Evaluation of student support services at the Namibia University of Science and Technology Centre for Open and Lifelong Learning

Quality and effective student support service (SSS) is a critical demand in the ever-changing landscape of distance education. It is common knowledge that distance education students need continuous support during their studies in order to cope with academic demands while attending to other key activities. This study set out to evaluate the implementation of SSS at the Namibia University of Science and Technology Centre for Open and Lifelong Learning (NUST COLL) at different regional centres across Namibia. The objectives of the study were to: identify problems and challenges experienced with the current implementation of SSS, determine the needs of the distance students and propose recommendations for the improvement of SSS at the regional centres. In an attempt to realise the objectives of the study, the study incorporated both quantitative and qualitative research design to collect data, by making use of questionnaires, open-ended questions and interviews. The participants included 8 regional coordinators (RC) who were purposively selected and 109 distance students who were selected through stratified and convenience sampling techniques from seven COLL regional centres. It was evident from the findings that most students opted for distance education as it allows them to work and study. Furthermore, many students have been studying for many years without getting any qualification. While NUST was providing different SSS, the findings brought to light some challenges such as the shortage of technological tools, understaffed regional centres, and unavailability of support services on weekends and public holidays and lack of collaboration between marker-tutors, lecturers and regional face-to-face tutors. It is proposed that the current model of SSS should be redesigned to respond to challenges facing distance education students at the regional centres. A model for implementation of SSS was developed to pave the way for effective implementation geared towards reducing the dropout rates and increase success rates. Key terms: Implementation of student support services, technological tools, model for implementation, regional coordinators, academic demands, increase success rates, regional centres, distance education, regional centres, and dropout rates.Educational Leadership and ManagementD. Ed. (Education Management

Support Services for Millennial Undergraduates

Education has changed as a result of technological advances. Distance learning, particularly online learning, has rapidly increased its presence in higher education. Millennials, a new generation of students who have grown up with the Internet, are college-age. They expect access to the Internet to manage their daily lives. However, as they enter college, many discover that support services that are requisite to a successful college experience, are available on-campus but not online. The goal was to determine what contemporary college-aged students expect as online student support services so that institutions will know what to provide. Data gathered through interviews with administrative support staff were used to modify a published survey and to guide construction of new questions. The modified instrument was validated by three experts and revised accordingly. All current students at Farmingdale State College were invited to respond to the web-based instrument that examined the current status of online support services. Following full-scale implementation, the data were analyzed. Results were used to create recommendations and considerations for the implementation of online support services at the college reviewed by the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. The final report is a comprehensive resource for college administrators who serve millennial undergraduates. It contains valuable information and guidance for the development and implementation of student support services in the 21st century. A serendipitous finding was that many non-traditional, older students expressed comparable needs for online support services

A NEED FOR SUPPORT SERVICES AMONG HISPANIC FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS

Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States, yet the retention and graduation rates among Hispanics continue to remain low. This study examined some of the barriers and social challenges that Hispanic First-Generation College Students experience. The main objectives addressed low retention rates, low graduation rates, discussed unique cultural issues, and looked at the most prevalent challenges that this population endures while trying to successfully achieve higher education. A qualitative approach was utilized to gather data. A total of ten participants were recruited and placed in two focus groups. These focus groups were conducted virtually due to national COVID-19 restrictions. The findings revealed that First Generation Hispanic College Students face multiple barriers when navigating college and university. There is a need for supportive services such as bilingual parent workshops, college readiness courses, financial aid workshops, mental health services, and more Hispanic representation in colleges. Recommendations for mitigating these disparities going forward can include improved understanding and identification of the barriers that First Generation Hispanic college students encounter, and how implementation of supportive services at the middle school and high school levels can increase retention and graduation rates among First Generation Hispanic College Students

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NETAJI SUBHAS OPEN UNIVERSITY

