Following last week’s announcements of new contracts between Coursera and a whole host of public institutions (coverage at IHE, CHE, NYTimes), I requested a copy of the contract signed between the UT System and the online MOOC provider. Tennessee has a public records act, which I mentioned in the email asking to see the contract. When I opened my email this morning, there it was. (Thank goodness for sunshine laws and the temporary good sense behind them.)
I have only skimmed it thus far, but I’m putting it up here for others to read. I’ll come back with more of my thoughts on the contract once I’ve had a chance to read it more closely.
A couple of notes of explanation:
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The contract reveals the extent to which Coursera is looking for new opportunities to leverage its Platform (videos with embedded quizzes and a discussion forum — is that really a platform?). This contract is quite different, at least in the stated goals of the System, from others we’ve seen, like the one signed by the University of Kentucky system.
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This contract was signed by the University of Tennessee system, which includes five campuses: UT Chattanooga, UT Martin, the UT Space Institute (Tullahoma), UT Health Science Center (Memphis), and UT Knoxville. The UT System is governed by a Board of Trustees. There is a second system in the state called the Board of Regents system, which includes campuses like East Tennessee State University. The Board of Regents system has also signed a contract with Coursera, though I don’t know how much it differs from this one.
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The contract covers an 18-month period during which UT will evaluate Coursera’s platform as an alternative to its current online course technology provider (which I believe is Blackboard Connect). Thus, we’re talking about implementing two courses with multiple sections across campuses. I have a problem with that from the start house. Speaking of which, my favorite quote thus far…
The Platform will support cross-institutional simultaneous enrollment at Institution in a single-class instance to allow for the creation of larger cohorts.
So, without further ado, here it is: Coursera Contract
Please leave any thoughts in the comments below, or on twitter, where I am @parezcoydigo.
Associate Professor of Early Latin America Department of History University of Tennessee-Knoxville
parezco y digo 
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