Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) was recently ranked by Surfky among Ohio’s top post-secondary institutions for online-only students, and their strong online course offerings predate the recent COVID-19 crisis.
Eric Stetler is MVNU’s vice president and dean for Graduate and Professional Studies, the department that oversees online courses at the university. He recently told the Mount Vernon News that MVNU has a lot to offer both traditional and nontraditional students who want to do their coursework online.
“MVNU has been a part of filling a gap in our market for over 25 years for adult learning,” Stetler said.
What began as classes offered in the evening for professionals seeking continuing education has grown into something much more diverse, he said. While professionals still seek them out for continuing education, MVNU now also has younger students just starting out who choose to attend online.
“Because students need anytime, anywhere learning, we have pivoted to an online environment that has multiple accessible start dates throughout the year,” Stetler said.
He noted that MVNU strives to provide a quality yet affordable education that fits into an already busy life.
“What makes us stand out is that we’re a distinctively Christian option in that space,” Stetler said.
In keeping with their Christian principles, MVNU places emphasis on service.
“You’ll see that a lot of our programs are geared that way — with an online social work program, with an online emergency management-homeland security program, and then a number of master’s programs that also help fit and fill a need for Christian leaders in service-oriented professions,” he said.
While online courses are offered in accelerated formats, many mirror undergraduate programs on campus; such as in the case of business-, ministry- and early-childhood education programs, Stetler said. Other classes, tailored to the needs of working professionals, are offered only online.
“Like our public administration, for example,” he said. “That’s a unique degree that serves municipal leaders in ways that provide a unique opportunity to go back to school and get a bachelor’s degree that will help them move forward in their particular fields.”
While online students may not be setting foot on MVNU’s campus, they still get some of the benefits of the unique community setting the university provides, Stetler said. For instance, every program has a dedicated program coordinator.
“That’s that faculty member who is the shepherd all along the way,” he said.
Programs also have students working in cohorts, enabling them to connect with their fellow students in the same program.
“We receive a lot of feedback from the online students that that enriches the experience,” Stetler said.
Additionally, chaplains are available to online students, just as they are to on-campus students.
“Our community can support people through hard times, especially in these challenging times,” he said. “We have had students who have had challenges with the COVID crisis, and we’ve been able to offer a community of support, virtually, to them.”
