Pulling The Pieces Together:
Comprehensive Online Support Services

Paul Meyers and Heather Ostash

Higher education has experienced an explosion in the development of courses delivered at a distance through the use of online technology. Instructional faculty at community colleges have led the online development effort.  However, as comprehensive online instructional programs have immerged, resulting in improved access for students, the development of necessary, online/electronically delivered student support services has lagged behind.The need for these services is clear.In addition to dealing with the same issues and challenges as traditional onsite students, online students experience challenges and barriers unique to the online environment in which they are pursuing an education.  This article will provide a brief overview of the requirements for comprehensive online, electronically delivered student support services, while referencing accreditation guidelines.

In 2000, the California Postsecondary commission projected a 35% increase over a ten year period in California public colleges and universities, with the majority of that increase being at the community college level. Recognizing the inability to keep up with this growth though additional brick and mortar, many colleges have responded with the development and maintenance of comprehensive distance education instructional programs, with an emphasis on the online environment.

Through these efforts, in addition to increasing the ability of colleges to accommodate greater numbers of students without having to build additional facilities, new student needs have emerged and have been accommodated.  Students who would not have otherwise had access to college programs can now take courses and work towards degrees and transfer credits from their homes or offices.

The following is a partial list of challenges that have been widely recognized as motivations for students to elect distance education, which for many is their only educational option:

• Parents raising children
  
• Persons with difficult work schedule
  
• Proximity to a college/lack of transportation
  
• Persons with disabilities who are housebound
  

Each year the California Community College Chancellor’s Office conducts a statewide survey of distance education students.

http://www.cccco.edu/divisions/esed/aa_ir/disted/attachments/2003StudentResults.htm

In the most recent survey, for Fall 2003, when students were asked why they are taking distance education courses, 87% of the respondents indicated that “Convenience” was an “Important” or “Very Important” consideration. Convenience was selected more highly than any other choice followed by:

• To fulfill requirements for transfer
  
• To fulfill requirements for associate degree
  
• To improve job skills/expand job opportunities
  

When asked, “Would you take another distance education course?” 88% of the respondents indicated that they either “Agreed” or “Strongly agreed.” The percentage was the same, 88%, when asked if colleges should offer more distance education courses.

(California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Student Survey Statewide Results- Fall 2003.).

The response by colleges to the demand for distance education courses has been dramatic over the past five years as illustrated in the following chart adapted from the California Virtual Campus Legislative Progress Report, Fiscal Year 2002-2003:

The increased reliance upon distance education described above, both by colleges and by students, shows no signs of decreasing in the near future. Aided by online resources such as the California Virtual Campus Online Distance Education Catalog, a new type of student has emerged. This student may be taking courses from multiple institutions, ignoring traditional service area boundaries and connections to a single college, while at the same time creating significant new challenges in the student support area. It is logical to presume that students who find it more convenient to take classes at a distance, also find it more convenient to receive other services associated with their college experiences at a distance. While colleges have been quick to respond in providing improved instructional opportunities at a distance, many colleges have not been quite so quick to provide the equivalent student support services to distance education students. Many colleges still require that distance education students come to campus for orientation, counseling appointments, to buy books, to receive tutoring.  These site based requirements severely limit options for students, who may reside hundreds of miles away from the college. Additionally, site based requirements limit the ability of a distance education program to serve students who may be at the fringes or even outside of the college’s traditional service area.

Student Support Services:

The Internet has provided an effective new means for delivering quality instruction at a distance. The Internet also provides the means for colleges to offer quality student support services for distance education students; reducing the disadvantages, sometimes hardships that result when distance education students are required to come to campus for these services. This article is to provide a brief overview of the components of comprehensive student support services, while describing some models for providing these services. In other words, “What are the pieces that need to be pulled together to truly meet the access needs of the distance education student?”

The California Community College’s Chancellor’s Office conducts a yearly distance education survey. The following table has been adapted from the 2002-03 Distance Education Survey, and distills the response down to a comparison of “Walk-in” or site based service with “Internet” or web based services. (California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, Distance Education Report Fiscal Years 1995/96 - 2001/02 - May 2003)

“What access do the students taking distance education courses have to the following services and facilities?”

