Regulatory Trends and Accreditation Issues in

Distance EducationCCCCIO Fall 2012 Confernce

Patricia James, Dean, Library, Technology, and Distance Education, Mt. San Jacinto College

James Glapa-Grossklag, Dean, Educational Technology, Learning Resources, and DistanceLearning, College of the Canyons

We gratefully acknowledge collaboration on an earlier version of this presentation with:Andrea Henne, Dean, Online and Distributed Learning, San Diego Community College District

Stephanie Low, Vice President, Academic Affairs and Accreditation, Hartnell College

Handout: http://my.msjc.edu/web/handout2.pdf

In CCCs, distance learning continues to grow:•2005-06: 12.48% of total headcount (unduplicated)•2009-10: 23.54% of total headcount (unduplicated)In US, over 6 million students took at least one online class last year.•Institutions indicating ‘‘Online education is critical to the long-term strategy of my institution’’ reached its highest level in 2011 (65.5%).

Session Outline:

I. Recent external regulatory demands A. Student authentication B. Last date of attendance / Title IVC. State approval

II. Lack of clarity and consensus

A. Categorizing distance educationB. DE or CE?

III. What works and what doesn’tA. Effective practicesB. Main Resources

Student Authentication

Academic Integrity and Authentication

HEOA requires accreditors to require institutions “to have processes through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the program and receives the academic credit.”

(emphasis added)

Examples of Processes and Practices

1) College LMS2) Proctored assessment3) LMS log-in statement4) Academic integrity in DE training5) Plagiarism detection software

Why is it important to us???

What the ACCJC is looking for

Institutions must use:a) secure log-in and password, OR proctored examinations, ORb) and/or new or other technologies c) and/or practices that are developed and effective in verifying each student’s identification

Last date of attendance /

Title IV

By Knterox

Who is attending class?

Online attendance=

Academically related activity

State Approval

By Sailormoms

Categorizing Distance Education…or is it Distance Learning?

By djc114

State Definition• “Distance education means instruction in

which the instructor and student are separated by distance and interact through the assistance of communication technology.”

• Same course-quality standards• Regular, effective contact• Separate curricular review• Federal definition not much different

DE or CE?

Regular Substantive (Effective)

Instructor to Student Contact

Correspondence Education

• Instructional material provided by mail or electronic transmission (including examinations) to students who are separated from the instructor

• Limited interaction between student and instructor and primarily initiated by students

• A course that is typically self-paced34 C.F.R. § 602.3 (Definitions)

So What?

“We concluded the College was not eligible to participate in [federal financial aid] because 50% or more of its students were enrolled in correspondence courses… We recommend… require the college to return to the U.S. Department of Education the $42,362,291 in Title IV funds disbursed…”

Final Title IV Audit Report, Executive Summary

What works and what doesn’t

http://tinyurl.com/accjcDE

ACCJC Web Seminar: DE on the Front Burner: New Regulations, New Challenges and Accreditation

Spring 2012

http://www.onefortraining.org/coordinatorsDE Coordinators’ Web Seminar Meetings

Main Resources

• DE Coordinator• @ONE• Online Teaching Conference• Distance Education Captioning and

Transcription grant• DE webinars• ACCJC DE webinar

Patricia James, Dean, Library and Technology, Mt. San Jacinto College: pjames@msjc.edu James Glapa-Grossklag, Dean, Educational Technology,Learning Resources, and Distance Learning, College of the Canyons: james.glapa-grossklag@canyons.edu