4.30 - Online Learning

Policy Statement:

I.             Online Learning Policy: Online Learning Policy Mission

To extend academic offerings for students through electronic and virtual means, Piedmont University applies the following core principles:

1. Provide an open and effective learning environment where teaching and learning occur anytime and anyplace, both in synchronous (professor and students meet at the same time in separate locations) and asynchronous environments (professor and students meet at a different time and different location).
2. Provide accessible teaching and learning resources and support to students, faculty, and staff, which ensures student confidentiality and secure information as required by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Federal Requirements 10.6, 2018 SACSCOC Policy Statement on Distance and Correspondence Education, and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
3. Ensure that online learning efforts are committed to quality and continuous improvement through course assessment, research, faculty development, advising, and the encouragement of innovation with emerging technologies and strategies.

This policy will focus on three key policy areas:

1. Defining Online Learning at Piedmont University.
2. Faculty Resources and Responsibilities.
3. Procedures to Verify and Protect the Identity of the Distance Learning Student.

Section A: Defining Online Learning at Piedmont University

1. Definition of Online Learning
    Online learning is defined as a form of distance learning where the delivery of the course occurs when the instructor and students are not in the same location or place but are linked together through a network. All Piedmont courses, regardless of delivery format, use the official University learning management system (i.e., Canvas). Other learning management systems (e.g., Edmodo, Schoology, Google Classroom, etc.) may be used for demonstrative purposes only.

1. Definitions of Online and Hybrid Courses

1. Online synchronous (OLS): An online synchronous course holds no face-to- face sessions; however, a minimum of twenty-five percent (25%) of course sessions are conducted synchronously (at same time online). Online courses use the current, official university learning management system as the primary platform for content delivery and communication.

1. For synchronous class meetings, instructors use only communication tools approved for such use by the University.
2. Synchronous class meetings appear on the course schedule at the time of registration.
3. Synchronous class meetings meet at the scheduled time and for the scheduled duration.
4. For any class sessions or weeks not held synchronously, rules and policies for asynchronous courses apply.
5. Piedmont University adheres to federal guidelines for seat time in all courses regardless of format. The Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs determines the interpretation of these guidelines and communicates this interpretation to faculty.
6. Students in online courses complete at least one graded activity per course module.
7. Instructors must post assignment scores to the learning management system within 7 days of an assignment deadline.
8. Instructors respond to student inquiries within 48 hours (about 2 days).

2. Online asynchronous OLA: An online asynchronous course holds no face-to-face or synchronous (at same time online) sessions.   Instructors are required to hold a weekly online one-hour Study Session via Zoom that must be recorded with both video and audio files posted for students who cannot attend at the scheduled time. Students are not required to attend these sessions.  Online courses use the current, official university learning management system as the primary platform for content delivery and communication.

1. Any synchronous meetings held for an asynchronous course must be optional for students and cannot create a scenario that disadvantages students in the course or their academic program.
2. Piedmont University adheres to federal guidelines for seat time in all courses regardless of format. The Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs determines the interpretation of these guidelines and communicates this interpretation to faculty.
3. Online courses must satisfy the Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) requirement as set forth by the Department of Education. Consequently, Piedmont requires instructors of online courses to be active participants in course activities a minimum of four days each week during the academic session.
4. Students in online courses complete at least one graded activity per course module.
5. Instructors must post assignment scores to the learning management system within 7 days of an assignment deadline.
6. Instructors respond to student inquiries within 48 hours (about 2 days). 

3. A Hybrid Course (HYB) holds a minimum twenty-five percent (25%) of meetings face-to-face (I.e., at the same time and in the same physical location) with remaining course sessions held online, either synchronously or asynchronously. An initial, introductory face-to-face or online meeting may or may not be required. Hybrid courses use a the current, official university learning management system as the primary platform for content delivery and communication with a required template from the Division of Online Learning.

1. The use of videoconferencing technologies such as Zoom or Big Blue Button may not be substituted for the requirement to meet face-to-face in a hybrid course.
2. The schedule and format of all class sessions is made available on the course schedule for registration.
3. Depending on weekly session format, all rules for both synchronous and asynchronous courses apply to hybrid courses.
    

3.  Online learning courses and programs must be consistent with the academic and educational mission of Piedmont University. Online guidelines and policies are administered through the Division of Online Learning and the Vice President for Academic Affair.

