Oklahoma City Community College

PROJECT PURPOSE

Purpose: Develop an Online College of exceptional instructional quality and student experience at OCCC with cutting-edge developmental resources for faculty and students that becomes an integral part of the employment and prosperity for Oklahoma. OCCC Quality Matters (QM) Certified online courses and online faculty will allow students to experience consistent online courses with stronger engagement above and beyond average online programs. With micro-credentials and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (visual enhancements to courses) in QM programs and courses, students will be able to move quickly into the workforce. The online college at OCCC will provide online focused resources, and courses will be taught by well-trained online world-class professionals. OCCC?s Online College and development tools will strengthen Oklahoma?s growth in accessibility to the educational and financial benefit of students, faculty, and thereby the entire Oklahoma community to extend beyond our borders.

EVIDENCE

According to Arizona State University, University of Central Oklahoma, and Texas University San Antonio, three entities that have mastered the online modality: Successful online programs exhibit two specific characteristics: 1) high-quality course content, and 2) faculty who engage their students. Quality Matters tenets align with the National Standards for Quality Online learning for online teaching, courses, and programs (nsq.org). With 77.35% of OCCC students taking online courses, improving our online programs and courses is vital to student success. OCCC strives to remain relevant to meet the ever-changing community needs.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Due to inequities in access to high-quality education, minority groups are often limited to lower paying, less stable jobs. OCCC Online College is an affordable, open access college. Affordability is important for all students, but for OCCC students in particular. Our financial aid data shows 49.9% of our students qualify to receive a Pell Grant, which is an indicator of low economic status. OCCC has a rapidly growing Hispanic population which is currently at 20.3% and increasing. Racial and ethnic minority groups have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, according to the CDC. NPR reported that job losses were higher among people of color during the pandemic. With scholarships and grants from the federal government, the OCCC Foundation, and other public and private sources, the majority of OCCC students receive enough financial aid to make education affordable. The development of high quality online course resources by highly-trained and skilled faculty will provide an exceptional learning experience for our students. OCCC online offers short term, long term, and fast track training for in demand well-paying jobs in industry. The robust support is suited to students that have been displaced as well as students who need to work while gaining their education.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

With the assistance of OCCC?s Office of Institutional Effectiveness, program success will be tracked through the following quantitative and qualitative measures: ? Number and percent of successful online course completions with grades of C or higher ? Ethnicity and gender subdivisions of online course enrollment and success ? Number of students becoming employed from online degree programs ? Numeric ratings and written comments from student surveys of instruction about online courses ? Numeric ratings and written comments from surveys of graduates and employers

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma