DWC supports students impacted by Katrina with online courses
Daniel Webster's “Sloan Semester” helps displaced students graduate on time

 

A major focus of Daniel Webster College’s educational mission is to provide service learning opportunities for its students. This semester the college, itself, has had the opportunity to practice what it preaches, and has reached out to help students displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

 

As a member of the Sloan Consortium, an international association of colleges and universities committed to quality online education, Daniel Webster (DWC) offered eight-week online accelerated courses at no cost to students displaced by Hurricane Katrina so they could continue their education while the students and their schools recover from the effects of the disaster.

 

“As part of our educational mission it is incumbent upon us to provide educational opportunities and assistance to those whose personal and educational lives have been severely and unimaginably disrupted by Hurricane Katrina,” said DWC President Dr. Robert E. Myers. “We are pleased to have been able to provide that educational support.”

 

The Southern Regional Education Board with $1.1 million in funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation developed the program, known as the “Sloan Semester.”  The online courses began in October, giving students some flexibility in getting their personal lives back together and the geographic freedom to take the classes from wherever they had relocated to, rather than in a face-to-face classroom environment that may be far from where they are living.

 

The program was also designed make it easier for students to return to their institutions without losing valuable time and credits once their colleges recovered from hurricane damage. The Sloan Semester program allowed students to pick and choose online courses from any participating college or university, secure with the knowledge that all courses would be transferable to their home institutions.

 

Tanya Watkins, a 10-year veteran of the banking industry, was intending to graduate in December with an associate’s degree in Organizational Information Technology from Tulane University when Hurricane Katrina drastically changed her life. After the hurricane and as part of the mass migration out of the city, Tanya and her husband relocated to Irving, Tex.

 

“Tulane reopened for a mini-fall semester,” she explained. “However, since I had relocated to Texas I was unable to physically be there.”  She will, however, be able to graduate this December having taken three courses online, including Operations Analysis and Management from Daniel Webster College, and two programming courses from Tulane. 

 

Although Tanya never had taken an online course, she said, “I decided to try the program because I could continue my education and earn credits to keep me on track for graduation. I’m used to a classroom setting, so interacting with everyone on the Internet, as opposed to face-to-face, has been a challenging learning experience for me.”

 

Tanya and her husband have returned to New Orleans twice since the storm, but the couple found they really like living in Irving. Although their home in New Orleans was spared from the flooding and only had roof damage, they are repairing and selling it and have decided to make Texas their new home. Following graduation from Tulane, Tanya plans continue her education at Dallas Baptist University in the spring.

 

Neal Chandler and his family were not so fortunate in being spared from the ravages of Katrina. Both Neal’s mother and grandmother lived in Mereaux, part of St. Bernard Parish, which received the most damage from the hurricane. “Both my house and my grandmother’s house were lost, along with $10,000 in guitars and music equipment. There is a very slim possibility of my family rebuilding the homes — once was more than enough.  The levees need to be rebuilt on a much better basis than before in order to protect the people living there, should this ever happens again. I plan on moving once I graduate.”

 

Neal is a senior computer science major at Loyola University. After the hurricane he tried attending classes at Louisiana State University (LSU), but said “it was overcrowded and unorganized, and there were no places to rent or live in Baton Rouge.”  The LSU campus was a two-hour drive from where he was staying with his dad in Houma, La.  “My dad’s apartment is actually closer to the ocean than my mother’s house, and it was a scary time when Hurricane Rita came along. We were lucky enough to only receive wind and never even lost power.”

 

Under the Sloan Semester Neal has been taking four classes from four different institutions, including UNIX Shell Programming at DWC. Although these are Neal’s first online courses, all his computer classes at Loyola utilized the Blackboard online teaching software, so he was familiar with the system.  “I would recommend online classes to anyone with a 24-hour Internet connection, providing that you are self-motivated.”

 

According to Neal, Loyola is in a part of New Orleans that didn’t take much damage, and the University will reopen in January.  “I have already scheduled my spring classes, and, thanks to Sloan, I will be able to graduate on time.”

 

The family of Tiffanie Johnson, another Loyola senior, also suffered at the hands of Katrina. “Although my house sustained minor damage, my sister and father both lost everything. Additionally, my grandmother’s roof was destroyed, as well as many of the interior walls and ceiling of her house.” All three of them were living in FEMA trailers.

 

Fortunately, Tiffanie was paid for the three weeks she was out of work following the hurricane. An employee of the police department, she did not have the option of going anywhere else to take classes. “I had given up all hope of being able to take any classes this fall; I felt so blessed to be able to take two classes online though the Sloan Semester.”  Tiffanie, majoring in humanities, enrolled in one of her course requirements, Managerial Decision Making, at Daniel Webster, while taking anthropology at Franklin University.

 

“Loyola is holding two spring semesters (Spring I and Spring II) this year to make up for the missed fall semester,” she explained. “This will be great for me because with the Sloan courses, I should be able to graduate after the Spring II semester.”

Sloan Semester is providing more than 1700 college students tuition-free online courses. "With more than 150 institutions from major research universities to community colleges offering courses, said Frank Mayadas, Sloan Foundation program director, the Sloan Semester is demonstrating the quality, scope and breadth of online learning in America. All courses carry degree credit from regionally accredited institutions.

Founded in 1965, Daniel Webster is a student-focused independent college with a primary concentration on experiential learning. Daniel Webster College's nationally ranked degree programs in aviation are well complemented by its innovative programs in business and management, computer science and information technology, aeronautical and mechanical engineering, sport management, and social science.

Through its division of Graduate and Continuing Studies, the college offers an accelerated evening MBA program, a new online MBA for aviation professionals, a non-traditional evening air traffic control program, the EXCEL degree completion program, continuing studies, and a variety of certificate and distance learning programs. For more information, visit www.dwc.edu.