4. All online courses are expected to meet the guidelines and standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and other accrediting bodies for specific academic programs such as the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, the Georgia Board of Nursing, the Professional Standards Commission, and the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs.

5. All online and hybrid courses will meet the guidelines and standards of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA).

Section B: Faculty Responsibilities and Resources

1. Student Information and Privacy
   1. Protection of student information, course data, and student participation is required by all Piedmont University faculty and staff involved in the design, development, delivery, and administration of distance learning in any form. The utilization of learning management systems (LMS) used by the University, including third party sources, must ensure the protection of student data, student participation, course information, and evaluative grades and feedback. The institutional application of user-id and password protected logons must be used in all online learning environments for Piedmont University courses. Faculty will be trained in methods and policies to ensure student privacy in compliance with FERPA and accrediting agencies.
   2. Faculty/instructors must first consider if the information is accessible to anyone other than the student who submits it and/or Piedmont University employees who need access to the information. If the information is accessible online, the following actions should be applied to ensure student information confidentiality:

1. Acquire "voluntary" and written student consent to use the information without being denied academic opportunity or adverse academic consequences if they do not acknowledge consent. Additionally, students should be made aware of the inability to ensure privacy when directed to sites outside of the institution’s LMS. It is recommended that students use a non-identifiable username and that they notify the professor of the name selected for that purpose. OR,
2. Ensure that student information (non-assessment), postings, discussions, etc. are accessible only to other students enrolled in the course; that they are posted by the student, not the faculty/instructor; and students are notified by syllabus or faculty/instructor that electronic posting is a course requirement. OR,
3. Where an outside party, such as a vendor, receives student information (e.g., for grading, or access to online supplemental materials provided by a textbook publisher), the third-party recipient must be bound by contract to preserve confidentiality.
   1. Authorized Use of Student Work: Piedmont University recognizes the intellectual property rights of students. Faculty wishing to use student work beyond the context, and within the official dates, of a regularly scheduled course must secure permission from the student in writing. Electronic signature is permissible. The permission statement signed by the student must state why the work is requested, where and how the work will be displayed, when the work will be displayed, and the duration of the display. Additionally, the student may withdraw this consent at any time and for any reason. The faculty member must retain the original, signed document and make it available upon request. Finally, attribution information for the student’s work must be credited for each displayed instance unless the student has requested the work to be posted anonymously. An anonymous posting request by the student does not alleviate the instructor’s obligations under this section.

Adapted from the FERPA Privacy Checklist for Online Course Hosting by North Carolina State University as cited by Diaz, Golas, and Gautsch (2011, p.5).

1. Use of Images, Audio, or Video of Minors

Images, audio, and/or video of minors may not be posted to a published course without the signed consent of the parent or guardian, including indication of the specific type and duration of the particular use. (This excludes appropriately licensed, third-party content.) Parents/Guardians must be made aware that consent may be withdrawn at any time and for any reason. The instructor must retain the original copy of signed consent and make it available upon request. Authorized use forms on file with K12 school districts are not sufficient to satisfy this requirement.

1. Student Accessibility to Online and Blended Learning

Piedmont University is committed to making any reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities which includes access to media, online information, and Internet-based resources for online and hybrid course students. For additional information on resources and support for accessibility in online courses, please contact the Division of Online Learning.

1. Faculty Professional Development
   1. Piedmont University shall provide appropriate training with professional development and support services to faculty who teach online, hybrid and blended learning courses. Training may take various forms, including face-to- face, live online (i.e., webinars), or performance support tools such as instructional and/or interactive video.
   2. To provide adequate coverage of technology training, some faculty and/or staff may be asked to assist with the design and delivery of technology professional development.
   3. All professional development activities pertaining to online and hybrid instruction must be coordinated with, and approved by, the Division of Online Learning.

1. Certification Requirements

Any faculty member, or instructor, who desires to design or teach online or hybrid courses is required to complete the current online certification process required by the Division of Online Learning. Exemptions, while rare, are considered on a case-by-case basis. Requests for exemptions to the certification requirement should be submitted to the Division of Online Learning.

