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1 Effective Date: Definition Authority Scope The purpose of this document is to ensure the consistent academic quality and accessibility of all online/ hybrid courses and programs offered through Humboldt State University (HSU). Online and hybrid instruction will allow the University to more fully achieve its mission by addressing such factors as accessibility across a large service area, diverse student populations, facilitate enrollment growth within the space limitations on campus, and limited space on campus. The faculty has a collective responsibility to ensure the academic quality and integrity of all courses, programs and degrees. In all circumstances, excellence in academic instruction is the clear responsibility of the University and should both inform and guide all administrative decisions. The (CEEE) serves as the unit of administrative policy oversight and a coordinator of academic services for online students. This policy shall apply to all credit-bearing courses, concentrations, minors, majors, and certificate programs offered by HSU through online and hybrid instruction, as defined above. Any academic department or faculty group offering credit-bearing courses, concentrations, minors, majors, and/or certificate programs must meet the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) requirements and be guided by all applicable policies, including this policy, established by the University. Approved by the University Senate on this day: Approved by President Rossbacher on this day: Suggest the following information be placed on bottom of Policy page, space permitting, or on last page of Policy and Procedures Revised: date third revision was approved by President or effective date (if different than approval date) Revised: date second revision was approved by President or effective date (if different than approval date) Revised: date first revision was approved by President or effective date (if different than approval date) Implemented initially: date P&P was first approved by President or effective date (if different than approval date) Page 1 of 9

2 I. Definitions A. Online Course A course where all of the content is delivered a/synchronously online. There are no face-to-face meetings and limited synchronized online meetings. B. Hybrid (Blended) Course "Hybrid" or "Blended" are names commonly used to describe courses in which some scheduled course meeting time" is regularly replaced by online learning activities. The purpose of a hybrid course is to take advantage of the best features of both face-to-face and online learning. (eg, a course meets MWF, two of them meet F2F and one class meeting will be replaced/reserved by online activities) C. Web-Facilitated Course Students continue to meet during the normal class hours and use the online component or web-based technology to supplement face-to-face time. No scheduled face-to-face class sessions are replaced with online activities. D. Face-to-Face Course - A course in which an instructor delivers all course content in real time with students present in the same location or via video/audio conference. II. Basic Principles A. Because HSU values academic freedom and encourages instructional innovation, the faculty has the collective responsibility of ensuring academic quality and integrity for all courses, programs and degrees. B. The faculty of a given academic program/department will assume responsibility for academic oversight of its online and hybrid courses. These responsibilities include selecting, monitoring and evaluating all faculty members who teach online and hybrid courses. Evaluators/RTP purpose are reminded that the individual faculty shall be provided a notice of at least five (5) days before a course visit is to take place (Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article 15.14, 2012). Also, consultation between the faculty member being evaluated and the individual who visits his/her course is required. For online courses, a course visit is defined as having access to the course for a week. C. Online and hybrid courses and programs shall be consistent with the educational mission of HSU. D. Online and hybrid instruction represents an optional mode of instruction that may be considered by an individual faculty member, a faculty group, and/or academic department. Nothing in this policy shall imply that online and hybrid instruction is the preferred mode of instruction. E. Faculty should consult with their department and dean when interested in developing a hybrid or online course. The department chair will consult with the College dean who has Page 2 of 9

3 the authority to approve teaching a course online. After that, the dean will consult with the associate vice president of CEEE, who initiates the course development process. F. The dean has the responsibility, in consultation with the department chair, to determine the maximum amount of online instruction assigned to each faculty member each semester, taking into account the best interests of the department. (CBA Article 20) G. Faculty and students have the right to be informed about the modes of delivery and technological requirements for each course offered by HSU. Students will have timely access to this information via the HSU course website when they register for the course. H. The CEEE will offer appropriate training and support services to faculty who choose to teach online and hybrid courses. In particular, faculty will be given sufficient time to design, assess, and modify course materials and methodology for online and hybrid courses. I. Because online and hybrid instruction involves the use of technologies and teaching methods which require specialized training, instructors wishing to offer online and hybrid courses will either successfully complete training or demonstrate proficiency in teaching online or hybrid courses. J. The notification process for online and hybrid courses will identify the course mode (online or hybrid) in the class schedule in order to assist in resource planning. K. The students will be informed of the course delivery mode through the course schedule. L. The development and utilization of online and hybrid instruction must not be used to reduce or eliminate tenure-track faculty positions. M. Class size and faculty workload will be determined following University and departmental standards after consultation with the faculty member, the department chair and the Dean, and must take into account the level of interaction between faculty and students. All hybrid and online courses must provide for appropriate and personal interactions between faculty and students and student-student interaction. N. As with face-to-face classes, online class sizes will be consistent with the pedagogy and intent of the course. III. Curriculum and Instruction A. Timely faculty feedback is the most important factor for student success and retention in an online course. As a general principle, faculty should respond to students within two working days. If faculty cannot provide a detailed response within two working days, the best Page 3 of 9

