PSU Online

Provost Julie Bernier states, "PSU Online: Same great programs, same great faculty" is the mantra the University has adopted to represent its online endeavors. With so many non-traditional students seeking out ways to earn their degree, the need for an expansion of online courses has arisen.

This online course initiative, according to Dean of the Frost School of Continuing and Professional Studies Nancy Betchart, "started 10 years ago when we had faculty beginning to offer individual online courses."

Dean Betchart continues, "PSU established the Frost School six years ago to provide access to a PSU education for students who needed evening, online, and weekend courses to be able to complete their degrees."

Online course offerings have greatly expanded in the last five years. According to Provost Bernier, "Last year [PSU] offered over 500 classes fully online at the graduate and undergraduate level."

It is only expected that this number will increase, and Provost Bernier confirms that, "Beginning next fall, [PSU] will have four majors available fully online: The B.S. in Business Administration, the B.A. in Criminal Justice, the B.A. in Communication Studies, and the B.S. in Nursing completion program for Registered Nurses who have already earned an associate's degree."   

Though these courses will still be offered face to face, their availability lends to the convenience for non-traditional students. In addition, according to Provost Bernier, as of yet there are "no immediate plans to 'require' any [faculty member] to teach online.

We want faculty to be part of these programs who are interested and enthusiastic about teaching online."Provost Bernier warns however, that "Online courses are not for everyone. Some people think that taking an online class will be a breeze. They quickly realize this is not the case."

Dean Betchart adds that these online courses indeed "require discipline and initiative, so they are not for everyone. The more one puts into any course, the more one learns, since learning requires actively working with information...procrastination does not work with online classes."

For this very reason, the Frost School offers a short self-assessment for students to take in order to tell if they will be able to flourish in an online learning environment.

Though PSU is only expecting to enroll 100 online students next year, Provost Bernier stated that, "Over the course of the next several years we could anticipate as many as 2000 online students while maintaining our residential campus of approximately 4200 undergraduate and 3000 graduate students."

Both Provost Bernier and Dean Betchart highlight the fact that PSU's mission is to serve the educational and workforce needs of New Hampshire and New England, and providing online access to coursework and degree attainment does indeed allow the school to better meet that mission. 

Non-traditional student Christine Edney sees both the pros and cons that come with online coursework. Edney stated that, "A benefit and definite 'pro' when it comes to online learning is the flexibility it offers." For a student with a full time job and a rather long commute to the PSU campus, it is understandable that this is the "pro" that stuck out and that most can attest to.

A con, however, is, "the lack of participation by professors and other more traditional students." She continues, "A physical classroom environment is obviously more amenable to open discussion and interaction between professors and students. It take that much more effort in an online environment to foster [that interaction]."

This is why it is so important that students take the self-assessment offered by the Frost School, to see if they could cope with these possible complications that come with online courses.

This online course expansion comes at a convenient time for PSU because according to Information Technology Services, the project to add wireless networking in all student residential halls, which began 18 months ago, will be completed for the two remaining halls Smith and Grafton in the summer of 2012. 

This wireless flexibility only enhances the student experience as they have freedom to complete their courses not trapped in their dorm room by an Ethernet cord.