Five Years of MOSA

Ever since the MCIT Online degree was first launched five years ago, a strong sense of community has become a hallmark of the program. In large part, that’s because of the ongoing efforts of the MCIT Online Student Association (MOSA), which have been instrumental to the program’s delivery of student support and engagement.

MOSA was founded in 2019, soon after Penn Engineering embarked on its inaugural journey into the world of online learning with the debut of its online Master of Computer and Information Technology (MCIT Online) degree program. The program was designed with the goal of expanding access to Penn’s world-class engineering education, but administrators also aimed to challenge the norms of online learning. A big part of this was creating a genuine community experience – and that is where MOSA came in.

Not only does MOSA provide students with a means through which to engage with Penn Engineering faculty and staff – it also creates pathways for students to forge connections with their fellow classmates and peers. These opportunities for relationship building are often referenced by students and alumni as key factors that distinguish Penn Engineering from other online graduate programs. “What makes the MCIT program unique is that it offers online students ways to get connected with each other and form smaller communities within the larger student body,” said Derek Chen, MCIT Online Spring ‘23 Cohort, who currently serves as co-president of MOSA. 

Chen enrolled with Penn Engineering Online in Spring 2023 after spending time doing research at his local university on genetics projects. While learning how to do computational analysis, he spurred an interest in computer science which led him to apply to the MCIT Online program. He now enjoys all of the academic rigor and renowned educational experience of the University of Pennsylvania from his home in San Jose, California – but studying alongside individuals from around the globe, he found himself seeking a way to build relationships and get to know other students.

“MOSA is one of those avenues where I thought it was a great way to get involved with other students and meet classmates from different backgrounds, different time zones and different walks of life,” says Chen.

MOSA is led by an Executive Board that is comprised of students around the world from a wide variety of personal, professional and academic backgrounds — much like the Penn Engineering Online student body as a whole. Many members, like Chen, join MOSA to meet other lifelong learners in the network and enhance the social component of their master’s degree. “I personally wanted to get involved in a leadership role with MOSA because of my desire to give back to the community,” says Stern. “MOSA’s mission is to develop and foster the MCIT Online student community with programs and events related to education/learning, entrepreneurship/jobs and social fellowship … Our mission has not changed at all in the past five years. Throughout, we have organized many events to help students navigate the MCIT Online program.”

During their short – but significant – five year history, MOSA’s extensive assortment of programming has made a large impact on the Penn Engineering Online student experience. The group’s Executive Board organizes regular social gatherings, such as Zoom socials, to give members an opportunity to get to know each other via icebreakers and casual conversations. MOSA also has provided a portfolio of resources to the student body, including a resume bank to support professional development efforts, organized study tips to aid academic pursuits in MCIT courses, and the collection of overall student feedback to be submitted to the University Administration. 

“We’ve done blog posts where we invite students to write posts about various topics, technology related or industry related. We’ve also invited professors to speak about topics such as computer science research or their personal experience working in industry,” said Chen. “And every year we’ll host an annual hackathon … which allows students to gain the real-world experience of coding a project, working in teams, building something that they’re proud of and showcasing it on their resume.”

Another recent accomplishment of note is the development of a new MyMCIT course review website. This resource allows students to rate and share their academic experience in each of Penn Engineering Online’s courses. MyMCIT serves as the successor to a former version of the site, MCIT Central, which the MOSA team spent nearly seven months enhancing and developing with new features and improvements. MOSA was thrilled to unveil the updated platform and is confident that MyMCIT will serve as an important academic tool for students in planning their course schedules.

Here’s a look back at some additional examples of the types of events, programming and resources created by MOSA throughout their first five years:

As MOSA celebrates its fifth anniversary, the leadership team plans to continue looking for new ways to strengthen and expand the organization, valuing input from participating students. “We’re always making improvements based on what we hear,” Chen noted. “We change our programming based on what the student needs are.” 

MOSA also makes an effort to offer inclusive programming that brings in students from Penn Engineering Online’s newer degree programs: MSE-DS Online and MSE-AI Online. “We want our programs to be open to everyone,” says Chen. 

As MOSA looks towards the next five years and beyond, one thing is clear – their contributions to the Penn Engineering Online community have become a part of the program’s legacy and will continue to enhance the student experience for years to come.

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Learn more about Penn Engineering Online’s five year anniversary memories and milestones.

Browse other recent stories from MOSA:
➡ MOSA SUMMER OF CODE: Part 1 & Part 2
➡ HOW I GOT INTO TECH WITHOUT A CS DEGREE
➡ BOOTCAMP VS MCIT
➡ STUDENT COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: MCIT Online Student Association