4 practice is that the faculty will respond to the student within one business day to simply let them know when a more detailed response will be provided. B. If a faculty member is teaching an online course they will have at least some office hours accessible to students at a distance. The level of student interaction should be comparable to face-to-face office hours. C. As appropriate, CEEE will verify that all online courses are ready to be offered as of two weeks before the start of the semester. D. For Online/Hybrid course add and drop policy, please refer to HSU Academic Policy: IV. Online Course Development and Compensation A. Faculty (Content Expert) will receive a compensation for course development or first time face to face course conversion based on needs and priorities of College/University. Such compensation would constitute extraordinary support. Faculty can forgo the compensation and be the sole intellectual property right owner.. Fifty percent of the compensation will be paid when the development process is completed and approved by the director of Academic Technology, with the remainder to be paid at the time the course is offered. Release time and other arrangements may be granted in lieu of compensation in special circumstances by approval of the in consultation with Dean and Associate Vice President for the CEEE. Formatted: Not Highlight Formatted: Not Highlight B. Faculty will be paired with an instructional designer designated by the CEEE. The instructional designer will support the instructor with all aspects of course development and technical support. The faculty member and instructional designer will set up a regular schedule of meetings for course development. The course development process will be complete when the director of academic technology signature has been gathered declaring that the course meets the QOLT rubric. The use of instructional design support does not constitute extraordinary support. V. Right of First Refusal The course developer will normally have right of first refusal to teach this course for three times total (excluding summer session) subject to the approval of the appropriate administrator as outlined in the CBA and satisfactory course evaluation. VI. Intellectual Property and Copy Rights In accordance with US copyright law, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, any relevant CSU policies and HSU IP policy (EM:P09-03), faculty members own the copyright. Tbut the University will receive a royalty free license to use the material, if extraordinary support was provided into development of the course.. Page 4 of 9

5 VII. Faculty Support For courses offered through online and hybrid instruction, the University shall ensure that: A. The University shall offer appropriate (technology and academic) support services to faculty teaching and developing online and hybrid courses. B. Faculty choosing to use non-university-supported resources (e.g. third-party servers, non- university-supported software) must state in their syllabus that the University will not provide technical support for those resources. The faculty members are responsible for compliance with all principles of this policy, including reasonable, technical support for students and ADA compliance. Faculty members who use University supported resources will be provided with technical support of these resources and have the responsibilities to secure the support. C. The University shall provide appropriate information, support and training to faculty for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of VIII. Student Support The University shall offer appropriate (technology and academic) support services to students taking online and hybrid courses: Page 5 of 9

6 A. Students have access to appropriate facilities and equipment necessary to support online and hybrid courses. B. Students will have sufficient access to library resources and necessary support in the use of those resources. C. Students are provided with necessary technical support, during evenings and weekends as well as "regular" operating hours, to resolve problems encountered with University supported technologies while enrolled in online and hybrid courses. D. Students in online and hybrid instruction programs have access to accurate and necessary information such as program goals, requirements, the academic calendar, and faculty. E. Students are provided with adequate access to the range of student services appropriate to support the online and hybrid courses offered by the University, including outreach and pre-admission advising, application for admissions, enrollment/registration, financial aid and payment arrangements, academic advising, tutoring, career counseling and placement, personal counseling, and disability services. F. Students are provided with adequate bookstore services for securing books, coursepacks, course-related supplies and materials. G. Students are provided with an adequate means for resolving student complaints and grievances. IX. Evaluation and Assessment A. The HSU Program Review or comparable University-wide process shall be used to evaluate the quality and educational effectiveness of online and hybrid instruction courses and programs. The University will track unsatisfactory grades (DFWs) and persistence rates, and other relevant data to enable comparisons of online and face-to-face courses. B. Faculty must adhere to QOLT as best practices for online instruction and use technology that assures ADA accessibility. With advance notification, instructional designers may review in-process courses to offer recommendations to faculty for improvement. Every HSU online/hybrid course will go though completely redesign or instructional review process to ensure the appropriate pedagogy and best practices are been met by CEEE. C. CEEE will assume the responsibility of ensuring both the quality and integrity of online/hybrid course structure. The review process will assure that the online and hybrid courses at HSU conform to prevailing quality standards (QOLT) in the field of online and hybrid instruction. Page 6 of 9

