Students are encouraged to contact the people who can help with the specific problems relating to their classes. A continuous process of internal and external assessment followed by action plans based on accountability data has led to an ever-expanding menu of offerings for students. What is learned about retention, student satisfaction, graduation, transfer, employer satisfaction and alumni satisfaction drives the institution to try new approaches. Case managers and faculty form a team in support of each student. Students can enroll any day and complete on any day throughout the year.
Most observers have difficulty locating the faculty member in the typical learning lab setting.
The developments described have led to breaking the bounds in a number of areas. Semesters and seat time mean less and less and faculty contracts are less and less standard. Faculty contracts may run from 166 days to well more than 200 days. Many faculty members never stand in front of a classroom to lecture. Many faculty members are learning to work in teams and most are learning how to utilize technology to assist learning.