Inclusive excellence online: Pandemic lessons learned supporting traditionally underserved students
Loading...
Links to Files
Permanent Link
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2023
Type of Work
Department
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Baron, Ken, John Fritz, and Yvette Mozie-Ross. "Inclusive excellence online: Pandemic lessons learned supporting traditionally underserved students." Advances in Online Education: A Peer-Reviewed Journal 2, no. 1 (2023): 60–70. https://www.henrystewartpublications.com/aoe/forthcoming.
Rights
This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
Subjects
Abstract
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and all higher education pivoted to online learning, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) created ‘Finish Line’, a programme designed to help former students with some college, but no degree to
complete their studies, often several years after they had left the institution. More than 200 students have done so to date, which was a surprising pandemic silver lining for an institution with fewer than 5 per cent of all courses delivered online before 2020. But was Finish Line just a temporary strategic initiative to get through a global health crisis? Or could it also be a proof of concept for how to meet and support ‘non-traditional’ adult learners where they are — and want to go? In this reflective case study, we offer candid lessons learned to go beyond the logistics of an enrolment management strategy of ‘re-recruiting’ former students through the affordances of online education to reassessing and redefining our ‘inclusive excellence’ mission in a post-pandemic, often digital-first world.