It is clear from the above chart that colleges have developed more online resources in the “Core Administrative Functions” such Admissions, Registration and Library. Providing these services online typically benefits the online and onsite populations equally. Online development in the areas of student support services, ie, Counseling, Financial Aid, EOPS, and Tutoring, has not kept pace with other Internet resources.

Scenarios:

The following scenarios are descriptions of real students and give some sense of the challenges that they face, the opportunities that result from distance education, and the services that they require. They also represent the population that is most seriously disadvantaged when equivalent student support services are not available to them at a distance.

Theresa

 Theresa has never previously attended college.  She is a single mother, has three young children and is not able to spend the time away from the home that pursuing a traditional college education would require.  Theresa worked with a counselor to determine a career goal and decided that eventually operating a child care center from her home would allow her the flexibility she needs to spend time with her children and the means to support herself and her family. The counselor helped her to identify a program where Theresa could earn an AS in Child Development online. Theresa took the institution’s placement examination and, because of her years out of school, found that she will need to begin with basic skills classes in reading, writing, and math. After speaking with a counselor, she learns that the basic skills classes are not taught online, and that she will first need to attend onsite at a community college in her area to complete these courses.  They strategize that financial aid will assist her with child care while she takes the site based courses; she can return to her normal home schedule when she is able to go fully online.  Interestingly, Theresa will take the basic skills classes from her local community college, and will take her AS degree from another college located in another area of the state. Theresa has limited technical skills, and as a consequence will be taking the “Becoming a Successful Online Student” course which is designed to familiarize students and make them more comfortable with learning online.  Her counselor also makes sure that she is aware that there are online tutoring services available to assist her if she begins to have difficulty in a class.

Once the basic skills courses are completed, Theresa will be able to spend the majority of days with her young children, and do most of her work in her online classes after she puts her children to bed at night.  Theresa is highly motivated and looks forward to the day when she can be self supporting.

Online student support services required by and provided to this single mother unable to attend traditional classes because of family demands included:

• Pre-enrollment resources
  
• Counseling
  
• Career counseling
  
• Financial Aid
  
• Student preparedness
  
• Education planning
  
• Assessment
  
• Basic Skills/Tutoring
  

Tim

Over the past 20 years, Tim has attended four different colleges.  Because his job requires long hours and travel, his schedule is rarely stable enough to enable him to attend site based, scheduled classes. In addition, the closest community college is 30 minutes away, an additional commute time he cannot fit into his busy schedule.  This ongoing situation has prevented him from being able to focus on his education long enough to complete a degree.  To be able to move up in his chosen career however, Tim will have to earn at least an Associates degree, and optimally a Bachelor’s degree. After doing some online research, Tim has transferred all of his units to an online program and with the assistance of an online advisor has developed a Student Education Plan that will allow him to finish a degree in a reasonable amount of time.   Tim has a laptop that he uses for accessing his classes while traveling, While this does give him access to his classes “anytime, anywhere” he does sometime encounter technical difficulties, and he is often dependent upon the  college’s online student help desk for assistance.   Tim is currently working closely with his counselor to identify an online institution were he can complete his Bachelor’s Degree upon completion of his Associates degree.

Note: As indicated in the above scenario, the demand for online degrees and certificate programs has increased considerably. In the distance education survey cited above, when students were asked about the reasons for taking distance education classes, students rated the following reasons as having a level of importance in their decision from “Very” to “Somewhat Important.”

Distance Education Services and Facilities Online student support services required by and provided to this working head of family unable to attend classes due to work and travel constraints:

• Technical support
  
• Financial Aid
  
• Transfer Counseling
  
• Student Educational Planning
  

These scenarios exemplify just some of the circumstances of students taking online classes.  The online student population is as varied as the traditional onsite community college population, with the same diverse level of support needs. 

Why are comprehensive, online student support services a necessity?

