Distance Education Policy Manual

Criteria for Distance Education New Course Selection

CVCC offers distance learning opportunities to students in several delivery formats. Although the growth of course development is in online (web-based) instruction, the college also offers courses delivered synchronously using web-conferencing platforms (currently via Zoom) and hybrid (blended) courses. 

The following generally defines our instructional delivery formats and is provided in more detail to students (on the college website) to help them choose distance education courses appropriate for them. 

Online Courses: You can access your courses from anywhere with an Internet connection. Work on on your courses on your schedule. Coursework will have regular assigned due dates, but you can access your materials any time of the day.

"Live" Online Courses: You will attend your courses online in real time, using Zoom, from anywhere in the world. Students may access the course from an off-site center. You will see and hear your instructor and course materials, and you can even interact with other students in real time. These courses have regular meeting times.

Hybrid Courses: Students experience live instruction with less face-to-face meetings blended with online coursework. Meeting times and requirements will vary, so be sure to contact your instructor.

Responsibilities for course initiation, development/design, delivery, and assessment involve collaboration across the college to include faculty and administrators. To ensure the most efficient use of all resources and the continuation of a planned expansion of Distance Education offerings, criteria for approving courses to be offered through the Distance Education Program might include:

Potential Enrollment

• Does the course have high interest?
• Is the offering justified by program needs?
• Is the course of general appeal, or does it target a relatively small group of potential students?

Potential Longevity

• How long will the subject matter remain relevant?
• Is the course material too topical to allow long-term (2-4 years) appeal?
• Adaptability to Distance Education Delivery Format
• Can all course requirements be translated to a distance education offering format (online/web, web-conferencing, or hybrid) comparable in academic quality to on-campus offerings?

Cost

• Is the estimated cost within reasonable limits in terms of anticipated use?
• Will course delivery be cost-effective in terms of the time investment by the faculty member, Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, and others associated with the development and offering?
• Does the proposed course have potential marketability to other colleges?

Curriculum Relationship

• Is the course directly related to others in a program or sequence?
• Is the course transferrable?
• Is the course a general education requirement, elective course, or separate from existing curricula?

Distance Education Course Development 

When the decision is made to develop an online course, the Online (Web) Course Development Process will be used (Appendix A).

Decisions about course delivery in distance education formats are made by the division associate vice presidents and the teaching faculty.

Standards
In compliance with local, state, regional, and federal guidelines for distance education, the following policies and standards are applied in the CVCC Distance Education Policy:

• CVCC ensures that its distance education courses and programs comply with the SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation. This requirement applies to all educational programs and services, wherever located or however delivered
• Definition of Distance Education. For the SACSCOC's accreditation review, distance education is a formal educational process. Most of the instruction (interaction between students and instructors and among students) occurs when students and instructors are not in the same place. Instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous. A distance education course may use the internet; one-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices; audio conferencing; or video cassettes, DVDs, and CD-ROMs if used as part of the distance learning course or program. (SACSCOC, Guidelines for Addressing Distance Education and Correspondence Courses, September 2020.)
• Asynchronous Distance Learning Courses – In the case of asynchronous distance learning course offerings or hybrid courses that employ a mix of traditional contact hours and learning activities with students and faculty separated by time and place, colleges must demonstrate through faculty peer review that content and competency coverage and student outcomes are equivalent to those of traditional sections of the same class. In the event the only section of the course being taught in the VCCS is an asynchronous or hybrid course, faculty peer review will be employed to confirm that content and competency coverage and student outcomes are appropriate for the course credits awarded (VCCS Policy Manual, 5.3.0.2c, July 24, 2020.)

New and redesigned distance education courses are reviewed and approved using a peer review by faculty and the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. This process is outlined in the Online Course Review Process, (Appendix B). 

CVCC adapted the SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR) effective fall 2022 to align with federal US Department of Education (DoE) regulatory definitions of distance education requiring that institutions ensure regular and substantive interaction (RSI) between a student and an instructor(s) (Peer Review Rubric, Appendix C). Previously, the CVCC peer review rubric was based on standards developed by the Maryland Online Consortium and developed in an electronic document format for peer review teams.

Criteria for Distance Education Course Review Selection

To support ongoing improvements in the instructional design of existing distance education courses, periodic review will be required for Distance Education Courses. On a rotating basis, all distance education courses will be reviewed under current guidelines as identified and facilitated by the Distance Education Office. 

