SU offers first totally online degree program

Southern University – Baton Rouge is offering its first academic program completely online through the Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling’s online courses. The online courses started this summer.
The Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling is the first program that students can access by means of distance education.
The purpose and goal of the online program is to provide professional training to rehabilitation counselors from state vocational rehabilitation agencies to guarantee the availability of qualified personnel to assist individuals with disabilities.
Online courses are administered online through blackboard, and is managed by Dr. Madan Kundu, Chair and Professor, Frank Puckett, coordinator of distance education and other faculty members from the SU Department of Rehabilitation and Disabilities. The program also uses professors from other states and countries.
“In addition to Black Board, we conduct live internet class sessions in which students access the program called Wimba,” said Kundu, excitedly to give description of how the classes are ran. “Student have computer, headset, microphones, and sometimes cameras to have classes live and can communicate with each other online, even if someone is in a different state or country.”
According to Kundu, the Southern Associations of Colleges and Schools (SACS) have already approved all classes and our departments have accreditations, bachelors and masters. The courses are available now and 24 students are enrolled. Enrollment consists of students from Oregon, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, North Carolina and New Hampshire.
The online curriculum consists of a minimum of 48 semester hours and will require 2.5 years of part-time study including summers. The training that began this summer is projected to complete the masters program in summer 2009.
“These students do not have access in their local area,” said Puckett, emphasizing the importance of giving students a chance to take online courses. “Most students do not have access to attend a university for their masters degree, so they enroll online.”
Enrollment for these courses is assisted by a $1,000,000 grant from the Rehabilitation Service Administration, Department of Education, Washington D.C., in which students who are eligible for the training scholarship will receive support for tuition fees and textbooks. Travel funds are budgeted for each student to attend national conferences.
The cost for online training is $537 for three credit hours with no out-of-state fees.
“The program has been very successful,” said Puckett cheerfully.
Carolyn Person, director of the E-Learning Unit, is in charge of the online courses, and is working continuously to get online courses for all degrees at Southern University.
“Once we get the general education curriculum courses online, we have half the battle won,” Person said informatively, to show her dedication to getting Southern University’s student body effective in the global market, “What we are trying to do is very exciting because we will have audio and video so that it is interactive. Students and the professor can hear and see each other. The instructors, professors and students can be anywhere in the world and interact with each other in online sessions.”
The electronic platform horizon Wimba allows live interaction in reality.
“We want to make students portable,” declared Person, to emphasize her determination in getting students to put courses and materials on jump drives.
Christina Mobley, two-year graduate student, from Bowie, Md., has already enrolled in the summer of 2007, and says the online courses are very helpful.
“I like the fact that the class gets to decide on when to come to classes and to take tests,” says Mobley.
The syllabus is identical to the campus version and students take a number of tests online. Some tests are proctored in the local area, while other tests are taken online at any time with a time limit. Everyone will know the particular time to take the test and the quizzes are time-limited and multiple choice.
The demand for new profession is skyrocketing every year in the field of rehabilitation with the goal of counseling to assist individuals with disabilities to advance from a position of physical and psychological dependence to one of enhanced self-esteem and independence.
The online courses assist faculty and students to achieve a higher learning at a portable and more interactive style.