Clayton State University-[node:field-date:custom:Y]--Entirely Online Degree Programs

High-impact strategy

Expand completely online opportunities.

Related Goal

Reconfigure instructional delivery to support educational excellence and student success.

Summary of Activities

Three new fully online degrees were added in the 2014-2015 academic year bringing the total number of undergraduate programs available 100% online to 11. An e-tuition rate has been established for our 100% online programs that save students, money on fees that would normally be paid if they were an on-campus student. This allows students a potentially cheaper, more flexible, option to complete their degree. 

Baseline Status

Clayton State has offered online programming for several years but has focused on expanding online opportunities in the last three years. Baseline metrics for Fall 2012 are in the next section.

Interim Measures of Progress

Online course options have experienced growth and course completion success over the past three falls. In Spring 2014, the first SPOC, POLS 1101, was launched with a total of 19 students. Of the 19, 17 (89.5%) passed the class with A’s and B’s.

Online Course Offerings and Completion Rates Fall 2012 to Fall 2014

To date no statistical comparison of success rates have been made between face-to-face and online classes. This is due to variation in instructors and the 3.0 GPA requirements for the SPOC classes.  The tables below show the success rates in both types of online courses.

Online Course Offerings and Success Rates

(n is the number of students enrolled in the course sections)

Measures of Success

The main measure of success for our online programming is student graduation from 100% online programs and the increase in 100% online credits awarded to students.  The program would like to see a 3% increase in the number of degrees awarded to 100% online students year over year, and a continued increase in success rates in online courses.

Lessons Learned

A challenge has been ensuring that students enrolling in online programs are best suited for that delivery format. SmarterMeasure, a student readiness assessment, has been implemented to direct academic advising to students enrolled in online programs that exhibit risk factors that could challenge their completion and success. Information and data will be collected on how this intervention tool contributes to outreach to at risk students and their subsequent success rates. Comparison across the different types of course offerings is an area that needs further refinement. In the coming academic year, we will be developing a better method of normalizing the data across the different groups.