The Office of Distance Education, with support from Academic Affairs and Palmetto College, administers a course and faculty development program aimed at achieving the highest quality online teaching and learning environments, course design and practices consistent with the goals and purpose of Distance Education at Upstate.

1. General Definitions:

Asynchronous - Course experiences are not time dependent. Learners pursue course experiences individually and on their own within a general schedule set by the professor.
Distance - Any location of a class or course experience not associated with the main campus is considered "distance education".
Face-to-face - Or "f2f", defines individual or group sessions in a physical location. Typically in a classroom or office setting.
Hybrid - Also commonly defined as "blended" courses, are those which require, at any level and for any duration, a combination of online (whether synchronous or asynchronous) and "face-to-face" or physical presence experiences as part of the course requirements.
LMS - Learner Management System used by the institution to support online courses. Blackboard, Moodle, D2L, Canvas, are just a few of many.
On-campus - Course experiences conducted in physical classroom spaces or other environments on any of the Upstate campuses.
Online - Defined at Upstate as any course which is offered 100% using web technologies, whether synchronous or asynchronous. A remote student would not have to travel to campus or any other physical location as a requirement of the course.
Synchronous - Any course experience which assumes a common meeting time regardless of physical location. Online sessions might be scheduled at regular times during the week and students participate together.
Virtual - Web locations that approximate actual processes or physical locations.

2. Certification Requirement and Waiver Policy:

As of April 2011, all new faculty must be certified to teach online. Full time faculty hired prior to 2011 are exempt from this requirement. The Office of Distance Education has implemented this requirement by providing waivers (see below) for prior experience and developing the Certification / Qualifications course for online teaching. The Certification/Qualification course is open to both full-time and part-time faculty employed by USC Upstate.  Starting in the 2017/18 academic year, new policies will be drafted to require re-engagement of training for online teaching for all faculty.

3. Waiver and Exceptions Policy: 

As a matter of good practice, all faculty teaching online courses benefit from exposure to information about best teaching methods and course design for online environments. New and current faculty at Upstate with no prior experience in teaching online will need to be certified prior to teaching a course. The Director of Distance Education may waive this requirement for any faculty with documented prior training or evidence of successful online teaching. This can include certificates of completion for online course design or teaching, instructional design for online courses, or evaluations from online courses. Being a former student in an online course does not qualify. Faculty should contact the Director of Distance Education with any questions.

4. Course Development Lead Time and Duration Policy:

The recommended minimum lead time period for course development for online courses is between 4 to 6 months (13 to 26 weeks), depending on complexity of course materials, requirements for copyright clearance for non-original materials, and media production (slides, videos, podcasts, etc.). Any program offering assistance in course design and development will assume the completed course will not launch (be scheduled for enrollment and listed in the semester schedule) any sooner than one full semester AFTER the start date. For example; a course to be taught in the following fall semester will need to begin the development process early during the previous summer period (early June or late May) at the latest. Internal instructional design resources at Upstate are limited, so there is no guarantee that a course to be developed for online delivery will receive assistance. Check with the UpOCC program in Distance Educaiton or with the Department of Learning Technologies and PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

5. Grant Award Policy:

It is the intent of the Office of Distance Education to provide adequate incentive and compensation to full-time Upstate faculty. Generally, adjunct faculty are not eligible to develop a new online course unless special permission is granted by the Program Director and/or Department Chair. Only online and/or hybrid (blended) courses developed through the UpOCC program, (which is administered by the Office of Distance Education and Academic Affairs), are eligible for stipend support. Stipend amounts are awarded at different levels for new courses, course revisions, and for course maintenance conditional on available funding. An awards program will also provide recognition each year for a limited number of courses meeting exemplary criteria and which demonstrate exemplary practice and outcomes in excellence of online instruction and design. Faculty registering for course improvement at Level 1 or Level 2 or Hybrid agree to complete tasks developed in the appraisal and work plan before compensation will be released. A specified time period of 13 to 26 weeks is required for course development (see policy statement No. 4 above).

6. Compensation for New and for Revised/Existing Online and Hybrid Courses:
  1. Courses receiving stipends must be developed through the UpOCC program, run by Distance Education/Academic Affairs.
  2. Courses must be part of the approved curriculum of the institution and therefore must have the approval of respective faculty governance bodies.
  3. “New” courses are those that have not been developed or taught online previously.
  4. New course development requires a minimum of 13 to 18 weeks lead time. Plan at least a semester or longer, especially with substantial use of video materials.
  5. Courses that make substantial use of externally published commercial material (presentation slides, pre-recorded audio and video, text materials, etc) will NOT be eligible for a grant but will be supported by the ODE for technical and course design help.
  6. “Redesign” or “Revision” courses are existing online or hybrid courses which undergo rubrics-based revision and OSCQR review.
  7. Maximum of one new course and one revision per faculty member per academic year. May be more for specific programs converting to online delivery.
  8. Maximum 2 grant awards in a single academic year per faculty member.
  9. $2,500 per new online or hybrid course. Must pass OLC/OSCQR rubric review.
  10. $1,500 per course for Redesign or Substantial Revision of existing online or hybrid courses. Range is $500 to $1,500 according to work requirements determined during initial course review. 
  11. $150 per course for OLC/OSCQR Online Course Quality Peer Review.
  12. $350 award for reviewed exemplary courses; one each (per academic year) in JCBE, SOE, SON and 2 each in CST and CAHSS.
  13. Award amounts subject to change and available funds.
  14. External supplemental funding sources (Palmetto College, grant-funded activity, discretionary budget lines) may be used to supplement or fund course development at different rates.
  15. Grant award amounts might also be set differently under special programs, such as academic unit course and program review cycles.

7. Course Ownership and Intellectual Property Policies:

General policies related to ownership of course content and intellectual property are outlined in the USC Intellectual Property (ACAF 1.33). Generally, this policy covers the following relevant points:

  1. Faculty retain copyright and intellectual property rights to all original course content and materials created as part of regular faculty responsibilities, consistent with university policies.
  2. Courses and original content created with the use of supplemental funds may be considered "works for hire" under some interpretations but are not defined as such in Upstate or USC current policy. Specific agreements will be drafted prior to any work and may include agreements for exclusive ownership of original material by the faculty member. It is the intent of Upstate as part of its academic mission to encourage and support faculty in the creation of original creative and innovative materials used for improving the quality of teaching and learning in all programs. 
  3. Faculty retain all copyright of original creative or scholarly works and share in the ownership of the course as a whole, and materials created with or without substantial use of university resources.

8. Course Credit Hour and Work Load Policies:

The awarding of credit hours in a single course is regulated by the institution through faculty approval and oversight, following federal and IPEDS guidelines and definitions. An online course, which typically awards 3 credit hours for successful completion, carries the same workload expectation as a traditional, in-classroom course of equal credit. Contact instructional hours can look different in the online enviornment and faculty are advised to review their direct and indirect instructional requirements in the online course. Course building involving the Office of Distance Education will require a review of student workload and justification for credit hour value. The Office of Distance Education should be consulted with any questions about the appropriateness, quality, or amount of work in a given course.