William Swart is Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at East Carolina University. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering with Honors from Clemson University, a M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Swart has reached top management positions in both industry and academia. He served as Corporate Vice President of Operations Systems at Burger King Corporation. He is credited for pioneering the use of industrial engineering in the restaurant industry and his work received a finalist award in the prestigious INFORMS Franz Edelman Competition for the best application of management science in the world. He also served as a Technical Cooperation Expert with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Turkey and took part in the development of the tourism sector input to that country’s first five-year economic development plan.

In academia, he served as Dean of Engineering and Technology at both the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Old Dominion University (Virginia) as well as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at East Carolina University. His research and consulting activities included the development of methodologies to improve the ground processing NASA’s Space Shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center, the development of Taco Bell’s Labor Management System, and research on affordable energy efficient housing sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy. These activities have led to a second Franz Edelman finalist award, the Achievement Medal in Operations Research and Management Science from INFORMS, the IIE Operations Practice award, and a NASA/JFK Group Achievement Award. His many real-world experiences have given Dr. Swart a clear insight into what students should learn. His current research is focused on how students can most effectively learn it.

Enrollments in universities have steadily declined over the last several years. Simultaneously, the number of students taking online courses has steadily increased. University administrators agree that online programs are an essential component of their strategic plans. Yet, they acknowledge that most of their faculty agree that online teaching is inferior to face to face. Many also feel that there is a lack of acceptance of online degrees by potential employers.

The above reflect the feelings of providers of higher education. These feelings are diametrically opposite to those of the consumers of higher education. While some argue that students take online courses because they do not have access to a traditional campus, many students on a traditional campus choose the online option when the same course is taught both online and face to face. Likewise, employers with tuition reimbursement plans continue to support their employee requests for tuition refunds for online programs.

In this keynote plenary address, we will examine ways to effectively bridge the gap of perceived quality of online and face to face learning and show analytical results indicating that one form is not necessarily better than the other.