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Online Course Development Guidelines

Approved by: Bruce Blanding

Original Date Effective: 2013-07-01

Purpose

In an effort to ensure quality instruction, the following guidelines will apply to the development, revision and maintenance of online courses.

Online Course Development

  • • In February the Director of Distance Education (DE) will send to the Deans a reminder of the due date for submissions for recommended course development.
  • • By March 1 each year, the Deans will submit to the Online Quality Council a list of courses recommended for development.
  • • The Council will discuss the list of courses and make recommendations to the Director of Distance Education for approval by the VP AA and the President.
  • • Faculty will be chosen to develop a course through a process approved by the VPAA and President. When the deans are ready to propose faculty to develop the proposed courses, they will send those names to the Director of DE.
  • • After the Director of DE reviews it, he/she will send the list of proposed courses with the names of proposed developers to the VPAA and the President for their approval.
    • o The VPAA or the President can add a course to the list or delete a course from the list.
  • Once the Director of DE has received approval of the proposed list of courses and faculty, the Director of DE will generate the necessary contract, sign it, and send it to the VPAA and the President for approval.
    • The contracted period for development/revision of fall courses will be January 1 until August 5.
    • The contracted period for development/revision of spring courses will be July 1 until December 5.
    • Exceptions to these dates may be made at the recommendation of the appropriate dean with the approval of the VPAA.
  • No work shall be started before the contract has been approved and signed by the President.
  • Compensation for development:
    • $2,000 for a 3-hour course or 3-hour lecture portion of a class with a lab
  • The Director of DE will generate a pay authorization foró the compensation to be paid from the Online Fee account after both the appropriate academic dean and the Director of DE have reviewed and approved the course. The Director will forward the authorization to the VPAA and the President for approval.
  • The Director of DE will generate a pay authorization for the remainingó to be paid from the Online Fee account after the course has been taught one semester and has been reviewed and approved by both the Dean and the Director of DE. The Director will forward the authorization to the VPAA and the President for approval.
    • $650 per credit hour for an on line lab or for each credit hour over the initial 3 credit hours.
  • The same payment process applies as for the 3-hour course.
  • During the development process, the Division Dean and the Director of DE or the Instructional Designer will meet with the developer to review progress and to determine if the content and technical criteria are being met and if there is sufficient academic rigor within the course. They will meet when module one has been completed, at the midpoint of development, and at completion.
  • Upon completion of the course development, the appropriate Dean will perform a final review of the course for content and academic rigor and will complete a rubric designed for that division.
  • If the course is approved, the Dean will notify the Director of DE.
  • The Director of DE will review the course from a technical aspect, utilizing the rubric designed for that purpose.
  • After the course has been approved, the Director of DE will initiate the compensation process described under "Compensation for development."
  • Courses will be considered for redevelopment on an as-needed basis.

Online Course Revision

Revision of an online course may be required when substantial changes, including (but not limited to) updates to content materials, rubrics, and assessments (quizzes, dropbox assignments, and discussion forums) are necessary. "Substantial" means that the class is no longer effective without changes and updates.

  • The revision process is the same as the original development process, first requiring the appropriate Dean's recommendation.
  • Courses may be revised with the approval of the Dean, the Online Quality Council, the VPAA, and the President.
    • No contract will be written until the VPAA and the President have reviewed the circumstances for this request and approved that the revision is needed.
    • No work should be started before the contract itself has been approved and signed by the President.
  • The revision should be completed within 30-90 days at which time it will be checked and approved by both the academic Dean and the Director of Distance Education using the same rubrics used for developing a course.
  • Compensation for a course revision will be $500 for a three-hour course plus $250 if the course has a lab component that must be revised.

Online Course Maintenance

Online course maintenance includes, but is not limited to, replacing outdated links; entering appropriate dates for assignments, discussions, quizzes, and exams; correcting errors within content or on quizzes and exams; utilizing technological innovations when needed to replace outdated or unavailable technology, etc.

  • The developer of a course will be paid a stipend of $250 each semester the course is taught by other individuals and fully maintained by but not taught by the developer either in elearn or RODP.
    • However, in some instances a faculty member other than the developer may be selected to maintain the course until the course is redeveloped.
  • If a faculty member develops a course for ROOP, and that course is also taught in elearn, a course maintenance stipend will be paid to that individual in accordance with the aforementioned stipulations until or unless ROOP begins to pay a maintenance stipend.
  • The Deans will send the Director of DE the names of faculty members along with the course names for which maintenance stipends should be paid if all requirements are met. Upon approval by the Director of DE, the list of proposed courses and faculty will be sent to the VPAA and the President for their approval.
  • Upon notification of their approval, the Director of DE will generate a contract for the proposed payment of the stipend.
  • Deadlines for the maintenance process will be set by the Director of Distance Education in order for classes to be cloned in a timely manner.
    • If the deadlines are not met, then maintenance of the course will be assigned to another instructor.
  • When the faculty member notifies his/her Dean that maintenance has been completed, the Dean and the Director of DE will check the course and verify the maintenance.
  • If the Dean and the Director of DE determine that the course has been properly maintained, including the correction of any errors found during the semester, the Director of DE will generate the Extra Pay Authorization at the end of the semester for which the Authorization for Extra Pay is written, sign it, and send it to the VPAA and the President for approval.
  • If the Dean and the Director of DE determine that the course has not been properly maintained, the stipend will not be paid.
    • Another faculty member may be selected to maintain the course until the course is redeveloped.