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HLC Report
Online Quality
simNewton
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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.
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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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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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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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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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