Co-Curricular Activities in Online Doctoral Education
- 1:15 PM to 2:00 PM
Concurrent Session 6

Brief Abstract

A recent focus in online doctoral education is inclusion on co-curricular activities that support doctoral culture and students’ ability to progress in and complete their program. This presentation focuses on a multi-modal, multidimensional, holistic approach designed to support online doctoral students through co-curricular activities.

Extended Abstract

Extended Abstract

A recent focus in online doctoral education and particularly in programs that are institutionally accredited is the inclusion of co-curricular activities that support doctoral culture and students’ ability to progress in and complete their program. A critical component of doctoral education is doctoral culture, a requirement of institutional accreditors. Moreover, research has shown that approximately 50% of doctoral students do not complete their program.  This presentation focuses on a multi-modal, multidimensional, holistic approach designed to support online doctoral students throughout their progression and completion through co-curricular activities.  This interactive session includes discussion of the research behind and purpose of co-curricular activities in online doctoral education.  Following this discussion are the unique considerations for online-doctoral education considering both the learning modality and student characteristics, in particular that they are often mid-career, middle aged adult learners. To address the needs of these students at virtual “Doctoral Community” was created.  Students and faculty have access to the online Doctoral Community, which allows students and faculty to collaborate with mentors and peers, seek resources, and disseminate information. The Doctoral Community is located in the university Learning Management System and is a natural fit for doctoral communication since faculty and students will already be familiar with D2L as their teaching and learning platform. The Doctoral Community fosters faculty-student teamwork on various elements of doctoral study and interaction about research to advance practice in the field. The platform is designed to grow and maintain a culture of scholarly discourse and professional interaction. During their orientation and first course, doctoral students are be welcomed into the Doctoral Community.  Overall, the Doctoral Community includes program information, policies, IRB, COBT and DBA requirements and elements, referential links to the library and other university offices, and many other resources. This community site is be a focal point for various peer-to-peer personal and professional interaction with fellow students and colleagues. USU also provides an additional resource for scholarly writing using Brainfuse. A particularly unique feature of the Doctoral Community is resources for overall health. In addition to supporting doctoral culture, because research shows that approximately 50% of doctoral students do not complete their program, a way to support these students is to reduce the stress associated with participating in an online doctoral program. These strategies include:

• Position yourself for success

• Manage stress and overwhelming emotions

• Use ego-shattering feedback to your advantage

• Build a supportive network so you never feel alone

• Find quality time for school in your already busy life

• Work smarter so you can finish on time

• Choose a topic, complete your research, and shine at your defense

To support these strategies, we included mindfulness practices and aid students in focusing in one their program.

This discussion will be interactive throughout the presentation and include a demonstration of the online Doctoral Community. The takeaways include ways to support online doctoral students through co-curricular activities in these programs.