Support For Students At A Distance: Is Technology Enough?

There is a growing body of evidence, empirical and anecdotal, to suggest that students enrolled in extended (off-campus) degree programs require supports that ensure not only access but success. Access to supplementary services, such as writing centers and campus libraries, necessitates early action by support staff to guarantee that students enjoy the full range of services open to their on-campus counterparts. In traditional settings, this means building bridges to these services for non-traditional students and sensitizing staff in these service areas to the details of serving off-campus learners. Access to courses is more than offering conned versions of lectures to students offcampus; it means that courses must be designed to enable interaction both between instructor and student and between students. The interaction necessary to fully engage adult learners is achieved in courses especially designed for delivery at a distance. Access is only one component among the ties that bind a student to an institution, but it is an important one. It has been shown that the feelings of connectedness students obtain from this are important in ensuring perseverance to completion of degree programs. Ensuring success of students in non-traditional education settings requires more that access to technical and supplemental services. It requires that support staff be aware of issues of adult, distance, and independent learning, and the prioritization strategies these learners employ. It also means that staff in adjunct service areas must be prepared for interaction with students who are not traditional in age or attitude toward learning. A point-of-contact person on campus must build avenues of communication between the students and services, and between service staff and students. In the case of one institution the bridge-building, both for students and other staff was done by the degree program advisor. The presentation to the conference will highlight both the preparations for access and the bridge-building strategies for success employed by one advisor to enable students’ connections and develop connectedness.