In this presentation given at the 2016 GICA (Georgia Independent Colleges Association) SACSCOC Workshare Conference, I describe a framework and mindset to use SACSCOC distance education guidelines and best practices to generate institutional improvement.
Two Balls, One Bat: The SACSCOC Fifth-Year Review as a Motivator For Institutional Improvement
1. Two Balls, One Bat: The
SACSCOC Fifth-Year Review as a
Motivator For Institutional
Improvement
Jon Ernstberger
jernstberger@lagrange.edu
Twitter: @jernstberger
4. About LaGrange College
• Approximately 1,100 students.
• 86 full-time faculty
• Founded in 1831
• Co-ed in 1954
• Pres. Dan McAlexander
• Ed.S. is our highest degree
• Strategic Plan: Vision 2020
• Lots of haunted buildings
• Wesleyan tradition; mostly
Baptist
• 16 varsity teams
7. Online Instruction: Opportunities
• RN to BSN online
• Adult education
• Academic Certificates (Aging Studies and Business Essentials I)
• Synchronous graduate distance education
• M.S. in Exercise Science
• M.A. in Philanthropy and Development (hybrid delivery)
11. Definition of Distance Education (SACSCOC)
“…A distance education course may use the internet;
one-way and two-way transmissions through open
broadcast, close circult, cable, microwave, broadband
lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communication
devices; audio conferencing; or video cassettes, DVD’s,
and CD-ROMs if used as part of the distance learning
course or program.”
12. Policy Statements, #2
“At the time of review by the Commission, the institution demonstrates
that it has a written procedure for protecting the privacy of students
enrolled in distance and correspondence education courses or
programs.”
http://www.lagrange.edu/resources/pdf/Protection-of-Students.pdf
14. Guidelines, cont.
Student Services
“Students in distance or correspondence programs have an adequate procedure for
resolving their complaints, and the institution follows its policies and procedures."
15. Useful SACSCOC Documents
• Distance and Correspondence Education (Policy Statement, 1997-
2014)
• The Fifth-Year Interim Report (2015)
• Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate
Programs (2000)
• Guidelines for Addressing Distance and Correspondence Education
(2015)
16. Fifth-Year Interim Report
• Nine uses of “distance education” or “correspondence education”
• Explicitly/implicitly addressed in 4/5 parts
• Gets you some basics
• Identification verification (III, 15)
• Privacy policies (not FERPA; III, 16)
• Additional Charges (III, 17)
• Gets some not-so basics
• Review of distance learning programs (Part II, 4)
• Documentation of compliance with other accrediting bodies (3.13A)
• Asks for addressable issues. (Part IV)
17. Useful SACSCOC Documents
• Distance and Correspondence Education (Policy Statement, 1997-
2014)
• The Fifth-Year Interim Report (2015)
• Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate
Programs (2000)
• Guidelines for Addressing Distance and Correspondence Education
(2015)
18. Best Practices
1. Institutional Context and Commitment (10 components)
2. Curriculum and Instruction (5 components)
3. Faculty Support (4 components)
4. Student Support (4 components)
5. Evaluation and Assessment (6 components)
20. Best Practices (3)
• Use the SACSCOC document as a
guide
• “Best Practices” - old but not
obsolete
• Improvement by fulfillment
21. Useful SACSCOC Documents
• Distance and Correspondence Education (Policy Statement, 1997-
2014)
• The Fifth-Year Interim Report (2015)
• Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate
Programs (2000)
• Guidelines for Addressing Distance and Correspondence Education
(2015)
22. Guidelines for Addressing Distance or
Correspondence Education
1. Overview of Commission Expectations
2. Definitions, standards, and policies
3. Distance and Correspondence Program Review
4. Application of Findings
23. Guidelines, cont.
"Teaching to the test isn't bad if it's a good test!"
-Don Livingston,
Professor of Education,
LaGrange College
Contracted with LH (2012-2016)
BoT supported online instruction by memorandum
Online courses began in Spring 2013
Summer 2013 was “baptism of fire”.
Joined SECRRA
First online graduate courses (Fall 2014)
Left Learning House and partnered (3x) with Blackboard in 2015/2016.
Joined NC-SARA
Mindset change – I was already dreading it even though I hadn’t done the heavy lifting (Carol Yin) but I knew that we would have to comply.
Rather than dread, knowing that we had room to improve