• In addition to dealing with the same issues and challenges as traditional onsite students, distance education students experience challenges and barriers unique to the environment in which they are pursuing an education, such as learning how to navigate the online course environment and possibly confronting  new technologies and the seemingly unavoidable technical difficulties  that may occur.
• If evaluated on a strictly financial basis, distance education students pay the same fees as students attending classes onsite, in some cases paying built in facilities fees for structures they do not use.  Consequently, they are entitled to an equivalent level of service and support, as enjoyed by those students attending classes onsite.
• Through the Internet, students have access to pick and choose from many institutions.  Their choices are no longer determined by geography.  As a result, students can select the institution they feel will best meet their needs.  The college that is able to provide support services at a distance is likely to be more attractive than one requiring the student to come to campus.
• For many colleges, success and retention rates have been a concern for online classes.  The rates have been lower, in some cases, significantly lower, than the success and retention rates for courses taken onsite.  In the Distance Education Report Distance, an average of 54% was reported at the average completion rate for 2000-02.  At Cerro Coso College, as we have added online student support services, retentions rates have significantly improved, and as of 2003-2004 were 87%.  Given the widely accepted importance of the student services traditionally provided onsite to student success and retention rates, it seems a logical expectation that these services would be similarly important to students taking classes online.
• Lack of online support services creates an additional burden for the online instructor.  Students look to the instructor for information and services traditionally provided by student services onsite.  When services are lacking, online instructors are not able to make appropriate referrals for students needing assistance.  This creates a situation in which the online instructor must be “all things” to her students.
• Finally, there is a test. "Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs" developed and adopted by eight regional accrediting agencies. the Regional Accrediting Agency clearly recommends that “The institution recognizes that appropriate services must be available for students of electronically offered programs…” and goes on to define these services as a comprehensive level of support ranging from admissions to library services.
  

Three stages:

1. Pre-enrollment
   
2. Enrollment
   
3. Distance Ed Instruction
   

The following diagrams illustrate three major stages that students go through when taking classes at a distance and the requisite comprehensive student support services associated with each step.  The services surrounding the student in the diagrams are those necessary to support the student throughout the processes- during pre-enrollment, enrollment, and while taking classes; each service developed with the assumption that the student will not physically be on campus.  A description of each service is provided below each diagram.

Accessibility has not been listed separately in these matrices, because it is a fundamental assumption of this article that colleges recognize that students with disabilities will be provided accommodations at all levels of instruction and student support services whether they are offered online or at a distance.  It is not within the scope of this article to describe neither what accommodations may be required nor how they should be provided. An invaluable resource in the area of web accessibility is California Community College’s High Tech Center Training Unit, which “provides training and technical support in the area of web accessibility and the principles of usability. Central to these concepts is providing information to users in a manner that is most useful and flexible to the individual.” The following is a link to the California Community College’s High Tech Center Training Unit. http://www.htctu.fhda.edu/divisions/webaccess/main.htm

Before student enrolls- he/she is in a decision making mode.

• Information about distance education courses- Specific information about each course should be available, including course requirements and any technical requirements. Many colleges post the course syllabus for each course in a public portion of the website.
• Self-assessment tools for readiness for the online environment- Tools should be provided to assist the students in determining if their technical and academic skill sets are likely to result in success in the distance education environment. This is particularly important for students who are taking distance education courses for the first time.
• Information on technology/equipment requirements- In addition to specific course technical requirements, information needs to be provided about the minimum technical requirements for taking courses at a distance from the college. If it is an online course, what type of computer, ISP Service, connection speeds, or special software is required?
• Pre-enrollment advising information- Information should be posted regarding degrees and certificates that are available and the time required completing them.
  
  
  • Can the degrees be earned fully at a distance, or are there onsite requirements? 
  • Is there a “long term schedule” that guarantees when classes will be offered that students can use for planning?
  • Students should also be able to access information and have questions answered regarding the transfer of credits and the enrollment process.
• Information about services and resources available: It should be clear to the student the types of online support and/or help desk services that are available through the institution and how the student can access the services (email, web information, telephone, Instant Messaging); including the hours for such support and the turnaround time to receive assistance

