{"id":912,"date":"2018-06-12T09:43:38","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T16:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=912"},"modified":"2025-09-02T16:33:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T23:33:43","slug":"graduation-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/graduation-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon State\u2019s online graduating class tops 1,000 for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intrinsic-container intrinsic-container-16x9\" style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"744\" height=\"419\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xKke0AAB1eM?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption video-caption-full\" style=\"margin-top:-20px\">\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">More than 125 Oregon State Ecampus students and their families and friends attended a reception hosted by Ecampus on the morning of commencement, June 16, 2018. The Ecampus class of 2018 is the largest in history, with a total of 1,065 students who earned their degrees online and at a distance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>OSU Ecampus students praise online learning experience for hands-on work, improved career prospects<\/h2>\n<p><em>By <a title=\"All stories by Tyler Hansen\" href=\"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/author\/hansenty\/\">Tyler Hansen<\/a><\/em> <a title=\"Contact Tyler Hansen\" href=\"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/staff\/bio\/hansenty.htm\"><em class=\"icon-user osu-gray\"><br \/>\n<\/em><\/a><em>June 12, 2018<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CORVALLIS, Ore. \u2013 The map arrived in Lindsay Caplan\u2019s mailbox, having traversed nearly 3,000 miles from the Oregon State University campus to her home in Owings Mills, Maryland.<\/p>\n<p>It was part of a wilderness excursion for a class in Oregon State\u2019s fisheries, wildlife, and conservation sciences online degree program \u2014 a hands-on learning activity that helped Caplan develop a strong connection to the university despite living on the opposite side of the country.<\/p>\n<p>Now, several years later and without ever setting foot on campus, she is among a record-setting 1,065 students who will graduate Saturday, June 16, after completing degree requirements online through Oregon State Ecampus.<\/p>\n<p>The commencement ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. PT at Reser Stadium in Corvallis and will be <a href=\"http:\/\/commencement.oregonstate.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">streamed live online<\/a>. Hundreds of Ecampus students will travel long distances to participate in the event and receive their diplomas in person.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The Ecampus class of 2018 features students from 49 states and 12 countries, including Egypt, Spain, Myanmar, Indonesia, Canada and Australia.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Caplan is unable to make the cross-country trip, but she says Oregon State left an indelible mark on her because of the effort the university puts forth to let online learners know they\u2019re a vital part of the OSU community.<\/p>\n<p>And for her, it started with the map.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was required to use a compass to draw a specific route and locate certain things in the wilderness. I spent hours poring over that map,\u201d said Caplan, who also recalled virtual lab experiments and other field work she conducted in her area. \u201cI&#8217;ll never forget the feeling of finally figuring it out, sending the map to my instructor and receiving a great grade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat experience encouraged me that I could still work just as hard and learn just as much as students on campus did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Ecampus class of 2018 features students in 35 different distance degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The graduates hail from 49 states and 12 countries, including Egypt, Spain, Myanmar, Indonesia, Canada and Australia. It\u2019s the most geographically diverse graduating class in Ecampus history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOregon State\u2019s impact is felt globally, and we\u2019re proud that the opportunities and access provided online by OSU Ecampus are helping to improve the lives of learners around the world,\u201d said Lisa L. Templeton, associate provost for OSU\u2019s Division of Extended Campus.<\/p>\n<p>The student traveling the farthest distance to attend commencement is Patric Papabathini, a resident of Delhi, India, who this spring term is finishing his bachelor\u2019s in business administration online. He grew up in what was then Bombay before his family moved to the United States last decade.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"smartquote\">&ldquo;<\/span>I needed this business degree to qualify for program managerial positions, and now I\u2019ll finally be able to apply for jobs I\u2019ve wanted for years.<span class=\"smartquote\">&rdquo;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Papabathini worked for four years at Microsoft in various tech jobs, but his career mobility was hampered by his lack of a college degree. Newly married in 2016, he left Microsoft and returned to India with his wife so he could focus on his studies after enrolling online with Oregon State.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have real-life work experience, and I was able to put my professional knowledge into what I\u2019ve learned with OSU, and it\u2019s given me a better perspective,\u201d he said. \u201cI needed this business degree to qualify for program managerial positions, and now I\u2019ll finally be able to apply for jobs I\u2019ve wanted for years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More than 5,000 learners have now earned an Oregon State degree online since 2002 when Ecampus began delivering programs in its current format. During the 2017-18 academic year, 23,362 students \u2013 more than 60 percent of the OSU student body \u2013 took at least one class online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\"><\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minute read<\/span><\/span>The map arrived in Lindsay Caplan\u2019s mailbox, having traversed nearly 3,000 miles from Oregon State University to her home in Maryland. It was part of a wilderness excursion for a class in Oregon State\u2019s fisheries and wildlife sciences online degree program \u2013 a hands-on learning activity that helped Caplan develop a strong connection to the university despite living on the opposite side of the country. Now, several years later and without ever setting foot on campus, she&#8217;s among a record-setting 1,065 students who will graduate Saturday, June 16, after completing degree requirements online through OSU Ecampus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[673],"tags":[129,206,169,25,24],"class_list":["post-912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-business-administration","tag-fisheries-wildlife-and-conservation-sciences","tag-online-degrees","tag-online-education","tag-online-learning"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/ecampus-graduation.jpg?fit=744%2C410&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-eI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2813,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/graduation-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":912,"position":0},"title":"Oregon State graduating Class of 2025 features online learners from 20 countries","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"June 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Oregon State University graduating Class of 2025 features a record number of students who completed their degrees online \u2014 2,345 students, to be exact. They learned online through Oregon State Ecampus, and true to OSU\u2019s ability to meet the needs of learners around the world, they hail from many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A black entrance sign reads Oregon State University in gold lettering surrounded by a brick ledge and blooming flowers and a football stadium in the background.