Successes
Objective 1a: Increase electronic course development for future emergency situations
Objective 1b: Increase general education offerings at participating higher education schools
The above two objectives were stated in the grant as the two primary goals and both were met in the initial year of the project. Thanks to the successful training session, 20+ new online courses have been developed between the two universities. These courses allow the schools to reach a greater population including students in the immediate south, who are most susceptible to storms and work stoppages.
Objective 2a: Recapture absent students in South Louisiana
Objective 2a was an attempt to locate, recruit, and recapture the students lost from the storms of 2005. This goal has proven more difficult than proposed, but some headway is starting to be made as the year ends. Initially, the plan was to work with FEMA on gathering these students, but as will be mentioned later this partnership has not worked out. However, the project personnel have found new partners in Habitat for Humanity and the Louisiana Spirit Network to reach these students. Both of these agencies work hand in hand with survivors of Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita and have been able to contact those that are eligible and willing for a college education. Since these partnerships are just being formed, enrollment and financial aid discussions will take place in the spring.
Recapturing students has also been attempted through the use of an advertising campaign by the two schools. McNeese State used print and electronic billboards to capture students, while Nicholls State used a television ad that attempted to bring students back into the classroom. Both schools received feedback from the advertising campaign and numbers on the effect are still being measured.
Objective 4a: Research the learning and student satisfaction involved with video streaming
Objective 4b: Research the pedagogical success and limitations of video streaming
While objective 4a and 4b were noted by the funding source as not being an intricate part of the project, the use of video streaming has been piloted successfully by Nicholls State University. Two complete general education classes, Math 101 and English 101 were recorded and streamed for the entire Fall 2007 semester. These course as well as others planned for the spring can be viewed by any and all students in taking those classes. Research is planned for the Spring 2008 semester on the effectiveness of video streaming for both face-to-face and online courses. This data could prove very helpful as more and more educators use these technologies and look for additional ways to reach their students.
Collaboration between two LA Schools separated by 175 miles
While neither technically a success nor a setback, the collaboration between McNeese State in Lake Charles, LA and Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA has been a good partnership and a work in progress. Communication has been simple between these two schools due to the technology that the state has provided. As mentioned earlier, training has been made possible through the use of high speed Internet and the compressed video network. This technology was used in the training and throughout the dialog between the project personnel of the two partner institutions.
In addition to the collaboration between the project personnel, issues are still being resolved concerning the cross enrollment between the two sister institutions in relation to admissions, financial aid, transfer of credit. Early discussions seem positive on these issues, but since the enrollment of students has been pushed back a semester, these have not been initialized as of yet. Results of this cross enrollment and the scalability of the project have yet to be determined.
Setbacks
At the development of the grant, we thought we had a partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA was to provide locations to place laptop stations where students lost from the storms could go online to access their coursework. FEMA would also be a good provider of locating these individuals that were eligible and willing to participate in the program. Unfortunately, FEMA was not able to provide any of these, so the project personnel were forced to look elsewhere i.e. Habitat for Humanity and the LA Spirit Network. Both agencies have been helpful thus far and share the common goals and spirit of the grant. To support and assist with residents that were displaced due to the hurricanes of 2005.
Due to the loss of the partnership with FEMA, the location and security of the laptops also became an issue. Some solutions were discussed with the LA Spirit Network, but nothing was finalized due to security issues. While a lot of the housing provided by Habitat and LA Spirit Network do have centralized locations for people to gather, none of these placed provided Internet access and proper security for the equipment. Other options are now being considered without the use of the grant provided laptops.
Objective 3a: Prepare and retrain workers in South Louisiana
Objective 3a is another aspect of the project that has been put on hold. No proper research has been done yet to determine what courses and training is best for these workers. Some ideas were discussed with the partners in the grant, but nothing has been finalized yet. In addition the work market has changed dramatically in the past year in South Louisiana. Recovery is still in effect, but the level and direction of this recovery is different than a year ago and still changing. Hopefully, we will be able to identify these needs and address them accordingly.
Links
Nicholls State University
McNeese State University
Louisiana State Board of Regents
Habitat for Humanity
LA Spirit Network
