Online University Students’ Perceptions of institution and Program Community and the Activities that Support Them

The forty-item, Sense of Online Community Scale was completed by 293 online students at a mid-sized southeastern United States university to ascertain community importance and activities associated with its formation and maintenance. A large majority of these students believed that a sense of community was important and that a sense of belonging, affiliation, and trust were valuable for community formation. Participants also believed that program and institutional activities, both academic and social, played key roles in community formation. However, academic activities (e.g., advising, program milestones, writing centers, library support) were rated as more influential than social activities (e.g., get-togethers, online games, institution sporting events). When demographic characteristics were considered, non-White participants rated their sense of affiliation with their program/institution higher than White participants. Participants who lived within a one-hour commute to campus (51% of our sample) rated institutional social activities higher than those who lived farther out. Doctoral students rated program activities as more conducive to community formation than masters, and graduate certificate students and undergraduate students rated affiliation to their program/institution higher than masters and graduate certificate students.