Online application/registration: Students should be able to apply for admission and register for classes at a distance. Colleges have generally recognized that electronic applications and registrations are more efficient and benefit the onsite student as well as the distance education student. Many colleges, at this point, have a means for students to complete the application and registration process online, via telephone, or by mail.
Counseling/advising: Distance Education students will need to be able to communicate with a counselor and/or advisor at a distance to help to determine the classes he or she will need to meet an educational goal. When a student has completed previous college course work, a counselor/advisor will need to assist the student in determining how the courses will transfer to the current institution. Information on vocational programs, transfer, and career planning should be available to the student via FAQs, a Counseling website, and/or interaction with a counselor via email, telephone, Instant Messaging, or a web-based intake form. Similarly, for students who are undecided about education and career goals, information and resources to help with decision-making should be available electronically.
Assessment for appropriate placement for reading, writing, and math levels: The assessment process for determining placement levels in reading, writing, and math should be available to new students. Most colleges offer multiple levels of these classes ranging from basic skills to transfer level. For student success, it is important to provide a process for accurate assessment of appropriate starting levels. Cerro Coso provides access to an assessment through the use of the College Board’s ACCUPLACER online assessment. A proctor process is in place to allow the student to take the examination at a distance in a secure testing environment. Cerro Coso also utilizes an online essay assessment to assist in the placement process for writing.
College orientation: Students will need to have access to an online orientation that will provide information about student rights and responsibilities and other important information regarding the policies of the college. Colleges who are providing orientation at a distance have employed a variety of technologies. Some of these examples include a CD Rom that is mailed to a student, a Microsoft Power-Point or streaming video that is available through the college website, or a text based orientation that is followed by an orientation quiz developed through a quiz making software program. These approaches have also ranged from orientations developed through commercial companies/applications to “homegrown” orientations developed with the tools and expertise already available on the campus.
Financial Aid: Colleges and students benefit from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), being available online: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ All aspects of Financial Aid eligibility are determined by the questions on this form. It is the responsibility of the college to ensure that students have the necessary information to access and complete the FAFSA. Additionally, students will require access to information about the college’s financial aid processes and forms specific to the institution. Each college has a unique code which needs to be made available to the student on the college’s website. Distance education students should also have access to scholarship information and the application process, with equitable opportunities to apply for and be awarded scholarships.
Bookstore: Students have benefited from the preponderance of online bookstores, and the ability to buy competitively. Many colleges have decided it is easier to refer their students to these services rather than having to package and ship books to distance education students. Students must however be informed about required texts and how to obtain them well in advance of the start of classes given the time delays that may occur when ordering books online.
Identify students with special needs: Means should be provided for identifying students with special needs, and to provide support for those students. Processes need to be in place to:


• Identify students who may be educationally or economically disadvantaged and who may qualify for support services
• For verifying their eligibility
• For educating the students about the opportunities and available accommodations.
• For delivering those opportunities and services at a distance.
  
  Students should also have a means for self-identification, and a means to learn about special support programs available through the institution. For example, at Cerro Coso College, the Counseling Intake Form, used to submit inquiries and requests to counseling, has an area where the student is asked if he/she has any learning or physical disabilities and, if so, would they like to be contacted by a counselor to learn about services for which they may be eligible.
Student education planning: One of the most important tools in academic advising is the development of the student education plan. Distance education students will need to have a means for developing an educational plan, at a distance, with a counselor or advisor that the student can use as a planning tool and to determine the pattern of courses needed to achieve their stated educational goal. The student education plan will need to be developed is such a way that it is available to the student to easily access for ongoing planning. Some schools have online education plans that can be accessed by the student through use of a password, others have automated degree audit programs that allow the student to enter their course work and receive an audit of the classes remaining to complete their educational goal. Cerro Coso College has a more low-tech solution. The student submits a Student Education Plan request form that asks them for their education goal, information on any previous college course work that they have completed, and a variety of other pieces of information important to the development of an accurate education plan. From the information submitted, the counselor or advisor develops an education plan that is sent via email as a PDF document. This is a document that can be updated by the counselor, but cannot be edited by the student.

