Figure 3. The “four pillars” to supporting student success. Ensuring a positive and rewarding experience for online students, particularly those enrolled within intensive online courses, is contingent upon the institutional provider offering equitable support structures that are also appropriately translated into the online environment (Pullan, 2011). Being already prone to higher attrition rates, fully online students adopting study via intensive modes have increased expectations of their instructors, and the course learning environment more broadly, to provide the necessary infrastructure required to manage the increased workload. Therefore, tertiary providers choosing to deliver fully online courses, particularly intensive courses, need to ensure that these four pillars are prioritized equivalently to the translation of content into online platforms in order to maximize student success and reduce risks for attrition. The first pillar, and arguably the most crucial support an institution can offer to online students, revolves around online-friendly academic resources and ample opportunities for student–instructor interaction (Cannady, 2015). The success of completing a tertiary degree online strongly depends on the student’s ability to work autonomously and manage their time effectively (Wang et al., 2013). Beyond the personal qualities students must possess to succeed in an online course, as previously discussed, there is also a growing need for the institution offering the course to provide appropriate online-friendly academic scaffolding that supports their students throughout their learning (Lee and Choi, 2011). This includes, but is not limited to, detailed orientation services, and comprehensive library resources. Providing orientation services, especially for online students, is essential in order to adequately integrate incoming cohorts into their new online learning environment (Cho, 2012). Research, albeit limited, has consistently shown that orientation programs have improved student retention and academic performance both on- and off-campus (House and Kuchynka, 1997; Williford et al., 2001; Wilson, 2005). When looking specifically at online 22
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