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/sign-entrance-reser-stadium.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/sign-entrance-reser-stadium.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/sign-entrance-reser-stadium.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/sign-entrance-reser-stadium.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/sign-entrance-reser-stadium.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1148,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/interactive-learning-online-degrees\/","url_meta":{"origin":912,"position":1},"title":"Oregon State\u2019s online students take education into their own hands through interactive learning activities","author":"Julie Cooper","date":"March 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon State University students are eager for an education that moves their ideas from concept to action. Online learners are no exception, and through interactive learning opportunities across Oregon State Ecampus degree programs, they\u2019re able to apply their learning right where they live and study.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A close-up of a person's hands as they demonstrate an interactive learning activity in which they measure rocks and soil clumps with a measuring tape. The samples are part of a lab kit sent to students enrolled online in Soil Morphology and Classification.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Interactive-activities-lab-kit.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Interactive-activities-lab-kit.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Interactive-activities-lab-kit.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Interactive-activities-lab-kit.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1100,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oregon-state-online-top-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":912,"position":2},"title":"Oregon State online bachelor&#8217;s programs ranked 3rd in the nation by U.S. News","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"January 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon State University\u2019s place among the nation\u2019s best providers of online education has inched closer to the pinnacle amid the release of new rankings by U.S. News & World Report. The 2019 report features Oregon State Ecampus at No. 3 among nearly 400 institutions in the category of Best Online\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Valley Library on Oregon State University's Corvallis Campus is home to Oregon State Ecampus, a leader in online learning. Ask Ecampus","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/valley-library-oregon-state-univ.jpg?fit=744%2C496&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/valley-library-oregon-state-univ.jpg?fit=744%2C496&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/valley-library-oregon-state-univ.jpg?fit=744%2C496&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/valley-library-oregon-state-univ.jpg?fit=744%2C496&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1423,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/2020-online-graduates\/","url_meta":{"origin":912,"position":3},"title":"Oregon State\u2019s Class of 2020 features 1,128 students who earned degrees online","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"June 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"On her first day as an OSU Ecampus student in 2013, Cheryl Jobs sat down at a Starbucks in the New York metro area, opened her laptop, and she got to work. \u201cI remember feeling excited,\u201d she recalls now. \u201cThe material had me hooked from day one.\u201d Seven years later,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/mu-aerial-2020-online-graduates.jpg?fit=744%2C460&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/mu-aerial-2020-online-graduates.jpg?fit=744%2C460&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/mu-aerial-2020-online-graduates.jpg?fit=744%2C460&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/mu-aerial-2020-online-graduates.jpg?fit=744%2C460&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":520,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/graduation\/","url_meta":{"origin":912,"position":4},"title":"It was once their dream. Now it\u2019s their reality.","author":"Heather Doherty","date":"June 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Saturday, 960 Oregon State University Ecampus students earned their degrees and officially became Oregon State alumni.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Archives&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Archives","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/archives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alumna Secota Douglas grins widely with her arms around Benny the Beaver. Secota earned a B.S. in Environmental Economics and Policy online through Oregon State Ecampus in 2017.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/becerra_photography-221.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/becerra_photography-221.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/becerra_photography-221.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/becerra_photography-221.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/becerra_photography-221.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1215,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/2019-ecampus-graduation-breaks-record\/","url_meta":{"origin":912,"position":5},"title":"Oregon State University Ecampus celebrates record number of online graduates as part of OSU&#8217;s 150th commencement","author":"Heather Doherty","date":"June 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"As part of Oregon State University's 150th graduating class, 1,181 Oregon State Ecampus graduates earned their degrees from 48 states and 17 countries \u2014 the biggest OSU Ecampus graduating class in history.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Joshua-Chan-Burgos-graduation.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Joshua-Chan-Burgos-graduation.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Joshua-Chan-Burgos-graduation.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}