Finding support as an online student has never been easier
Andrea Fuchs knew two things when she decided to go back to school to earn a degree online: First, she wanted to build a rewarding career. And second, she had major doubts.
“I was incredibly nervous to go back to school because I was going to school online and didn’t have that face-to-face opportunity with my professors,” she said. “I had such bad imposter syndrome.”
Sound like you? Fuchs, an Oregon State University graduate, puts to words what many people face when they consider earning a degree online. Other common hesitations include:
“I’ve never learned online.”
“It’s been years since my last math class.”
“I don’t know how I’ll juggle work, family and school.”
Beyond offering a listening ear, our team of support specialists takes these concerns as an opportunity to help you gain confidence and improve your skills as a student.
In fact, Ecampus has earned the Online Learner Success Certification from Quality Matters. Marleigh Perez, the Ecampus senior director of student success, shared that the certification “shows we’re taking our role in online student success seriously while also honoring the uniqueness of our student population.” Perez also noted that Oregon State has clearly defined what online learner success looks like and demonstrated that Ecampus students are achieving that success at a high level.
With connections to on-campus departments, innovative staffing and a willingness to explore new student support methods, Oregon State provides an unparalleled resource library for online learners. The best part? The ever-growing list is informed by student experiences and feedback.
Our team has considered each stage of your academic journey and made sure you have a variety of resources available to you at every turn. In this article, we’ll cover:
Get informed before you apply
Before you apply to OSU, you’ll encounter helpful representatives and checkpoints to make sure you’re ready to start your academic journey.
Enrollment services team
Whether you have questions about the application process, transferring credits or just want to get a feel for what it’s like to be a student at OSU, the Ecampus enrollment services team is at the ready every business day. Enrollment specialists are available by phone, email and live chat, and our student ambassadors share their own perspectives about learning online.
You can even join in one of our regularly scheduled virtual events to ask questions and gather important info.
Unofficial transcript evaluation
Transferring credits to Oregon State from another institution? We’ve got you covered for that, too. You can get an unofficial transcript evaluation from our team of experts who work with colleges and universities across the country. That means that an OSU Ecampus transcript evaluator will review your transcripts, find comparable courses at OSU and even reach out to other institutions if needed. You can take a cursory look at your transfer credits on our information page.
Start with success in mind
From the moment you enroll online with OSU, you’ll have access to the following student success resources.
Ecampus Survey of Online Success
The Ecampus Survey of Online Success is a set of questions designed to help you check your confidence for online learning. If you want to tap into effective strategies for managing your time, tuning your technical skills, and taking ownership of your success, your results will include resources to help you feel ready for your first term at Oregon State.
Ecampus success coaches
One of the most valuable resources at your disposal as an OSU student learning online are Ecampus success coaches. While your academic advisor is an expert on your specific program of study, success coaches are specialists in online learning. They offer one-on-one guidance through phone or video calls and can help with anything from personal roadblocks to success, time management tips, work-life balance and everything in between.
“Sometimes people will check on you, but they don’t understand what you’re going through if they’re not a student themselves. With my success coach, I could lean on them and vent to them about what I was dealing with,” said Ashley Hatleberg, who earned a B.S. in Natural Resources online.
Success navigators
Ecampus success navigators provide onboarding support to newly admitted students to help them move through the steps to get enrolled. Navigators are a great resource if you’re are unsure about your major, you have specific questions about how credits might transfer or you’d like to learn more about critical services and resources. Navigators can meet with you at key points and advise you when you need to make decisions early in your academic journey.
First-term success course
Just before you begin your first term at OSU, you’ll be invited to join this free (ungraded) online course that serves as a follow-up to your orientation and other Oregon State onboarding materials. Designed by Ecampus success coaches, this short, four-module course is designed to help you form an essential foundation for academic success at OSU. Content is available before the start of the term and helps students gain insights about online learning, build confidence in accessing essential resources, and learn how to make meaningful connections with instructors online.
Podcast
Meet your newest car companion, our podcast, “Going Online with Oregon State University Ecampus.” In each episode, Ecampus hosts explore support resources, introduce important people and chat with students for first-person perspectives. This series was created from student feedback that highlighted the need for recorded conversations like these.
Anytime Anywhere
Oregon State offers free online mental and physical health support to its students through a platform called Anytime Anywhere. When entering a new phase of life, it’s never a bad idea to create a safety net for yourself — either through more intentional physical activity or scheduled mental health check-ins with a professional. You can read more about additional mental health services through Oregon State, too.
Academic support
Once you’ve grown accustomed to learning online with OSU, you might decide that you need additional academic support. Ecampus offers some great options to help you get ahead.
Free tutoring
Yes, you read that correctly. Ecampus students have access to weekly, free online tutoring. Our tutoring platform, Pear Deck Tutor, offers support in topics like Spanish, history, accounting and more. Through continuous student feedback, Ecampus ensures students can get exactly the tutoring they need, when and where they need it.
We also work with on-campus partners who offer online services. Online learners can get tutoring and academic support from the OSU Writing Center, the Math & Statistics Learning Center, the chemistry Mole Hole, the physics Wormhole and many more.
Proctoring support
Many online exams are proctored to help ensure academic integrity, whether in a proctoring center in person or via a digital proctoring plugin. They’re intuitive and straightforward, but in case you need help, Ecampus has you covered. We offer proctoring support, including an expert with the answers to all of your proctoring questions.
Meet some of your advocates at Oregon State
“When I first started at OSU, I was excited and ready. Then I got very sick with breast cancer, and I wasn’t able to participate as I had planned,” said Maria Carpenter, who earned a bachelor’s degree online in agricultural sciences. “The Ecampus staff and coaches called me regularly. They were so helpful with being able to keep me going and motivate me. Their help allowed me to go through treatments and surgeries and persist.”
Through challenging life events like Maria’s or smaller needs like prerequisite waivers, it’s always great to have helpful folks in your corner, like our student success team.
Student services
The Ecampus student services team helps students understand and maneuver through university policies. They’re helpful and can make the system work for you. From guidance on reaching the right department to changing your major to submitting necessary paperwork, our student services folks are your go-to partner for all things Oregon State.
Ecampus student engagement program manager
At yet another opportunity to integrate student feedback, Ecampus brought on our student engagement program manager, Eddie Rodriguez. His work focuses on finding new ways for online learners to find community from a distance. He helps to lead our Tribal Communities Initiative that supports Indigenous students, manages our Ecampus learning community, hosts the Ecampus podcast and so much more.
Ecampus student advisory board
Each year, we select a group of Ecampus student representatives to serve on the student advisory board. When asked about the initiative, Perez was excited to share.
“Without a specific student government to represent Ecampus students, which would cost online students in fees each term, we opted to create a student advisory board that could help elevate student voices, improve the student experience, and assist us in make more informed decisions in a way that we didn’t have to put the expense on the students,” said Perez.
From a student perspective, former board member and OSU graduate Tania Davis shared how she saw the board’s work coming from a place of commitment to their peers. “The board members really want to help and do everything they can to support the rest of the Ecampus students,” said Davis.
You’re ready… and we’re ready to help you.
But don’t take our word for it, consider the opinion of another successful Ecampus student, Mark Moore, an Oregon State computer science graduate.
“Ecampus offers enough resources that anybody, even with zero experience like myself, is guaranteed of experiencing success,” he said.
