By fall classes in 2023, Augusta University expects to offer a completely new way to attract students, an avenue that could lead to enrollment doubling.
Augusta University Online has a webpage with the nuts and bolts of what will be the first steps and long-range vision.
“As Augusta’s new online college, we will create connected classrooms fostering active, experiential learning. We will make education more accessible for the working learner and create access to excellence for Georgians and beyond.”
The man tasked with bringing AU Online to life is Dr. Marc Austin who will serve as the chief online officer for Augusta University. He was brought onboard in early 2022.
He said, while COVID-19 was fraught with negative experiences, it did open the potential for connecting with students in ways many people had never experienced.
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Austin set about building the foundation for the project, identifying primary needs, attracting faculty members who are excited about teaching online and determining the educational disciplines most likely to attract online students.
“I think the second thing is, for sure making, making it very clear that there’s a student on the other side, that is excited about and equally engaged in online learning. So, not all degrees are the same in terms of the prevalence of demand by students for online. So, you can think for example, a doctor probably is going to be a little bit less inclined to seek an online education, whereas potentially someone in cybersecurity may be much more interested in online. So, it’s about matching the level of engagement in need by both faculty and students. That’s got to be the starting point,” he said.
Dr. Brooks Keel, president of Augusta University, introduced Austin and outlined AU Online in his May 31 State of the University address. Like Austin, he believes finding a way to connect with the online students, make them feel they are part of the brick-and-mortar Augusta University, is a priority.
“We want to provide a concierge service for students who want to receive their education online,” he said. “It’s a special category of students and they require special attention and we want to make sure we’re able to provide that attention to them.”
The next building block, said Austin, is to take the content that exists at the university and organize it so it is more accessible online, using new techniques and methods to instruct online students.
Austin said another component in building a successful online university is to talk with businesses, ask what they will look for in a potential employee.
“So, a part of it is making sure that we’ve engaged employers in the community that understand the value of those degrees. So, as we produce them, people have meaningful jobs, not just really wonderful educational experiences,” he said.
Other departments at Augusta University are also working with Austin to build the online experience.
Lynsey Steinberg, board-certified medical illustrator and virtual reality expert at Augusta University, said AU Online opens doors for students in one field to interact with students in a different one.
“The opportunities are there for computer science students to work with medical illustration students, or art department students to develop experiential learning, having their hands-on real-world problem,” she said. “Projects like this, where they do research, or I believe there’s a simulation available currently within the AR VR lab where they can simulate what it’s like to be a colorblind patient, or picking up pills off of a table and what is it like to not be able to read the label off of that bottle?”
In the past five years, the cyber community and associated jobs have grown exponentially in the Augusta area. Austin said it is part of what drew him to take on this project.
“There’s a learner community, not just the service member, but their families, too, that come here and support them at Fort Gordon and other places. Then you have a field of research, meaning practitioners in the field that are interested in the latest and greatest as it relates to cybersecurity and information security. And that attracts instructional talent to adjuncts and other types of faculty that we can use to help train our students in the practice, as well as the theory of cybersecurity,” he said.
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Through all the steps, all the building blocks to creating AU Online, Austin returns to what he believes is most important, giving online students a sense of belonging, that they are part of the Augusta University family.
“We want to make sure that as we identify students that come to Augusta, that they stick it out, that they persist, that they complete their degrees here. If they don’t feel as if they are connected to the university, and they don’t feel specifically supported by the university, they’re going to not feel like they can continue,” he said “Another part of belonging is feeling like this university has my back, that they’re supporting me each step of the way. It’s important that they feel that they can reach out to us anytime that we’re here for more than just their education, but their overall support in making it through the process.”
The initial information about AU Online is included on the university’s main website on what is called a “landing page” https://www.augusta.edu/online/
Current enrollment at Augusta University’s Health Sciences and Summerville campuses is 9,000. In his State of the University speech, Keel launched the slogan “16 by 30”. A call for 16,000 students enrolled by 2030.
Austin is ready to be part of it.
“There’s a group of students out there, they can’t come to Augusta because they’re nowhere near where we are,” he said. “I think we have a much bigger set of opportunities to attract students through online then we do just with on-grounds. So, we’re, we’re definitely part of 16 by 30, for sure.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
