community innovations: giving online students the support to explore noreen siddiqui, academic...
TRANSCRIPT
Community Innovations: Giving Online Students the Support to Explore
Noreen Siddiqui, Academic AdvisorKyle Cassady, Career Counselor
Oregon State University
Who’s Here Today?
o Do you advise students who are online?o Do you advise undecided or exploratory
students?o Do your duties include career counseling?o Does your institution offer degrees online?
(Students are able to take all or almost all required coursework online).
o Is your academic program in the process of offering degree(s) online?
Terminologyo Ecampus: Oregon State University department which is the
structure for OSU’s online classes and degreeso Online Degrees: Degrees that are offered almost entirely
online Students have same coursework and internship responsibilities as
campus-bound students but with less direct and present supporto UESP: Advising office which works with students on-campus
and online at OSU to explore majors and careerso Career Services: OSU office which helps students and alumni
on-campus and online in their pursuit of career successo Ecampus students: OSU students pursuing a degree online
Distance vs. Ecampuso Exploratory students: Students who are in UESP OR students
who are in a declared major, but are questioning their career and major goals
Terminologyo Ecampus: Oregon State University department which is the
structure for OSU’s online classes and degreeso Online Degrees: Degrees that are offered almost entirely
online Students have same coursework and internship responsibilities as
campus-bound students but with less direct and present supporto UESP: Advising office which works with students on-campus
and online at OSU to explore majors and careerso Career Services: OSU office which helps students and alumni
on-campus and online in their pursuit of career successo Ecampus students: OSU students pursuing a degree online
Distance vs. Ecampuso Exploratory students: Students who are in UESP OR students
who are in a declared major, but are questioning their career and major goals
History of Ecampuso 1988: General Extension Division offered its first distance degree,
but it was not an online program o 2002: The unit was renamed OSU Extended Campus (Ecampus) and
shifted focus to online delivery of classeso 2009: UESP officially began working with Ecampuso Summer 2010: Second UESP advisor added, more intentional
advisingo Fall 2011: Career Services and Ecampus created a career counselor
position specifically to work with Ecampus students in (started as .25 and has become .5 FTE)
o Currently dealing with increasing enrollment and increasing program offerings 16 undergraduate majors offered 2,400 fully online and 5,700 total taking online classes Growing 15 - 20% annually
Who are We Seeing?
o Career Services Students are in a declared major, but they are undecided
in their decision-making Most of these students are being directed to Career Services,
which is a different than what happens with on-campus students
Students who just picked a major to begin with but are now really thinking about how their major relates to careers
Students who become undecided when they encounter an event like an internship, which makes them question their choice in major
A Unique Population
o Career Services breakdown of numbers
16---------
101
39---------
100
46---------
???
FALL WINTER SPRING
2011
2012
Uncertain Career
Development
Uncertainat
Pivotal Points
Major and/orCareer Change
GraduateSchool Process
Pre-EnrollmentDecisions
Internship/Job
Search
19% 13% 10% 4% 16% 38%
Who are We Seeing?
o UESP Trying to choose an OSU online major Taking relevant classes until they can move to Corvallis,
Oregon in order to pursue an on-campus degree, some are undecided
Raising GPA to declare with Ecampus major they are targeting
Taking a few classes to finish an online degree at another college
Difference between on-campus and Ecampus: UESP often works with transitioning students on-campus, but none who are Ecampus
A Unique Population
Population Female Male Transfer First Year Soph Junior Senior 25+Ecampus - All* 2,393 60% +/- 40% +/- 57% 11% 16% 30% 43% 79%UESP Ecampus 17 77% 23% 71% 18% 29% 29% 24% 77%UESP - All 989 51% 49% 10% 63% 27% 8% 2% 5%
Types of UESP Ecampus Students Percentage
Taking a couple classes at OSU to complete degree elsewhere 12%
Plans to move to Corvallis and become on-campus degree seeking 41%
Plans to pursue an online degree 47%
o Unquantifiable characteristics: Family and Employment
* All undergraduates
Career and Major Advisingo Using proactive/intrusive advising philosophy (Glennen, 1975)
Required 1-hour phone appointment for initial contact Required term advising Monitoring students’ progress and contacting them individually about
successes and struggles Follow-up contact with students
o Focusing on connections to careers Many are also working full-time or part-time More than 90% of online students said their primary reason for continuing
their education was due to their careers, most often to advance in or change their careers (Aslanian & Clinefelter 2012)
The degree is no longer seen as an end in itself but a means to an end, a consequence of some other change or circumstance (Spanard 1990)
Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers
o Adjusting office procedures Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes
involving other offices, website sections for ecampus, language
o Creating new tools Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career
topics, Career Webinars on how to explore, pre-enrollment support
o Tools already online for students Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, MyDegrees, Career Guide
Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers
o Adjusting office procedures Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes
involving other offices, website sections for ecampus, language
o Creating new tools Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career
topics, Career Webinars on how to explore, pre-enrollment support
o Tools already online for students Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, MyDegrees, Career Guide
Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers
o Adjusting office procedures Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes
involving other offices, website sections for ecampus, language
o Creating new tools Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career
topics, Career Webinars on how to explore, pre-enrollment support
o Tools already online for students Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, MyDegrees, Career Guide
Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers
o Adjusting office procedures Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes
involving other offices, website sections for ecampus, language
o Creating new tools Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career
topics, Career Webinars on how to explore, pre-enrollment support
o Tools already online for students Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, MyDegrees, Career Guide
Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers
o Adjusting office procedures Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes
involving other offices, website sections for Ecampus, and language
o Creating new tools Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career topics,
Career Webinars on how to explore, and pre-enrollment support
o Tools already online for students Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, Career Guide, and MyDegrees
Work That Still Needs to be Done
o Create an online community for exploring studentso Pre-enrollment meetings with UESP advisorso Expand partnership between Career Services and
UESP – Be creative!o New tools & pilots – NextJobo As more students seek services from a distance,
more offices will need to think about their opportunity to serve and provide access (language, afterhours or chat features, online appointment scheduler, info and forms online)
Assessing Your Own Campus
When is there a need for specialized advising for undecided students?o Critical mass of majors offered onlineo Similar types of majors oWho advises students working on meeting
requirements to declare a specific major?
Discussion
ReferencesAslanian, C. B., & Clinefelter, D. L. (2012). Online college students 2012: Comprehensive data on demands and preferences. Louisville, KY: The Learning House, Inc.
Glennen, R.E. (1975). Intrusive college counseling. College Student Journal, 9, 2-4.
Oregon State University, Office of Institutional Research. (2012). Enrollment summary – Fall 2012. (Rep. No. 24). Corvallis, OR: Author. Retrieved April 18, 2013, from http://oregonstate.edu/admin/aa/ir/sites/default/files/enroll-fall-2012.pdf
Spanard, J. A. (1990). Beyond intent: Reentering college to complete the degree.Review of Educational Research, 60, 309-344. Washington DC: American Educational Research Association.
