Thought Leaders in Online Education: Berkeley College Dean of Online Learning Joseph Scuralli (Part 1)

Joe discusses open problems in online education.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to Berkeley College and yourself.

Joseph Scuralli: I am the Dean for Online Education at Berkeley College. I’m also Dean of the Larry L. Luing School of Business. I currently carry out responsibilities for both of those positions. I started at Berkeley College in 2007 as a full-time faculty member.

I have a Doctorate of Professional Studies in Business with concentrations in International Business and Marketing from Pace University and an MBA in Industrial Management and Bachelors in Management.

My career started off in a family business. The company was a manufacturer of plastic extrusion machinery. I worked there since I was 13 years old until I got out of college. Then I ran that business for approximately 25 years. It was a capital equipment firm making products out of plastics like catheters and wiring cable.

I have a lot of experience in the industrial sector and in the management and marketing of the industrial enterprise. I also serve as a council member. I’ve been elected to my position since 2004.

As far as Berkeley College goes, the mission is to empower students to achieve lifelong success and dynamic careers. We are a career-focused college. We are accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

We’ve been transforming lives for 90 years. We were established in 1931 in New Jersey and 1936 in New York City. It started as the Berkeley School. It was mainly for women who wanted the knowledge and skills to pursue professional careers.

Today, Berkeley College educates a diverse array of students of all ages and backgrounds for careers in business, allied health fields, fashion merchandising & management, interior design, justice studies, legal studies, as well as continuing education programs for adults.

We have many different ways of going through earning credentials such as certificates and degree programs that give pathways to dynamic careers. I want to emphasize that we are a full-degree granting institution.

We serve a diverse student body with campuses in New York city and four locations in New Jersey, and Berkeley College online. For the most recent academic year, more than 5,700 students have enrolled. We started offering online courses in 1998.

Sramana Mitra: What is the most successful online offering from Berkeley College?

Joseph Scuralli: Our largest programs are our business programs. We also do a lot in the area of criminal justice and legal studies. Those are the top two.

Sramana Mitra: What is special about your online business program?

Joseph Scuralli: It is exactly the same as our onsite, which is a career-focused program. Our online offerings are very much tailored towards not only students who are traditional students, but also for working people who are looking to get to the next level in their careers. They may or may not have some college already.

We couple that with the fact that our faculty are practitioner-oriented rather than research-focused who don’t have much business experience. We think that coupled with our customized IT environment offers a very significant unique selling proposition.

This segment is part 1 in the series : Thought Leaders in Online Education: Berkeley College Dean of Online Learning Joseph Scuralli
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