Digital Waves pt. 3: Pepperdine online
A history of academic computing at Pepperdine in the Internet age
This is the third part of a series on the history of computing at Pepperdine. In part one, we covered computing in the twentieth century. Part two looked at the influence of social media.
In 2007, Seaver College professor Steven Lemley banned the use of laptops in his communication theory class, explaining that the computers seemed to be negatively impacting the academic performance of students who found them distracting.1 The I.T. department under CIO Timothy Chester had been working hard to bring wireless Internet access to every classroom,2 but not everyone was receiving it with unmixed gratitude. Professor Sonia Sorrell heard from several students in her Western Heritage course that their classmates’ misuse of computers during class was a distraction,3 and professor Thomas Vandergon went so far as to confiscate a student’s mobile phone during a biology lecture, returning it three (!) days later.4
Other professors were more accepting of technology in the classroom. Religion professor Ron Cox favored laptops for note-taking,5 and history professor David Baird—then dean of Seaver College—said he hadn’t known students to be distracted by computers in his seminars.6 The Graphic opined in an editorial that banning laptops during class was unfair to students who used them appropriately and that it was the faculty’s job to meet the challenges presented by new technology.7
Struggles over the role of computers in the classroom were only the most obvious of several overlapping battles over how Pepperdine would adapt to technological change in the age of the Internet. Other flashpoints included the computer science curriculum, online degree programs, remote instruction over Zoom, and learning management software.
Computer science curriculum
Since the 1970s, Pepperdine has offered a computer science major that for the majority of the period has been called “computer science/mathematics,” a designation that is perhaps an admission that the school hasn’t had the faculty necessary to offer a full slate of computer science courses but that enough units for a major could be cobbled together by padding it with some math.8 Seaver has generally preferred more theoretical sciences to the applied engineering disciplines, which may also have motivated the computer science/mathematics program.
Since 2010 or so, computer science has grown in popularity among US college students, especially following the mythologization of the internet entrepreneur in media like The Social Network (2010). Since then, students have repeatedly agitated for a fuller range of computer science offerings.9
And students haven’t been the only ones ready for change. The computer science faculty, which had never consisted of more than two professors at any one time (normally one tenure-track and another visiting), put together a proposal for expanded faculty and a new major in 2015.10 But the proposal was quickly killed by the Seaver Academic Council. There seems to have been a chicken/egg–type problem because the council wanted a detailed curriculum before it would approve new hires but the new hires would be the ones with the expertise to develop a new curriculum.11
Although a computer science major still has not been approved, the computing curriculum has been updated in other ways. In 2016, a computer science/philosophy major was introduced that didn’t require any new courses to be added,12 and a digital humanities minor was added in 2017.13 Both programs might be understood as attempts to drive interest in the humanities by connecting them to technology. In 2021, the natural science division won a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to start a data science program.14
The story of the computing curriculum at Seaver over the last decade reveals a bureaucracy with some real weaknesses. Much of the institution’s self-talk is in favor of a strengthened computer science program:
the university’s 2030 strategic plan specifically mentions a new computer science program,15
the university’s affirmation statement holds that the truth “should be pursued relentlessly in every discipline,” and
the university’s founder expected graduates to solve problems like “automation” and “the electronic brain” and to prepare by taking “technical courses in addition to their liberal arts education.”16
But so far at least, this talk has not surmounted bureaucratic obstacles.17
Online classes
As early as the 1990s, Pepperdine had dreams of holding class online. In 1997, The Graphic reported that online distance learning was increasing in popularity thanks to schools like the University of Phoenix, but that “Pepperdine currently does not offer any classes on the internet.”18 In 1998, The Graphic saw technology as a solution to Southern California’s frequent natural disasters: “by the time the next El Nino season thunders into Malibu, Pepperdine professors may be prepared—not with sandbags, not with umbrellas but with web sites. […] Next time professors might just hold class via computer network.”19
Contrary to what the student newspaper was saying, by that point Pepperdine had already been holding class online for years—just not at Seaver. In 1995, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) launched a doctoral program in educational technology, about 40 percent of which was delivered online.20 A master’s degree in educational technology was also offered that was almost entirely online: students met with their professors and classmates three times, at the beginning, middle, and end of the term, but 85 percent of classwork was done online, mainly via discussion posts. There were no video lectures to watch and no synchronous video discussions.21
Led by professors like Linda Polin, Terrence Cannings, and Jack McManus, the educational technology program was well regarded, winning praise from professors at Harvard and Stanford, who called it “one of the most innovative distance learning programs in the country” and “the best online program in the United States.”22
GSEP may have been the first, but it was not the only of Pepperdine’s schools to offer programs online. In 2013, the Graziadio Business School launched an online MBA overseen by associate dean David Smith that was soon ranked 15 in the nation by Princeton Review.23 With the exception of a weekend-long in-person workshop, the program was delivered entirely online.24
The biggest change to Pepperdine’s online offerings came in 2017, when the university announced a partnership with 2U, Inc., an educational technology company that partners with schools to offer degrees via their online platform.25 Under the terms of the partnership, 2U would help with course design and marketing, and Pepperdine would supply the instructors. Sixty-five percent of tuition revenues would go to 2U, and Pepperdine would split the other 35 percent evenly between the school offering the program and the university’s central administration.26
The first programs to be offered with 2U were from GSEP, which already had decades of experience with online programs, and the school of law, whose first foray into online degrees was being led by associate dean Jim Gash.27 The other graduate schools were close behind: Graziadio launched an online MBA with 2U in 2020, and the School of Public Policy offered an online MPP in 2022.28
Measured by enrollments, the 2U programs were generally successful. Less than two years after the first programs started, there were already 649 students enrolled in Pepperdine’s offerings through 2U,29 and a couple years later online enrollments were still growing in each school.30 In academic year 2021–22, Pepperdine paid 2U over $48 million for its services, suggesting that the university’s share of the revenue was around $24 million.31
Lately, however, the picture has become more complicated. In 2023, the University of Southern California—the first university to partner with 2U—announced it would pay a hefty fee to end their partnership, causing the company’s stock to lose more than half its value.32 At the time, Pepperdine was reported as 2U’s largest client, doing perhaps as much as $100 million of business together.33 Early in 2024, Graziadio ditched 2U, deciding to run its online programs in house after years of declining online enrollments.34 But just a few months later, Pepperdine announced six new degree programs through 2U, including one from its new College of Health Science.35
This is more or less where things stand at the time of writing, as I understand them. Despite public statements to the contrary, Pepperdine’s decision to offer online degrees seems to me to be motivated primarily by revenue.36
Zoom school
The Woolsey Fire tore through Malibu in early November 2018, doing billions of dollars in damage and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate. Once the fires had been put out on campus, Pepperdine moved Malibu classes online for two weeks, through the Thanksgiving holiday. The university had just signed a deal with a new video conferencing company called Zoom. The I.T. department’s TechLearn team had been expecting to start its Zoom service in August 2019 when its contract with Adobe Connect would expire, but when the fire struck, the team quickly got the licenses necessary for faculty to hold class on Zoom.37
So by the time the COVID-19 pandemic forced Pepperdine to hold classes remotely beginning in March 2020, the university was already prepared to operate online, thanks to the Academic Continuity Plan that I.T. put together after Woolsey. Much about the transition was difficult, but early reviews of the technology were largely positive.38 Of course, some courses are better suited to video conference than others. Students in the fine arts division reported difficulties: how do you do studio art without access to your studio, or what does a recital look like when gathering indoors is prohibited?39
As students returned to campus beginning in June 2021, challenges compounded with many professors adopting hybrid modalities to accommodate both students on the ground and those joining online because of covid considerations. The university spent large sums equipping classrooms to allow for classes to be streamed live: cameras and microphones had to be installed and faculty had to be trained to use them.40
More recently, classes are being held in person again, but Zoom remains an option in emergency situations. For instance, when a threat closed the West L.A. campus last week, classes were held remotely.41 Still, it’s not always obvious what conditions should prompt classes to be moved online. When rockslides blocked access to Malibu this February, in-person classes were canceled,42 and students opined in The Graphic that classes should be held online whenever it rains heavily.43
Institutional software
Of course, Zoom is not the only software used to support Pepperdine’s academic activities. Around the turn of the millennium, the university launched a student portal called PepXpress that allowed students to check their grades, register for classes, and get information about financial aid. The system was provided by Campus Pipeline. At about the same time, Pepperdine also began using a learning management system (LMS) from Blackboard, allowing course-specific material to be posted online, including homework assignments, quizzes, and announcements. The new software, put in place by chief information officer John Lawson, was part of president David Davenport’s push to bring more technology into the classroom.44
In 2006, PepXpress was replaced by WaveNet as part of a switch to a new PeopleSoft system. WaveNet was welcomed by university registrar Hung Le as a big improvement over the old system.45 PeopleSoft has seen a number of major updates since then, including in 2013 and 2018.46
After a lengthy trial period, in 2011 Pepperdine replaced Blackboard with Courses, based on Sakai, the open-source LMS.47 This year, I.T. is performing another LMS pilot program, contemplating a switch to Canvas, which is already in use for some of the university’s online courses.
