Center for Distance Education: Survey says...
New survey results show Mississippi State University students taking electronic courses care most about financial assistance, easy access to course information and registration, and recommendations about career prospects.
The results of the Center for Distance Education's student survey, "Priorities Survey for Online Learners" conducted by Noel-Levitz LLC, were released Sept. 17 in Croskey Auditorium at Memorial Hall.
Institutional perceptions, as well as academic, instructional, enrollment and student services, were surveyed. Each area was ranked both in terms of its importance and satisfaction to students.
Steve Taylor, executive director for the center, shared general comparisons between undergraduate and graduate students. The overall results reveal effective strategies already in place, as well as areas for improvement.
"We've got almost nine out of 10 students who say they'd come back and continue distance learning," Taylor said. "We've got them here, and they like what they've found; the trick is to keep them here until they complete their degree."
Taylor explained the three primary reasons that students enroll in MSU distance programs. They want better jobs to make more money, they found relevant information about their respective programs of interest and they encountered few problems enrolling in course.
Distance education staff and faculty can most impact the third factor -- straightforward enrollment -- by making enrollment and participation in the program easy and convenient, Taylor said.
"For the undergrads, it's about money," he said. "The transfer of credits means students spend less getting degrees; they get out quicker; they get on with their jobs. Financial assistance needs to be available."
Information and recommendations refer to interpersonal relationships, Taylor said, and they are very important, but the most important factors for MSU distance students are ease and flexibility.
Distance students need programs in which they can conveniently enroll and receive information, he said. The survey suggested many students are interested in taking courses lasting eight weeks, not the 16 of a regular semester.
Taylor urged distance education faculty to consider how to condense their courses; he said the Office of the Provost endorsed the faculty's developing and teaching the same accredited coursework in a shorter timeframe.
"Students want easy, hassle-free bureaucratic processes and timely responses within 24 hours," Taylor said. "We've got to make it easier and easier for them."
Visit www.distance.msstate.edu to learn more about online academic degree programs at MSU.
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Leah Barbour | Public Affairs
