Distance Education Program
School of Library & Information Management, Emporia State University
Submitted by:  Daniel Roland

The adult learner in a distance-based, graduate-level education program has many special needs.  This nontraditional student is usually pursuing a graduate degree on a part-time basis with full-time work and family responsibilities and often must commute more than one hundred miles to attend classes.  Typically, it has been several years since the adult learner last engaged in a post-secondary education program.  Providing a helpful, responsive, service-oriented learning environment that values and ensures that this type of student is not lost in the crowd is a challenge for academic institutions.  Though geographically separated by hundreds of miles from the home campus and afforded face to face contact with faculty but once a month, students in the Master's of Library Science program of Emporia State University's School of Library and Information Management (SLIM) receive continual support through our distance advising program.  Using a combination of on-campus administration and local site coordination which relies on electronic mail, toll-free telephone numbers and the Internet, SLIM is able to maintain a strong advising program for its distance students.  With its "people first" attitude and a commitment to ever-improving service, SLIM has helped to make the goal of an MLS Degree a reality for hundreds of adults learners who otherwise would not be able to earn the degree because they cannot take time off from other commitments to move and go to school full time.