7 X. Academic Integrity A. The academic integrity of a course is the responsibility of the faculty member teaching the course and the department. The University will provide best-practice training for promoting academic integrity in online and hybrid instruction environments. The CEEE Instructional Design Team will inform faculty involved in online and hybrid instruction about the variety of assessment tools, the relative level of security of these assessments and methods for limiting students' use of unauthorized resources. The University will provide appropriate methodologies for verification of student identity for course work and proctored exams. B. Consistent with the University policy on academic integrity, reasonable safeguards shall be in place to prevent academic dishonesty. C. Faculty members are responsible for adhering to HSU's Intellectual Property Policy and CSU s Acceptable Use Policy. XI. CEEE Advisory Council A. The University will create CEEE Advisory Council to implement, oversee and enforce the policies contained in this document. B. The CEEE Advisory Council will serve as an advisor to the Associate Vice President for elearning and Extended Education. C. CEEE Advisory Council charges and memberships as follows: Charges/Responsibilities 1. Curriculum and Instruction: Review of the structure and coherent courses, instructor evaluation process and monitoring the proportion of online courses available in each major, etc. 2. Faculty Support and Satisfaction: Faculty development, training, on-going support, and technical support. 3. Student Satisfaction and Academic Services: Information and resources provided to students such as orientation, self-assessment, advisement, website, etc.; timely and accessible services and information, library resources, and technical support. 4. Sustainability and Growth: Evaluate and recommendation instructional technology and LMS choices, systemic approach integrating student, academic, and faculty services; strategic consideration of human, technical, and funding resources related to growth; elearning out-reach and business plan, prioritization of programs, and courses for elearning. Page 7 of 9

8 5. Evaluation and Assessment: Appropriate elearning assessment rubric (e.g., QOLT), course evaluation and overall success and retention rates as compared to face-to-face courses. 6. Regulatory Compliance: Compliance with relevant regulatory dimensions of elearning, (e.g., ADA, HLC, and OBOR requirements). Membership: AVP, (chair); One faculty member elected from each of the academic colleges; One faculty member, appointed by University Senate; CFA Chapter President or designee; One Dean appointed by Provost; Associated Students representative; Senior AVP, Faculty Affairs and Human Resources; Vice Provost of Academic Programs. AVP, Enrollment Management Page 8 of 9

9 Glossary: Asynchronous communication and activities take place outside of real time. For example, a learner sends you an message. You later read and respond to the message. There is a time lag between the time the learner sent the message and you replied, even if the lag time is short. Discussion forum/board messages can be added at any time and read at your and the learners leisure; you do not read someone else s message as it is being created, and you can take as much time as you need to respond to the post. Asynchronous activities take place whenever learners have the time to complete them. For example, viewing videos linked to the course site, reading a textbook, and writing a paper are all asynchronous activities Synchronous, or real-time, communication takes place like a conversation. If your class uses only writing-based tools to communicate, the only synchronous communication possible is a video conferencing/chat session. Everyone gets online in the same chat room and types questions, comments, and responses in real time. Synchronous activities may include chat sessions, whiteboard drawings, and other group interactive work. If your class involves multimedia tools, synchronous communication might involve audio or video feeds to the computer. Some online courses require learners and teachers to get together at least once (or sometimes several times) in person, by conference call, or skype call. Appendix A. Quality of Online Teaching and Learning Rubric (QOLT) Page 9 of 9