Providing Academic and Support Services to Students Enrolled in Online Degree Programs

Online degree programs have been one of many institutional innovations related to the enrollment growth in higher education over the last decade. The changing format of instruction alters the practice of student affairs in the virtual learning environment. This shift requires faculty, administrators, and student affairs professionals to examine ways in which academic and support services are provided to students. The purpose of this study is to understand the importance of student affairs practice to the experience of students enrolled in an online degree program. Using data collected through a qualitative, interpretive case study focused on 19 undergraduate students and 5 faculty/staff, we consider how student affairs practice influences the experiences of undergraduate students enrolled in an online curriculum. Online degree programs have been one of many institutional innovations related to the enrollment growth in higher education over the last decade. More than three million students completed an online course in 2005 (Allen & Seaman, 2006). These courses are largely offered through computer-mediated formats in two-year and four-year institutions (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). The phenomenon of online education has spread more broadly than the simple deHvery of a single course. Many degree programs are now offered completely onHne. Bourne, Moore, Sener, Mayadas, and Ettinger (2006) noted that the majority of the almost diree million students who enroll in an online program do so in pursuit of a postsecondary degree. The scope of ordine education is equally striking when measured by the number of participating institutions rather than the number of students enrolled. In recent years, almost one-quarter of all two-year and four-year higher education institutions have offered one or more degree programs completely ordine (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). Online education promises to buUd upon this dynamic growth by providing access to higher education for students who are currentiy restricted by geographic or temporal barriers (Bourne, et al., 2006; Levine, 2001). These patterns suggest the broad scope of web-based learning. Online programs provide individuals with flexibility, convenience, and greater access than do traditional, on-campus curricula, thereby shifting the instructorstudent interaction from the physical location of the institution to the virtual environment provided through technology. The changing format of instruction also alters the practice of student affairs in the ordine learning environment. This shift requires faculty, administrators, and student affairs professionals to examine ways in which academic and support services are provided to students enrolled in online degree programs. Using data collected through a qualitative, interpretive case study of 24 undergraduate students, faculty, and staff participants in an online nursing degree program, we consider how student affairs practice impacts online student learning and engagement. The purpose of this study is to understand the importance of student affairs practice to student experiences in an online degree program. The primary research questions that guided this study were: 1) What motivations do students articulate for enrolling in an online program? 2) What roles do student affairs practitioners play in the provision of academic and social support services to online learners? This article responds to the absence in the Hterature related to the practice of student affairs in online programs. Although online students demand many of the same services as their traditional peers, such as registration, financial aid, and academic advising, the virtual environment shifts the impact of these service roles whue profoundly transforming the nature of student affairs work. Otar findings suggest that effective student affairs practice in an online environment is oriented toward facilitating student learning rather than simple service deHvery. …