An online program offers the midcareer professional/working adult remarkable flexibility. CSUN’s online programs are not self-paced, and participants must complete assignments and engage with the cohort’s faculty and other participants frequently each week. But there is great flexibility. For working professionals with demanding jobs and other life obligations, flexibility is often the key factor that allows them to embark on a master’s degree program and, in turn, move their careers forward. Flexibility of time and place also can enhance the learning experience. It gives students time to reflect, review, formulate questions (and not worry that the moment has passed, as can happen in a face-to-face classroom), consider answers before sharing them, and turn attention to study in a context and at a time that is right for each individual student – for some, that is on the front porch at dawn with a laptop, while for others it might be at night at the kitchen table when the house is quiet – maybe with a cup of tea.

A distance learning team of distinguished professionals

CSUN does not entrust its learning community to commercial providers. CSUN has its own distance learning team with a strong commitment to the faculty and participants in each program. They work with that program’s faculty, from the design of the program to the graduation of each cohort of students. The team provides both program design support and ongoing technical support to faculty and program participants.

The members of the distance learning professional team hold master’s degrees and doctoral degrees in fields relevant to excellence in online education — such as educational technologies and instructional design, computer science, and human factors in psychology (which focuses on effective modes of interaction between individuals and technology). They have extensive experience in the design and development of online degree programs and providing effective technical support to students and faculty. All CSUN instructional design professionals are actively engaged in earning the Sloan Consortium national certification for excellence in online teaching to ensure that they remain active in the national dialog about best practices in the field across institutional types nationwide.

Devoting time and resources in student success

Reflecting CSUN’s commitment to student success, each online cohort begins with a two-week online orientation for program participants that includes training in using the software for the program in question, uploading files and building the online community, so that program participants are ready to focus on their studies when classes begin. In addition, technical support is available from a real person – a CSUN staff member who can be reached by telephone or email. The response to questions is remarkably fast (and caring).