  {"id":124623,"date":"2025-08-04T08:37:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T12:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/?p=124623"},"modified":"2025-08-04T08:42:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T12:42:48","slug":"earn-your-degree-anywhere-montclairs-vision-for-online-programs-emphasizes-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/2025\/08\/04\/earn-your-degree-anywhere-montclairs-vision-for-online-programs-emphasizes-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Earn Your Degree Anywhere: Montclair\u2019s Vision for Online Programs Emphasizes Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>精品成人福利在线 University Vice Provost and Managing Director of Montclair Unbound Marc Austin has joined the institution as it continues its record growth and ascension to the nation\u2019s Top 100 public universities.<\/p>\n<p>Here, he shares his vision for the future of Montclair\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/online-degree-programs\/\">53 online bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and certificate offerings<\/a> \u2013 and how it can scale to the entire University to realize President Koppell\u2019s vision for the future of higher education.<\/p>\n<h2>Earning a degree should be hard \u2013 but everything else should be easy<\/h2>\n<p>Think about ordering a product from Amazon.<\/p>\n<p>You quickly search for what you need, compare alternatives, read reviews, and order it with a few clicks on your phone in a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n<p>To Austin, this is the measuring stick for how online degree programs should be delivered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a reason the phrase is \u2018earn a degree\u2019, because the work to get a degree should be very challenging. But that\u2019s the only part that should be hard,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to fully understand the student journey and the obstacles that get in their way as they pursue a degree. It\u2019s then up to us to remove those things from the experience to prevent an engaged student from stopping before they graduate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must create an experience where all other aspects of student life \u2013 understanding what courses you take and when, understanding financial aid, paying your bill and connecting with your advisor, to name a few \u2013 are easy and available anytime, anywhere. When we do that, we\u2019ll be further reducing the unnecessary barriers that hold students back.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The Three Keys to Online Student Success<\/h2>\n<p>This philosophy is part of Austin\u2019s three keys to online student success, which will then be scaled to include the entire institution as part of the Unbound vision:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>A seamless experience:<\/strong> Students need a clear roadmap that allows them to achieve their educational goals within their day-to-day lives. They\u2019ll know what\u2019s due today, what\u2019s due next week, and the next class they need to take at every step of their journey.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Engaging instruction:<\/strong> Courses should be available on demand and be taken on a student\u2019s schedule. Combined with bite-sized content from world-class professors, personalized feedback and peer learning experiences that allows students to solve problems in a group, it\u2019s a mix that can yield courses that keep them coming back for more.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wraparound services:<\/strong> Students need to know they are supported anytime, anywhere. By creating an engaging and inviting community with 24\/7 support \u2013 which can include innovations like AI Assistants that point you to relevant material from previous courses or help you stay on track and success coaching for life both in and out of the classroom \u2013 students will see they\u2019re never alone on their journey towards an online degree.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>\u201cMontclair\u2019s commitment to student success makes the institution uniquely positioned to execute this vision,\u201d says Austin, who points to the University\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/office-of-student-belonging\/\">Office of Student Belonging<\/a> and ranking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2024\/09\/24\/2025-college-rankings-montclair-continues-to-rise-in-u-s-news-world-report-best-colleges\/\">No. 12 in the nation in social mobility<\/a> as critical student success indicators. \u201cSo, we want to extend these ideals to our online offerings to make a truly excellent experience that ensures student success in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The Future of Higher Education is Unbound<\/h2>\n<p>By reducing barriers and scaling Austin\u2019s vision for online learning, Montclair can ultimately achieve President Jonathan Koppell\u2019s vision of a truly \u201cUnbound\u201d university that meets students where they are.<\/p>\n<p>Students will be able to learn from any location at any time, and receive the same student experience from anywhere \u2013 allowing their education to fit into their lives, not the other way around.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy role is to reduce the barriers students encounter, both as online and as students who attend in person, so that they can more easily engage with the University,\u201d says Austin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we do this, we will be able to deliver excellent programs and give students the exact same experience from wherever they are. Montclair will become a truly blended campus, and we\u2019ll realize President Koppell\u2019s vision of what \u2018Unbound\u2019 can truly mean. I\u2019m excited for the future and to work with everyone to give students this experience, starting with our online programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Are You Ready to Start Your Montclair Journey?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/calendly.com\/montclair-state-university-online\">Schedule an appointment<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/request-information\/\">request more information<\/a>\u00a0or just <a href=\"https:\/\/tawk.to\/chat\/5ed008da8ee2956d73a58bff\/default\">start the conversation<\/a> and take the next step towards pursuing online education at Montclair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new head of Montclair Unbound and a nationally recognized leader in online education, Marc Austin, shares what\u2019s holding online programs back \u2013 and how changing the student experience can reimagine higher education<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":124625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-241_montclair-state-university-online"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124623"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124626,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124623\/revisions\/124626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}