Kent State University provides many virtual student services for its online students through its Kent State Online website. These services include academic support, technology resources, and student services. However, some key services are offered independently across departments and not centralized. Additionally, many services are designed for online students only and may not be accessible or relevant for residential students. The presentation recommends expanding services like orientation, counseling, and community building to better serve all students, both online and residential, through more comprehensive and centralized virtual student support.

1. Virtual Student Services
A Review
By Josh Perkins

2. University Introduction
Kent State University is a midsized comprehensive state
university that served approximately 39,076 students in its
eight campus system during the 2015 spring semester. In
the 2015 spring semester student enrollment in online
classes reached 17,762, a 4.37 percent increase from the
prior year. Overall 45 percent of Kent State students are
taking one or more online classes.

3. Presentation Overview
Virtual Student Services in today’s higher education
landscape need to be accessible to both residential and
online students. All students deserve the same resources
and opportunities for success and it is the faculty and
administrators job to insure resources are within the grasp
of all.

4. Presentation Overview
Armitage & Shea (2002) in their article entitled
Guidelines for Creating Student Services Online, provide a
comprehensive overview of the type of services and the
importance of web-based Student Services for both
residential and online students. Essentially, both
populations need the same information, but with some
understanding of the contextual differences. In the end, all
students need technology services, community development,
academic advising, tutoring, library resources and the like.

5. Presentation Overview
This Virtual Student Services presentation will take an in-
depth view of the online student services offered at Kent
State University. In addition, a review of services that
should be considered will be addressed as well.

6. Presentation topics
1. Kent State Online, a specific website for online learners.
2. Independent virtual services, support services offered from
different departments across campus that are not
centralized.
3. Virtual Services to be considered.
4. Accessibility and comprehensiveness of services.

7. Kent State Online
• There are three categories that are offered as
support services on the Kent State online webpage:
– Student Services
– Faculty Services
– Technology Services

8. Student Services
• Under the Student Services tab there is a number of
“Useful Links” highlighted, however they are marketed to
online students only. The following are the links made
available to online students:
– Blackboard Learn – This is the learning management system
Kent uses.
– Career Services – this link directs students to the general
career services information available for all students.
– Distance Education Complaint Resolution – link specific for
online students in the event a complaint needs filed.
– FLASHcard – directs students to the Kent State Stark
flashcard informational webpage. This page informs students
how their FLASHcard can be used.

9. Student Services
– FLASHcard Application Form – takes students to a form to fill
out and send in to get a student I.D. remotely.
– Flashline Account – all students are given a Flashline account
and email account. This is the University’s platform for
information dissemination.
– Library Instruction – link takes students to a webpage that
teaches all students how to efficiently and ethically gather
information for classes.
– Online Course Search – walks students through the process of
looking for and registering for online classes.
– Online Phone Directory – webpage that provides a search for
all department and individual staff and faculty.

10. Student Services
– Proctored Testing – gives information for online students
on how to get a test proctored in person with an instructor,
with ProctorU or at a physical testing facility on or off
campus.
– State Authorization – shows students which states Kent
State’s online programs are accepted.
– Student Accessibility Services (SAS) – directs students to the
universal SAS webpage and gives an overview of
accessibility services.
– Student Grievance Contact Information for the Individual States
– individual state contacts for out of state students in the
event they have a grievance with Kent State.

11. Student Services
– Student Rights and Responsibilities – overview of academic
integrity policies and protection of student work.
– Textbooks – provides links to each campus’s bookstore.
– Tuition Information – online course cost for each degree
offered as well as an explanation of additional fees at
regional campuses.
– Veteran Services – takes students to the Center for Adult
and Veteran Services general page made available to all
students.

12. Faculty Services
• The Faculty Services tab provides an overview of Kent
State’s online teaching philosophy and it provides in-depth
information on the “how-tos” of providing quality online
education. This is not for students specifically, but helps
the student understand that the online teaching philosophy
is based on 3 core components:
– Design – addresses pedagogical goals.
– Build – provides information on how to navigate Blackboard,
Kent State’s learning management system.
– Teach – link provides information on teaching methods
strategies that work well in the online environment.