Faculty who are participating in the Course Review will sign Agreement for Redesign of a Web-based Course (Appendix E) and, upon completion and approval for the course will earn a $1,000 stipend. The approved course shell must be shared to support adjunct and full-time faculty teaching the same course.

Roles and Responsibilities

The faculty member is central to the successful development and delivery of a distance education course. The faculty member is responsible for ensuring the academic integrity of the course and providing for a positive learning experience. Listed below are others involved in this aspect of course design and delivery.

Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning

• Serves as liaison between VCCS and CVCC for the effective implementation and integration of educational technologies to support the academic goals of the VCCS and the college.
• Oversees the peer review process for developing and ongoing instructional design review of distance education courses.
• Involved in initial orientation session (with faculty) to get course "started" –define expectations, establish a timeline, and identify media elements.
• Collaborating with faculty, professional development coordinator, and college administration provides training to support technological and policy updates to ensure ongoing quality of distance education components of course design.
• Provide individual assistance to faculty related to technical concerns and the integration of technology applications in the course content and delivery
• Participate in the investigation and introduction of new applications of technology – particularly related to online learning
• Train faculty in the development of online media components (or development for them) appropriate for their course design 
• Interact and respond to suggestions presented from the course review and help the faculty integrate those suggestions into the course
• Manage Distance Education staff and resources
• Maintain communication with associate vice presidents and Canvas Administrator to ensure all resources are provided and processes followed to support online course development, review, and delivery
• Manage the peer review process

CMS (Canvas) Administrator

• Create course site (request from faculty)
• Provide individual assistance to faculty related to issues associated with the CMS (Canvas)
• Maintain "users" in online courses (batch enrollment of students)
• Conduct orientation sessions for students in technical skills/information
• Troubleshoot student/faculty problems and questions related to Canvas technical support in course delivery
• Course maintenance – copy courses for next semester; remove old courses
• Serve as liaison with the VCCS for issues related to (Canvas) and technical issues of online learning
• Communicate with users when updates to the CMS are made that will affect them

Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning

• Creation and dissemination of student course evaluations – compilation and dissemination of results to distance education, academic divisions, and individual faculty
• Provides updates and guidance for ongoing compliance with local, state, regionally, and federal distance education policies and standards

Associate Vice President

• In conjunction with faculty, determine the need for individual online courses
• Approves Agreement of Production of a Web-based Course (Appendix D) in conjunction with faculty and Vice President of Academics, Student Affairs, and Workforce
• Notifies Distance Education Dept. of the new course(s)
• Includes new course in (future) schedules
• After course evaluation (end of the semester), works with faculty as needed to incorporate improvements based on assessment results
• Ensures ongoing course review in compliance with policies and standards.

Faculty 

• In conjunction with the associate vice president, determines the need for a specific online course
• Involved in initial orientation session (with Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning) to get course started
• Attend workshops and individual training with Canvas Administrator and Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning to design,develop, review or redesign the course
• Conduct "self-review" using the peer review rubric as a guide
• Notify Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning when a course is ready for peer review
• Teach/manage course 
• After course evaluation (end of the semester), work with the associate vice president to incorporate improvements based on assessment results
• Share approved course shell to support adjunct and full-time faculty teaching the same course.

Peer Reviewer 

• Submit a signed Peer Course Reviewer Agreement form
• Participate in reviewer training in the application of the Peer Review Rubric
• Adhere to CVCC's course review process and the timeline established by the distance education department 
• Maintain confidentiality (outside of the review team members, the faculty member of the course, and DE department personnel) about any course(s) accessed during the training or review process, including any student information contained in the course(s)
• Not change, copy, or modify any instructional material contained within the 
  course(s)
• Observe copyright laws and respect the intellectual property rights of the faculty-creator of materials

VP for Academic and Student Affairs

• Work with associate vice presidents, coordinator of instructional technology and distance learning, and faculty on the paperwork and payment associated with the distance education policies.
• Overall responsibility (through coordination with administration, distance education staff, and other involved academic departments) for ensuring that the standards of distance education for students and faculty are met and maintained.