While student is taking online classes

Ongoing counseling and advising: Students should have access to ongoing academic planning.  Once the student has established a student education plan, the student should be able to continue to have an opportunity to update this plan, change educational goals, and/or access related career planning information. When communicating with students at a distance, tools that enable document sharing, such as Microsoft Net Meeting, improve the advising process, and enable both the student and the counselor to have updated copies of the student’s education plan.
Tutoring services: For a struggling distance education student, access to tutoring services is probably one of the most important services to provide; often being key to student retention and success.   However, tutoring is also one of the services that can be most challenging for the institution to provide at a distance, because of the infrastructure and trained staffing required.  In the California Community College system this is complicated by the fact that apportionment for tutoring is only allowable when that tutoring is done with a “line of sight” between the tutor and the student being tutored; excluding most distance education modes.  It is clear that online tutoring is likely to be more costly than site based tutoring, but as in the example of California Community Colleges there is often little or no funding to offset the cost. Consequently, many colleges have not established a process to have tutoring available at a distance.  Those colleges who are providing distance tutoring have applied a variety of technology solutions such as:   whiteboard, document sharing, Instant Messaging, and commercial applications, such as SMARTHINKING. 

• Early intervention for students who are struggling: Given the lack of face to face interaction, the distance education environment poses special challenges for identifying students who may be having difficulties. These difficulties run the range from never having logged into the class, to those students who may be struggling with the class content. In order to impact student retention and success it is essential that these students be identified and assisted as early in the semester as possible. At Cerro Coso, we have an online “Early Alert” process that is very similar to that used on campus.  In the third week of the semester, online instructors are solicited to submit a web-based Early Alert form for those students about whom they have concerns.  This form provides student feedback regarding the instructor’s concerns and suggestions for actions the student should take.  The form is received by the online student and the online counselor for follow-up. The student is then tracked for subsequent progress.
  
• Support services for students with special needs: Legally, the institution will be required to provide appropriate accommodations for distance education students with special needs.  Often times, student needs are addressed through the distance education environment.  For example, a hearing impaired student in an online class will often encounter content that is mostly text based and will only need assistance with audio content.  However, if a learning disabled student is taking a course in which the instructor requires a timed test, and the student is eligible for extended time testing, there will need to be a process in place to make sure this student is provided this accommodation. 
  
• Library access:  Because of the early availability of electronic resources, the Library Resources segment of the college has often led the way in integrating technology in the service of students. These resources are often made available to students via the Internet and can readily serve both onsite and distance education students.  The expectation is that distance education student must be provide with the requisite levels of: 

• Reference and research assistance
  
• Remote access to databases
  
• Online journals and full text resources
  
• Document delivery services
  
• Library user and information literacy instruction
  
• Reserve materials
  
• Institutional agreements with local libraries.
  
• Technical support: Technical difficulties can be one of the single most frustrating and anxiety provoking challenges faced by the distance education student; particularly in the online environment.   It is particularly important that the college offers online classes on a stable platform in a well designed and simple course environment. Technologies that are not essential to the delivery of content and may be beyond the skills or resources of the student to use should be avoided. For example, while streaming video lectures may improve the learning experience for many students, the video delivery must be designed so that they can be viewed by all students, not limited to the students with access to broadband. In this case it may be more appropriate to deliver the lectures in an audio format only.
  
  It is important that students have access to resources, both web-information based/self-tutorials and live resources, in order to trouble-shoot the inevitable technical problems that will arise.
  
• Opportunities for online community: Distance education students should have access to aspects of “Student Life” that will allow them to feel a sense of connection to and part of the community for the institution in which they are enrolled.  Attempts at developing opportunities for nurturing a sense of inclusion for distance education students have included:
  • Online student chat groups and asynchronous discussion forums
  • Online student newsletter,
  • Streaming video of graduation ceremonies.

Recommendations;

Below is a list of recommendations for the process of beginning the development of a comprehensive online student support service program.  The list is certainly not exhaustive, but is intended to provide an overview of some of the pertinent issues to consider and is as a result of the lessons we have learned in developing an online student support service program at Cerro Coso College Community College.

