The online students are here! This session will be focused on how to provide high quality student services. Historically offering mainly face-to-face programs, our school has been ramping up our online student services in anticipation of a big transition as we launch our first online Masters degree in fall 2020. The rapid shift to remote education due to COVID-19 forced us to launch these efforts in the spring of 2020.
In the Fall of 2019, we piloted virtual career services and resources to accommodate our existing online students. These services include: a virtual orientation, DASH, an online student center, and career development events. We will discuss key elements of student development theory such as Strange & Banning, 2001, Austin, 1984, and Tinto, 1993. This information is critical to educators as student services are the other side of the coin to course quality. If students are not supported, then the best course design and instruction still may not be enough to help them gain their full potential.
In this session, we will describe the successes and challenges we faced, both during our small pilot program and after we launched school-wide due to the move to remote teaching. We invite participants to reimagine their student services, to brainstorm opportunities for face-to-face and online student engagement, and explore services for underrepresented students. We will guide participants through a SWOT analysis to reimagine their student services for the online population.
