Susan Biro

Concurrent Track
Using an overlapping, multifaceted approach, Berkeley College engages and supports new online learners
Session III, Friday 8:00 - 9:00

Biography

Susan Biro earned both a master's degree in adult learning and a doctorate in higher education leadership from Widener University (Chester, PA). Dr. Biro is an adult educator with expertise in distance learning program management, faculty development, and academic administration.

She has held administrative positions at Widener University (University College), Fordham University (Rose Hill Campus), and most recently, with Berkeley College of New York and New Jersey.

Dr. Biro has taught adult students in a variety of settings in formats that include onsite, online, and blended courses. At two institutions, she helped create and implement support programs for online learners to aid in their retention and engagement with the college. Dr. Biro has extensive experience in developing, managing, and assessing online programs.

Abstract

Berkeley College utilizes several online tools in an overlapping, multifaceted approach that is designed to engage and support the brand-new online learner during their first quarter. This presentation will highlight four tools that complement one another by allowing prospective online students to assess this new learning environment (orientation), utilize the support of a peer (mentorship), and participate in a growing, vibrant online community of learners. The presenters will highlight early quantitative and qualitative outcomes of this approach, discuss our lessons learned, and outline strategies for moving forward.

The presenters will highlight a multi-pronged approach to engaging and retaining new online students beyond their first quarter that utilizes orientation, peer mentorship, and community. Description & Early Outcomes: The director of online student development and campus life, the dean of online advising, and the dean of online all collaborated to design a multi-faceted approach to engage and retain our brand-new online students in their first quarter. The peer mentoring program was the building block of this approach and is based on the literature in the field about onsite peer mentoring and its benefits to students' feeling connected to their college experience and peers. This group also identified how online peer mentors could be identified through time in the program, GPA, and faculty recommendations. Those who met basic criteria were invited to apply to serve as an online peer mentor and viewed it as a leadership opportunity. They completed a 2-week online training module and were assigned 6-8 new online students.

This program piloted in the summer of 2007 and we have early quantitative and qualitative data to share with the audience. Our successes are being evaluated but early results indicate very high return rates for the mentors (all but one have continued). The main challenge is new online student engagement with their mentor through e-mail, discussion board, or phone. We are evaluating the timing of this peer mentoring program and considering extending it through the second quarter. In addition to launching an online peer mentoring program, we also identified other substantial ways in which we engage and retain students that overlap with mentoring. These include students passing Road to Success in Online Learning before being accepted into the program; being assigned a mentor; completing a separate Online Orientation to introduce them to our staff and services; and also, being able to participate in several online clubs (book club; health club; parents' club) and also receive a regular e-newsletter three times a term.

Relevance to other institutions: Whether or not you are running an onsite or online program, administrators and those in student development are always concerned with how to make brand-new students feel engaged and connected to their institution and peers. When those students are in an online program, that challenge becomes more distinct as you cannot count on multiple face-to-face opportunities. We have created a multi-faceted approach by using our LMS tools and a structured program of orientation, peer mentorship, and community activities that target first-quarter online students . Even if your students are onsite, there is increasing evidence that students are willing to use online tools to also engage with their college and peers, so several ideas shared here would be of value to others.