The document outlines best practices and expectations for instructors teaching online courses at Open Campus, including hosting virtual office hours, participating actively in discussion boards, providing timely grades and feedback, maintaining regular communication with students, and having courses ready before the start date. Instructors are expected to create a supportive learning environment for students and be available to engage with students several times per week to ensure quality online experiences that are consistent for all students.

1. An Introduction from Dean Sheri
Litt

3. Here at Open Campus, our priority is providing
online students with quality experiences paralleling
those of face-to-face students. Clearly, you, as an
instructor, are a vital part of that equation. In order
to help streamline and standardize ways of dealing
with students, we have developed a standardized
set of best practices which you may have noticed
was sent out recently in a document called “Faculty
Expectations.” The goal is to provide a consistent
and quality learning environment conducive to
student success and instructor sanity! The following
video will outline a little more about these
expectations and what they look like applied in the
classroom. We hope you’ll find it not only

5. All faculty are expected to host at least one virtual
office hour per week. Platforms for virtual office
hours include but are not limited to:
• Blackboard Collaborate
• Google talk
• MSN Instant Messenger
• Skype
Your hours and method of contact should be
clearly stated in your syllabus, as well as under
your faculty contact information in Blackboard.

8. In Blackboard, under the “Tools and Resources Tab”,
please make sure to have your contact information
including:
• Name
• Photo of you
• Biography
• Commitment Statement
• Location
• Phone number
• Email address
This information should also be clearly stated in your
syllabus.

11. • Under the introduction link in the discussion board,
please be the first to post your introduction. You are
expected to respond individually and by name to all of
your students’ introductions. The response does not have
to be lengthy.

14. Frequency:
• Faculty should have a total of 5 posts including the intro and
wrap-up.
• Post an initial prompt on the discussion board to help students
understand what was expected and encourage participation
• Respond to a minimum of 3 students mid-week
• Close the discussion with a wrap-up/summary. The wrap-
up/summary can be posted in either the discussion board
forum or the announcements page
Responses:
• Ask good follow-up questions that generate further exchange
of ideas
• Model critical thinking skills
• Share personal expertise
• Discussion board forums typically last for one week. Faculty
who choose to leave discussion board open for more than one
week are still expected to participate in the forums regularly.

17. Grades:
Grades should be distributed for assignments 7 days after the
deadline posted in the syllabus.
Comments:
• Provide feedback on assignments in the grade
“comments” window for each student.
• Tone for grading comments is positive and constructive
• Grading rubrics and their criteria are clearly incorporated
into grading
Final Grades:
• Final grades are automatically calculated in the final
grade column of the grade book
• All final grades for each course taught must be issued by
specified deadlines. See the college catalog for final grade
deadline dates

20. Welcome:
• Post a welcome announcement to students at the very
beginning of the course
• Weekly announcements should include the following:
• Wrap up of the previous week
• Introduction to the upcoming week
• Assignments due for the upcoming week
• Post a wrap-up announcement before closing the
course, thanking students for their participation while
providing positive feedback and encouragement
regarding their educational goals.

23. Presence:
• Participate in the classroom at least 3 times per week
Responsiveness:
• Respond to students’ email messages, phone calls, or
questions posted in the Q&A section of the discussion forum
within 24 hours. If you will be unavailable for more than 24
hours for any reason, let students know as soon as possible.
Personalized Interactions:
• Communication to students should be clear and organized
• In all communication/correspondence, students should be
addressed by name
• Maintain a supportive and encouraging tone in all student
communications
• Convey positive encouraging words to students, reinforcing
their ability to complete the course

26. • Courses should be ready for release four days before the
beginning of the start date to allow time to implement a
readiness check.
• Courses that are not ready by this date will be
automatically populated using the master shell.

28. Stay in touch with Open Campus
For more information, contact me,
Dean Sheri Litt @ Sheri.Litt@fscj.edu.