All distance education undergraduate students are transfer students who typically complete general education and lower-divison reqruiements for the major at a community college or another accredited institution. For ths reason, distance education programs at Appalachian are called degree-completion programs. Many distance education students are dually enrolled, i.e. are taking lower-division transfer courses at the same time as their Appalachian courses.
Distance education students are assisted by Distance Education staff for lower-divisoin (transfer) requirements as well as academic advisors for Appalachian requriements. Admissions and degree program of study requirements for distance education students are the same as those for main campus transfer students. However, because of their transfer student requirements and dual enrollment, some advising policies and procedures vary for this group of students:
Declaring a Major - Distance Education students declare their major at the time of admission and do not complete the traditional major declaration process.
Exams - Proctoring services are available through UNC Online.
Orientation- Is available online. The Distance Education Office also coordinates live orientation web conferences via Zoom. Site-based programs may also have a face-to-face orientation before the first day of classes.
Readmission - An additional step of contacting the transfer advising staff in the Distance Education Office is required of students who wish to return to ASU. Decisions regarding readmission will depend upon cohort space and departmental approval.
Residency - The final 30 hours of coursework is not required to be in residence at ASU.
Tuition surcharge - Distance Education students are not subject to tuition surcharge.
Tutoring - Available online
Visiting Coursework - Distance Education students do not need to complete the Visiting Coursework process through the Office of Transfer Services for lower-divison transfer courses taken at a NC community college. They do currently need to complete the visiting coursework form for UNC Online Exchange courses.