Community Innovations: Giving Online Students the Support to Explore Noreen Siddiqui, Academic Advisor Kyle Cassady, Career Counselor Oregon State University

Who’s Here Today? o Do you advise students who are online? o Do you advise undecided or exploratory students? o Do your duties include career counseling? o Does your institution offer degrees online? (Students are able to take all or almost all required coursework online). o Is your academic program in the process of offering degree(s) online?

Terminology o Ecampus: Oregon State University department which is the structure for OSU’s online classes and degrees o Online Degrees: Degrees that are offered almost entirely online  Students have same coursework and internship responsibilities as campus-bound students but with less direct and present support o UESP: Advising office which works with students on-campus and online at OSU to explore majors and careers o Career Services: OSU office which helps students and alumni on-campus and online in their pursuit of career success o Ecampus students: OSU students pursuing a degree online  Distance vs. Ecampus o Exploratory students: Students who are in UESP OR students who are in a declared major, but are questioning their career and major goals

Terminology o Ecampus: Oregon State University department which is the structure for OSU’s online classes and degrees o Online Degrees: Degrees that are offered almost entirely online  Students have same coursework and internship responsibilities as campus-bound students but with less direct and present support o UESP: Advising office which works with students on-campus and online at OSU to explore majors and careers o Career Services: OSU office which helps students and alumni on-campus and online in their pursuit of career success o Ecampus students: OSU students pursuing a degree online  Distance vs. Ecampus o Exploratory students: Students who are in UESP OR students who are in a declared major, but are questioning their career and major goals

History of Ecampus o 1988: General Extension Division offered its first distance degree, but it was not an online program o 2002: The unit was renamed OSU Extended Campus (Ecampus) and shifted focus to online delivery of classes o 2009: UESP officially began working with Ecampus o Summer 2010: Second UESP advisor added, more intentional advising o Fall 2011: Career Services and Ecampus created a career counselor position specifically to work with Ecampus students in (started as.25 and has become.5 FTE) o Currently dealing with increasing enrollment and increasing program offerings  16 undergraduate majors offered  2,400 fully online and 5,700 total taking online classes  Growing % annually

Who are We Seeing? o Career Services  Students are in a declared major, but they are undecided in their decision-making  Most of these students are being directed to Career Services, which is a different than what happens with on-campus students  Students who just picked a major to begin with but are now really thinking about how their major relates to careers  Students who become undecided when they encounter an event like an internship, which makes them question their choice in major

A Unique Population o Career Services breakdown of numbers ??? FALLWINTER SPRING Uncertain Career Development Uncertain at Pivotal Points Major and/or Career Change Graduate School Process Pre- Enrollment Decisions Internship/ Job Search 19%13%10%4%16%38%

Who are We Seeing? o UESP  Trying to choose an OSU online major  Taking relevant classes until they can move to Corvallis, Oregon in order to pursue an on-campus degree, some are undecided  Raising GPA to declare with Ecampus major they are targeting  Taking a few classes to finish an online degree at another college  Difference between on-campus and Ecampus: UESP often works with transitioning students on-campus, but none who are Ecampus

A Unique Population PopulationFemaleMaleTransferFirst YearSophJuniorSenior25+ Ecampus - All*2,39360% +/-40% +/-57%11%16%30%43%79% UESP Ecampus1777%23%71%18%29% 24%77% UESP - All98951%49%10%63%27%8%2%5% Types of UESP Ecampus StudentsPercentage Taking a couple classes at OSU to complete degree elsewhere12% Plans to move to Corvallis and become on-campus degree seeking41% Plans to pursue an online degree47% o Unquantifiable characteristics: Family and Employment * All undergraduates

Career and Major Advising o Using proactive/intrusive advising philosophy (Glennen, 1975)  Required 1-hour phone appointment for initial contact  Required term advising  Monitoring students’ progress and contacting them individually about successes and struggles  Follow-up contact with students o Focusing on connections to careers  Many are also working full-time or part-time  More than 90% of online students said their primary reason for continuing their education was due to their careers, most often to advance in or change their careers (Aslanian & Clinefelter 2012)  The degree is no longer seen as an end in itself but a means to an end, a consequence of some other change or circumstance (Spanard 1990)

Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers o Adjusting office procedures  Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes involving other offices, website sections for ecampus, language o Creating new tools  Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career topics, Career Webinars on how to explore, pre-enrollment support o Tools already online for students  Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, MyDegrees, Career Guide

Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers o Adjusting office procedures  Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes involving other offices, website sections for ecampus, language o Creating new tools  Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career topics, Career Webinars on how to explore, pre-enrollment support o Tools already online for students  Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, MyDegrees, Career Guide

Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers o Adjusting office procedures  Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes involving other offices, website sections for ecampus, language o Creating new tools  Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career topics, Career Webinars on how to explore, pre-enrollment support o Tools already online for students  Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, MyDegrees, Career Guide

Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers o Adjusting office procedures  Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes involving other offices, website sections for ecampus, language o Creating new tools  Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career topics, Career Webinars on how to explore, pre-enrollment support o Tools already online for students  Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, MyDegrees, Career Guide

Tools to Help Ecampus Students Explore Majors and Careers o Adjusting office procedures  Kinds of appointments, scheduling appointments, paper processes involving other offices, website sections for Ecampus, and language o Creating new tools  Virtual Career Fair, online orientation course, Videos on career topics, Career Webinars on how to explore, and pre-enrollment support o Tools already online for students  Career Trail, Sigi3, What Can I Do with a Major In?, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, Career Decision Making course, Career Guide, and MyDegrees

Work That Still Needs to be Done o Create an online community for exploring students o Pre-enrollment meetings with UESP advisors o Expand partnership between Career Services and UESP – Be creative! o New tools & pilots – NextJob o As more students seek services from a distance, more offices will need to think about their opportunity to serve and provide access (language, afterhours or chat features, online appointment scheduler, info and forms online)

Assessing Your Own Campus When is there a need for specialized advising for undecided students? o Critical mass of majors offered online o Similar types of majors o Who advises students working on meeting requirements to declare a specific major?

Discussion

References Aslanian, C. B., & Clinefelter, D. L. (2012). Online college students 2012: Comprehensive data on demands and preferences. Louisville, KY: The Learning House, Inc. Glennen, R.E. (1975). Intrusive college counseling. College Student Journal, 9, 2-4. Oregon State University, Office of Institutional Research. (2012). Enrollment summary – Fall (Rep. No. 24). Corvallis, OR: Author. Retrieved April 18, 2013, from pdf Spanard, J. A. (1990). Beyond intent: Reentering college to complete the degree.Review of Educational Research, 60, Washington DC: American Educational Research Association.

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