The University of Louisiana at Monroe has been offering a Bachelor of Arts degree more than 40 years. Sociology is one of the many fields that ULM has offered. Lately there has been talk that the sociology department is moving completely online.
“We are planning to move online.” Said Dr. Jeffery Cass, Dean of Arts and Sciences.
Classes are still available throughout the campus for students who prefer face-to-face interaction. However, there are a lot more courses in Sociology that can be taken online than in previous years. This option makes the degree more accessible to students. Although some are excited about the option to get a sociology degree online, others feel that it will limit the knowledge gained by the students in that particular field.
Melvin Davis, a senior health studies major from Shreveport said there are pros and cons to online classes. “The biggest con is that since it is 100% online, if one is not focused, they will not learn anything.”
The purpose of moving some classes online was to increase enrollment in the Gateway to Online Degree (GOLD) program. ULM’s GOLD program is a convenient, flexible and affordable way to earn a degree in the comfort of your own home.
As students continue to enroll in the GOLD program, ULM’ s attendance will continue to rise. By expanding and putting the B.A. and M.A. online, the number of students will increase which also means an increase in the number of faculty.
Tenesha Chatman, a junior form Calvin, said that Sociology should be made available completely online. “Everything you need to know involving that degree is not really hands-on. It’s mainly reading and understanding,” she said.
Some students falsely feared that if ULM moved some sociology courses online then they couldn’t take the same classes in a classroom. However Dr. Cass explains that online classes are extremely beneficial in multiple ways.
Aleesha Mullen, a senior from Columbus, Miss, said online courses are what the professor makes them. They can be helpful. “I learn when there is class interaction such as forums.” It all depends on the professor, she said.
Dr. Neil White, a sociology professor at ULM, said “We have a very broad sociology department with a range of perspectives and fields of interest/expertise.”
White is in his fifth year at ULM and is known for his sociology 1001 course, “Introduction to Sociology.”
“I like teaching an online course as part of my course-load, and I suspect many students like having an online course as part of their course-load to make their schedules more suited to their busy schedules,” White said.
White said he hopes that having an online option makes the degree more accessible to more people, and, hopefully, that makes a situation in which everybody comes out a winner.
