dvanced distance education delivery systems have blurred geographical boundaries among college campuses and increased competition in the traditional markets they serve. Today's high-tech systems for bringing learning to students rather than students to campus have also removed real and perceived barriers to attracting adult learners who live or work at a distance from a college campus.

This technology-driven liberation from the narrow lines on the map and the mile markers along the highway means that schools can expand their geographic base, extend their reach into untapped markets, and develop innovative ways for students to earn graduate degrees, certificates and other professional credentials.

Among the trailblazers in this bold new world is WPI's Center for Firesafety Studies, the first academic program in fire protection engineering to offer for-credit fire protection engineering courses to practicing engineers via distance learning technology.

The increasing sophistication of communications and information technology - including e-mail, two-way interactive video, videotapes, the Internet and the World Wide Web - has enabled the center to deliver courses to students in nearly 50 communities in the United States and Canada through WPI's Advanced Distance Learning Network (ADLN). David Lucht, director of the center, tells of a student who made a career move to England midway through his academic program in fire protection engineering. Through ADLN, he was able to continue his studies.

The market is strong for continuing and graduate education programs. In fact, more than 40 percent of the U.S. adult population has participated in adult education activities over the past few years. That comes as no surprise to Lucht, who has seen enrollment in the fire protection program more than triple over the past 15 years. The job market is strong for fire protection engineers, he says. The center's graduates are sought by engineering consulting firms, public utilities, hospitals, hotels, government agencies, insurance companies and many other industries.

Fire protection engineering is a multidisciplinary field that attracts working professionals with academic backgrounds in a host of disciplines, including chemical, civil, electrical, industrial and mechanical engineering. "We offer students several options, including a graduate certificate or a master's degree program. The latter usually takes five or six years to finish on a part-time basis," Lucht says. "Through distance learning technology, we are able to take these programs directly to the students."

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David Lucht says the tools of modern distance learning are helping his department meet a strong demand for graduate education in fire protection engineering.

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Lucht says distance learning students receive the same lectures and homework assignments as do students who attend classes on campus. Courses delivered to on- and off-campus students originate in WPI's state-of-the-art television classrooms. They are either offered through two-way interactive video or whisked to students on videotape via express mail, depending on the facilities available to the student. Distance learners communicate with professors via telephone, fax and e-mail.

Lucht says the distance learning program is of special value to practicing fire protection engineers who want to keep current with the field. "The technology of fire protection is changing so quickly that practicing engineers need to keep pace," he says. "There's no better place to do that than WPI."

Lucht says the growth in the popularity of his department's programs is due as much to word-of-mouth as it is to the center's formal marketing efforts. "Our students talk to their colleagues about our programs," he says. "In addition, more and more people are finding us on the Web. There's a strong market out there; we're taking it one step at a time."

Elizabeth Walker