated. Funding will have to be secured for that purpose. For each course, the cost is likely to be a minimum of $50,000 for a complete professional course and $20,000 for a review course. As the number of courses expands and the number of languages multiply, the budget for this activity is likely to mushroom in five to ten years. To keep costs manageable, the use of field offices in developing countries is planned.

 

f)- Regional mirror web sites and offices

Regional offices are needed to adapt course content to local conditions (rather than just translate literally). Regional office can also better serve local universities and explore funding sources in the region. The annual operating budget of regional office can vary from a minimum of $150,000 (for a manager, assistant and accountant) to twice that much for a very active office.

 

Worst case scenario

 

As described in risk factors, the sequence of events hinges on two factors: receipt of seed money to hire the needed staff and attracting new authors at a manageable cost. Should neither of these events occur, the first year would remain unchanged, but in subsequent years the following would be done

- continue PEOI operations as they are at present because that requires no external funding

- solicit volunteers to carry out some of the tasks otherwise performed by paid staff such as promotion and advertising, attracting graduate students and authors, and writing grant applications

- expand course offerings by using existing lecture notes and study guides which are presently on hand for five additional professional courses in the field of finance

- work with other nonprofit organizations to spread the offering domestically and abroad

 

Alternative financial scenarios

 

The most likely scenario is probably somewhere in between the two previous versions. The optimum scenario proposes that development of 100 new courses will be funded with $14 million of grant money from foundations, businesses and government. New courses are clearly available, but they may be too costly or funding cannot be found to pay for them. If that is the case, then a different model must be used. The premise of PEOI course offering is that student should not have to pay for course development cost but only for course delivery costs. This model will be retained for the existing courses. But for course that cannot attract funding, the only alternative will be to charge students for course development costs. The fees would cover authors' royalties and editors' salaries. If, for instance, total development cost for a course is $200,000 and the course development cost need to be amortized over 10 years (i.e. complete course revision may be needed by then) with average enrollment of 200 students per year, then for each student course development fee would be $100 (i.e. 200,000/(10x200)). The problem will reside in the need to pay salaries in the year the course is completed and not over the 10 years; this can only be accomplished with long term borrowing which is likely to be hard to find.

 

Raising course enrollment fees significantly brings in another issue. The courses may become too expensive for a large number of students. This is contrary to the fundamental intent of PEOI. To overcome this problem, the same funding sources can be approached with a different funding solicitation. Rather than ask for funding of development costs, ask for funding of scholarships. Some donors may be more amenable to this approach, but the amount of funding is likely to be only a fraction of total course development costs. Another issue in this scenario is that fees for courses will differ not according to demand but according to costs that have nothing to do with course quality or usefulness. Uniformity of prices across courses and students would be much better. But compromising is always necessary to succeed.

 

Start correcting tests.