2007-08 Distance Education Report
Author: Nevada System of Higher Education
Date: 2008-12-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Technical Support,Nontraditional Students,Higher Education,State Colleges,Distance Education,Online Courses,Disabilities,Lifelong Learning,Rural Areas,Faculty Development,Assistive Technology,Interactive Video,Educational Technology,Governing Boards,Access to Education,Data Analysis,Enrollment,Student Characteristics,Guidelines,Educational Policy,Definitions,Enrollment Rate,Internet,Comparative Analysis,Full Time Equivalency,Community Colleges,State Universities,Virtual Universities,Electronic Learning,Librarians,School Orientation,Prior Learning,Educational Trends

This report focuses on distance education within the Nevada System of Higher Education   (NSHE) for the 2007-08 academic year and provides documentation of the substantial growth of distance education within all colleges and universities. Distance education is a field of continuous improvement and change, and NSHE institutions are constantly working to extend their offerings beyond their physical limits to meet the learning needs of students in Nevada. Without distance education many students, especially those living in Nevada's extensive rural areas and those with heavy work or family commitments, would not be able to pursue their higher education goals. The following are a few of the major highlights in this report: (1) The number of students enrolled in at least one distance education course increased from 5,798 in Fall 2001 to 24,656 in Fall 2007, an increase of 18,858 students or 325 percent; (2) The College of Southern Nevada (CSN) will soon launch the CSN Online Campus. The CSN Online Campus will meet the needs of the 100 percent online learners by providing all of the courses, programs, and services that are commonly provided to students attending traditional on campus courses and programs; (3) In order to provide a more robust support structure, Western Nevada College's (WNC) Library &amp; Media Services reference librarians assumed responsibility as the first contact for students enrolled in online classes. This arrangement worked well over the past several years, with a record number of over 550 calls for assistance handled in student support; (4) Building on the universal deployment of WebCampus, all students admitted to Nevada State College (NSC) are enrolled automatically in an online course called &quot;Student WebCampus Orientation&quot;. The course includes all of the WebCampus learning tools with related learning exercises; (5) Truckee Meadows Community College's (TMCC) WebCollege is developing a fast-track online degree program (courses offered in a 5-week online format) which will target nontraditional working adults and will offer an accelerated solution for degree completion. The degree program is slated to be launched in Spring 2010 and will feature credit for lifelong learning experience (where appropriate), a student academic plan, fostering student learning communities, and will focus on degree completion for nontraditional students; (6) The University of Nevada, Reno's (UNR) Teaching, Learning, and Technology staff is very active in training faculty to teach online. More than 1,000 class sections each semester have technology components. Technical support for online students through the Knowledge Center is excellent; (7) Since 2005, the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Distance Education Office captions all streaming videos, which are used by distance education courses and sometimes the instructors' face to face campus sections. The captioning of videos ensures Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance. The shared use of distance education created materials utilizes scarce UNLV resources and upgrades educational effectiveness across the campus; and (8) Great Basin College's (GBC) distance education offerings currently account for over 51 percent of GBC's overall enrollment. Great Basin College's WebCampus continues to grow at an exceptional rate. The WebCampus has seen a 142 percent increase in FTE from Fall 2005 to Fall 2007. Students increasingly demand and expect distance education offerings. In order to meet the rising demand, some important elements should be examined in a statewide coordinated effort: infrastructure, faculty development and support, student services, accessibility, and the policies that govern distance education. Board of Regents' &quot;Handbook&quot; Title 4, Chapter 14 Section 11 is appended. (Contains 8 tables and 10 charts.)