A critical step for any E-Guide is to be able to make a good referral of a student to a campus. The Ohio Learning Network has attempted to make this procedure as simple as possible. Once a student expresses an interest in a specific offering from an institution, whether it be content offered traditionally or at a distance, E-Guides should use the institutional points of contact listed on the OhioLearns! course and degree transition pages. Course Transition Page Some students will only want to take a distance course. Information for assisting them in making an institutional connection is straight forward. Direct them to a course transition page. To do this, enter the course side of the OhioLearns! catalog and perform a search. A list of possible course sections that match the parameters of the search will appear. Click on “More on this course.” This will access the course transition page for the specific course section. The following is a course transition page:
Course transiton page - Click twice on image to enlarge it]
The amount of information for each course transition page varies by institution. However, on this page students and advisers can find three primary contacts they should use. First, at the very bottom of the course transition page, there is a category called Institutional Contact. An example of one is provided below from Lorain County Community College. Institutional Contact: Distance Learning Center Email Department: distance@lorainccc.edu Phone:(440) 366-7582 Email:auntie_carol@lorainccc.edu As you can see with this example there is a phone number, adviser’s name, and an e-mail address. This should be the first institutional contact reference point for any questions regarding courses offered by an institution. In most cases, this will be the only contact an E-Guide will have to provide to a student. If this information is not available, a student “new” to that institution should be referred to the “Admissions” link located further up on the course transition page. If the student has already enrolled in the institution, they should be referred to the “Registrar” link, also located further up on the course transition page. Many institutions have inserted information in the text fields located below the URLs. These text fields will explain the steps a distance learning student should take to use these offices. Degree Transition Page For students interested in enrolling or seeking information about a degree or certificates at a distance, there is information for assisting them on the degree transition page. Once you enter the degree and certificate side of the catalog and perform a search, a list of possible degrees and certificates that match the parameters of the search will appear. Next to each degree or certificate, is text stating “More on this degree.” By clicking here, the degree transition page for that specific degree or certificate will appear. The following is a course transition page:
Degree transiton page - Click twice on image to enlarge it]
At the very bottom of the course transition page, there are several categories listed for an institutional contact. An example of these categories is provided below from Columbus State Community College. Program Contact: William Van Pelt, Instructor Program Department: Business Management / Office Administration Program Contact Phone: (614) 287-5351 Address: Columbus State Community College Delaware Hall - DE 240 550 E. Spring Street Columbus, OH 43216 Email: wvanpelt@cscc.edu URL: http://global.cscc.edu/global2000/distance_education/going_the_distance.htm