CU on Coursera Open House Welcomes Online Students
BOULDER, CO — Roughly 90 students, alumni, faculty, and staff gathered at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Kittredge Central Hall for the annual CU on Coursera Open House. This interdepartmental networking event is designed to connect online learners from CU on Coursera’s graduate programs, including the Master of Science degrees in Artificial Intelligence (MS-AI), Computer Science (MS-CS), Electrical and Computer Engineering (MS-ECE), as well as the Master of Engineering in Engineering Management (ME-EM).
The event began with a welcome and keynote by Associate Dean for Digital Education Wendy Martin. Martin shared strategies and tips with students on how to get the most out of their degree, with an emphasis on their skills, relationships, energy, and evidence as they progress through their learning.
“Online education is powerful because it allows people to invest in themselves without stepping away from their careers or their lives. A degree is an important milestone, but the real value is what students carry forward: the skills they build, the relationships they develop, and the confidence to use what they have learned to create impact in their organizations and communities,” Martin said.
Students had the opportunity to engage in six different breakout sessions, with topics including the infrastructure of AI, engineering leadership in the age of AI, and a Course Facilitator Q&A where learners could ask their Course Facilitators questions in person they often have to send via email.
“We decided to branch out our programming to create a more specialized and interactive learning experience this year. In previous years, students have expressed wanting to hear more from our faculty, so we designed a longer program that allowed for more interaction in ‘lecture-style’ breakout sessions,” Layne Williams, Program Manager for the MS-CS and MS-AI degree programs said.
Attendees also had the chance to tour the CU Boulder campus and engage with university resources that online students often don’t have the opportunity to interact with in person.
These unique graduate programs are offered through the Coursera learning platform, enabling learners around the globe to earn fully accredited master’s degrees from CU Boulder. With flexible, pay-as-you-go tuition and performance-based admissions through three "pathway" courses, these programs have broken down the barriers to higher education and opened doors for non-traditional students.
“I work full-time, so the convenience of taking the courses asynchronously through Coursera worked well for my schedule, and the freedom to consume the course content at my leisure was important to me, so that’s ultimately why I chose this program,” Jacob Waters, recent graduate of the ME-EM program and event attendee, said.
Open House this year included a Saturday event: “Donuts on the Green”, to provide a more social component to the event that students have historically expressed interest in.
"We designed Day One to deliver massive, immediate value through heavy-hitting presentations and practical insights," Carly Morse, Program Manager in the Office of Digital Education at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said. "Day Two naturally extended that energy into a relaxed, social environment where attendees could process what they learned, build genuine partnerships, and connect directly with fellow learners.”
As a leading public research institution, the University of Colorado Boulder is committed to delivering accessible and high-quality education to learners worldwide. Learn more about CU Boulder’s innovative online master’s degree programs in artificial intelligence, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and engineering management.