13. Technology Services
• The Technology Services tab gives information on all of the
university resources that are believed to be necessary to
pursue a degree or certificate. Through technology services
students are able to:
– Apply to the university– directs to the main admissions page
for all students.
– Enroll in online courses – takes students to the universal
Flashline log in page. Once in Flashline students still have to
figure out how to enroll in classes.
– Pay your tuition – directs students to the Bursar’s Online
Payment System.

14. Technology Services
– View student records– takes students to the universal
Flashline log in page. However, once logged in, students must
navigate Flashline to find the student record information.
– Enroll in online courses – takes students to the universal
Flashline log in page.
– Textbooks– provides links to each of the eight campus
bookstores.
– Blackboard Learn – this webpage provides comprehensive
information about Blackboard and how to effectively navigate
it.
– Academic library – provides specific library services
information for off-campus and distance learning students.
– Helpdesk – this link takes students to Information Services
general all campus help page which includes 24/7 help
options.

15. Independent Virtual Services
• This is a list of two virtual services that are offered across
campus but are not housed on one comprehensive webpage
or on the online learning page.
– Tutoring – Academic Success Center; this service is made
available to all students “who prefer to receive assistance
online from the comfort of their home or residence hall” .
This is a free service to all students.
– Advising and Registration absentia process – Student Success
Programs; this is “online” protocol for student that cannot
attend advising and registration in person. (In order to get this link
to pull up this hidden page cut and past this address in a browser https://app-
dev.us.kent.edu/absentia/confirm.aspx)

16. Virtual Service Considerations
• While Kent State does have a large list of student resources for
distance learning students, there are a few services that I believe
are missing from the compiled list and they include:
– Online New Student Orientation – currently, Kent State does
not provide a completely online orientation for traditional face
to face students that register in absentia. This type of offering
would be very beneficial for nontraditional and transfer
student populations as well.
– Online Counseling Services – stresses of coursework, time
management and relational issues are not only on campus
issues and so, I believe that counseling services or
psychological services should be highlighted and made
available to students in an online format or at a minimum the
contact information should be on a resource page.

17. Virtual Service Considerations
– Campus Connection – Dr. Kretovics in his article entitled The
Role of Student Affairs in Distance Education: Cyber-Services
or Virtual Communities articulates the importance of creating
a virtual “campus community”. Like Dr. Kretovics’s assertion,
I too believe that Kent State should consider and provide a
mode for both residential and virtual students to connect as
one campus. Perhaps a student group could be developed for
this purpose.

18. Accessibility of Resources
• The virtual student services resources that are provided on the
Kent State Online webpage were useful, pertinent and accessible,
however the focus of this page is strictly for online learners rather
than being a universal resource designed for all students.
• If residential students are looking for virtual support services, the
offerings are very limited, especially if students only access the
information marketed to them and do not utilize the Kent State
Online pages.
• There are other resources, such as tutoring that are accessible if
the right page is visited, but all resources are not centralized.

19. Comprehensiveness of Resources
• Kent State University does an excellent job of providing a
comprehensive list of its resources for online learners, however
virtual students services does need to be considered for all
students.
• Currently, the resources are not comprehensive or made available
for all students. Likewise there is not a centralized location that
students can got to that represents all virtual services offered. A
landing page with this information would be an added benefit.
• Some additional virtual services that should be considered should
be online orientation, counseling services and opportunities for
virtual community .

20. Virtual Student Services Summary
After completing this project I finished it with a greater
understanding of the importance of virtual student services as
well as the need to offer them to more than just the online
students. Also, upon reviewing Kent State’s offerings I gained a
better understanding of the type of virtual services that are
offered to online and residential students.
Given that my job is to facilitate Kent State’s orientation
program, I realize that our orientation program has a hole that
needs filled with offering an online orientation for students not
able to participate in our face to face orientation option. On a
whole, this has been a very eye opening and meaningful
assignment.

21. References
Kretovics, M. (2003). The role of student affairs in distance
education: Cyber-
services or virtual communities. Online Journal of Distance
Learning Administration, 6(3). Retrieved from
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/kretovics63.html
Armitage, S. & Shea, P. (2002). Guidelines for creating student
services online.
WCET LAAP Project Beyond the Administrative Core:Creating
Web-based
Student Services for Online Learners. Retrieved from
http://wcet.wiche.edu/wcet/docs/beyond/overview.pdf