Online (Web) Courses
CVCC, as part of the VCCS (Virginia Community College System), has a centralized, enterprise learning management system (LMS) for online courses, which is currently Canvas. The VCCS administers the system, and each of the 23 colleges has a Canvas Administrator with rights to manage their local college's course sites and enrollments. The VCCS' management of Canvas includes decisions about upgrade dates, including additional functions, maintaining archives, and providing training to all college Canvas Administrators in new versions of Canvas. This management includes communication and advice from all VCCS colleges via bi-monthly scheduled web-conference meetings. This cooperation frequently results in shared resources and training among the colleges for use with students and faculty on individual campuses.

At CVCC, a Canvas course site is created for every course offered in the semester class schedule. All online content for web courses is developed (and delivered to the student) on the Canvas site, although faculty may use other publisher content. All faculty (regardless of the delivery mode) are encouraged to use their Canvas course site(s) to post syllabi and other course materials, communicate new/updated information to students, and post grades. 

At the beginning of every semester, the Distance Education Center schedules (optional) face-to-face Canvas training sessions for students. These sessions are held on the main campus; however, web-conferencing has been conducted to deliver training sessions to students at the college's off-site centers.

Student Requirements:

• Students must have access to broadband internet access, 
• Students must have access to a PC that meets or exceeds the minimum requirements for the program of study,
• In a distance learning course, initial student attendance is determined by course participation as measured by accessing and using course materials, completion of a class assignment, participation in a course discussion, or other evidence of participation. Students who enroll in a course but do not attend the by accessing and using the course materials by the census date must be administratively deleted from the course by the college (VCCS Policy 5.6.0).

Faculty Requirements:

• Instructors should use Canvas, including links to any third-party instructional materials 
• Instructors should have online contact information and be responsive and accessible to students 
• Instructors should attend training or review training materials and tutorials for online course delivery

Synchronous Distance Learning Courses

Courses delivered at a distance but meeting online at a specific time are considered Synchronous Distance Learning Courses. At CVCC, these courses are called "Live Online." Live Online courses are currently delivered through Zoom. Students can attend Live Online classes from anywhere via a broadband internet connection. Students can also attend online, face-to-face meetings at a distance learning computer lab on the main campus or off-campus sites. Class sessions are also recorded and may be viewed later.

Student Requirements:

• Students must have broadband internet access, or they must be able to attend class on the CVCC campus or an off-campus site.
• Students are expected to attend class at the time the course is scheduled.
• Students may be required to visit the main campus or an off-campus site for orientation, assignments, and tests.

Faculty Requirements

• Instructors are required to conduct the class for the entire scheduled time.
• First-time instructors must be trained by distance learning staff before the first-class meeting.
• Instructors should have online contact information and be responsive and accessible to students outside of face-to-face meetings
• Instructors may deliver classes from an off-campus location; however, the instructor is responsible for his or her hardware, software, and internet connection.

Hybrid Distance Learning Courses

Courses that require students to meet less than 50% face-to-face but are not 100% online are considered Hybrid Distance Learning courses. The face-to-face component of the course can be administered in a traditional classroom or through synchronous online delivery. 

Student requirements:

• Students must have reliable access to the web component of the course.
• Students are required to meet during the scheduled face-to-face times.

Faculty requirements:

• Instructors should use Canvas, including links to any third-party instructional materials 
• Instructors should have online contact information and be responsive and accessible to students outside of face-to-face meetings
• Instructors should attend training or review training materials and tutorials for online course delivery
   

The Distance Education Program follows the same policies, procedures and guidelines used for on-campus traditional course offerings. This includes policies related to admissions; placement testing; course prerequisites; registration; established calendar dates for refunds, assignment of “W” grades and beginning/ending course dates. 

Student-related Policies and Procedures

Students who enroll in courses through the Distance Education Program have access to all campus services. Procedures for registration; tuition payment; course credit; academic load and other associated issues are the same as for traditional on-campus classes. 

CVCC complies with all the requirements of the Family Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The college is committed to protecting the privacy of a student’s educational record regardless of instructional delivery method. The Associate Vice President of Student Services is the point of contact for all FERPA related issues and all employees are informed and trained of their responsibilities related to unauthorized release of confidential records or information. Because an online environment creates a record of student activity, it is subject to FERPA privacy rights, unlike verbal exchanges in a physical classroom.