1. Canvas Support
   1. Piedmont University provides limited support for Canvas. Students and faculty experiencing problems with Canvas should contact Canvas Support at 1- 833-723-6108. Canvas Support is available 24/7. Live text support is also available at https://cases.canvaslms.com/liveagentchat?chattype=student
   2. Logging on to Canvas
      1. Canvas user accounts are created when a user is first registered for a course at Piedmont and a daily system update has occurred.
      2. All users log in to Canvas with their single sign-on (SSO) username and password combination used for all Piedmont services, including email.

c.   Viewing Canvas Courses

1. Canvas receives updated course and enrollment data from the student information system in use by the Registrar’s office at Piedmont. Students experiencing problems logging on to Canvas, or accessing a specific course, should communicate with the course instructor. The instructor will assist the student in verifying course enrollment. In most cases, the student will require no additional internal support.
2. Students are only able to view Canvas courses once the instructor has taken action to publish and make the course available to students. Students should first check with the instructor when experiencing issues accessing any aspect of a course.
3. To mitigate unintentional infringements of copyright protections and student privacy, the following procedures have been established with respect to the visibility of courses on Canvas. These procedures apply to all courses equally.
   1. Published courses are available to students no sooner than seven days prior to the official course start date.
   2. Courses on Canvas are closed to student view 21 days (about 3 weeks) following the official course end date.
   3. Course access may be extended on a case-by-case basis for students with approved status of Incomplete or In Progress. Extensions within Canvas are completed manually upon request submitted to the Office of Academic Technology Division of Online Learning.

1. Proprietary Ownership of Online Content

1. Individual learning objects developed by faculty and used in Piedmont University online, blended, or hybrid courses are governed by the Policy on Patents, Copyrights, Trade Secrets, and Intellectual Property in General Policies 3.19. Any content, including resources, activities, and/or online modules, created in association with the compensated design, development, or implementation of any Piedmont University course is the property of Piedmont University. Any online content design and development contracted specifically for Piedmont University online course content, outside the normal scope of institution work/institution assisted work is classified as work for hire and is the property of Piedmont University. This content, either individual learning object or course module, is designated solely for the purpose of delivery of instruction for Piedmont University.
2. An online module or course may not be downloaded in its entirety from the current Piedmont University LMS and used in another learning management system for entities outside of Piedmont University. This includes posting resources or courses to the Canvas Commons for public accessibility.
3. No content developed for Piedmont courses shall be made publicly available, in any form or on any platform, without the authorization of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the President.
4. Online course content is part of the historical record of an online and/or hybrid course. This constitutes documented data that may be requested by accreditation agencies or used for internal evaluation purposes. Faculty are prohibited from modifying or removing online content from completed courses without the explicit consent of either the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost or the President.

1. Course Approval and Scheduling
   1. The Division of Online Learning, as an extension of Academic Affairs, establishes and maintains standards, requirements, and policies pertaining to the approval, design, development, implementation, and assessment of online courses and programs.
   2. The Division of Online Learning centralizes scheduling, instructor assignments, training, and implementation of online programs as assigned by the Provost Vice President of Academic Affairs.
   3. The Division of Online Learning, as an extension of Academic Affairs, monitors all stages and aspects of online and hybrid courses and programs.
   4. All online and/or hybrid courses must fully comply with all current institutional requirements for the design of online and hybrid courses, including the use of institutional course templates where applicable. Online course requirements are established by the Division of Online Learning in consultation with the Provost Vice President of Academic Affairs. Courses must be submitted to the Division of Online Learning for consideration of approval at least one full semester prior to the desired term for implementation. If not approved, the course cannot be offered in an online or hybrid format until approval is secured in a subsequent term.
   5. Online and hybrid courses must provide regular instruction during the full academic term excluding only approved University holidays of at least one week’s duration. Shorter holiday periods are insufficient to justify missing a full week of academic instruction.

1. Syllabi

In the spirit of our partnership with the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), syllabi for online and hybrid courses must be made available to students as they consider courses for registration. This includes availability of syllabi for non-Piedmont students who may wish to register for an online or hybrid course with transient status. The Division of Online Learning, as an extension of Academic Affairs, may review courses and syllabi at any time to verify compliance with institutional standards, and students should contact this division for access to syllabi.

