Consider Online Student Services
Between work, family obligations and education, online students often stay busy. Experts say it’s essential that a program offer robust student services to help them juggle those responsibilities and ultimately boost their career through advising and networking.
When evaluating an online degree program, ask the following 10 questions about student services.
1. What services are offered?
Programs vary in the specific services they provide online students. That’s an important consideration for online students, who often can’t interact with professors and advisers in person. Prospective students should check a school’s website to see whether the offered services meet their needs.
“Online students are learning at a distance,” Susan Aldridge, president of Drexel University Online, told U.S. News. “Student services make a difference in whether these students can be successful or not.”
2. Is the quality comparable to on-campus services?
Though online students might be far from campus, the quality of student support should be similar — if not the same — to those offered on campus, experts say. The only difference is the mode of communication.
For instance, students at Arizona State University‘s online arm, ASU Online, can chat online in real time with career services advisers who might be able to answer their questions on topics such as finding a job.
3. When are these services available?
Online students live in different time zones, so it’s important for them to check if they can access services either 24 hours a day or at the times that work for them given their jobs and other responsibilities.
“What I tell people is that for every time zone you’re in, you have to have extended hours in order to support your students, especially for tech support,” Aldridge says.
4. Is tech support an option?
Because online education depends on technology, access to tech support is essential. Online colleges such as LSU Online at Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge have virtual “help desks,” where students can chat online with a support specialist.
Mari Moxley, who earned her bachelor’s online at Pennsylvania State University–World Campus, told U.S. News that prospective students should consider tech support’s hours, asking, “What time is their close of business versus what time is your close of business?”
5. On what platforms is support accessible?
Aldridge, of Drexel, also suggests prospective online students check whether they can access student services in various formats, such as through text message, a mobile app, phone, social media or email.
“Particularly in this mobile environment, it’s important to be mobile-friendly so students can access this information readily,” Aldridge says.
6. Can online students network with alumni?
Many online students are career changers and would benefit from networking with alumni and classmates, experts say. At the for-profit Kaplan University, students and graduates can access a social platform to interact.
Heather Duhart, then academic and career services director for the online Master of Public Administration at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, told U.S. News that online students should be able to say: “Okay, this person came through this program and then they went on to do these things, and does that look like a path I might want to take?”
7. Are there chances to network with employers?
In some programs, career services allows online students to attend virtual career fairs to network with potential employers. At MPA@UNC, Duhart says, employers speak with several students at once about their company and then break out into chat rooms with individual students.
At Kaplan, “employer spotlights” are broadcast to students, recorded and archived. Employers also answer questions from students and career services staff.
8. Do you have access to all library resources?
Books, reference materials and research assistance are important for any student’s success. Ann Campion Riley, then president of the Association of College & Research Libraries, told U.S. News that online students should be able to access the same resources as those on campus.
Some online school libraries will mail print books to students, though these are often instantly accessible as e-books, Riley says. Online students might also need to complete a library orientation.
9. How do you communicate with librarians?
For online students, librarians are sometimes accessible through chat services, email and even text messaging, experts say. But prospective students should check whether that assistance is available at the times they need.
“That would be a major red flag, if they are only available maybe 40 hours per week,” A. James Bothmer, university librarian at Creighton University, told U.S. News.
10. Are tutors available for online students?
Many online programs offer free tutoring for students or recommend services such as Smarthinking. Whether these are available around the clock varies.
Renee Fuller, then a senior in the online MBA program at Ohio University, used the service InstaEDU — now Chegg Tutors — for her accounting class, she told U.S. News. The tool paired online and traditional students with tutors from reputable universities. “It was a pretty rapid response,” she says.
More About Online Education
Find advice about applying to and selecting an online program on the Online Learning Lessons blog, and check out the 2017 Best Online Programs rankings.
For more tips and information, follow U.S. News Education on Twitter and Facebook.
More from U.S. News
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Ask 10 Questions About Student Services in Online Programs originally appeared on usnews.com
