Eastern Student Uses Her Mouse To Earn A Diploma

by Dean Brickey
Publication: East Oregonian
Publication Date: 6/8/03
Page and Section: 4 A

Photo by Dean Brickey
Joyclynn Potter, 26, of Baker City hasn't set foot on the Eastern Oregon University campus in La Grande for more than a year, but she'll graduate with honors Saturday.

BAKER CITY -- When Joyclynn "Josie" Potter receives her diploma at the Eastern Oregon University commencement next Saturday, it will be just the third time she's been on the La Grande campus since fall 2001.

She'll be making history as well that day because she's the first honors baccalaureate graduate in Eastern's Division of Distance Education. Instead of attending classes with the other 2,200 students at Eastern, Potter used her computer and mouse almost exclusively to earn her diploma. She is among 1,800 Eastern students involved with distance learning, according to Liz Burton, director of Eastern's Baker Center and Potter's adviser. Those students represent more than 950 full-time equivalency students.

Eastern's 2003 Commencement Ceremony is at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 14, in Community Stadium. A reception for the 361 graduates and their guests will follow at noon. More information about Eastern's 2003 Commencement is available on the Internet at http://www.eou.edu/commence/.

Potter, 26, grew up in Sumpter and graduated in 1994 from the Agape Christian School in Baker City. She earned 16 credits at Treasure Valley Community College (TVCC) in Ontario before spending about six years in Christian missionary work overseas. It was during that time she met her husband, Ben, in South Africa.

After returning to Baker County, Potter enrolled in Eastern's Distance Education program as a full-time student in January 2001. Burton soon recognized that Potter was an exceptional student and recommended she apply for Eastern's honors program. Even with that added challenge, Potter completed her four-year, 170-credit-hour
course of study in two and a half years, attending year-round, and achieving a 3.85 grade-point average. In the fall of 2001, she began working full-time as a teacher at her alma mater, and she had a baby along the way. Fourteen-month-old Savannah was born during spring break 2002.

Burton calls it "phenomenal."

"That's one of the things that set Josie apart," Burton said. "She took a very heavy load of classes, and there was a lot of depth to her program."

Many students elect to take "personal interest" classes that help to balance an otherwise heavy academic workload, Burton said.

"Josie always chose to take classes that interested her intellectually," Burton said. "For example, she took three terms of Chinese, and she minored in philosophy, and really focused on upper-division philosophy. It was one of the more challenging routes to a degree."

Burton nominated Potter for two of the awards she will receive Friday afternoon at the EOU student awards ceremony, which will mark just the second time she's been on campus in a year and a half. She will be awarded the Outstanding Distance Education Student Award and the American Association of University Women's Outstanding Senior Woman Award. Potter is the second Baker County woman to have received both of those awards, Burton said.

Saturday morning, Potter will be inducted into the Pinnacle Honor Society, an organization for nontraditional students. She already is a member of Eastern's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, a national honor society.

Potter agrees that it's been a challenge.

"With distance education, you have to be very self-motivated and disciplined," she said.

During a typical day at work, where she teaches English, social studies, Bible classes, "Signing Exact English," and French to students in grades 6-12, Potter used children's recesses and lunch hours to work on her college assignments. During the evenings she watched video lectures and completed other course work at home.

"It was a lot of work, a lot of stress," she said. "Basically, I had no free time."

During her studies Potter enrolled in three of the four types of courses offered by Eastern's Division of Distance Education: independent study, Web-based courses and " Weekend College" classes. She didn't participate in the fourth, computer conferencing.

Independent study classes involve watching videotaped lectures, then completing assignments and tests given by the professor. In Web-based study, the instructor posts assignments online and uses a computer bulletin board to communicate with students and allow students to communicate with each other.

"It's really nice to have other people to bounce things off of, and to have access to your instructor," Potter said, "but you never see anybody."

She also enrolled in a number of "Weekend College" classes, which are offered in places around the state, including the Eastern campus, TVCC, Baker City, Central Oregon Community College in Bend, or even in Portland. The Friday-Saturday courses usually provide one to two credit hours, Potter said.

"Those are the fun ones, because you feel like you're really a college student," she added.