OUR DISTANCE LEARNERS

Distance Education (DE) at YSU currently serves approximately 1500 adult learners each year using web-based technology and instructional systems design to deliver courses to these learners who are not physically “on site”. Our DE learners are a diverse group of highly motivated, conscientious adults who draw from their life experiences to enhance their studies. At this time, many of our DE learners are current learners who take some of their courses at a distance to give them more flexibility in the management of school, family, and work. Approximately 900 of our adult learners have matriculated into the BSAS in Allied Health or Master of Health and Human Services programs.

OUR DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAM

All of our degree programs must meet the Youngstown State University general education undergraduate degree requirements and may include credit for prior college-level learning. All of our distance courses comply with federal and state standards and guidelines.

The Youngstown State University Distance Education Office is deeply committed to excellence in online education. Therefore, the foundation of our online academic program and course development process is based on the Best Practices for Online Education, the National Education Technology Standards (NETS), and Quality Matters Rubric in order to ensure quality in program and course design with the appropriate use of multi-media technology to enrich the learner experience.

OUR DISTANCE EDUCATION FACULTY

Our DE courses are taught by full-time faculty, ETS faculty, and part time adjunct faculty. Our DE faculty members draw on their close ties to the community to enhance the academic learning of their students in disciplines such as health and human services, mathematics and statistics, engineering, psychology, and business. They are highly committed to our learners and to excellence in online teaching.

Although some of our online faculty members hold a master’s degree in the area of study, most hold a PhD. Our office provides all of our online faculty members with the proper training and support necessary to work successfully with adult learners in the online environment.