There is no alternative to lifelong learning to maintain the sustainability and protect our future generation. The Open and Distance Learning (ODL) gives the opportunity of lifelong learning. Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU) is one of 14 State Open Universities in India and it was established by the West Bengal State government in the year 1997. The challenge was to provide education at every door step within the state with equity and quality. Within a very short span of 11 years, the University has become a people's University with more than 140,000 learners on its roll. The University is playing a pivotal role in capacity building and it gives a person a chance to earn the degree which (s)he could not get it earlier due to socio-economic reasons. The success of the University has come through effective implementation of support services. The strength of an open and distance learning institute depends on its services which are provided to the learners. On one hand, the learners of this system are adult; on the other hand, they belong to disadvantaged groups like dropouts, scheduled cast, scheduled tribe, women, minorities, house wives etc. Again, they are separated from teacher as well as from the Institutes under open and distance learning system, so they desperately need support before, during and even after their study. The term ‘Student Support Services’ is not associated with the conventional system of education. We commonly use this term in ODL system of education. The Student Support Services in ODL not only include these nonacademic services but also the academic services as provided by the Institute and faculty. NSOU uses both Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and non-ICT related Student Support Services. In this paper I have highlighted how NSOU has achieved the status of Mega University with the help of its Student Support Services

Building Capacity: Enhancing Undergraduate STEM Education by Improving Transfer Success

Several evidence-based practices were combined to reduce barriers to transfer from associate to baccalaureate programs, and baccalaureate degree completion. The first strategy was creation of the STEM Transfer Collaborative (STC), an adaption of the CUNY Pathways general education articulation initiative (1). The STC focuses on collaboration by both the sending and receiving college faculty to begin transfer preparation and support before transfer occurs, through articulation agreements, shared professional development to align pedagogy and curriculum, and outreach to potential transfer students. There was also regular feedback to community college faculty on the success of their transfer students. A second strategy employed was Momentum to the Baccalaureate (MB), an adaption of the CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, ASAP (2). MB provides support for junior and senior-level transfer students who are either community colleges associate degree graduates (external transfer) or associate degree graduates who transferred to bachelor’s programs at the same comprehensive college they earned their associate degree at (New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York), which has a 2+2 degree structure (internal transfer). Components of MB include personalized mentoring, advisement, and monthly stipends to students who maintain full-time enrollment and good academic standing. Students’ majors are in high needs STEM areas and include computer engineering technology, computer systems technology, construction management and civil engineering technology, electrical engineering technology, and applied chemistry. Propensity matching was used to evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies. Participating campuses are part of the City University of New York (CUNY), and include six community colleges (Borough of Manhattan Community College, Bronx Community College, Guttman Community College, Hostos Community College, Kingsborough Community College, and LaGuardia Community College), five of which are Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and, as mentioned previously New York City College of Technology (City Tech), also an HSI, which offers associate and bachelor’s degrees (2+2 structure). Building Capacity: Enhancing Undergraduate STEM Education by Improving Transfer Success has made progress and demonstrated success at achieving goals, despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, preliminary results suggest that targeted pre-transfer and post-transfer supports improve transfer student outcomes. Students who transferred from a City Tech associate degree program to a City Tech STEM baccalaureate program and who received MB support had higher GPAs and better retention rates than a matched cohort of students who transferred from a City Tech associate degree program to a City Tech STEM baccalaureate program but who did not receive MB support. Students who transferred from a STEM Transfer Collaborative (STC) community college to City Tech’s STEM baccalaureate programs who received Momentum to the Baccalaureate (MB) support had significantly higher GPAs compared with a matched cohort of students who transferred from a STEM Transfer Collaborative (STC) community college to City Tech’s STEM baccalaureate programs but who did not receive MB support

Managing change for a distance learning initiative: An evaluation

The purpose of this case study was to examine the degree to which those managing change for a distance learning initiative followed David Nadler\u27s (1989) four action steps designed to reduce resistance in making the transition from the former operational state to a newly-created state.;The four action steps include providing opportunities for participation among employees, allowing employees to identify current operations that will not work in the new organizational state, rewarding behavior that assists in the transition, and allowing sufficient time for the change to take place. The findings in this study revealed that participation was the critical component that effected successful change.;Those units in which administrators encouraged employee participation in the transition were able to make adaptations in their operations that allowed for the development of effective and efficient student support services for distance learners. Employees were also very satisfied with the management of change provided by the administrators.;Those units in which administrators did not encourage employee participation in the transition were able to make adaptations for distance learners; however, the services provided were neither effective nor efficient. Further, employees were dissatisfied with the managers\u27 styles in directing the change.;It is therefore recommended that managers involve employees whenever possible in their units\u27 operations--decision-making, problem-solving, and transitions undertaken by the unit--for a productive and satisfied workforce.;Further research is suggested in employee participation and managerial style, as well as in women\u27s leadership, and teamwork in organizations

