Online classes fit the bill

Jennifer Knight

Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

By now, 19-year-old UNLV sophomore Stephanie Bacus has participated in most of what college life has to offer: late night pizza parties, making friends -- and now, attending class from the privacy of her dorm room.

Bacus is one of a growing number of students living on campus at University of Nevada, Las Vegas this semester and taking online courses, both from the university and the Community College of Southern Nevada.

Among the reasons traditional students are taking courses in such a nontraditional way are scheduling, convenience and saving money.

"You can fill all of your prerequisite courses online," Bacus said. "The only thing you're really missing out on are class discussions."

Bacus said she signed up for a course at the community college because the one she needed at UNLV was full. With state budget cuts and the lack of new sections being added, more traditional students are turning to such forms of alternative education.

Sophomore Chris Chi, 21, said he is taking an online literature course from his dorm room because no other classes fit into his busy six-class schedule.

"I'm trying to graduate on time," Chi said. "There was a scheduling conflict with my other classes and I needed this course. I just wanted to see if this works for me."

UNLV administrators have noticed the trend too, but have not tracked it.

"This is happening partly because the campus is facing a shortage of classrooms," said Charlotte Farr, UNLV's director of distance education and creative services. "But sometimes it's a matter of scheduling. Since we can offer a class with no time associated with it, everybody can fit that into their schedule."

When distance education -- primarily online classes -- was funded by the state in 1995, the goal was to serve older, nontraditional students returning to college or people in remote areas of the state.

"My suspicion is when the Legislature approved this, they did not have in mind students who are mostly enrolled on campus using distance education classes to round out their education," said Barbara Cloud, UNLV's associate provost of academic affairs. "But it has worked out nicely for our students."

Cloud said UNLV has 20 fewer classrooms this semester than it did in spring because of renovations.

The school also announced that additional sections of courses will not be added this semester, due largely to budget concerns.

Between classroom crunches and increasing demand from nontraditional and traditional college students in distance education, enrollment in distance education has surged.

This fall 2,726 students enrolled in online courses at UNLV. That figure is up from 1,770 last spring.

CCSN's distance education courses last spring taught 5,380 students in 100 different courses. Enrollment figures for this fall were not available, but a 25 percent increase is expected, officials said.

One misconception about online courses is that they are easy, Farr said. On the contrary, they often demand more self-discipline, have more rigorous assignments and require a lot of back-and-forth e-mailing and discussion with classrooms, Farr said.

Still, students like Evan Milstein, a sophomore majoring in hotel management, believe the class will provide relief from their school workload.

"It's easier. It's a lot less work and it's more convenient," said Milstein, who also lives on UNLV's campus and is taking an online course.

But what about the college experience? Do online courses stunt social discourse?

No, says Farr.

"Most of our interaction with students is on the bulletin board," Farr said. "You can still employ the Socratic method under that situation."

Bacus agrees.

"It's not necessarily killing the college experience," Bacus said. "The nice thing about it is while you're taking the course, you get plenty of social interaction on campus and while you're in the dorm."