The orientation was designed based on the ARCS motivational model to enhance confidence in and satisfaction with online learning experience. Tenants of socio-cultural theory were used to structure both the social and intellectual interactions using WebCT asynchronous “discussion tool”. The discussion area was partitioned into an online café and weekly discussions. Online café was used to provide social interactions. Relevance of social interactions in building a community of learners and a sense of community in online learning environments was also emphasized. Weekly discussions were structured to enhance interactions among peers and the teacher, provide scaffolding for higher learning, and to reduce feelings of isolation. Weekly discussions were facilitated, summarized and graded. Guidelines and scoring rubrics for participation, facilitation, and summarization of discussions were posted on the course Homepage for easy access by students. Two online surveys were used to study the effectiveness of proposed strategies in enhancing online course completion rates from both students and faculty perspectives. Messages posted in online café and weekly discussions were also analyzed to gauge the level of participation and nature of interactions among students. Triangulation of sources, and methods were used to establish the validity of interferences and conclusions. 167 students enrolled in four online courses participated in the study. Consistent with the previous findings, the results of this study affirm that facilitation strategies used in this study play a significant role in online course completion.