A Needs Assessment: A Study of Perceived Need for Student Services by Distance Learners

Education, in its traditional format, has rapidly changed as a result of technological advances. The present study examined what online degree seekers, at the undergraduate and graduate levels, express as their perceived needs for student support services and to what extent participants perceive these needs to be met. This study, the first conducted to investigate student services where participants were completely online degree seekers, utilized an inventory listing 49 potential out-of-class needs for online degree seekers. For all but one item, there was a significant difference between perceived need versus perceived availability of services. A Needs Assessment: A Study of Perceived Need for Student Services by Distance Learners Distance learning, and in particular, online education, has recently increased its presence within higher education. In 2000-2001, almost 90% of American public colleges and universities offered electronic distance learning, and 60% of these institutions participated in a distance learning related consortium (Epper & Garn, 2003). At the end of 2004, roughly one million students were enrolled in completely online education programs (Carnevale, 2005). Education, in its traditional format, is changing with the presence of technology in education rising. Meanwhile, society continues to become more accustomed to the increasingly reliable, flexible, and affordable technologies available today (Williams, Paprock, & Covington, 1999). Thus, an even greater growth in distance education enrollment must be anticipated. The purpose of this study was to examine what online degree seekers express as their perceived needs with regard to student support services that exist for students attending on-campus classes and to what extent did participants perceive these needs to be met. The present study is the first conducted to investigate student services where participants were completely online degree seekers. Despite rapid and significant growth in distance education, the literature in the field of distance education primarily focuses on the in-course experience of students. How students learn best at a distance and technological support for students at a distance compose a large portion of the existing literature. Research has also been conducted on what it takes to create a successful distance education program (Distance Learning Policy Laboratory, June 2002; Krauth & Carbajal, n.d.; Shea & Armitage, 2003). Bayless (2001) conducted a study on the non-academic needs of distance learners. While this study offers valuable insight into the out of the classroom needs of distance learners, participants included both faculty and students. Furthermore, 25% of the student participants in this study also attended classes on campus. When students participate in online courses at the same time as attending on campus classes, their ability to access campus based student support services becomes less of an issue. A lack of scientific research based literature exists especially studies that solely focus on what do the students perceive that they need. Moreover, the published literature surrounding distance learners has not focused on the needs of those students who are solely seeking degrees online. This study was designed to begin discussion in the literature of student support services needs for online degree seekers from the students' perspectives. As with traditional college and university campuses, online universities must provide support services for their students. Hruthka (2001) stated “excellence in education means much more than course delivery. An entire support system of academic and student services must go hand in hand with teaching and learning” (¶2). LaPadula (2003) discussed that on a traditional campus, there is usually a division of student affairs that provides support and resources for students. Services such as admissions, student records, financial aid, registration, library services, bookstore services, and counseling are often available to students physically attending classes on campus. “These services are assumed to be part of the educational process” (p. 119). Student services for this population are only now becoming an issue in the field of distance education, and they have yet to be fully explored in the literature. Within the limited amount of data collected on support services, the focus is on the perceived necessities: online availability of admissions, registration, and financial aid. Important services a student might encounter and utilize in an on-campus situation such as career planning and placement, counseling, and other commonly seen campus-based support services have not been given sufficient consideration (Berge & Mrozowski, 2001). Moneta (1997) explained that the rapid and constant changes in technology challenge student affairs administrators to offer services in forms different than traditionally seen. While it may be costly to implement student support services in new formats, it is necessary for online education to succeed. Further, student affairs administrators must be open and flexible to this nontraditional service delivery. Bothel (2001) pointed out that few changes are taking place in the overall university to accommodate for the special needs of the distance learning population. Technology, and distance education in particular, creates a new arena for student affairs administrators who debate if all services traditionally found in a division of student affairs on a college campus can be offered at a distance. LaPaluda (2003) stated that “support readily available to on-campus students is lacking for distance learners and creating further isolation that can be discouraging and lead to failure” (p. 120). Online institutions must find ways of providing services equivalent to those on traditional college campuses. He added that while the most common services provided are financial aid, admissions and registration, online learners needed access to other student support services such as tutoring, academic advisement, personal counseling, career counseling, and library services. Offering these services only if the student comes to campus is counterproductive to distance education. “It is unrealistic to expect students that do not come to campus for their education will travel to campus to access student services” (p. 120). Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to examine what online degree seekers express as their perceived needs with regard to student support services that exist for students attending on-campus classes. This study also explored to what extent online degree seekers, at the undergraduate and graduate levels, express that their student support services needs are being met. The researcher attempted to answer several research questions surrounding the non-academic experiences of online degree seekers. Two such questions explored: • What support services that are typically provided through student affairs divisions on a college or university campus do online learners perceive that they need? • Are online degree seekers receiving all of the student support services that they feel they need?