Distance education is any instructional activity
characterized by a separation in time or place between the student
and instructor or providing institution for all or part of the
period of study. It may require faculty to travel to outlying sites
or that educational materials travel by some method of distance
communication, or both. Operationally, a distance education course
or program at FSU is one that is designed to be offered to students
at sites away from our campus.
The creation and delivery of distance education programs raise new
questions about ownership, compensation, control, evaluation, and
quality, as well as other rights and responsibilities that may not
be adequately addressed by existing policies. The purpose of this
policy is to address these issues:
1. All current policies that apply to on-campus or “traditional”
education will apply in the domain of distance education unless
otherwise specified below.
2. FSU is responsible for the technological delivery of courses.
Courses must be delivered by reliable methods, and the institution
must provide technical, academic, and instructional design support
services to faculty and students as appropriate.
3. FSU will train faculty, staff, and students in the use of
information technology and distance delivery media as appropriate.
4. Decisions to offer courses through distance education will
reflect student needs and availability of resources.
5. The academic department providing distance education will be
responsible for maintaining the same high standards for all courses
regardless of delivery method, and for ensuring that distance
education instruction is comparable in quality and content to the
corresponding traditional on-campus instruction. Academic units
offering distance education courses will regularly assess the
methods by which they are delivered and their content.
6. The academic department offering distance education will review
and approve the curriculum and will develop and implement fair
policies regarding faculty workload and staff support. New courses,
whatever their planned mode of delivery, must be approved by the
Department Chair, Dean, and Distance Education Director. A faculty
member must receive approval from his or her department chair to
offer a distance education course.
7. Full-time faculty may only teach one overload/online or extension
course per semester with the approval of the Chair, Dean, and
Provost.
8. Appropriate recognition of teaching and scholarly or creative
activities related to distance education programs or courses shall
be included in the faculty evaluation process.
9. Faculty who teach through distance education technologies are
responsible for acquiring sufficient technical skills to present
their subject matter and related material effectively, and as
necessary, for consulting with technical support personnel and
attending training sessions provided by Academic Affairs, the
Continuing/Distance Education Program and ITS.
10. Faculty and ITS cooperatively are responsible for informing
students about technical skill prerequisites and required hardware,
software, and supplementary materials necessary for course
participation in the brochure.
11. Faculty who offer distance education should be available to
interact individually with their students in person or via e-mail,
telephone, or chat room within a reasonable time frame
12. Online course development will only
be approved for degree completion programs or graduate programs
only.
13. The enrollment limit for online classes
for undergraduates will be 25 and graduate 18.
14. Chairs will monitor online classes as a
student to ensure the same vigor and standards as on campus.
15. High demand online courses will have
more than one section as determine by the chair.
16. Credit hours granted for courses delivered through distance
education will be the equivalent to the credit hours for the same
course delivered traditionally. FSU’s Registrar and the Continuing/Distance Education
Office will announce which courses will be delivered online.
17. Distance Education courses offered during the summer will last 8
(eight) weeks minimum and a maximum of 10 (ten) weeks..
18. Student participation in distance education is likely to be
recorded in various ways and media, and student participants may be
required to post materials electronically. Students should be
informed in the syllabus (a) that their participation will be
recorded, and (b) of the circumstances under which others may have
access to those recordings and their postings. Additionally,
recordings and postings should be destroyed when they are no longer
needed.
19. Fayetteville State University owns copyright to distance
education materials and retain right of use. However, the instructor
and FSU may enter into a written agreement to protect the interest
of both parties.
20. Web-based courses cannot replace traditional (classroom) courses
that have been advertised in the Fall, Spring, or Summer schedule.
Only portions of the materials may be used, as faculty are
contracted to teach their courses face-to-face for the academic
year.
21. Undergraduate on-campus students permitted to take an online
course will pay the on-campus tuition and fees. They will be
permitted to take an online course only if it is needed for
graduation purposes during the semester they are enrolled in the
online course.
22. A faculty member can develop an online course
(owner/proprietor), but another faculty member who has been trained
can teach the course with the consent of the developer.
23. If a faculty member teaches a two-way interactive class from the
Distance Education Center or designated room to students at FSU and an off-campus site,
and the course is an overload, then ALL THOSE STUDENTS MUST PAY AND
REGISTER FOR THE CLASS THROUGH CONTINUING EDUCATION. The appropriate
Dean will determine if the course is part of one’s load. Faculty
cannot be paid by both FSU and the receiving institution.
24. The Teaching and Learning Center will
provide training for those faculty online courses that need to be
updated relative to the new designed template (student and faculty
support sites, content organizer/syllabus and course schedule),
linkages to netiquette and technical assistance, and tool and design
assistance.
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