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UNIT I: THE INTERNET AND DISTANCE LEARNING

INTERNET ACCESS

It is required that CSU students have access to the Internet and a valid e-mail account in order to complete a program of study at CSU. If personal Internet service is unavailable, you are encouraged to contact local libraries, schools, or a public business to locate access to the Internet.

STUDENT CENTER WEB SITE

The Student Center website contains many useful resources for CSU students and can be found by accessing our main website, www.columbiasouthern.edu, and then clicking the “Student Center” link near the top of the page. A partial list of tasks that can be completed at this site are provided below:

Submit an Enrollment Agreement and Register for a Course
Access the Online Bookstore
Login to Blackboard
Login to the Student Access Site
Submit a Tuition Payment
Request a Course Extension

Access the Online Library

STUDENT ACCESS SITE

The Student Access site allows students the ability to view the courses they are currently enrolled in and to submit course papers or projects. The site allows the student to perform the following tasks:

By uploading papers or projects at the Student Access Site, the assignment is processed at CSU faster because the system automatically posts a received date and then forwards the assignment to the appropriate professor for grading.  If you find instructions within your course that state to e-mail an assignment to Student Services, you should disregard these instructions and instead submit the assignment to the Student Access Site for faster processing.

We encourage you to use the site to check if a grade is posted or if an assignment has been received. The data on the site is updated at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, & 5:00 pm Central Time daily.

The site also allows students the ability to verify the email address that CSU has on file, in the event that you find you are not receiving regular correspondence from CSU concerning your courses.  There is a test button that will send an automated email to the account on file, thus allowing the student to check if their email account is allowing CSU emails.

In addition, the student has the ability to view all automated emails that have been sent.

In order to login to the Student Access site, you must use your birth date and student identification number.  If you did not provide CSU with your valid birth date during the enrollment process, please access the Student Contact Information Update form on the Student Center portion of the main website so your record can be updated. 

You may access this site from the online Student Center at www.columbiasouthern.edu. If you are unable to login, please contact Student Services at students@columbiasouthern.edu.

Listed below are guidelines to follow regarding assignments that may be uploaded at the Student Access Site.

If the assignment submission instructions specify to e-mail the assignment to Student Services, the assignment  should instead be uploaded to the Student Access Site.

E-MAIL

E-mail is the most effective way of corresponding with the university and your professor.  As a CSU student, you are required to have a valid  email address on file. If you do not have e-mail access from home, you may wish to contact your local public library.  Most public libraries provide Internet access for patrons, and will also assist you in establishing a free e-mail account.  Internet access is also available at a number of commercial establishments that rent computer time on in-house computers.   CSU utilizes e-mail to send important information to students. This includes automatic notification of posted grades, course enrollment, course schedules, announcements of policy changes, and CSU information updates which are important to students.  You are responsible for providing CSU with a valid e-mail address and for notifying CSU of an e-mail address change. Please keep your e-mail address up to date by following these two steps:

  1. Access the Student Contact Information Update Form online at the Student Center and submit all updated information.
  2. If your e-mail provider incorporates an automatic spam blocking service with your e-mail account, make certain you allow e-mails from the domain columbiasouthern.edu to be received.  This is very important so that you are certain to receive important automated emails from CSU such as course schedules, grade notifications, etc.  Remember, you can test your email account to make certain you can receive CSU emails. This feature is available from within the CSU Student Access Site.

STUDENT FORUM

You are encouraged to make full use of the Student Forum.  Here you can interact with your fellow students on a wide range of topics. This Forum also serves as a reference site that will enable you to quickly access previously posted questions and answers.

Only Administrators, Faculty, Students and Alumni of Columbia Southern University may access the Forum.  The Forum is designed so that each degree program will appear as a separate forum or group such as "Business Administration" and "Criminal Justice". A "General Discussion Area" Forum is available for non-course specific postings.

Threads are created within these Forums by end users to narrow discussion to a particular topic such as a course of study or comment.  If you do not see a thread for the course or topic you would like to discuss, create a new thread.  The Forum is easy to use. If you need assistance, detailed instructions are available online. To enter the Forum, login to Blackboard and select the “Forum” link provided in “My Announcements.”

Before you can post a message in the forum, you will be required to set up a forum account. For security purposes, we suggest you do not use your Blackboard ID if it is the same as your Student ID number. 

CSU ONLINE LIBRARY

The Online Library provides each student with a multitude of research options, including reference materials, ebooks, and database resources providing access to many full-text online professional journals. In addition to the volumes of information available through this Library, Students and Faculty are supported 24 hours each day by professional librarians. The student should see the CSU Online Library.

The Online Library includes the following features:

Access information (user name and password) to each of the resources on the CSU Online Library is available to students in several ways. You can find logon information in the Announcements section in Blackboard, through your Student Services representative, or through the link and contact information on the Online Library webpage for CSU’s Director of Learning Resources/Librarian, Marsha S. Hinnen.

While using the resources on the library webpage can be a frustrating experience, library research is a skill that improves with practice. Be patient with yourself and review the Help information to learn specific searching tips. Your efforts will be worth your investment of time and energy - the Online Library is vital for student success at CSU!