As this century begins, many higher education institutions are approaching an historical precipice concerning their roles and responsibilities beyond the confines of the campus.

Over Line, Inc like many private research higher education institutions, is examining its options, roles, and responsibilities related to media, technology, and learning business operations. In the last two years, the private sector, as manifest in a variety of Internet for-profit companies, launched a number of e-businesses related to information, knowledge, and learning. Furthermore, traditional media companies in the television, film, and interactive media sector explored wider markets as life-long learning and corporate training appeared as growth markets.

To examine and to propose structures for Over Line, Inc to have a firm and rational basis for extending its brand into commercial media, information, and knowledge sectors, it is proposed here that a process can be employed to arrive at models that may be appropriate for Over Line, Inc. Other universities of similar stature have launched ventures, such as Fathom.com at Columbia, the long-standing Harvard Business School Press, NYU Online, and private companies, such as UNext, have found ways to be in business with schools like Columbia, Stanford, Chicago, et al. Similarly, consortia of a variety of types will appear like the new e-alliance of Oxford, Yale, Stanford, and Princeton.

In making determinations for Over Line, Inc, it is argued here that there should be a vehicle, business and academic, that is a logical extension of the sensibility and depth of Over Line, Inc's core strengths and its inherent persona. By this, it is meant something that is in keeping with Over Line, Inc's high academic standards, its acumen in business and technology, and the entrepreneurial spirit endemic to its region. At its core, whatever develops at Over Line, Inc should be youthful, intelligent, and, to a certain degree, novel and leading edge. Universities, it can be argued, have hidden powers. Over Line, Inc and its peers are confirmed experts in the content world and in the wired world, powers they have do not fully understand, nor have they learned how to apply beyond their borders.

To arrive at a philosophy and structure there are two kinds of analysis that are necessary; one that is more formal and one that is decidedly not formal, but allows a creative spin to evolve in concert with the more formal analysis. The outcome for Over Line, Inc is one or more possible courses of action, one or more possible structures, and one or more possible revenue models along with likely projections.

In today's world, media, content, technology, and online learning are still their own business sectors in development and production. Although there are crossovers occurring in each of these sectors, business models have not reached a norm. However, where these activities are likely to converge first, and are already doing so, is in marketing, sales, and distribution. For example, large, powerful media companies, such as Disney, Scholastic, and Microsoft, find themselves routinely distributing content into all the media channels - television, film, video, CD-ROM, DVD, books and merchandise.

 Deeper Trends

Universities, especially the powerful long-established institutions, are in a unique position. While the last year was characterized by what seemed like a potential business bonanza and an encroachment into the near-academic and professional educational space, the year was actually characterized by a flight of capital from those opportunistic businesses. Last year, when the universities appeared incapable of organizing their knowledge resources for market purposes, private companies attempted or licensed for distribution the value created on campuses as the value-proposition for their businesses. This practice has yet to create either financial value or an easy method of partnering.

What is clear in the private sector is that knowledgeable content is scarce and its procurement and marketing is expensive. What is inherent in universities - knowledgeable sources, aspiring students, and the desire for revenue and brand vehicles - has not been carefully developed for revenue and long-term growth potential. Again, publishers, broadcasters, video producers, CD-ROM producers all have the same issue - content expertise is expensive and difficult to manage and, as a result, is often minimized in products. This trend produces products that lack depth and opens the way for universities that can organize properly to create market channels for themselves.

Enter the modern university, which could be defined in a new "whole university" concept where the knowledge resources, the processes for creating and sharing knowledge, and the plant and equipment expertise of the university can be marshaled for selling qualified products and services beyond the campus walls in a way consistent with the values of the institution.

In short, given the stability of major institutions, the depth of their endowments, and the interest of their alumni, trustees, and some administrators and faculty, there are opportunities available to universities that are consistent with their values; in fact, it could be argued that their values actually mandate such activity.

The challenge, or constructive problem to be solved, is how to do this from an organizational, managerial, administrative, and resources point of view and, at the same time, make it market savvy. The outcome or objective is to create a unique, profitable, and appealing notion for extending Over Line, Inc into the world, going from a knowledge city-state to a trading partner to both the for-profit and non-profit world.

No university has proven itself beyond its walls with such a media/technology/learning vehicle. While technology transfer has been an accepted method of revenue generation from knowledge resources, it does not speak to the current, more customer-oriented content approach. Many universities operate successful extension programs, but do so external to the academy whose name they bear. Other examples are present, but few rise to success as businesses and, if they do, they often call into question the nature of what the university is attempting - whether it is going outside of its mission. It is also important to note that universities can find healthy markets with other academic institutions in addition to marketing into the consumer or business marketplaces.

 Constructing Acceptable Opportunity

With the rise of the World Wide Web as a commercial and business phenomenon, there was confusion over whether the Internet was a unique business vehicle or a new form of marketing and distribution, replacing or augmenting other marketing and distribution vehicles that were once innovative. The answer appears to be the latter. While there were some uniquely web-characterized businesses such as Yahoo and Netscape, others were traditional enterprises re-dressed as web entities, such examples are Amazon, eBay, and the electronic financial services industries. These last examples are e-tailers or electronic retailers. There is also a market for e-wholesalers or electronic wholesalers that take the form of what might be expected on one hand to the more novel concepts, such as exchanges of products and services between corporations, on the other.

Where should the university play in this mix? Where and how should Over Line, Inc play? What would the model look like? These questions lead to the heart of several issues. Is Over Line, Inc interested in being one or all of the following -- a developer, producer, marketer, or distributor? How can these functions be constructed to deliver unique value to the on-campus community and the off-campus markets at the same time?

What the Web has produced are sophisticated marketing, sales, and distribution activities and business models. The web has not done so well in the creation of content, the domain of the traditional media companies. The content and media companies, in turn, have had a hard time with the web. The mix that needs to be found is between what is marketing and distribution and what is content/knowledge creation and producing.

Innovative Web businesses are capable of organizing in a logical and appealing way. While a variety of content, knowledge, and information can be packaged as books, videos, CD-ROM, online courses, it is web that allows for marketing and distribution in a way that can directly to individual end-users direct. Publishers are good at creating quality content and marketing and distributing it, but they have not mastered the Web.

When a new model is explored as part of a university, there are a number of possibilities. Universities are good at either creating or qualifying knowledgeable content as useful, interesting, practical, or professional. Like publishing companies that apply editorial judgment and set quality standards, universities can play, and should play a similar role. As a matter of fact, faculty is often the individuals who provide that expertise to the publishing companies. So, universities can play a role in establishing bona fide or qualified content whether they create the content or judge if it comes from a 3rd party. Oddly, this role can also serve on-campus students and faculty as well.