After a quarter of a century teaching part-time for higher education, mostly at College of Southern Nevada (CSN) and almost exclusively IS101 Introduction to Information Systems, the twenty sixth (26) year commences.
Toward the end of last semester, I learned about 'ghost students' and realized I had one on my roster. It seems CSN is not alone in experiencing this:
To mitigate this, CSN implemented a new policy this semester where (for an in-person course) a student must attend the at least one class session during the first week and (for an online course) a student must complete at least one assignment during the first week. I wonder if/how many ghost students may be on my roster this semester.
Since yesterday morning, I have been individually reaching out to each of the twenty two (22) students. Over half of the students have replied to me and over half of them have participated in a quick WebEx meeting with me. I am excited to meet the rest before our first class session :-)
Another source of excitement is that this is the first semester in years, there is no change in IS101 curriculum or rubric from the Digital Literacy program director. This leaves me more time and energy to implement my own tweaks and updates ^_^
Though the first classroom meeting is nine days from now, the Fall 2024 semester officially begins in four days. Let the second quarter of a century begin!
This new policy is so interesting, never really encountered it. Wonder overall how many people were ghost students over the last year. I am excited for this semester as well!
ReplyDeleteThe quick WebEx meeting was helpful for students specially if they are not familiar with the software. I am looking forward to expand my knowledge in this class.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, that does not surprise me in day and age. This new policy makes total sense and should weed out the bad apples.
ReplyDeleteHopefully this new policy helps gets rid of ghost students. Using WebEx to meet students upfront was a good method!
ReplyDeleteI never knew that this was in issue before! Confirming the identify of students prior to class time through WebEx, especially online-only students, is a great method to combat this.
ReplyDeleteEvery day bots are becoming more sophisticated and increasingly adaptive to counter measures taken to identify them. The school initiative to require an assignment to identify a student, combined with financial aid ID verification, and online tools like WebEx should mitigate some of the loss incurred. Bots can steal personal information with the click of a link. In an information system's class that is important to keep in mind.
ReplyDeleteIf you think about it, AI are not only taking away Finacial Aid funds. They are also taking up spaces in classrooms both in-person and online that potentially cause real students scheduling conflicts for classes the need for degree requirements.
ReplyDeleteIts really interesting to me that "ghost students" are actually a thing, I've personally never heard of such a things until this week!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about this policy I thought it was something that they did every year but then I learned how it had impacted the school and I believe that it is one of the best ways to fix this problem because if it doesn't get fixed it could start to affect not just the school but also the students and professors of all CSN locatins,
ReplyDeleteComing from California, I am used to being required to participate in first week assignments or being dropped from courses. It's actually more interesting to me that CSN made it mandatory to weed out ghost students more so than to mitigate seating issues in the past. This could be because California cities have a higher population and less opportunity than Las Vegas may but, it is rapidly growing so better now with good reason than later.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely not a ghost student and take my FAFSA with pride. I work hard to make sure I get the education they are providing me with and it's sickening to know that some people are taking advantage of this and stealing money. I hope the issue gets solved and students who actually need FASFA will be able to obtain it and continue college stress-free. Other than that I am quite excited to finish this class once and for all and get my certificates.
ReplyDeleteI have actually never heard the term "ghost students" till this semester. I thought it was always a thing to show up for first week of classes with all the different rules for financial aid.
ReplyDeletePart of me thinks this is kind of genius, to me I find it baffling that people can come up with a scheme like this. This policy can counter the ghost students.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me the amount of ways people find to cheat the system to get money. But I applaud CSN for taking action before too much damage was dealt. But again its crazy how people keep coming up with new ways to cheat the system to get what they want.
ReplyDeleteNever heard the term Ghost Student but it interesting that people use fake identities for money these day.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about the Ghost students from my previous professors. It is sad and frustrating knowing that these thieves are abusing the system and making it difficult for people who do need the help. I hope this situation gets handled soon.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was very interesting as well as sad. Unfortunately, people will find new ways to make money illegally, it's sad and it's at the cost of students wanting to pursue education.
ReplyDeleteI have been sort of aware about this for some time but a lot more now that I'm in college taking an IS101 class with a professor that is more aware of these thieves.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting topic, I had no clue this was an big issue currently happening in education.
ReplyDeleteThe policy is great by all standards. Have you heard of Ghost names in government payroll in some developing countries? Its starts with ghost students.
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