I. Introduction

The intent of this document is to provide guidance on the procedures for offering online courses in the College of Education (COE) at the University of Montevallo. The COE strictly abides by the policies on distance education as mandated by the following:

Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE)
http://www.ache.alabama.gov/Acadaffr/Distance%20Education%20Policy.pdf 

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)/Commission on Colleges (COC)
http://www.sacscoc.org/pdf/Distance%20and%20correspondence%20policy%20final.pdf

These procedures have been established to enforce compliance with the above and to ensure the highest quality online courses. The goals are to provide online students with learning experiences that meet or exceed the quality of traditional onsite classes and to assist faculty in providing such learning experiences.

 As a general rule, courses that rely on an online learning environment as opposed to physical class presence more than 50% of the time are considered online courses and must follow these procedures.

II. Courseware

The courseware used by the COE is Blackboard. All online courses offered by COE faculty must use this platform. Additionally, all instructors must use the standard Online Course Template. This is intended to assist instructors in the course-development process and to provide a consistent format to aid in decreasing the learning curve for the student. With this in mind, instructors may modify the template as necessary to meet unique course needs or to accommodate personal instructional preferences.

III. Administrative Considerations

Instructors who offer online courses are bound by the same academic policies and procedures as those instructors offering traditional courses.

The number of students enrolled in an online course will be calculated in the same way as a traditional course and, for purposes of determining faculty remuneration, workload, preparation time, and other similar factors, the online course will be considered the same as if it were offered in the traditional manner.

The start and end dates that define the period during which an online course must be completed will be the same as those defined by the academic calendar unless college or departmental approval for schedule deviation has been granted.

Students will be charged a $75 course fee for taking online courses.  The revenue generated from this fee will be used exclusively to support the advancement of online education in the COE.

IV. Approval Mechanism

Existing university, departmental, and program approval policies must be followed for all new courses whether online or traditional.

Once a course has received official approval, application for online status must be made with the appropriate academic department/program using the Online Course Approval Form.

V. General Guidelines for Online Course Design

All online courses must be designed based on the Online Course Design Checksheet and the Online Course Template for Blackboard.

All documents submitted in the online course must be archived for at least a period of time as identified for equivalent components of traditional courses (normally 2 years).

Online courses are subject to the same evaluation criteria as courses offered in the traditional manner. However, the instrument of evaluation may be modified to reflect the method of delivery.

VI. Ownership of Online Course Materials

These guidelines are in accordance with and superseded by Copyright section of UM Policy 01:013, Patents and Copyright.

Any videotaped, audio-taped, or otherwise electronically captured performances of a faculty member’s instruction shall remain under the sole ownership of the faculty member. Faculty will also retain, as intellectual property, exclusive ownership of any instructional materials created explicitly for use on the course site, including video, audio, PowerPoint, or textual materials.

While employed by the COE, the faculty content developer will have exclusive right to utilize the online course materials developed. Utilization of these materials by others will be allowed only with the express written consent of the content developer. The faculty member who develops an online course is free to take the course to another institution if the faculty member’s employment in the COE ends. Faculty members will not be allowed to utilize these materials in teaching at another institution of higher education, while employed as a faculty member in the COE without the express written permission of the COE Dean. In the case of adjuncts or other temporary faculty hired to teach an online course specifically created by them and taught at another institution prior to teaching it at UM, this permission can be presumed.

When the faculty member who has been teaching an online course is no longer assigned to teach that course or, for whatever reason, ceases to be employed by the COE, the COE reserves the right to purchase a five-year license to use the course and all associated materials developed for the course for an amount not to exceed $1,000 per course.

In the event that the COE chooses not to purchase the right to use a course, the faculty content developer can remove or direct to be removed from the online course site the instructional materials defined above as being owned exclusively by the faculty member.

The COE does not claim any right to retain or utilize these materials without the express written approval of the faculty developer. The COE retains ownership and full rights to utilize the course title, syllabus, and catalog description.