This document outlines the responsibilities of those departments and divisions that support and are responsible for the success of online and distance education at MTSU, specifically the areas of technology, distance faculty and student services and resources, and administration. MTSU\u2019s Online and Distance Education Guidelines are revised annually and reviewed and approved by the MTSU Distance Education Committee. The Guidelines are provided to all course developers at the beginning of the course development or redevelopment process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MTSU Online exists to extend and amplify the teaching and learning resources of MTSU to create an educated and informed citizenry for 乐播传媒入口 and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MTSU Online is a key contributor to increasing educational access, social mobility, and well-being for the citizens of 乐播传媒入口 and beyond via high-quality online education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Distance education occurs when there is a physical separation of the instructor and the learner and when communication and instruction take place through or are supported by, any technological means, including any combination of present and future technologies. MTSU Distance Education Policy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Distance education is an established and effective method for extending educational opportunities. To provide the citizens of 乐播传媒入口 with greater access to postsecondary education, 乐播传媒入口 affirms the effectiveness of distance education; recommends the use and development of distance education technologies, when appropriate, to meet student learning outcomes; and encourages academic departments to take advantage of such opportunities in carrying out their individual missions. MTSU Distance Education Policy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Distance education at MTSU began in the 1997 fall semester with seven courses and 53 student enrollments. Today, MTSU Online is nationally recognized, having been endorsed by the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) for outstanding program administration. MTSU offers many online programs both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. A current description of available programs is listed on the MTSU Programs Site<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MTSU is a public institution accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)<\/a> and is governed by its own Board of Trustees<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MTSU is committed to providing high-quality distance educational experiences for its students, and faculty members can develop and teach a variety of alternative delivery courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The types of courses approved to be offered at MTSU can be found and described on the MTSU Registrar\u2019s course types page.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The university must provide support to the administration, departments, and faculty to enable them to offer online courses. It is also responsible for offering the same services to students taking online courses and programs that it provides for students taking traditional, on-ground courses and programs. The following are distance education services provided by the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MTSU is responsible for complying with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Principles of Accreditation. Section 10: Educational Policies, Procedures, and Practices states, \u201c6. An institution that offers distance or correspondence education\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This verification is accomplished by requiring the MTSU student to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) use a secure login and passcode into the MTSU learning management system, or 2) sit for proctored examinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MTSU uses students\u2019 usernames and passwords to verify that a registered student is the same student who participates and earns academic credit for an online course. All instruction must take place inside the learning management system (LMS) to maintain verification integrity. Students must use their assigned username and create a password that meets university requirements to be authenticated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MTSU Online offers several options for faculty conducting proctored activities in their courses, as described on this Proctoring Services page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verification may also occur if faculty teaching distance education courses require students to take an in-person or online proctored exam as long as required proctoring is noted on the course prior to students\u2019 registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MTSU defines the student credit hour in Policy 294<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The academic department chair and college dean determine faculty workload. MTSU\u2019s Guidelines for Determining Faculty Workload<\/a> includes information on expectations of faculty teaching online courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deadlines for adding, dropping, and withdrawing from distance education courses are the same as for courses taught on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Online courses are subject to the same grading policies and procedures as conventional courses. Faculty teaching online courses should consult the appropriate current Undergraduate or Graduate Catalog for guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students enrolled in online courses should verify their financial aid eligibility with the MTSU Financial Aid Office<\/a>. Students taking online courses must meet the same eligibility requirements for financial aid that they would have to meet if they were taking on-campus courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To comply with federal regulations regarding student engagement and participation in online courses, MTSU must demonstrate that students are engaged in regular and substantive interaction, as described in our workshops and course development process (RSI Approaches and Tools<\/a>). Students who are reported as non-attending may be assigned a grade of FA, which may also have financial aid implications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Department Chair will determine the maximum capacity for a given online course based on the course content, duration, level, and any related accreditation requirements. The minimum capacity for an online course would be the same as for an in-person course of the same type and level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Academic deans are responsible for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Department chairs are involved in the development and redesign of online courses from the beginning of the process. The roles and responsibilities of departments related to distance education are below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MTSU Online provides central coordination for the development or redevelopment and delivery of distance education courses and programs. This central coordination contributes to uniform delivery, ensuring student access consistency while maintaining instructional flexibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MTSU Online recruits faculty members to develop and deliver distance education courses, provides services specific to distance learners, disseminates materials, works with departments and University Scheduling to ensure approved distance courses are added to semester schedules, and works with ITD to provide technical assistance and training for faculty developing and teaching distance education courses. The specific services provided by MTSU Online are below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This office provides resources, assistance, and direction to faculty members who want to develop and teach online and blended courses. Responsibilities include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The MTSU Online Student Services personnel are dedicated to assisting prospective and current distance learners. Responsibilities include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Information Technology Division (ITD) <\/a>supports information technology resources for faculty and students (both on campus and online), including the Service Portal<\/a> and faculty and student email accounts<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The College of Graduate Studies <\/a>serves as a coordinator for the admission and graduation of students enrolled in MTSU graduate programs. Persons wishing to pursue an online graduate degree at MTSU must apply and be admitted by the College of Graduate Studies in addition to being accepted into a particular graduate program. The college provides a Graduate Program Liaison for each online graduate program, just as it does for on-ground graduate degrees. These liaisons work with the student and graduate program coordinator to ensure that all requirements of the program, college, and university are met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Walker Library provides the following services in support of online and blended courses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction This document outlines the responsibilities of those departments and divisions that support and are responsible for the success of online and distance education at MTSU, specifically the areas of technology, distance faculty and student services and resources, and administration. MTSU\u2019s Online and Distance Education Guidelines are revised annually and reviewed and approved by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1896","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1896"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4526,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1896\/revisions\/4526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Distance Education <\/a>Purpose<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
History<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
MTSU Course Types and Definitions<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Roles and Responsibilities<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
University Roles and Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
SACSCOC<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Student Authentication<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Credit Hour<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Faculty Workload<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Adding, Dropping, and Withdrawing from Courses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Grades<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Financial Aid and Class Attendance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Course Enrollment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
College Roles and Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Department Roles and Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Online Course Scheduling and Cancellation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Online Course Review and Approval<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Other Responsibilities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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MTSU Online Roles and Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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MTSU Online Faculty Services<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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MTSU Online Student Services<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Faculty Course Developer Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Preparation for Online Course Development<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Documentation of Online Course Development<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Course Development Guidelines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Online Course Approval<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Course Redevelopment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Online Course Instruction Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Distance Education Student Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Information Technology Roles and Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
College Of Graduate Studies Roles and Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
JAMES E. WALKER LIBRARY<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Roles and Responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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