1. Faculty Best Practices

1. While Piedmont University supports academic freedom and encourages innovation in the learning process, the faculty has a collective responsibility to ensure the academic quality and integrity of the University's courses, programs, and degrees. This responsibility extends to online, hybrid and blended courses and programs. Faculty should review current institutional requirements for the design and implementation of online and hybrid courses. These requirements are maintained and made available by the Division of Online Learning.
2. Pre-Course
   1. When course lists are made available for student review prior to registration, students shall have access to the following course information:
   2. The course syllabus must be posted and made publicly available to students in Canvas at least one week prior to the course start date.
   3. All synchronous meetings for an online OLS course must be included with the syllabus and clearly posted on the schedule of courses. Likewise, all face-to-face meetings for hybrid courses must also be posted.
   4. Introductory email from the online professor/instructor to all enrolled students prior to the first class meeting.
   5. The instructor creates and posts a welcome video for the course, providing an overview of the course topic, course navigation, primary course resources, and instructions for how students may request/obtain assistance.
   6. For students to evaluate a course in time for the drop/add period, Canvas courses must be published for students seven days prior to the official course start date. This is the earliest date that students will be able to access a Canvas course.
3. Course Delivery
   1. Attendance must be measured in online courses for a variety of reasons, including financial aid benefits, government regulations, and faculty recommendations which may require information about a student's class attendance.
   2. Students are required to use Piedmont email or Piedmont’s video conferencing platforms (e.g., Zoom) when communicating with instructors or University staff.
   3. In an online class, the "date of last attendance" is the last date that a student actively contributed to the course. Active, weekly participation is required as a minimum standard to register attendance in a course. Merely logging onto a course, in the absence of active participation, is not sufficient to register attendance.
   4. Online professors/instructors are expected to clearly define the course objectives, assignments and assessments.
   5. Online course instructors are required to post a weekly module introduction video, audio recap, or written information in Announcements. Weekly recaps/wrap-ups should help students make connections between content and objectives as well as prepare them for subsequent learning experiences.
   6. No more than 10% of course content resources may be from external, third-party vendors. Online courses are intended to be the products and intellectual property of Piedmont University.
   7. Online courses will preference the use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) over traditional textbooks where such resources are deemed sufficient to meet stated course outcomes.
4. During the implementation of an online or hybrid course, the instructor will observe the federal requirement for regular and substantive interaction (RSI) by being an active participant in the course at least four days each week during the academic term.
5. Post-Course
   1. Faculty should encourage students to provide course and instructor feedback through the Piedmont University online course evaluation system.
   2. Faculty should backup learning management system course modules to both the learning management system and to their Piedmont University computer or personal computer to allow for maintenance of course records, forum activities, and grades.
6. Canvas courses close to students 21 days (about 3 weeks) following the official end date for the course. Students must retrieve any notes, assignments, or other materials prior to course closure. Access to Canvas courses shall only be extended to accommodate students with an approved grade status of In Progress or Incomplete. The course instructor shall provide documentation and an official request for extended access to the Division of Online Learning as soon as the requested grade status has been approved.

Section C: Procedures to Verify and Protect the Identity of the Distance Learning Student

1. Piedmont University outlines the following procedures to effectively verify student identity in online courses and protect identity:
   1. Piedmont University issues each student a seven-digit student identification number at the time of initial registration. This student ID becomes the unique identifier for the student throughout his/her academic career at the University. The student ID is required to access all University resources.
   2. Additionally, a secure email address is assigned to each student upon enrollment. This email address is unique in that it consists of the student’s first letter of the first name, last name, plus a four-digit numeric component which is the student’s birth month and day (e.g., jsmith0123@lions.piedmont.edu). The student creates an eight-digit, alphanumeric password that uniquely identifies and provides access to university resources. Once established, these credentials act as a student’s credentials for all of Piedmont’s online resources (student email, Canvas, PilgrimNet, etc.). Students accept responsibility for the security of their passwords.
2. Procedures for Assuring Distance Learning Student Identity:
   1. Secure Email and Password: Each distance learning student gains access to the Canvas system by using their pre-established credentials mentioned above. Once registered, students are automatically assigned to the appropriate Canvas course sections for the current term.
   2. New techniques or technologies intended for distance learning student verification must be reviewed and approved by the Chief Information Officer prior to implementation of the process.
3. Privacy:

Piedmont University protects the privacy of all students, including distance learning students, through strict adherence to the rules of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). The official FERPA statement is available for student and public view through the University website. University employees receive annual training in FERPA regulations.

1. Fees:

There are no additional charges associated with verifying student identity.