Addresses a need:
Online programs are increasingly becoming an accepted part of higher education and a feature of brick and mortar institutions. While the majority of enrollments in online programs are still nontraditional students seeking the convenience and flexibility of an online degree, campuses are beginning to see traditional students enroll in online degrees in order to reduce college costs, particularly room and board. With more traditional students pursuing online degrees, the needs of online students are changing. Many are seeking a fuller college experience beyond the usual links to campus resources and services provided to students at a distance. At the same time, institutions are struggling with the challenge to retain students in their online programs. Both traditional and nontraditional online students are more likely to drop out of their programs than their classroom counterparts. The most common reason cited for dropping out is a feeling of isolation. To reduce isolation, campuses must use strategies that increase the connections online students have with their peers and institution.

How we did it:
We broke the traditional college experience down into three broad components: academic, social, and co-curricular; and applied them to the online format. Activities were based on the professional and social engagement preferences of fully-online students and designed to be accessible and of value to the learner. Engagement strategies included:
1. Social : Online communities, based on the shared experience of completing a degree from a distance, were used to build rapport among students. A virtual community was organized via a software platform which centralizes out-of-the-classroom communication, organizes events, and facilitates student engagement.
2. Virtual co-curricular activities and organizations: Virtual Career Fair; Virtual Study Abroad Fair, Virtual Clothing Fair; Student government meetings, video-streamed with opportunities for virtual chat during meetings & meetings archived; Student clubs and organizations, such as the Gaming Club, LGBTQ Club, student chapters of professional associations
3. Academic: The model was grounded in other best practices for fostering student engagement in online learning. Faculty participating in the project provided opportunities for academic, personal and professional development outside of the classroom. Opportunities included career-focused lectures presented by alumni, undergraduate research and scholarly activity, and involvement in student organizations directly related to their profession.

Why this practice is effective:
We received very positive responses from our online students for providing them with opportunities to engage with campus life. The responses were at times unexpected and overwhelming, such as the student response to our wellness outreach efforts during final exams week. The student interest survey provided us with information on activities of value to online students; ideas to create more, and, importantly, how best to communicate with them. Retention and persistence rates will be assessed at the end of spring 2018.

Fall 2017, we achieved the following intended deliverables: (1) launched the student interest survey to capture the academic, social, and co-curricular needs of our fully-online students, and (2) used answers from the survey to develop engagement strategies and opportunities of value for our fully-online students. During fall 2017, we:
- Hosted our first Virtual Career Fair which was unexpectedly successful (23 organizations, 211 job-seeker registrants, 390 total registrants, 141 fully-online students attending);
- Created a “single-space” virtual community for clubs, organizations, and events via an engagement software platform;
- Helped our fully-online students enjoy the social and informal aspects of campus life by delivering “stress relief care packages” during final exams, paralleling our campus-based wellness outreach. This small effort, nonetheless, had a very positive response from our students at a distance, as many echoed the comment, “Thank you so much for the package and for making finals week a little bit less stressful.”
- With each outreach effort, we promoted all the academic support services available for online students (online tutoring, advising, etc.). This is important as the survey results showed that online students are unaware of existing services.

We are on target for meeting our spring 2018 deliverables. These include: (1) offering social activities to build community such as online student socials, Coffee Hours, video-streamed and recorded athletics events and an e-sports club, (2) expanding the number of virtual co-curricular activities and organizations, (3) providing opportunities for fully-online students to showcase their undergraduate research at our annual Scholarly Activity Day, and (4) rolling out a co-curricular transcript to document student engagement. We are also working closely with faculty to tie course-embedded assessments to academic, social, or co-curricular events.

What was gained?
Because of this practice, we have gained a better understanding of the needs of our online students and how to connect them to the campus community, reducing their sense of isolation. We discovered that many of our business and operational practices were cumbersome for our online students. This was actually a good problem to have, as it started a campus-wide conversation on workflows needed to support fully-online students. Consequently, we are now conducting a system-wide audit of our processes and implementing plans to replace all of our paper-based business transactions with online ones.

Why others should consider it?
This practice will be of value to institutions seeking to improve the experience and academic success of their online students. Whatever we do on campus - be it a transactional process, an engagement activity, or campus event - our first question is: What does this mean to an online student? Can we provide value for them? Can they participate? By uplifting the experience of online students we have uplifted the experience of all of our students.

Ali, A., & Smith, D. (2015). Comparing social isolation effects on students’ attrition in online versus face-to- face courses in computer literacy. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 12, 11-20. Retrieved from http://iisit.org/Vol12/IISITv12p011-020Ali1784.pdf.

Angelino, L. M., Williams, F. K., & Natvig, D. (2007). Strategies to engage online students and reduce attrition rates. The Journal of Educators Online, 4(2), 1–14.

Chickering, A.W. and Ehrmann, S.C. (1996, October). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as a Lever. AAHE Bulletin, 3-6. Retrieved October 7, 2007, from Teaching, Learning and Technology Group Website: http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html.

https://library.educause.edu/topics/teaching-and-learning/student-engagement-and-interaction
EDUCAUSE, Student Engagement and Interaction).

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED574532.pdf. Insights on Equity and Outcomes: What Motivates Community College Students to Enroll Online and Why It Matters

https://www.learninghouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Online-College-Students-2013_Final.pdf Comprehensive Date on Demands and Preferences

Preliminary results show positive student satisfaction with engagement strategies. End of spring 2018, we will assess the impact of this model/practice on the retention rates of online students. Specifically, we will evaluate whether or not fully-online students participating in the project re-enrolled at a higher rate than fully-online students who did not participate in the project. Additional metrics will gather information on the students’ perceptions of their experience and how such experiences impacted their personal growth and satisfaction.