All 355 withdrawals were sent surveys. If one student withdrew from 2 telecourses, that student received one withdrawal survey for each course. This allowed Open Campus to gather the data by course as well as by entire program. Open Campus has encouraged faculty to initiate contact earlier and more frequently with telecourse students. This increased faculty contact may encourage students to continue to pursue their studies and maintain their initial level of interest and motivation.
Students withdraw from telecourses for the same reason they initially enrolled - personal reasons.
Distance learners are working people with family responsibilities, and telecourses offered the convenience and flexibility necessary for these students to add college classes to an already busy personal schedule. While FCCJ offers non-traditional educational opportunities to working adults through distance learning classes, the college has no control over the personal situation of its students. In addition to encouraging faculty to contact students earlier and more frequently as mentioned above, some faculty are investigating the use of the FCCJ electronic bulletin board to add an interactive component to their telecourses. Further, the college has plans to implement a voice-mail system for its distance learners that would facilitate contact among faculty, students and staff. According to the student feedback, we need to improve faculty contact and support for telecourse students.