OSU/NOC Gateway Students Say Program is Successful

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Increasing enrollments, as well as student performance and feedback indicate the OSU/NOC Gateway program is a success. Responding to a recent survey, Gateway students said they were h “We are delighted that students are telling us the Gateway program is preparing them to succeed at the university level,” said OSU System CEO and President David Schmidly. “The primary reason for this partnership was to provide access and success for Oklahoma students who want to come to OSU. Our partnership with Northern Oklahoma College is doing just that.”Students who have applied for freshman admission to OSU, but do not meet current admission requirements are offered provisional admission through the Gateway Program at NOC-Stillwater.Enrollment in the program has been rising steadily since it began in Fall 2003 when 570 students enrolled at NOC/Stillwater. Enrollment increased to 1,076 in Fall 2004 and is projected to surpass 1,500 in Fall 2005. Gateway students pay the same tuition and fees as OSU students and have access to the campus transportation system, computer laboratories, OSU residence halls, the Edmon Low Library, Colvin Recreation Center, the Student Union, Student Counseling Services, Career Center, Student Health Services Dr. Gail Gates, OSU Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Education, said telephone interviews with Gateway participants were conducted in March 2004 with students who completed courses taught by NOC in Fall 2003. Surveys were completed by 248 students or 56 percent of the students who began taking courses at NOC in Fall 2003.  Nearly all of the students who participated in the survey (96 percent) had taken remedial math at NOC in Fall 2003.  Students were asked about adequacy of preparation for OSU courses, the advantages and disadvantages of courses, their satisfaction with instruction and recommendations to improve instruction and academic support services.             Of the respondents, 91 percent said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with overall instruction in the Gateway program. Eighty-eight percent gave the same responses for the quality of self-paced instruction, and 84 percent said the same about computer-based instruction.             Sixty percent of the respondents said they were “well prepared” or “very well prepared” for OSU math courses as a result of taking the NOC courses. Gates said 93 percent of the Gateway students said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the availability of computers outside class, and 95 percent said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with academic support, such as tutoring that was available outside the classroom. Gates said the advantages of the Gateway program include the ability of Gateway students to work at their own pace, smaller class sizes, more one-on-one assistance, availability and quality of tutoring, Based on the survey and our experience, we feel the program is very successful,” Gates said. “Gateway students are doing as well or better in NOC- provided courses as they were in OSU remedial classes, and they are doing as well in subsequent university-level courses. Their retention rates are the same or higher in some cases, and they have positive perceptions of their OSU/NOC education.”