Quality enhancing practices in distance education, vol. 2: Student services (2001).  Christine Dalziel & Michael Payne (Eds.).  Washington, DC: Instructional Telecommunications Council.

Introduction

Even Yahoo’s “Most Wired” colleges fall short in delivering student services online. While most have online career and financial aid services, few offered Judicial Affairs, Counseling, Student Activity Information, or Health Services.  This book discusses challenges and presents best practices.

Chapter 1: A Comprehensive Orientation to Address Diverse Student Needs

• Students should know what they’re in for before they take an online class, but they often don’t.  Many students are rife with misconceptions about online classes.  They don’t realize the amount of work involved, the necessity for regular communication, or the effect that the physical presence of others has on their attitudes and behaviors. They cannot accurately assess their own motivation and self-discipline.  They manage their time poorly. 

• They may not understand hardware and software requirements.  They may not have reliable Internet access or even computer access, and may overestimate their ability to share a computer or drive to campus to access a computer lab.
• Students should receive an orientation to the online learning environment. This should include how to use email, discussion boards, browsers, access and use of web course sites, and the relevant course management system.  If possible, orientation should be “hands on” and allow trial runs of the tools used in the real courses.
• Students should have a clear idea of how they will be assessed and how they will submit and receive assignments and grades.
• The system or instructor should have a way of letting students know that assignments have been received.

Chapter 2: Creating an Online Orientation and Student Support Services

Pitt Community College is a rural 2-year institution located in North Carolina.  They have over 200 online courses.  As courses grew beyond students in computer-savvy fields like computer science, problems arose---e.g., student overestimated their computer skills and besieged instructors with rudimentary technical questions.  Clearly, there was a growing need for skill assessment and orientation.

PCC developed a profile of a successful online student:

• Self-discipline
• Self-confidence
• Ability to overcome frustration and confusion
• Completed course prerequisites
• Ability to work independently
• ISP, email, and necessary software

PCC’s Student Orientation takes place online (see http://styx.pitt.cc.nc.us/is/orientation/).  It consists of tutorials and a short quiz.

PCC reviews student/faculty/counselors feedback and help desk logs to identify problem areas.

Chapter 3: New Student Assessment for Students in Rural Colorado

Community colleges’ “open door” policies are democratic but result in students with widely varying study habits, language skills, math skills, etc.  This situation increases the importance of assessment and orientation.

Every student in Colorado who enters a degree or certificate program must be assessed via standardized exams.  This is done via computerized “Accuplacer” exams.  Test scores are paired with suggested community college offerings.

They have recently begun to use the College Board’s “Academic Profile” end-of-program assessment.

Chapter 4: Helping Students Develop Successful Career Planning Skills

Portland Community College (PCC) enrolls over 12,000 distance learners per year. 

PCC’s instructional standards for distance learning courses focus on four areas:

• Learning outcomes and content presentation
• Learner activities
• Evaluation
• Instructional design

PCC is partnering with other CCs to develop online writing labs (OWLs).

The college’s “Survival and Success” course is available online.  Activities include quizzes, discussions, and a peer-reviewed project paper.  Also available online is “Career Development”

And “Job Finding Skills”.  They plan to develop an online Study Skills course, and are considering others such as stress management, decision making, stopping test anxiety, and values clarification.

Chapter 5: How to Create a Model Online Student Service Center

Coastline Community College in Fountain Valley, CA was awarded a grant to design, develop, implement and evaluate online registration, counseling, and advisement---and also to develop a model that other colleges could replicate.

Counseling;

• Email for personal counseling
• Listservs for group counseling
• 2-way videoconferencing systems: cameras are on counselor’s desks and videophones are available at the student center and community centers like fire stations.
• 2-way Internet audio/video synchronous communication
• Internet delivery of asynchronous counseling videos via the College’s cable channel and the Internet.

Steps

• Form project advisory committee
• Storyboarding
• Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Information for specific programs (e.g., EOPS, CalWorks)
• DSPS created their own content and served as advisors for making materials compliant
• Online registration prototyped

Well, hopefully that’s enough to give you the flavor of the book. Here’s a listing of the other chapters: 

• Chapter 6: Colorado’s Consortial Approach to Providing Disability Services
• Chapter 7: Flexible Starts to Serve Time-Constrained Students
• Chapter 8: Online Library Services: Elements of Style
• Chapter 9: Tutoring Online to Retain Students and Promote Success
• Chapter 10: Providing Student Life, Bookstore, and Health and Wellness Services Online