Introduction

Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU) provides distributed learning whose content, purposes and organization are in keeping with the university's mission and that reach students within and beyond its service area.

For the purpose of this policy statement, distributed learning includes both off-campus and distance learning modalities. Off-campus instruction refers to those classes away from main campus but still anchored in face-to-face instruction. The following policies are concerned with distance learning programs. While distributed learning takes many forms, all distance learning is characterized by:

1. Separation of place and/or time between the instructor and learner, among learners, and between learners, and/or between learners and learning resources.
2. The use of technology and media for two-way interaction. Interactions may occur between the learner and the instructor, among the learners, and/or between the learners and learning resources. Media may include print, video, audio, or computer. Instruction may be delivered via correspondence courses, web-based courses, videotaped courses, computer-mediated instruction and /or two-way interactive television (GSAMS). Use of electronic media is not necessarily required.
3. Institutional support for planning and implementation of courses and for academic and student support services.

Institutional Context and Commitment

Armstrong Atlantic State University encourages the development and use of distributed learning while at the same time ensuring a level of quality equivalent to that of traditional, classroom-based instruction.

1. AASU complies with accreditation requirements. The appropriate accreditation commission shall be notified and consulted when a distributed learning program represents a substantial change to the institution's educational goals, intended student population, curriculum modes or venue of instructions.
2. AASU's budget reflects its commitment to the students for whom distributed education programs are designed.
3. AASU assures the adequacy of technical and physical plant facilities, including appropriate staffing and technical assistance, to support its distributed learning programs
4. AASU provides the internal organizational structure to enable the development, coordination, support, and oversight of distributed learning programs, including the capability to:
1. facilitate the associated instructional and support relationships,
2. provide, or draw upon, the required information technologies and related support services,
3. develop and implement a marketing plan that takes into account the target student population, the technologies available, and the factors required to meet AASU's institutional goals,
4. provide training and support to participating instructors and students,
5. assure compliance with copyright laws,
6. contract for products and outsourced services,
7. assess and assign priorities to potential future projects,
8. assure that distributed learning programs and courses meet AASU standards to provide consistent quality and to provide a coherent framework for students who may enroll in both distributed learning and traditional on-campus courses,
9. maintain appropriate academic oversight, and
10. maintain consistency with AASU's academic planning and oversight functions, to assure congruence with AASU's mission and allocation of required resources.
5. In its articulation and transfer policies, AASU judges distributed learning courses and programs on their learning outcomes and the resources brought to bear for their achievement, not on modes of delivery.
6. AASU strives to assure a consistent and coherent technical framework for students and faculty and to minimize the impact on students and faculty of evolving technologies.
7. AASU provides students with technical support for the educational technology hardware, software, and delivery system required in a distance learning program or course.
8. When AASU selects technologies, decisions are made based on appropriateness for the students and the curriculum. Proposals for distributed learning programs and courses specifically address the match between technology and program or course.
9. AASU observes the legal and regulatory requirements of the jurisdictions in which it operates, e.g., requirements for service to those with disabilities, copyright law, state and national requirements for institutions offering educational programs, international restrictions such as export of sensitive information or technologies, etc.

Curriculum and Instruction

Armstrong Atlantic State University is committed to having faculty make pedagogical decisions that focus on learning outcomes for an increasingly diverse population.

1. Through its existing process of curriculum development, AASU assures:
   
   1. each distributed learning program of study results in collegiate level learning outcomes appropriate to the depth and breadth of the degree or certificate awarded by AASU,
   2. degree or certificate programs offered via distributed learning are coherent and complete, and
   3. such programs leading to undergraduate degrees meet the general education requirements set by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
2. The Vice-President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) shall encourage, facilitate, and coordinate the distributed learning activities of the institution.
3. The VPAA shall assure that academically qualified persons make decisions concerning curriculum, assessment, and oversight.
4. The VPAA shall assure that the substance of AASU's distributed learning programs, including their presentation, management, and assessment is the responsibility of persons, e.g., principal instructor, teaching assistants, tutors, with appropriate academic qualifications.
5. The VPAA shall appoint the Advisory Committee on Distributed Learning (ACDL) whose purpose is to advise the VPAA, Deans, and Department Heads on matters related to the present and future development and delivery of distributed education, including the acquisition of interactive and/or learning systems.
6. The VPAA shall consider proposals to offer new and existing programs and courses via distributed learning methodologies upon recommendation of ACDL and the appropriate Dean(s) and Department Head(s).
7. When AASU develops electronically offered degrees or certificate programs, the VPAA assures that all courses necessary to complete the program are included. The responsible department or college develops a coherent plan that is approved by the VPAA upon recommendation of the ACDL.
   1. The plan explains to students how to access all necessary courses required to complete the program.
   2. The plan clearly notifies students of requirements not included in the electronic offering.
8. Important elements of a program may be supplied by consortia partners or outsourced to other organizations. The institution in which the student is enrolled, not its suppliers and partners has a contract with the student. Therefore, the VPAA shall establish criteria for selecting consortia partners and contractors.
9. The VPAA shall assure that appropriate interaction (synchronous or asynchronous) between instructor and students and among students is reflected in the design of the program and its courses and in the technical facilities and services provided.
   

