Is hard to talk with someone in "Maritime staff or faculty involved with the online program" when I am not located on campus, however I sent a couple of email today Monday December 13@ 01:00 am to persons involved with the online program asking their point of view and any ideas to help me organize my answer to you.
I know for a fact that will take some days before I get any answer; perhaps I'll get it after the module is over. That take me to the problem rose by Martin; "How do we intend to use logistics and supply chain management to create value for our customer? In this case we "students" are the customers, and when online courses are eight weeks in length and we can't raise our hands to ask a problem or get a clarification and get an immediate answer, I modestly think there is a gap. 
I do think that the graduate online program developed by SUNY Maritime College is unique, fascinating and educational but I would like to see according to Martin the four elements of logistics-customer value: "Better, Faster, Cheaper, Closer" if I extrapolate the same principle in order to make some recommendations to the online program I would definitely ask real time interaction (FASTER + CLOSER). If a professor that is at the same time part of the faculty engaged in other universities activities received around 80 emails daily plus some calls, probably will take him/her all the morning and part of the day in order to read and answer everything on time, besides the same professor has others activities. "It is hard to check five email inboxes, three voice mail systems, or five blogs that you are tracking" David Rose, and this is true to most organizations nowadays, when we find out ourselves answering problems related to our function or not, therefore is about organizing our time and the resources to resolves conflicts instead or forward it or delete it.
As a solution I'll suggest why SUNY don't implement a new policy and prepare down a procedure where any online student can send an email and that mail could be answered by a Customer Representative, for ex [email protected], the mail is monitored by Dr. Howard but the problem could be answered by a customer representative that could be a senior student previously approved by the faculty and off course if the student wants to participate in the program, it have to be some benefits for the student like a recommendation letter or any special professional advice, I am sure that some of us will do it; is a solution that will bring a closer approach between students and the online program and didn't increase any budget(CHEAPER). Other Customer Representatives may take turns online with his/her background description like "Economics", "Math", "Logistics" etc therefore if I am located overseas or just can study after midnight I can easily go online and chat and clear any doubts. Some may think that this kind of interaction add another person to the staff to oversee and reads everything that said the customer representatives, I would say that yes but the cost is relative. (BETTER).