Langston University

PROJECT PURPOSE

Higher education is no longer immune from students' expectations and preferences for online education. Most other industries interact with consumers digitally, and students bring those expectations with them to their educational experience. To meet these expectations, universities must accelerate the process of digital transformation to optimize operations, improve student experiences, and enhance teaching and learning. When colleges pivoted online at the start of the pandemic, like many Minority Serving Institutions, Langston University did not have a robust online infrastructure in place. As an HBCU, Langston University has confronted an unusual mix of challenges. Tuition and fees have intentionally been kept low because of a sensitivity to the high percentage of first-generation, low-income students. As a smaller institution, less money has been generated and thereby available for building a digital infrastructure and ensuring online coursework. The pandemic has made clear just how important it is for Langston University to expand and improve its online offerings. Funds are required to train faculty on how to better use learning management systems and design curricula. The focus must be on how to strengthen the digital learning infrastructure. Consideration must also be given to low-income students who often lacked reliable access to broadband.

EVIDENCE

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE) will distribute funds to participating state system colleges and universities for project implementation and administration. The OSRHE will collect data from all participating institutions for performance outcomes reporting. Internally, the number of online courses offered will increase and the number of students accessing the online courses will increase as well.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Langston University is located in rural Logan County. The demographics of the student population is 70% Black or African American, 8.22% American Indian or Alaska Native, 6.94% White, 3.61% Two or More Races, 1.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.776% Asian, and 0.0457% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders. There will be long-term educational and economic impacts of the pandemic ? especially for Black students. Although there has been some attention given to the disparities between Black Americans and other groups contracting the virus, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Black community will be recovering from the impact of COVID-19 not only on health, but also economically and educationally.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Evidence of project success include increased online training for faculty, staff and students; increased student and faculty support for learning management system (LMS), employee rental of hotspots, purchase of mobile classroom technology units.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

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