Around 2013, Pepperdine launched an official mobile application. The Pepperdine app offered mobile users news, maps, a calendar, and links to other information.48 One of the app’s more promising features was a shuttle tracker that showed the location of each active shuttle to help plan trips around campus.49
But the tracking feature didn’t deliver a polished enough experience for computer science student Micah Benn, who took the initiative to build and release his own shuttle tracker, which he called Rho. Benn said his app was faster and smoother, offering an integrated map rather than a web view like the official app’s tracker.50 But after about 350 downloads, the university asked Benn to de-list his app, which was sending requests to an API that Benn had reverse-engineered.51 Improvements to the university’s official app have continued regularly, including a major update in 2023.52
Over the last quarter century, computing has come to play a larger and larger role in the academic experience at Pepperdine. We’re still too close to many of the developments in this area to see them clearly, but I expect some of the most important stories in this space will continue to be the computer science curriculum, online classes, remote instruction, and institutional software.
Samantha Blons, “Professors say laptops interrupt class lectures,” The Graphic, 15 Feb. 2007: A4.
See Hayley Lerch, “Laptops become a nuisance,” The Graphic, 16 Feb. 2006: A3; cf. Samantha Blons, “I.T. makes upgrades, wireless dorms next,” The Graphic, 27 Aug. 2007: A4.
Blons, supra note 1.
Chris Bishop and Stan Parker, “Questionable confiscation rekindles technology debate,” The Graphic, 4 Nov. 2010: A1, A3.
Lerch, supra note 2.
Blons, supra note 1.
Staff editorial, “Laptop responsibility on students,” The Graphic, 22 Feb. 2007: A8.
A computer science major seems to be listed in the Pepperdine University Bulletin: Seaver College 1978–79 Catalog: 71 (Pepperdine University Bulletins, Catalogs and Schedule of Classes, SCUA). There may have been some students with contract majors earlier than 1978. The earliest mention I’ve found of a computer science major is from 1971 (see “O’Neal-Anderson,” The Graphic, 29 July 1971: 2), but the website of accreditor WSCUC says the program was implemented in 1972. The “computer science/mathematics” moniker seems to have been in place by the early 1990s (see, e.g., Seaver College Commencement program for winter 1992, which lists graduate Mark R. Idema as a Computer Science/Mathematics major, cum laude).
See, e.g., Falon Opsahl, “Computer science students lobby for an expanded program,“ The Graphic, 30 Mar. 2014.
Kelly Rodriguez, “Computer Science Program May Upgrade,” The Graphic, 7 Mar. 2015.
Rachel Ettlinger, “Seaver College Continues the Conversation About Computer Science,” The Graphic, 27 Dec. 2016.
See Seaver College 2016–2017 Academic Catalog: 328. Cf. Minutes of the Seaver Academic Council, 26 Oct. 2015: 3.
See Seaver College 2017–2018 Academic Catalog: 423. Cf. Minutes of the Seaver Academic Council, 27 Jan. 2017: 3.
Sara Alamdar, “Pepperdine University Receives $10 Million Grant from W. M. Keck Foundation for STEM Education,” Pepperdine Newsroom, 9 Sept. 2021.
See goal 3 of strategic objective 1 in Ascend Together, 2022.
George Pepperdine, “A Vision and a Challenge,” 1957: 3.
I find it sadly revealing that the largest additions to the university’s curriculum in the last quarter century (the new programs in nursing and speech-language pathology from the forthcoming College of Health Science) have had to come from outside the existing bureaucratic structure of committees and schools by appointing a new dean of academic initiatives.
Leslie Bevill, “Seaver studying new technology,” The Graphic, 19 Feb. 1998: A3.
Mary Ammerman, “Technology face to face,” Pepperdine People, fall 1997: 18–20. Cf. “Doctor of Education in Educational Technology,” Graduate School of Education and Psychology 2007–2008 Academic Catalog: 100.
Deborah Pikul, “Chocolate Chip Cookies: Imagine That!,” Pepperdine People, summer 2000: 24–25.
Chris Dede and Roy Pea, respectively, as quoted in Jerry Derloshon, “Salt of the Earth,” Pepperdine People, spring 2002: 22.
Gareen Darakjian, “Graziadio School Announces New MBA Opportunities,” Pepperdine Magazine, fall 2012; cf. Shivani Patel, “Pepperdine Graziadio Names No. 15 on Princeton Review Business School Ranking,” The Malibu Times, 15 Nov. 2017.