The Identity Verification process for accessing distance education courses via Canvas (The VCCS online course management system) protects student’s privacy through the use of a secure portal with a secure login and student selected password. Upon application to the college, students are assigned a unique username and a temporary password which must be changed upon initial login. 

Faculty/Course-related Policies and Procedures 

Determination of course offerings for any academic term and associated faculty teaching loads are responsibilities of the division Associate Vice President. 

Class cancellation decisions are made by the division Associate Vice President in consultation with the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services. The Distance Education will be consulted if additional assistance and support is required for a course.

Faculty and staff understand and carry out a commitment to confidentiality, integrity, and security to protect the privacy of students who participate in distance learning activities. Students’ records are kept private by the instructor, except in cases where academic staff or administration accesses the course, with legitimate educational interest under FERPA guidelines. 

Ownership and Intellectual Property Rights
In matters of ownership and copyright, materials developed or created while employed by the VCCS are subject to Section 12, Intellectual Property of the VCCS Policy Manual (Appendix E).

Faculty Compensation
In matters related to compensation for faculty, course development and review are considered separate from course instructional design for distance education and revision. 

Stipend for Participation in Design/Redesign and Peer Review of Distance Education Courses
These amounts are contingent upon funding availability. Current funding source is the Online Virginia Network (OVN) allocation:

New Course Development and Peer Review - $1,500
Course redesign in Canvas for Peer Review - $1,000
Peer Reviewer Initial Training - $350
Peer Reviewer per course review - $250

Full-time Faculty Workload for Distance Education Courses
Compensation for teaching a distance education course is based on enrollment figures at the end of regular on-campus registration. Students who enrolled 
during a semester and received a grade of "I" are not included in enrollment figures for succeeding terms.

Credit Hour Workload Formula for Online (web-based), Live Online, and hybrid courses

Courses with a funding ratio of 1:10, 1:12, 1:15, or 1:16 having enrollments of 1 to 8 students are prorated. For example: 8 students equals a 88.8%, 7 students equals 77.7%, etc., workload. A course with 9 to 20 students equals a 100% workload. A course with 21 students equals a 110% workload.

Courses with a funding ratio of 1:22 having enrollments of 1 to 8 students are prorated. For example: 8 students equals a 88.8%, 7 students equals 77.7%, etc., workload. A course with 9 to 22 students equals a 100% workload. A course with 23 students equals 110% workload.

The calculation is done for both credits and contacts for courses with labs.

These workloads apply to the first time the course is offered and to all future offerings. The policy applies to both full- and part-time faculty. 

All distance education courses (all delivery methods) will be considered a part of the faculty member’s load. A faculty member cannot be assigned an overload of more than five (5) semester hours per semester or ten (10) semester hours per academic year. The maximum overload that can be assigned to a faculty member during the summer term is three (3) semester hours.

A chart (Appendices G & H) identifies the credit hours associated with workload for both 1:16 and 1:22 ratio credit courses. 

As with any course or program, periodic evaluation and review of distance education courses is beneficial to students, faculty, and program administrators. 

Each semester for each course offered by the college (regardless of delivery mode), a student course assessment is conducted. The course evaluations are initiated by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning and are delivered (electronically) to students using a licensed course evaluation system (MyClassEvaluation – IOTA Solutions). Results and data collected by this office are shared with the instructor, the division Associate Vice President, Program Coordinators or Program Heads, and collective data used for course and program improvements.

The college has a standard set of questions (16) comprising the core questions for student evaluations. There are additional question sets associated with courses that are delivered online (web-based); hybrid courses; Live Online courses; and courses with laboratory requirements, such as science courses. These question survey sets are compiled (using MyClassEvaluation) and targeted to students specifically based on their enrollments for the semester. Students are to complete an evaluation for each course in which they are enrolled.

The following outlines the process for the creation of new online courses. 

