TITLE The Search for Quality Standards in Distance Learning.

This paper explores the issues surrounding quality in higher education and its necessary adaptation to the online world of educational delivery. A historical perspective on quality standards is presented, and characteristics of recent models for quality control are outlined. Quality-related issues in Walden University's (Minnesota) two new online, course based programs--a Ph.D. in Professional Psychology and a Master of Science degree in Educational Change and Technology Innovation--are discussed. Highlights include: (1) managerial quality/organizational criteria, including leadership and record keeping; (2) functional quality/technological criteria, including student support via process teams; and (3) ethical quality/instructional criteria, including the relationship between students and faculty, faculty evaluation, and student and faculty empowerment. (Contains 33 references.) (AEF) * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document.