See “Online Master of Business Administration,” Graziadio School of Business and Management 2013–2014 Academic Catalog: 100.
Sara Alamdar, “2U, Inc. and Pepperdine University Partner to Offer New Online Degree Programs,” Pepperdine Newsroom, 27 Jan. 2017.
Minutes of the University Academic Council, 28 Oct. 2016: 1; see also Minutes of the University Planning Committee, 15 Sept. 2021: 5.
“Pepperdine University Partners with 2U, Inc. to Offer Two Online Degree Programs,” 2u.com, 25 Jan. 2017; “Pepperdine University Opens Applications for New Online Master of Legal Studies,” 2u.com, 27 Apr. 2017.
Minutes of the University Planning Committee, 20 Feb. 2019: 3.
Minutes of the University Planning Committee, 15 Sept. 2021: 4.
See Pepperdine’s Form 990 for the 2020–2021 fiscal year, ProPublica.
Matt Hamilton and Harriet Ryan, “USC cuts ties to controversial online degree company 2U,” Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2023.
Minutes of the University Planning Committee, 17 May 2023: 2. Pepperdine may have in fact been 2U’s second-biggest client, with 7,000 students going through its programs as of spring 2024. See Ben Unglesbee, “Financially struggling 2U adds 6 new programs to Pepperdine University partnership,” Higher Ed Dive, 17 May 2024.
For evidence of declining online enrollments at Graziadio, see Minutes of the University Planning Committee, 14 Sept. 2022: 4.
“2U Expands Partnership with Pepperdine University to Launch Six Online Degree Programs in Education and Healthcare Disciplines,” Pepperdine Newsroom, 16 May 2024.
See, e.g., the 2017 statement from provost Rick Marrs: “With these innovative new online programs, we provide access to a Pepperdine education to more people regardless of geography, furthering our university’s mission to be a global, Christian university dedicated to preparing our graduates to be servant-minded leaders throughout the world,” quoted in Alamdar supra note 25.
“Classrooms Get Collaborative,” Pepperdine Information Technology Annual Review 2018: 12–13.
See Lindsey Sullivan, “Students and Professors Persevere Amid Challenges to Online Instruction,” The Graphic, 26 Mar. 2020.
Grace Wood, “Fine Arts Majors Adapt to Online Classes,” The Graphic, 21 Mar. 2020.
“Called to Service,” Pepperdine Information Technology Annual Review 2021: 7–13.
“Remote Classes and Work at the West LA Campus,” Pepperdine Emergency Information, 24 June 2024.
“Malibu Campus In-Person Classes Canceled for Today,” Pepperdine Emergency Information, 21 Feb. 2024.
Chloe Anna Austria, “Zoom Class Should Be Required in Heavy Rain,” The Graphic, 22 Feb. 2024.
Julieanne Leupold, “Connection in an Isolating Age,” Currents, fall 2000: 22. Cf. Laurie Babinski, “Lawson hired as Tulane VP,” The Graphic, 7 Feb. 2002: A1, A9.
Jaimie Franklin, “New Web portal makes waves,” The Graphic, 28 Aug. 2006: A1, A9.
Patrick Rear, “WaveNet interface upgraded,” The Graphic, 17 Jan. 2013: A3. See also “Screen Tested,” IT Annual Review 2018: 6–7.
David Nagel, “Pepperdine U Moves to Sakai Open Source LMS,” Campus Technology, 28 Sept. 2010.
See an ad for the app in The Graphic, 27 Mar. 2014: A4.
See Ricardo Avila Alvarez, “Live GPS shuttle tracking to be introduced on Pepp app,” The Graphic, 13 Feb. 2014: A1, A5.
Hansol Hwang, “Rho app eases shuttle tracking issue,” The Graphic, 22 Sep. 2016: A1, A3.
See Rachel Ettlinger, “Rho shuttle app discontinued,” The Graphic, 9 Feb. 2017: A4. This wasn’t the only time Benn reverse-engineered a Pepperdine API to get data for an application he wrote. In 2016, he wrote an account of his development of an alternative to WaveNet he called NetWave, which was also shut down at the university’s request. See Micah Benn, “CS at Pepperdine University,” Medium, 19 July 2016.
“Discover and Download Updated Pepperdine Mobile App,” Pepperdine Community, 21 Aug. 2023.
Brief update on 2U: it's filed for bankruptcy - https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/economy/2u-bankruptcy-maryland-QI3CWYXTWBCKFDNEDQYT6Y5LCA/