From its beginnings 25 years ago, the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu (UH-West O'ahu) has strived to provide its students, mostly working adults with an average age of 32 years, with easy access to classes and advising by maintaining flexible class schedules and office hours. When UH-West O'ahu initiated a distance education program in 1981, the first courses were delivered in person to students on Maui and Kaua'i, with faculty traveling to those islands on weekends. The result was a program that encouraged collaborative student work and allowed students extensive contact with faculty. In this article, the author presents an insider's view of the challenges facing faculty at West O'ahu, in their efforts to create a new online degree and new certificate programs. The perseverance of the faculty and the support of the West O'ahu administration have been central to their success. The institutional commitment has been considerable and faculty members receive three credits of release time, or the equivalent in overload pay, when they develop an online course for the first time. In addition, West O'ahu's collaborative faculty development model has resulted in an environment where faculty share their experiences with one another in special workshops on various pedagogical aspects of online learning. (Contains 1 footnote.)