The Importance Of Coaching: A Program Evaluation Of The Americorps College Completion Coaches Program

As more students enroll than earn a post-secondary credential, persistence toward completion and graduation have become issues in community colleges. This program evaluation highlights the AmeriCorps College Completion Coach program implemented across community colleges in Ohio during 2012–2017 under the leadership of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC). The program goal is to improve postsecondary credential obtainment by increasing course completion and credit hour accumulation. This outcome is achieved by providing coaching to at-risk students in community colleges across Ohio. This study sought to discover the AmeriCorps College Completion Coach program’s best practices for student support services and explored the program’s goal of increasing college completion rates. In studying the facets of the AmeriCorps College Completion Coach program, two cycles of descriptive coding were used, as it allowed for a comprehensive view of the program. Using a descriptive coding process with a thematic analysis, three themes emerged from the desk review program evaluation. The first theme was Interventions, which described the AmeriCorps College Completion Coach program’s strategy to improve student performance and increase a student’s persistence to completion. The second theme was At-Risk Students, which alludes to the program identifying students enrolled in one of the following courses: remedial English or math; first year experience; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); or other college gateway courses. The third theme was AmeriCorps, which described the commitment of a service member. This program evaluation contends that coaching can provide a focal point for a community college’s efforts toward increasing completion rates. This study provides insight to build capacity and knowledge of coaches, aiming to increase the educational attainment of community college students. The study also provides recommendations for future action and future research, such as evaluating the long term effects of coaching

The Retention and Persistence of First-Year, First-Generation College Students at a Mid-Size Public University: A Mixed Methods Case Study

Student retention is an intricate and multi-layered issue facing postsecondary institutions across the United States. Although a complex issue, one trend is clear, research on student persistence reveals that more students withdraw from their institution within the first year of college. An additional and continuing dilemma is the disproportional attrition of first-generation college students, particularly those from ethnic minority backgrounds. The purpose of this case study is to examine the transition of Governors State University (GSU) from an upper-division graduate university to a four-year traditional institution and its impact (in terms of curricular and co-curricular programs and services) on the retention and persistence of first-year, first-generation college students. This study employed a mixed-method sequential explanatory research design in which quantitative data was collected first followed by two qualitative methods. Statistical institutional data on GSU’s enrollment, persistence, and retention was analyzed for trends. An online qualitative survey was sent to nineteen administrators of curricular and co-curricular programs and/or services. Additionally four one-on-one interviews were conducted with senior executive administrators in Academic and Student Affairs units. The quantitative results reveal declining enrollment and persistence rates of the institution’s first-year and second-year students-suggesting the institution’s ineffectiveness in retaining first-year students. However, qualitative results reveal that administrators have positive perceptions about the institution’s effectiveness in retaining first-year and first-generation college students. These findings show a clear disconnection between quantitative and qualitative data. Despite GSU’s low retention rate of its first-year students, with its internal efforts, the institution shows promise to stand alongside its higher ranking national peers

EXPLORING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ACADEMIC COACHING FOR ACADEMICALLY AT-RISK COLLEGE STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Academic Coaching for Excellence (ACE) program for academically at-risk students over the course of five academic semesters from Spring 2015 to Spring 2017. The study utilized archival data from 1,440 undergraduate students using a cohort-based, nonequivalent groups post-tests design. The students were on academic warning, meaning they had fallen below a 2.00 GPA in the previous academic semester and were within their first 59 credit hours of college. Results from the study found that full- and part-time students who participated in academic coaching had significant GPA increases, were more likely to earn at least a 2.00 GPA in the intervention semester, completed 76-100% of course credit hours, and were more likely to be retained at the university the following semester. Significant findings draw attention to non-Federal Pell Grant recipients and full-time non-traditional age (at least 25 years old) students academic success and persistence, as these students were found to have higher GPAs and complete more course credits compared to their Federal Pell Grant and traditional full-time student (under 25 years old) counterparts. The number of sessions that students attended was also significant for students academic performance, persistence in course completion, and retention. Implications are discussed for higher education staff and administration working with academically vulnerable populations and for the counseling community. Considerations for future research and limitations are also provided