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Finish That Degree: ONLINEby Bruce Bikle, Ph. D.Do you, like many other corrections, law enforcement, and public safety employees, want to finish your college education, but find that the demands of work and daily life-not to mention distance from a university-make attaining that goal almost impossible? If so, you are encouraged to read on. The Division of Criminal Justice and the College of Continuing Education at California State University, Sacramento, have begun a new program targeted at public safety employees to allow them to finish their degrees online. Virtually anyone with a computer and internet access can take fully accredited college courses on the web. The CSU-Sacramento program is well known in California. Currently there are over 1,600 undergraduate majors in the program. Many leaders and employees of public safety agencies have taken degrees from this program. The online program offers the same courses, taught by the same professors, and awards the same degree awarded those who attend the campus in Sacramento. The difference is the web-based platform allows you the luxury of "attending" school from your home or workplace. Web-based delivery allows students to take courses on their schedules. Lectures are posted for each week or block of instruction. When it is convenient to do so, the student either watches a video-streamed lecture or reads a printed lecture. Discussion with fellow students, papers, exams, and assignments are all done on the web. The degree completion program is structured to allow students to complete the last 60 credits of their college education. These upper division courses contain most of the major coursework and related courses that fill out the last two years of a college degree. The first two years can be taken at the local community college or at one of several community colleges that provide an online program for these lower division courses. The program also recognizes that many of you have part of your degree completed, but have not been able to finish. The first step after application for the program is for the faculty and advisors to go over your academic records and determine what you will be able to bring into the program. With that done, each student is given a road map of what courses he or she will have to complete to finish the degree. It is important to note that the CSU-Sacramento program stresses frequent interaction with the instructors and advisors so that students can complete the degree without lost time and duplication of effort. Our advisors can also send you to online or local community colleges to complete lower division coursework that you may need. Doing this at the community college saves money and allows the student to focus on the upper division work when they start the online degree program. I would be remiss if I did not mention that this kind of educational program is not for everyone. On the positive side, however, our experiences at CSU-Sacramento and educational research data shows that more mature students who are working and are motivated do well in a program like this one. Maturity and a desire to complete the program are highly correlated with success. Online courses offer great flexibility, providing you the opportunity to complete coursework at odd hours and at times that fit within your work schedule. Student surveys at CSU-Sacramento indicated this flexibility was one of the greatest strengths of e-learning. Interestingly, those same students indicate that this loose, flexible schedule is also potentially the greatest weakness of an online course. Continue Reading: Page 1 | Page 2  Print This PageBack to Volume 24, Issue 2 Back to PEACEKeeper Main Page |
