"Best Schools" Interview Highlights Limestone Internet Program

We connected with Dr. Barry Shreve, Director of Limestone College’s Online & Evening, who filled us in on the long history Limestone has with online education, what students who enroll in an online program can expect from the school, and what online education at Limestone will look like five years from now.

Here are a few things that make Limestone College’s online programs unique:   

* Limestone shows a strong commitment to delivering education online and has even made it part of their mission statement.
* Online students will have several layers of support available to them from their faculty, program, and the broader university.
* The school’s administration makes sure online students know of activities that are happening on campus, including athletic events so local online students can participate in student life.

Can you tell us a little bit about the history of online education at Limestone?

Our program started back in 1996. We were definitely early adopters. I think the internet really only became popularized in the early ‘90s, so we got on very quickly and realized that it was a good vehicle for delivering educational programs to students and that it allowed us to expand our services to the population that may not be able to leave home to go to a traditional college. We actually have it as part of the mission statement of the college now: to provide educational opportunities for people who are unable, for whatever reason, to come and be students on campus.

What does the profile of a typical online student at Limestone look like?

We see fluctuations in our student population depending on what’s going on in the economy. We may have an increase in people who are unemployed, for example, and looking to go back to school, but have geographic problems getting to school. Right now, probably around 55% of our online student body is not currently employed. We originally saw online programs as a vehicle for people who were employed and couldn’t leave their job and leave where they were geographically. But, it’s actually evolved into a mix of about 55%/45%, unemployed to employed. We tend to have an older-than-average student population as well. I think our median age is in the mid-30s. So we have mostly unemployed and older-than-average students.

Are your admissions criteria for online and traditional students the same?

Yes, they are. Our admission criteria are identical to the day program or to the Evening Program.

How do you create a sense of community for your online students so they feel more connected to Limestone?

We recognize that that sense of community is one of the important criteria for people to stay with any kind of educational experience that they’re in. You can attract people to your program, but if you don’t develop a sense of community and connectedness with them, then you’re likely not to be able to retain them. We go out of our way, as much as possible, to keep a high level of communication with all of our ongoing students, letting them know about activities and athletic events that are happening. We have a very large athletic program on campus. Approximately 70% of the student body are intercollegiate athletes, so we have a very expansive athletic program. We also have a lot of programs in the arts and we try to make all of our online students aware of those activities.

We reach out to our online students regularly from my program as well as through their course faculty to try to help them feel a sense of belongingness. We encourage them to become involved in the alumni association and all of those kinds of things. We also have on-campus graduation ceremonies just for the Online & Evening/internet students and we always have a large number of people who come on campus to actually graduate and receive their diploma. We recognize that the majority of our student population come from South Carolina or the bordering parts of North Carolina, and by and large, people are within 100 miles or so of campus. It may not be convenient for them to take classes here, but they certainly can and do make the effort to come to graduation and feel that senses of connectedness.

Is there any distinction between the diplomas and transcripts of your online students and your on campus students?

There is no distinction whatsoever.

Who teaches Limestone’s online classes?

We have a combination of both full-time professors and adjuncts. We have a large percentage of faculty with terminal degrees, either full-time faculty or adjunct faculty.

What kinds of support services are available to your online students?

Different programs have different levels of support. The social work major, for example, which is now available fully online, has dedicated advisors, and they have a great deal of individual contact with students in that degree. We provide support through my office, with our enrollment coordinator, to help ongoing and current students with any kind of procedural issues that they may have. We have a set of part-time advisors who are faculty and staff, who are well aware of the range of programs that we have. They’re currently available to online students. We also have a variety of online support, depending on the particular course. We have a writing lab online; we have math support online. We have tutoring available. So, we provide as much support to our online students as we can.

Where do you see Limestone’s programs going over the next five years or so?

We actually are in an interesting place because the program has been around since 1996 and it really has grown tremendously. In the last several years, we’ve decreased in enrollment, which has pretty much been across the spectrum for colleges in general from technical colleges to private colleges and universities. So, we’re really taking a look at the underlying foundations that we have.

We are currently developing a vision statement for the online program. As I said, the online program is actually a part of the mission statement of the college. We’re looking to formalize the vision that we have been actualizing, but never sat down to take the time to actually put it into writing. So, we are looking to really establish that vision statement.

What kinds of things would you tell someone to look at when choosing between online programs besides some of the more typical criteria like accreditation status?

First, I would not discount the issue of accreditation. That’s one that a lot of students don’t pay attention to. The majority of the online student body are transfer students and they will come here from technical schools or other four-year schools. A number of them will apply with the expectation that the coursework they’ve done at another school that wasn’t regionally accredited will transfer and they’re shocked to discover that the courses from those institutions don’t transfer. So, I definitely would encourage students to pay attention to regional accreditation. Schools that have regional accreditation are the best.

The next thing I would look at if I were a student would be the level of interaction that faculty have with students. One of the things we see in online courses that are not of the best quality is that there is little interaction between faculty and students. In fact, this is one of the items that I put into my draft of the vision statement: that all of our programs shall be developed with a maximum amount of interaction between faculty and students. The reality is that some faculty view online teaching as easier than face-to-face teaching. Just like the students, the faculty don’t have to go to class. They don’t have this need to be at a certain place at a certain time. But all of the research, and certainly my experience, having taught online for 10 years myself, is that online teaching is more demanding than face-to-face teaching, if you do it right, because we have to compensate for the lack of that face-to-face connection with students. If students are looking for the best educational experience they can find, it will have a maximum amount of that kind of interaction built into all of the courses.

Is there anything else that prospective students should know about Limestone and what makes you different than other schools?

Our hallmark, and it’s part of our mission statement, actually, is something that I use with my staff and constantly remind them that this is who we are: we provide a supportive and nurturing environment. And, for me, the foundation of what we do. We are here, not just to impart knowledge, but to support and nurture students in their quest for knowledge. We’re more interested in the development of the person and their ability to think critically and develop a mature, responsible perspective. SOURCE: http://www.bestschools.com/online-colleges-in-south-carolina/#Interview…