Factors that Contribute to the Quality of Online Programs at Community Colleges

 

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Online Quality

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The following 62 factors are organized into a set of six categories; Institutional Support, Technology, Curriculum & Instruction, Faculty Support, Student Support, and Evaluation & Assessment

Institutional Support


1. The college's online program is overseen by a professional manager with sufficient institutional authority to organize and support the academic and support services necessary for student success.
2. In all aspects of the distance education program, the college's administration promotes the use of best practices for online programs and instruction published by regional and national organizations.
3. The online programs offered by the community college is consistent with the institution's mission and needs of the community served.
4. The community college is committed to supporting the scheduling of online courses that meet the degree requirements of all students currently enrolled in an online program.
5. The community college's leadership acknowledges their commitment to the needs of online and on-campus students, programs and employees.
6. The community college provides the financial resources necessary to support the technical infrastructure, training and support personnel, and full range of faculty and student support services required for online courses and programs.
7. The college's marketing plan includes promotion of online courses and programs.
8. Marketing of online programs emphasizes the skills needed for student success and clearly articulates that the academic expectations and time commitment in online courses are consistent with traditional classroom instruction.
9. Articulation agreements are pursued with area four-year colleges to create seamless transfer opportunities for students in online programs.
10. The community college has obtained the necessary accreditation for online programs.
11. The online program staff actively works with student services to insure awareness of online student needs and program requirements.
12. The community college's leadership demands that online programs meet the same programmatic requirements of on-campus programs.
13. The community college's leadership openly defends the quality and equivalence of online courses and programs.
14. The tuition and fees of online courses and programs are comparable to those on campus.

Technical Support

1. The institution provides online faculty with the technology needed to adequately develop and deliver their online courses.
2. The institution provides integrated access to electronic resources in support of online education.
3. The institution provides sufficient network infrastructure (backbone, bandwidth, servers) necessary to deliver online classes.
4. The college has developed an infrastructure for the efficient archiving and restoring of courses from semester-to-semester.
5. The college provides a technical support center with hardware, software and trained staff to provide technological support for all students, faculty and staff members.
6. The institution provides appropriate levels of technical support via a range of technologies and over a broad range of times.
7. The college invests in and support information management systems (student information, course management, e-mail, etc.) that interface smoothly across the institution.
8. The institution invests in a user-friendly course management system for the delivery of on-line coursework.
9. Planning for new technology resources for the college includes and integrates online program needs into the budget and execution cycles.
10. The college promotes the use of standardized Internet tools in the delivery of online courses.

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Curriculum & Instruction

1. The community college supports the philosophy that faculty use each technology for what it does best in meeting the needs of the course or program, emphasizing effective teaching and learning over technology.
2. The institution provides adequate online technical, design and pedagogical support for faculty in the development of their online courses.
3. The community college supports faculty with the assistance of instructional designers or through training that will help faculty to become instructional designers.
4. The community college supports new online faculty by providing instructional designers to assist with an instructor's initial experience teaching online and help solve teaching difficulties.
5. The community college follows an application process and training procedures for all faculty pursuing online teaching.
6. The college provides faculty sufficient time to develop an online course before it is delivered to students.
7. The college provides online faculty training and support related to the legal rights and responsibilities of faculty and the institution (i.e. copyright and intellectual property rights, FERPA, ADA).
8. The college encourages faculty involvement in peer-to-peer organizations and conferences where issues related to online instruction are discussed.
9. The college communicates a regular schedule of training courses focusing on the technical aspects of on-line courses for both faculty and students.
10. The college requires that online courses adhere to the same learning outcomes as traditional classes.
11. The college has compiled a set of institutional best practices for online courses and encourages its use by new online faculty during course development.
12. The institution has a clear policy as to the ownership of the content of its online courses.

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Faculty Support

1. The institution support online faculty participation in professional development courses addressing online methodology.
2. Faculty are provided training on a variety of software programs to enhance student learning.
3. Faculty training addresses the function of technologies available to the instructor, to the students, and addresses the need for contingency plans (for when the technology doesn't work).
4. Faculty "advancement" criteria recognize online instruction and reward faculty for innovation and risk-taking.
5. The college recognizes work that instructors have done advancing their own degree (or other professional development activities) obtained through online programs.
6. The college supports faculty in pilot projects investigating alternative scheduling, remote teaching, or other innovations.
7. The college supports online faculty in the development of their online classes through a design department equipped with the hardware, software, and technical staff to assist with the incorporation of audio and visual content.

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Student Support

1. The college provides enrollment procedures that are easy and accessible to online students.
2. Students are able to register and pay fees without having to visit the college.
3. Access to traditional on-ground services for on-line students, including library, career services, and opportunities for professional development and networking are provided to students, both online and on-ground.
4. Potential students have access to training about the expectations, needed skills, guidelines, policies regarding testing, program requirements and prerequisites, and technical support available to students taking online classes.
5. Online students have the opportunity to complete a technical skills screening prior to enrollment in online classes.
6. An effective, self-directed online orientation is available for new students.
7. All pertinent information related to the college such as schedules, catalogue, policies and procedures, are available in a range of user-friendly formats on the college's web site.
8. The college provides web-based information geared toward the needs of online and prospective online students, including expectations related to online courses, FAQs about the online program and common technical problems, explanations of online terminology, and easy-to-find information on support services and courses offered.
9. The college provides students with multiple communication options (telephone, email, US mail, etc.) for obtaining assistance and contacting support services.
10. Online testing accommodates the range of student Internet access from dial-up to high-speed connectivity.
11. The college provides on-site testing services or off-site proctored testing services to meet the needs of online students and faculty.
12. Campus lab and library personnel are familiar with distance learning applications and trained to offer assistance.
13. The college library provides electronic reserves in support of online programs and takes advantage of local and regional college partnerships to guarantee students the opportunity to access learning resources online.
14. Student courseware is available and consistent from semester to semester.

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Evaluation & Assessment

1. Evaluations of online programs are consistent with that used for on campus programs.
2. Faculty evaluation criteria are adjusted to account for online delivery, instructional methods, and practices.
3. Faculty receive regular and objective feedback from students about their courses and instruction.
4. Classroom assessment includes projects and portfolio building assessments, not just multiple-choice tests.
5. Online assessment and evaluation tools are password protected to insure the anonymity of respondents.

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Last updated May 18, 2007

Contact me at Leo.Hirner@mcckc.edu