Distance Learning Policy

Faculty 

Faculty Qualifications – All full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty teaching distance education courses must meet the same criteria for academic and professional preparation as those teaching courses delivered in traditional modes according to the Principles of Accreditation (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges). Faculty are given the opportunity and encouraged to develop courses for electronic delivery with the approval and guidance of their chairs and deans.

Office Hours – Full-time faculty who teach distance learning courses are governed by the College’s Faculty Workload Policy and are expected to be available on campus a minimum of five (5) hours per week for office hours.

CCC distance learning faculty are encouraged to be creative in using a variety of communications technologies such as Collaborate, Skype, texting, and instant messaging as part of their office hour duties.

Workload/Teaching Load – Distance learning faculty are governed by the same workload policies as those teaching courses delivered in traditional modes. Distance learning teaching loads are determined by the chair and dean and must be consistent with College guidelines.

Courses 

Quality Assurance Process – All instructors offering classes online at CCC must successfully complete the Online course Review Checklist. If a particular course does not meet the minimum standard, that faculty member meets with the director of Instructional Support and Distance Learning for assistance with upgrading the course to satisfy the Online Course Review Checklist.

Online Class Assessment / Evaluation / Audit – Distance learning courses are subject to the same assessment, evaluation, and auditing as those courses delivered in traditional modes.

ADA Compliance – As with any course at Carteret Community College, distance learning courses must provide appropriate accommodations to provide equal access to students with disabilities. Students follow the same procedures as they would for a traditional course. The policy and procedures are outlined in the Students with Disabilities Section (6.11) of the College Catalog & Student Handbook. Faculty are also required to design courses that meet basic ADA course design principles as outlined by the ADA portion of the Online Course Review Checklist.

Distance Learning First Date of Attendance Verification – The first date of attendance for online courses is calculated by student submission of the first graded assignment. For hybrid and webenhanced courses, the first date of attendance is calculated by either the first date of attending a traditional class session or by student submission of the first graded assignment, whichever occurs first.

Grading and Transcripts – Policies for academic grading and transcripts are the same for distance learning courses as for traditional courses. There will not be any notation on the transcript that identifies a course as delivered via online technology.

Authentication – Student authentication is established by each student having a unique user-id and password. A unique user-ID and a password, which is required to be reset regularly and may be reset by the student at any time using the College’s password reset portal, establishes secure single sign-on authentication for the learning management system, WebAdvisor, and email access.

Enrollment Caps – Each division dean, in consultation with program chairs, sets enrollment caps for all classes, including distance learning or online classes.

Syllabi – Distance learning courses use the same course syllabus template as courses delivered by traditional modes.

Intellectual Property & Copyright – The College’s Intellectual Property and Copyright policies apply to distance learning courses and faculty.

Proctoring Exams for Online Students – Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor are available for use in proctoring distance learning exams.

Students 

Student Preparation for distance learning courses- All students must attend a seated or online New Student Orientation.

Distance Learning Course Load – The maximum distance learning course load is the same for all students. Students who wish to exceed the maximum course load must obtain the permission of their advisor, the appropriate chair, or the appropriate dean.

Student Services – Distance learning students have access to student support services equivalent to those provided to the on-campus student population.

Standards of Practice/Code of Ethics – Carteret Community College staff and faculty adhere to federal privacy regulations (FERPA, Buckley Amendment), and existing standards of ethics.

Confidentiality: The College takes the confidentiality of student information seriously. The director of Instructional Support and Distance Learning sets permissions for accessing courses that contain student information to instructors, chairs, and academic deans with direct academic interest in student success. Privacy statements and VPATs from third-party vendors, such as Blackboard Open LMS/Moodle (the College’s LMS host), Aviso early alert software, Intelliboard, Pearson, Cengage, and other publishers with LTI interaction (learning tools interoperability) are reviewed and maintained by the director of Instructional Support and Distance Learning.