• A committee of the stakeholders in the program development effort should be established.  This will allow those who will be responsible for the successful implementation to have input in the decision making process and create a higher level of buy-in.
• The planning and implementation committee should be charged with developing a plan and timeline for the development of a comprehensive online student services program prioritized by the most urgent needs of the students.  Funding for this development is a critical issue, especially the sustainability of funding, and will need to be addressed early in the process.  There are a number of cases in which an online student support service or resource has been developed with grant funding, and fails to ultimately be institutionalized when the grant cycle ends and the money  is no longer available.  
• Be creative. This is a relatively new area for most colleges, and requires new ways of looking at challenges. Try to leverage existing resources and provide solutions that benefit both onsite and distance education students. It makes more sense to serve two purposes with one service/resource than to have to develop duplicate, parallel resources and services.   As it is relates to the funding issue, creativity is essential, particularly at small colleges with very limited resources  There are often means of providing student support, resources, and information at a distance that do not have to include expensive, commercial solutions.  An example would be engaging the computer technology program and students to assist with the development of a web-based orientation.  Any institution of higher learning will typically have talent and resources available that may assist in innovative technology solutions for offering support services.
• Appropriate training for those who will be working with online students is an essential component to a successful online student support program.  The support staff and faculty will need to have a clear understanding of online courses, the technology they may be using to deliver the support service, and needs that may be specific to an online student.  It would be beneficial for this staff and faculty to participate in a short training course offered online, so that they have a working knowledge of the online course process and environment.
• Student focus groups should have an opportunity to evaluate student support related web materials.  Determining ease of navigation and access to information can best be accomplished by the population who will be using the website.  In addition, the student services practitioners developing the information and resources are typically very familiar with the terminology and concepts being explored.  What may be intuitive to the person developing the website, may not be intuitive to the user who is less familiar with the information.
• Start small; online information is difficult to keep current.  As the information and resources available online grows, so does the challenge of the keeping the information accurate and timely.
• Refer to other colleges for models and resources that may be adopted or modified to fit the needs of your institution.  Having a well-researched development plan can also help avoid costly errors in investing it technology solutions that may not be effective or a functional option for the intended purpose.
• Explore resources and guidelines available for the development of online student support services:
  
  
  • Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications-Guide to Developing Online Student Services: Online Student Services Provision:  A Guide to Good Practice
    http://www.wcet.info/resources/publications/guide1003/guide/wftoconline.htm
    
  • Beyond the Administrative Core: Creating Web-based Student Services for Online Learners project:
    http://www.wcet.info/Projects/laap/index.asp
    
  • California Virtual Campus- Regional Center 4
    Interactive Institutional Preparedness Evaluation Instrument
    A comprehensive instrument created to assist in identifying strengths and weaknesses in online programs.
    http://www.cvc4.org/survey/default.htm 
• Throughout then development process, keep in mind recommendations of the Regional Accrediting Agencies.  These recommendations outline what they consider to be an appropriate level of online student support.  While, at this point, these are recommendations, it is likely that, in the future, they will be the standard by which your online program is evaluated.
• Consider accessibility in the beginning of your development effort.  The state guidelines are clear …508 compliance…It is much easier to create an accessible program and related services, than it is to retroactively modify them to be accessible.
• Decide which areas of your program will include “contact” and which will be “self-serve.”  The internet is a powerful tool for providing information to students and, used effectively, can empower students to take a more active roll in their education/career planning and success as a college student.  While personal contact is important for many services, it does not have be the first option for students to acquire information and help, particularly when funding and resources are an issue.

Works Cited

California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Student Survey Statewide Results- Fall 2003.
http://www.cccco.edu/divisions/esed/aa_ir/disted/attachments/2003StudentResults.htm

 California Community College Chancellor’s Office. California Virtual Campus Legislative Progress Report, Fiscal Year 2002-2003.
http://www.cccco.edu/divisions/esed/aa_ir/disted/attachments/2003_CVU_Legislative_Progress_Report.pdf

California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Distance Education Report Fiscal Years 1995/96 - 2001/02 - May 2003. 
http://www.cccco.edu/divisions/esed/aa_ir/disted/attachments/Distance Education Report-May 2003.pdf

Paul Meyers, M.F.A.

Faculty/Project Director

Cerro Coso Community College