Policies and Best Practices

For Faculty and Departments: Compliance and Accreditation Requirements for Online Courses

Faculty teaching online asynchronous (OA), online blended (OB), and online synchronous (OS) courses are responsible for meeting federal and state regulations, UConn policies and requirements, and NECHE accreditation standards for online and distance learning in their courses. Department heads and program leads should be aware of these requirements and take them into account as they make decisions about offering courses in online modalities.

Review these links to understand your responsibilities and access training and support resources:

Guidelines for the Authentication of Students in Online Courses

eCampus Accessibility Checklist and Guide

Meeting Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) Requirements

eCampus Syllabus Templates for Communicating Critical Information to Students

Quality Matters Rubric

This Knowledge Base Article explains Quality Matters' role in eCampus course design and development process. It also provides instructions for UConn faculty and staff to create a QM account and use QM resources, including access to the QM rubric. The University Senate Scholastic Standards Subcommittee's Online Course Standards Subcommittee endorses the use of the QM rubric as a guideline for the development of online courses. eCampus uses Quality Matters as a baseline measure of quality in online course design.

Further information on the research supporting the standards can be found at QMProgram.org

Online Learning Consortium

The University Senate Scholastic Standards Subcommittee's Online Course Standards Subcommittee endorses the use of the Online Learning Consortium Scorecard as a guideline for the development of online educational programs. To help make quality online education accessible and affordable for anyone, anywhere, at any time, the members of the OLC community share techniques, strategies, and practices in online education that have proven successful worldwide.

Further information available at http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/