Online Student Services

There are many different ways that students and student services on a campus can be affected by these changes. Technology based student services are a reality on today’s college campus. Fundamentally, student services are created to help students and bring them together academically, psychologically, and socially. There is the ethical question in a technology-based student affairs department as to are students receiving the attention they need to nourish and grow and thrive in life? The flip side is – What if students want easy, no hassle access in today’s busy world?

Technology is revolutionizing the classroom and the way that information is given to students. Services to students that could be affected include education, academic advising, support services, bookstore, alumni services, and career services. Every way that a college interacts with a student is considered a “student service.” Many services can be put on line for convenience to students, but at what point is this detrimental to the overall student collegiate experience? Is the mission and philosophy of the university services being met (Davidson, 2001)?
On-line classes are becoming more accepted, and a very practical way for “non-traditional” college aged students to continue their education. In fact, “the preference of adults to continue working and living at home while earning a college degree, the growth of the Internet and World Wide Web, and the increasing availability and importance of computers” (Brigham, 2001) make the need for distance education that much greater. Students and faculty no longer need to meet at the same place at the same time. It assures that “any person qualified will no longer be excluded dude to time and place constraints” (Upcraft, Terenzini, & Kruger). The ability to control the pace of what is being learned and to have the option of when activities are completed have put the student’s needs as a priority. Financially, this option is also promising as it eliminates time for travel, child care, and meals (Van Dusen, 1998). Students ages 18-22 currently comprise only about 25% of total enrollment in higher education (Van Dusen, 1998). The needs of “non-traditional” students obviously should be met, and on-line classes are a great alternative.
There are obvious downfalls from a student affairs perspective to this kind of technology. As students sit at home in front of a computer, face to face contact with faculty, administrators, and peers is reduced significantly (Upcraft, Ternznini, & Kruger). Some students learn through interaction and gestures, and may find distance learning extremely difficult. It will also be difficult for universities to keep up with the ever-changing computer technology – this could eventually cost students more through tuition for upgrades and maintenance.
Student affairs is concerned with the entire development of a student intellectually, emotionally, and socially. An asynchronous learning environment could be extremely threatening to this concept. Classroom interaction as we know it among students and faculty is in jeopardy. It is important for all students to have an equal opportunity for a quality education. Legal aspects will have to be considered, such as the definition of e-mail harassment, site access, and a body that monitors this information.
With on-line technology, registration has already completely been revolutionized. Advising would be the next step. If a school were to transition to on-line advising, this would probably be done by a full-time professional advisor, as opposed to faculty (Brigham, 2001). Students would have more access to an advisor with this system. The obvious downfall to this system would be the lack of human interaction and counseling skills that would be necessary to help students make informed decisions concerning their future. Likewise, in a web-based career service center the same argument could be made. There should be a certain amount of counseling involved. This kind of system, however, would be easy access for students to retrieve career information, take self-assessments to learn about interests, skills, and abilities, and get resumes critiqued (Davidson, 2001). On the Internet, a web-site can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hours of operation for a Career Resource Center would be limited to school business hours. It also gives students a “sense of ownership of their progress,” as they can access various information without the help of others (Davidson, 2001).

Bookstores and libraries have and will be affected by technology. Students will have extended access to many different resources and will be able to order and pay for study materials on-line (Brigham, 2001). Therefore, once again it is easy access. However, this also limits time on campus for students. These technological changes once again affect the entire collegiate experience.
Alumni services could be well enhanced by a web-site created by colleges. This would be a quick and convenient way to update information and for old friends to keep in touch. Links to career resources, campus updates, surveys, and other publications for the school could be placed on-line (Brigham, 2001).
There are many advantages and disadvantages to these on-line services on a college campus. Some additional consequences to think about when considering changing any of these services: “establishing a response time for answering student messages, integrating e-mail with phone calls, letters, and faxes, and tracking and storing messages” (Brigham, 2001). Additionally, these changes in technology are expensive. The cost of these programs long term and the impact on students on campus must be seriously considered.