Serving Students: Online Academic Planning at Empire State College WCET Conference, November, 2003

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Serving Students Online Academic Planning at
Empire State CollegeWCET Conference, November,
2003

• Susan Oaks, Ph.D. Academic Area Coordinator,
  Writing, Literature, and Communications
  (Susan.Oaks_at_esc.edu)
• Meg Benke, Ph.D., Dean, Center for Distance
  Learning (Meg.Benke_at_esc.edu)

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Who We Are

• Locations around NYS.
• The Center for Distance Learning (CDL) serves
  adult students around the world.
• CDL has 17,000 course enrollments with
  approximately 5,000 students studying at a
  distance annually. We currently offer more than
  350 web sections.

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Objectives

• Share lessons learned.
• Explain students their educational planning
  needs
• Discuss the concept of multi-use resources
• Demonstrate Educational Planning Resources

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Students

• Average age 37
• Successful at work
• Out of an academic environment 10 years
• Pursuing degrees for many reasons job
  security/advancement, career in retirement,
  personal fulfillment

• No standardized degree programs degrees designed
  within broad SUNY guidelines
• Prior learning assessment
• Business Human Services majors Other majors11
  broad areas of study

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Global Lessons Learned for Online Advising,
Orientation and Educational Planning

• Continuous process, not single event.
• Cost-effectiveness of multiple use resources.
• Multiple delivery methods, just-in-time access
  consider generational issues.
• Transactional (register, placement, books)
  services handled efficiently
• Professional, personal touch with resources on
  the web, use online environment to individualize
  and to build community.
• Link as much as possible to credit bearing
  activity.
• Administrative tools for mentors.

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Educational Planning

• One common experience among all students
• 4 credits of Educational Planning required
• 2 of those credits devoted to Planning
  Finalizing the Degree
• 2 credits individualized as neededother
  educational planning courses support the
  students ability to plan the degree

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Major Issue

• How to design courses and materials to support a
  wide variety of
• Student needs
• Student interests
• Student skills

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Our Current Answer Multiple Use Resources

• Help prepare students for distance learning by
  providing easy, non-threatening access to
  academic content and learning environments
• Allow flexibility to meet student needs

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Educational Planning Resources

• House educational planning course content
• Are available to students at any timeeven before
  enrolling formally in educational planning
  courses
• Mirror the 2-part structure of educational
  planning
• Planning Finalizing the Degree
• Workshops to support individual planning

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Educational Planning Resources
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Educational Planning Course Planning
Finalizing the Degree
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Other Educational Planning Courses House Content
in these Resources
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Assessing Learning
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Educational Planning Workshop Course Built on
Resources
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Workshop Options
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Current Multiple-Use Educational Planning Resource

• Links to sample course content to provide
  students with tools for understanding academic
  expectations and also
• Fosters reflection and self-assessment of
  academic and learning skills
• Provides skill development tools
• Links to additional resources to enrich students
  opportunities for learning

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Skill Self-Assessment Tools
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Academic Skills

• How Are Your College Skills?
• S-A General Skills
• Writing S-A
• Critical Reading S-A
• Math S-A
• Research Skills S-A

• Independent Learning Strategies Course
• Info. Literacy Course
• Effective Academic Writing Course
• Exploring the Disciplines Literature Course
• Articles on Academic Skills
• Links to Skills Resources
• Ideas for Using Resources

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Skill Development Tools
Each self-assessment links to other online
resources. For example, The Writers Complex is
an online writing lab that offers both skill
assessment and development opportunities.
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Writing Resources
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The Writers Complex
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Resources Tailored to RealSituations
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In Development

• Student portal to educational planning
  resources that maps out options
• Faculty Mentor portal to educational planning
  resources that
• Maps out options
• Lists enrolled students their options
• Consistently updates student information
  (identifies enrolled/completed courses, captures
  student communications, etc.)

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Contact Information

• Meg.Benke_at_esc.edu
• Susan.Oaks_at_esc.edu
• Empire State College www.esc.edu
• Center for Distance Learning www.esc.edu/cdl

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