Abstract
The horse has left the barn. Distance education is here to stay and the number of degree programs offered online is growing rapidly. California State University Channel Islands (CI) admitted its first students in 2002, and the undergraduate and graduate degrees in business were among its first program offerings. From its inception, the "foundation courses" for the CI MBA program have been offered online and the campus recently committed to offering the undergraduate business degree via distance education. This paper describes the steps taken to adapt a successful, on-campus, face-to-face program to an online program. It also presents "lessons learned" in several categories: securing institutional support for offering online degree programs, adapting existing curriculum, modifying existing processes (academic advising, evaluating teaching effectiveness and assessing educational effectiveness), and using the accreditation process as a blueprint and checklist for the new online degree program.