Nationally, nearly nine million college students take classes exclusively online. As the landscape of higher education continues to evolve, Northern Illinois University is positioning itself to be a leader in online education.
NIU’s Office of Online Learning within the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning supports the experience of NIU’s fully online learner student body of more than 1,100 students from their initial contact with NIU, through the application and admittance process, all the way to graduation.
The office is led by Anna Richardson, named director in February of this year, after serving for nearly five years as online program enrollment coordinator in the Graduate School. In that role, Richardson operated as the first line of contact for prospective online students. Richardson explains the importance of recognizing the needs of online students and how to best support them.
“The need for online education continues to grow, and the online student has different needs. They may be working full-time or have family obligations. Online students are trying to manage their time effectively with school and life responsibilities. Because they have those different things on their plate, they need to be supported in a different way,” said Richardson.
“Although these students are fully online and may never set foot on our campus, we want them to know they are supported at NIU and part of the Huskie community. They have a go-to person on our team that will support them throughout their journey and provide information about student services at NIU that can help them along the way. We’ve made those connections across campus and our role is to follow up with students to make sure they get their questions answered and know where to go when those questions arise.”
Richardson leads a team of seven online student success specialists offering online student support. This team serves as the primary point of contact for online students from the beginning of their interaction with NIU through graduation. Student success specialists provide initial outreach, support through the application and admissions process and ongoing support as online students move through the student life cycle.
“We build that relationship to let online students know they are not in this alone. Because of these relationships, students know we are here to support their success in achieving their ultimate goal, whether that is completing a graduate degree or finishing their bachelor’s degree,” said Richardson. “We have received a lot of support from other units on campus and the strength of these partnerships is vital in supporting this population effectively.”
Students can schedule virtual or phone appointments with an online student success specialist by calling 815-753-6660 or emailing online@niu.edu.
The efforts of the Office of Online Learning are designed to give online students the best opportunity to succeed, along with advancing the goals and strategies of the university’s Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan 2.0.
“These online student support services are crucial for ensuring that all online learners have access to the resources and assistance necessary to thrive in a digital education environment,” said Jason Rhode, associate vice provost for Teaching, Learning, and Digital Education. “These supports help build a sense of community, address student challenges, and enhance overall student success in our online programs.”
Currently, NIU offers nine online undergraduate programs, 13 online certificate programs and 20 online graduate programs in a variety of disciplines. Many courses are eight weeks, instead of 16 weeks, giving online and adult learners flexibility to balance coursework with their daily schedules.
Rhode looks forward to what the future holds for the office, noting its growth and the university’s intentionality of working closely with online and adult learners, to best serve them in their student experience and beyond.
“We’ve certainly built great momentum and growth in our online program offerings, and I’m excited for further developing our online student enrollment and student support capacity.”
This article originally published in NIU Today, November 7, 2023.
