Best Practices in Advising Students in Online Degree Programs

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Best Practices in Advising Students in Online
Degree Programs

• Presenter Carol Gravel
• Graduate Advisor and Professor
• Franklin Pierce University
• Doctoral Candidate, Instructional Technology and
  Distance Education

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Session Agenda

1. Share research on the growing number of students
   seeking entire degrees online
2. Discuss trends in online degree programs at your
   institution
3. Discuss literature relating to advising this
   population of students
4. Share examples of current programs and efforts to
   support students seeking degrees online or
   students taking online courses
5. Question Answer
6. Gather contact information to continue the
   discussion

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Quick Survey

• What types of advisors are here today?
• Faculty advisor?
• Staff advisor?
• Member of an advising center?
• Do you offer online degree programs (all classes
  are online) at your institution ?
• Do you plan to offer online degree programs?

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Research Enrollment in Online Degree Programs

• 2002 to 2007 the number of students enrolled in
  at least one online course has increased 144,
  from 1.6 million to over 3.9 million. The
  majority, approximately 80, are studying at the
  undergraduate level (Allen Seaman, 2008).
• Enrollment in entire degree programs online
  increased 264, from 483,000 in 2002 to more than
  1.76 million in 2007 (Garrett, 2008).

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Research Enrollment in Online Degree Programs

• Whats Driving the Growth in
• Online Education?
• Economics
• Experience
• Infrastructure
• Evidence

Source 2009 WCET-National Campus Computing
Survey-Managing Online Programs
Keith Green Russell Pouin
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Research Profile of the Types of Courses
Students are Enrolled in
Course Credit and Degree Transfer Students
Source 2009 WCET-National Campus Computing
Survey Managing Online Programs
Keith Green Russell Pouin
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Research Enrollment in Online Degree Programs
Their characteristics are diverse

• Very heterogeneous group.
• Adults (25 of older)
• Who are employed but want to expand their career
• Who are unemployed
• Who are stay at home parents and want to expand
  or define their career
• Traditional age (17-24)
• Who live on campus and seek the flexibility of
  online
• Who can not afford to live on campus
• Who transferred from a 2 year or community
  college and live on campus OR off campus
• Who are employed but not in their chosen
  profession

IMPORTANT We can see that they may fall into
several special populations Adults,
Undecided, Transfer, etc.
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What trends are you seeing at you institution?

1. Enrollment in online courses?
2. Enrollment in online degree programs?
3. Profile of the online student?

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Literature Relating to Advising this Population
of Students

• Several studies have shown that the dropout rate
  among online students is higher than the dropout
  rate of traditional on campus students (Liu,
  Gomez, Khan, Yen, 2007 Herbert, 2006 Rust,
  2005 Bocchi, Eastman, Swift, 2004 Diaz, 2002
  Chyung, 2001 Terry, 2001 Carr, 2000).
• There has been extensive research over the past
  three decades on why students drop. The results
  show that lack of effective student support
  services is a key factor in student retention
  (Ruth, 2005, Dahl, 2004 Simpson, 2002 Tait,
  2000 Scholl, 1999 Gibson Gibson, 1997 Tinto,
  1987).
• There are numerous recent studies that have shown
  that support services for online students is
  lacking and that hundreds of colleges and
  universities are still struggling with how to
  address this issue (Lokken, 2009 Axelson, 2007
  Morris Miller, 2007 Klukas, 2006 Raphel,
  2006 Ruth, 2005).

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Framework for Analyzing the Issue

• Student support services include
• Enrollment management and registration
• Information services
• 3. Academic advising
• 4. Individual consulting
• 5. Student advocacy

(McInnis-Rankin, Brindley, 1986)
Quick Survey For students in online degree
programs, are ALL 5 areas of this framework being
addressed at your institution?

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Examples of Best Practices Academic Advising

• Based on research, personal experience,
• and discussions with other professionals
• ASAP after acceptance, make a specific point to
• a) Notify the student who their advisor is and
  how to contact them
• b) Have the adviser make a personal phone call
  to the student to begin dialog and interaction
• It is all about the network (DE students are
  connected and use cell phones, txt messaging, and
  social networks)
• a) STRONG relationships with key functions
  within the organization
• A Virtual Office (Personal Web Site or Advising
  Portal)
• The right office equipment (PDA with email,
  laptop with wireless access, scanner, webcam)
• Keep a client/advisee database DE students
  are customer focused
• Engage with advisees on a regular basis
  (monthly, two weeks before end of term, FYI
  information from time to time)
• Take a 100 online course yourself put yourself
  in their shoes
• Others?

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Excellent examples of current Virtual Offices /
Portals

• University of Southern Maine online portal for
  advisors and advisees

http//www.usm.maine.edu/advising/network
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The Community College of Baltimore County
http//www.ccbcmd.edu/advising/index.html
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Michigan Community College Association
http//vcampus.mccvlc.org/index.asp?dir27service
s27content27AcademAdvis.asp27
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North Carolina State University
http//www.ncsu.edu/advising_central/
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Additional Online Resources
http//www.nacada.ksu.edu/clearinghouse/links/dist
ance.htm
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Additional Online Resources
http//www.nacada.ksu.edu/Commissions/C23/leadersh
ip.htm
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Additional online resources
http//www.nacada.ksu.edu/listserve/C23.htm
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Guide to Developing Online Student Services

• What is it?
• The final product of a three-year project of the
  Western Cooperative of Educational
  Telecommunications. The project was funded by the
  U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the
  Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).
  This Guide was first published in November 2000.
• It is intended to help higher education
  institutions develop effective online approaches
  to delivering student support services.
• What does the guide provide?
• General tips for designing effective online
  student services
• Brief discussions on a range of student support
  services, especially the needs of online and
  distant learners
• Guidelines for basic good practice in delivering
  these services via the Internet
• Examples of some institutions that use the
  Internet to offer students a variety of
  opportunities for self-help and customized
  services in addition to providing information and
  electronic forms online.

http//www.wcet.info/resources/publications/guide/
guide.htm
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Examples of What Online Students Need - Online

• Online Enrollment management and registration
• How Do I Get Started
• Online Course Registration
• Online Tuition and Fee payment
• Online Information services
• Department Information
• Online Library Access
• Online Bookstore
• Online Forms
• Log on to Online Courses
• Testing Information
• Academic and Course Catalog (policies etc.)
• Online Academic advising
• Important Quarterly/Semester Dates
• Online access to advisor
• 4. Online Individual consulting
• 5. Student advocacy

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Staying Connected After this Session

• NACADA Listserv for Distance Education -
  http//www.nacada.ksu.edu/listserve/C23.htm
• Person to Person Carol Gravel
  Gravelc_at_franklinpierce.edu