April 29, 2015
Dear Ashford University Administration:
Introduction
Thank you for giving me the opportunity for you to
assess the need of a 24 hour help hotline for on line Ashford University
students. The knowledge and skills that are required to succeed in an on line
environment come in many forms, and with Ashford Administration on board with
providing better screening for hiring teachers, and a hot line that will give
students 24 hours a day, 7 days a week help with instruction, general questions
about a class, you will see more successful students, better retention
percentages and over all better graduation rates.
Needs
Assessment
After conducting a needs assessment with on line
students at Ashford University among 4,000 students that were surveyed, along
with research of better screening for hiring teachers, we identified these issues of not having the
help when needed.
- Typical students are working adults who have had some college whom do most of their homework between 10:00 p.m and midnight (Allen, 2014).
- Ashford University has students of all ages and some who have not been in school for some time and need that extra boost from help that is available immediately (Castellano, 2013).
- Once a student places a phone call or email with a question, a 48 hour turn over which is your current policy in contacting back can affect grades and progress of students (Allen, 2014).
- Assignments late or not turned in at all due to no help immediately available.
- At times, the library and on line sources are not enough help. There is nowhere for a student to go or anyone to talk to at this point (Allen, 2013)
- The generation of online students is now of all ages well into adulthood after being out of school for years.
- Ashford has a promise of shaping its on line learning content and needs of today's workforce. Have you really asked what our need are (Castellano, 2013)? This needs assessment will show you how much help is needed.
Graduation
and Retention at Ashford University
- Where is the one-size-fits all learning design that Ashford Claims to have? There is no immediate assistance available for some questions and problems a student may have about a class or assignments that are given (Castellano, 2013). This causes frustration to many on line students. Even with careful explanation and planning of courses, some students may need that immediate question answered.
- Where is the help when needed in cases of emergencies? This is one reason why retention is at an all-time low with Ashford University. There is no immediate assistance and frustrated students simply give up. When a classroom goes down or assignments can’t be submitted on time, there needs to be someone there to answer these questions that we may have immediately without a up to 48 hour turn over time. This will help students excel in their on line learning environments.
- Ashford University was also denied accreditation in 2012 due to school’s low student retention rates and graduation rates (Allen, 2013). Part of these retention rates and overall graduation rates are due to not receiving adequate help when needed in a timely manner.
Careful
Screening of Teachers
- After a phone interview with one of the advisors at Ashford University, the only way to track what a teacher is not doing is by the Ask Your Instructor section of the portal. Private emails cannot be seen by Ashford Administration and have no way of such emails being tracked. Some students can sometimes be embarrassed at the question they need help with and do not want to put it in the Ask Your Instructor section for everyone to see. Private Email works best for this type of student. If the teacher is not doing their job and not contacting back, Ashford Administration has no way of tracking this. Being able to have immediate help with a 7 day a week, 24 hour a day help line will help all students.
- From my own online experience with Ashford University, teachers are not checking their emails and messages inside that 48 hour window most of the time. Even 24 hours can be too long if a student is stuck on an assignment or needs help with an assignment immediately. I have also found that even when the teacher responds, the student as well as my own experiences may not always understand what is written by the teacher and the 24 to 48 hour process starts all over again when assignments by then are past due. Students will also turn them in not being correct.
- Some teachers are not giving adequate interaction with students inside the introductions, discussion, and assignments as needed. I personally do not want just a grade, I want to know what I did wrong and how to fix it with more details and where I can go for help. Basic responses are not good enough for myself or most on line students (Allen, 2013). A help line can help a student immediately with this type of issue.
Proposed
Plan
Based on the needs that were presented above, hiring a
few agents that can be contacted immediately when help with a course, or have
an immediate question that a student may have is greatly needed. I am asking
Ashford Administration to put out a survey to all its students that participate
strictly on line asking them questions of how a 24 hour, 7 day a week hot line
would benefit their on line learning environment. From this survey, I am sure after careful consideration you will
feel as strongly as I do, that for on line students this hot line will help
each and every on line student to become more successful in the classroom and
over all grades.
Conclusion
The retention and graduation rates would increase
drastically with more help immediately available to students. With much more
careful screening of teachers and being more involved in how they are teaching
and what they are doing, students would become less frustrated and much more
successful in all of their classes on line. You will see better retention
percentages with the on line curriculum at Ashford University once this is
implemented. I encourage Ashford Administration if you have any suggestion for
refining this plan, to please let me know. I am willing to help all I can to
distribute the survey and in helping getting this plan implemented.
References
Allen, M. (2014). Ashford Leader Changes the ‘Campus’
Culture. (cover story). San Diego
Business Journal, 35(42),
1-41.
Allen, M. (2013). Ashford Accreditation Is Also a Win
for the Region. San Diego Business
Journal, 34(29), 3-34.
Castellano, S. (2013). Masters of their Trade. T & D, 67(11), 64-65.
Lannon, J. M. (2008). Technical Communication (11 ed.) Ashford Custom, New York: Pearson
Longman.
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