毕业生税务计划’s Online Enrollment Enters Fifth Year

凭借广泛的课程和鼓励学生参与的新策略，该计划继续在在线教育领域取得突破性进展。

Now in its fifth year, the online enrollment option of the 毕业生税务计划 (GTP) at 波士顿大学法学院 continues to provide active practitioners with a flexible option to earn the School’s highly ranked 税务法学硕士 degree.

The GTP offers 40余门课程 to students pursuing the residential and online 税务法学硕士 options and those completing the new Estate Planning Certificate. 大多数在线课程都是以混合形式提供的，在这种形式中，现场直播的住宿课程被拍摄成视频，然后上传到课程信息网站，供学生观看，并提供可搜索的讲座文稿和封闭字幕。 该项目还提供了一小部分在线课程，其中包括由课程内容、讲座录音和讨论板组成的学习模块。 独家在线课程允许学生从位于波士顿地区以外的国家税务专家学习。

“A lot of what we’re doing here is very innovative and forward thinking,” says Sara Marshall, director of the 毕业生税务计划. “We are at the point where every residential course has an online section.”

该项目于2012年秋季启动，最初只提供少量在线课程。 随着每学期入学人数的增加，课程中增加了更多的在线课程。 为了在在线和住校GTP课程之间建立更大的一致性，该项目开始探索将住校教学扩展到在线学习者的方法。 混合课程形式于2014年推出，在过去两年中，该项目已经扩展到提供更多的混合课程以及专门的在线课程。 这一变化使学生有机会选择以前没有的各种课程。

如今，这个在线项目已经进入第五个年头，它希望通过直播课程讲座和增加新濠影汇赌场与学生之间实时互动的机会，进一步推动在线教育。

目前有119名学生参加了在线选修课程，而2012年该课程刚推出时只有18名学生。大多数学生都是职业生涯中期的专业人士，希望在兼职的基础上学习课程。 Online students have the flexibility to receive the same quality education as residential students without having to relocate to Boston.

Marshall says the online enrollment option is a testing ground for new teaching methods and technologies that allow students and faculty to explore new forms of engagement. For example, in an exercise for Adjunct Professor of Law 约瑟夫·达比的 Tax Aspects of Buying and Selling a Business, online students were put into virtual classroom groups to work together to negotiate transactions.

The online option has also enhanced the learning experiences of the GTP’s residential students, as hybrid instructors have introduced new forms of engagement that can enhance the traditional face-to-face dynamic. “Many of the best practices in online student engagement, including adding assessments and reflective learning opportunities, are available to residential students as well,” Marshall says. “This benefits the program as a whole. 住宿学生的另一个好处是能够获得多达六个学分的在线课程来获得学位。 住校学生不再需要因为时间冲突而错过上课。 They also appreciate having access to the transcribed lectures.”

A key to the program’s success, Marshall says, is that the online and residential options are administered together, and are thought of as two parts of a whole. “The programs complement each other; an online student’s transcript and diploma is no different from a residential degree, and the reason we can do that is because they are in the same classes, with the same faculty, and held to the same standards as our residential students.”

In addition to the notable tax professionals from the Boston area who make up the GTP’s residential faculty, the online option also allows the program to attract top experts from across the country to teach electives related to their area of practice. 例如，法律讲师科里·史密斯（Corey Smith）是华盛顿特区司法部税务部门的高级诉讼律师，他目前只在网上教授刑事税务课程。

“Our faculty includes top estate planning professionals, leaders of tax departments at large law firms, tax boutique firms, and all of the Big Four,” says Marshall. “The reason we’ve been able to make this transition to adding online sections for each course is because of the dedication of our staff and the loyalty of the faculty to the program.”

随着对灵活教育的需求不断增长，毕业生税务计划继续提供高质量的课程，以满足学生的需求。 “The goal always was and continues to be to not compromise on providing the highest educational standards in teaching,” says Marshall. “That’s something that BU Law has always had a commitment to.”

Reported by Greg Yang (CAS’17)