Faculty member and Associate Vice President consult about the need for a (new) online course offering 

• Associate Vice President may request that a course be developed to meet programmatic needs
• Faculty member may propose development of a course that meets an unmet service region or program curricular need 
• Associate Vice President will provide the faculty member with the CVCC common student outcomes for the course

Associate Vice President consults with VP about new web-course development

• VP verifies whether proposed course meets a programmatic or market need
• VP verifies availability of funding for new web-course development 

Instructor, Associate Vice President, and VP sign agreement for production of a web-based course

• Agreement (Appendix D: Agreement for Production of a Web-based Course) is completed the semester before scheduled delivery of course 
• $1,500 is paid to instructor upon completion of new course development and successful review by a peer review team and $1,000 for course redesign under the revised rubric. This (payment) is dependent upon available funding. In the absence of funding (for that fiscal year), all agreements are retained for payment to faculty in the (chronological) order in which they were received. 
• Agreement states that faculty course developer agrees to be a peer reviewer as a part of a team for (future) course reviews 

Instructor develops course

• Development of course reflects the standards identified in the peer review rubric guidelines to assure online course quality (Appendix C: Peer Course Review Rubric)
• The course will include the common student outcomes for the course and adhere to the CVCC student learning outcomes policy
• During course development, faculty member has access to support from Distance Education Center

Course is Peer Reviewed

• Course is assigned to for Distance Education Peer Course Review Process (Appendix B).
• After “passing” the review, the instructor is paid for the course development and the course is offered 

Course is delivered

• Feedback from the Peer Review Process is used to make course improvements before offering 
• Student feedback is used to make (future) pedagogical and technological improvements.
• Associate Vice Presidents provides feedback about course improvements from student evaluations

The CVCC Distance Education Office will facilitate the ongoing Distance Education 
Peer Course Review Process. The following outlines the process for the review of new and existing distance education courses. 
 

1. Identify and Train Peer Reviewers
   1. The Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning will provide training for faculty volunteers for the peer review process using the Peer Review Rubric in Appendix C.
   2. An “appeal team” consisting of different faculty peer reviewers will be established when needed to handle any appeals in the process. This group would only examine unresolved or disputed items in the review.
2. Establish courses to be reviewed
   1. All new online courses will be scheduled for review.
   2. Existing courses will be identified for review by the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning on an annual, rotating basis 
   3. Each course would have a “review on” date (volunteered initially or assigned if no volunteers come forward) that would mean that the team would review that course on or after that date.
   4. For sequential classes by the same instructor, the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, after a review, can approve the subsequent course in the sequence if the original course has been approved by a review team and the structure and design of the course is the same as the first approved. 
3. Initial review
   1. Reviewers to look at courses based on a pre-arranged schedule.
   2. Reviewers independently examine the course to determine if it meets the requirements of the rubric
   3. Reviewers compare notes and discuss discrepancies and reach agreement on what items are adequate and which do not seem to meet the requirements of the rubric. If agreement cannot be reached then the item will be considered to have not met the requirements.
   4. Reviewers will make suggestions to improve the course and note items where the rubric requirements are not met.
   5. Reviewers submit their findings to the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
   6. Once the class meets all the requirements of the rubric as determined by the peer reviewers and the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, a congratulatory letter will be sent and the peer-reviewed seal of approval attached to the class banner.
4. Follow up review 
   1. If items are not in compliance with the rubric, reviewers will meet with the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning to develop an improvement plan. The instructor will either: 
      1. Modify the course and resubmit to the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning for a second review.
      2. Schedule a meeting with the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning (which must be within thirty days of the initial notification) to discuss how the instructor feels that the course does meet those elements of the rubric or seek clarity (from the review team and/or from the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning) on what can be done to meet those requirements.
   2. Once the course is compliant, the congratulatory letter will be sent and instructor may place the peer-reviewed seal in the course.

View and Download Peer Course Review Rubric Standards with Point Value and Annotations

View and Download Agreement for Production of a Web-based Course 

View and Download Agreement for Redesign of a Web-based Course

Central Virginia Community College observes the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) policies relative to intellectual property, copyright issues, and revenue derived from the creation of intellectual property. The VCCS policy found in Section 12 of the VCCS Policy Manual and the Intellectual Property Guidelines established by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) as mandated by the Code of Virginia Sections 23-4.3 and 23-4.4.

BoardDocs® Policy: Section 12.0 Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures (SB)

The college may claim interest or ownership of intellectual property in cases of assigned duty and/or significant use of college resources. The college may choose not to exercise intellectual property rights even though it might be legal to do so. 
 

View and Download Chart for 3-credit and 4-credit web/collaborate courses - Ratio 1:16

View and Download Chart for 2-credit, 3-credit, and 4-credit web/collaborate courses - Ratio 1:22