In 2007 the University of North Carolina asked the School to extend its reach into underserved areas by increasing its distance-education capabilities. From this request arose NCSSM Online.
Several years later, the program is well on its way to answering the University’s challenge. The numbers for 2011-2012 paint a pretty impressive picture:
• 190 11th and 12th grade students taught
• 142 schools reached from coastal communities to Asheville
• 68 out of 100 counties served
• 20 math, science and humanities courses offered (drawn from the NCSSM academic catalog)
All of the students participating in NCSSM Online meet the School’s criteria for admission into the residential program. Many participants actually applied to the residential component but limited housing precluded them from being offered residential admission. Other high-potential students never even apply to the residential program because they do not want to live away from home for personal, family, cultural, or socio-economic reasons. Each student enrolled represents what otherwise would have been a missed opportunity for the state to encourage overall growth in the pursuit of degrees and careers in STEM fields.
While online programs are not a novel concept, NCSSM Online differentiates itself from the others by ensuring that students have face-to-face access to each other and to their NCSSM instructors at various NCSSM-campus activities; to a STEM-based counselor/advisor; and engagement with STEM professionals who explain/demonstrate their research, career prospects, and relationship of their work to the student’s curriculum.
“NCSSM Online helps public schools in the state continue to challenge their students,” says Ross White, NCSSM’s Dean of Distance Education and Extended Programs. “For the students, they get to become part of the NCSSM community without leaving their home community. Too, they get to network with future leaders in every discipline.”