Approval Process for Distance Learning Courses

 Approval Requirements

Faculty Support

AASU addresses the increasingly diverse and reorganized roles of its faculty in its distributed learning policies on workload, compensation, ownership of intellectual property, and the implications for a faculty member's professional evaluation.

1. Through Faculty Technology Support, AASU provides an ongoing program of appropriate technical, design and production support for participating faculty members.
2. Through Faculty Support, AASU provides to those responsible for course and program development the orientation and training to help them become proficient in the uses of the applicable technologies, including instructional design and course management.
3. AASU provides to those individuals responsible for working directly with students the orientation and training to help them become proficient in the uses of the technologies for these purposes, including strategies for effective interaction.

Student Support

1. Assists prospective students in understanding the nature and potential challenges of learning in the program's technology-based environment.
2. AASU seeks to provide these services to students of distance learning programs, even when the students are not physically present on campus:
1. preregistration and academic advising,
2. information about AASU, its programs, its courses, its costs, and related policies and requirements,
3. enrollment / registration services,
4. financial aid services,
5. career counseling and placement,
6. timely academic progress information,
7. library resources appropriate to the program and training in their use,
8. bookstore services including ordering, secure payment, and prompt delivery of books, course packs, course-related supplies and materials,
9. ongoing technology support, and
10. referrals for student learning differences, physical challenges, and personal counseling.

Evaluation and Assessment

1. As in other AASU departments and programs, assessment of student achievement is conducted in each distance learning course and at the completion of the program.
2. When examinations are employed (paper, online, demonstration of competence, etc.), they take place in circumstances that include firm student identification.
3. Documented procedures assure that security of personal information is protected in the conduct of assessments and evaluations and the dissemination of results.
4. Overall course program effectiveness is determined by the instructor, program director or department head.
5. AASU continually evaluates its programs to target:
   1. advances in student achievement of intended outcomes,
   2. improved retention rates,
   3. effective use of resources,
   4. improvements in AASU's service to its internal and external constituencies.
6. Evaluation results inform future plans and those responsible for AASU's academic programs.

Approval Procedure for Distance Learning Programs and Courses

The Advisory Committee on Distributed Learning reviews and makes recommendations concerning the appropriateness of the courses for access by the Internet.

Approval Procedure for Distance Learning Courses

1. The faculty member prints the a Distance Learning Course Proposal Form or Offsite Distance Learning Course Proposal Form, reads and completes it, initials each line and signs at the bottom. Completion of this form ensures that faculty is aware of the responsibilities of developing and teaching an Internet course at AASU. These responsibilities include: proficiency with software, quality and rigor of online instruction, establishing and maintaining interaction with and among students, integrity of coursework and exams, completion of course and instructor evaluation (eFace), provision of access to AASU resources such as library, counseling, career & academic advising, and technical support.
2. The faculty member submits the completed form to the Department Head, who reads and signs the form, and forwards it to the Chair of the ACDL. This step ensures that the Department Head is aware of the ongoing commitment to development required for an Internet course. The ACDL recommends that faculty new to online teaching who are given online teaching responsibilities be given additional online training preparation and course development time.
3. The ACDL meets and makes its recommendation, which it forwards to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
4. The VPAA gives final approval designating when the course may be offered as an Internet course, remands the proposal to the department(s) for needed changes, or disapproves the course as an Internet course.
5. Upon approval by the VPAA, the course may be listed in the AASU course schedule as an Internet course.

If the format of an approved course changes so that it is to be offered by an outside vendor or developer, a new approval is required.

Approval Procedure for Distance Learning Programs