OnLyon with Wheaton
December 21, 1999
Embracing the Information Age with enthusiasm, Wheaton College is taking advantage of the latest Internet technology to bring online courses, free e-mail service and other exciting new services to alumnae/i.
The package of electronic services, called OnLyon@WheatonCollege.edu, seeks to expand and enhance alumnae/i relationships with the college. The launch of the complete group of OnLyon services is planned for April 2000.
"OnLyon@WheatonCollege.edu will offer new ways for alums to participate in Wheaton's ongoing life, including teaching, learning, networking and career counseling," said President Dale Rogers Marshall. "My goal, and the college's, is to use technology to enhance lifelong learning and idea sharing. This online community will help alumnae/i connect with each other in new ways, in addition to traditional class and regional programming. We're planning to make it infinitely flexible and interactive."
The new online service has been in the works for nearly one year. It began as a pilot project organized by the Knight Collaborative for Higher Education, which hopes to use the effort as a model of online community building for the nation's selective liberal arts colleges. The collaborative invited Wheaton as well as Eckerd, Hampshire, Macalester and the University of the South to work with its staff on the project. The effort, led by President Marshall, has drawn on the expertise of numerous departments from across the Wheaton campus, including faculty, students, Alumnae/i Relations and Annual Giving, Academic Computing, Filene Center for Work and Learning, Alumnae/i Association, Information Technologies & Services, Advancement Systems, Communications and Student Life.
OnLyon@WheatonCollege.edu will include many features, most notably free e-mail for life for alumnae/i. This ensures that no matter where alumnae/i move or how often they change jobs, their e-mail address need never change. The college's new online service can also function as every alumna/us home on the Web. The service will feature a Wheaton start-up page that each user can customize with news feeds, links and directories of their choice. Other features will include:
- Online distance learning courses, with the first four courses beginning in January 2000. Contact the Alumnae/i office for more details.
- Bulletin boards and chat rooms to allow alumnae/i to network and stay in touch with classmates, teammates and friends.
- An online alumnae/i directory to look up friends and roommates, and that allows individual alumnae/i
- Virtual events that put alumnae/i around the country in touch with alumnae/i and faculty with expertise on a host of contemporary topics.
- Online catalog shopping for Wheaton products, from hats and t-shirts to furniture, sold by the Scholarshop, which invests all its proceeds in Wheaton scholarship funds.
- Surveys that inform future development of programming and public opinion polls that take the pulse of the Wheaton community on the great issues of the day.
- Online event registration for Commencement & Reunion, Autumnfest and many other events, making it easier than ever to take part in college-sponsored celebrations.
- Online giving that will make it easier and faster for alumnae/i to show their support for the college.
While the entire array of services won't be available until April, the effort will get an early start in late January with an experiment in online learning. In a mailing to all alumni, the college recently announced that they will offer four not-for-credit courses to alumnae/i and parents during the spring semester. The courses include: an astronomical journey to the far reaches of the universe, a tour of America's rich musical heritage, an exploration of the science of good nutrition or an excursion through contemporary Hispanic literature. Depending on the response to this spring's offerings, Wheaton plans to add to the online curriculum in the fall.
"We expect OnLyon@WheatonCollege.edu to be a continuing source of information and support at key life transitions after college," said Deborah Haigh Dluhy '62, Alumnae/i Association President. "The greatest thing about Wheaton has been alumnae/i helping each other. This opens new avenues for that support, and we're really looking forward to the interactivity."