Online Course Development

On-Line Course Development

1. Adjunct faculty should refer to the Collective Bargaining Agreement with regards to funds for course development.

2. For new courses not currently taught face-to-face, complete and submit Faculty Senate Course Approval Form to the Department Chair, Dean, and Provost. (Academics Committee Forms). Note these funds are for NEW on-line courses only.

3. If funding for the development of an online course is being sought, complete the Faculty Funding Application (use link above) and submit to the Chair for Approval. The Application will then be forwarded to the Dean and Provost for further approval. Please note that priority will be given to online courses addressing specific departmental or University requirements and/or are associated with online programs. Funding must be supported by the requesting department or program.

4. Complete the ATS Online Course Proposal Form to initiate the development process. Note that the Provost's Office works with ATS to determine priority for course development, and ATS works with the faculty member to develop the course for online delivery. Under normal circumstances, this process should begin at least one semester before the course is to be offered online for the first time.

5. Complete ATS Development Process (Example) with the assigned Instructional Designer within one year. The typical timeline to develop a course run 15 weeks to 8 months.

6. Submit Completed ATS Materials to the Dean's Office for review and approval.

7. Submit completed, developed course with ATS Materials and Faculty Senate Course Approval Form to the Faculty Senate Academics Committee for review and approval.

8. If the developed course is approved by the Faculty Senate Academics Committee, submit all materials to the Provost's Office for review and approval. When approved, the Faculty Development Award will be released.

Courses may still be taught experimentally but will not be granted a stipend for development. If the faculty member needs assisstance, priority will be assigned by the Provost and ATS for online development.

Upon approval from the Provost's office, the Developer will be assigned an Instructional Designer to begin working on the course development. 

There are 5 steps of development: 

1. Step 1: Overview of process and course development expectations
   Approximate time to complete: 1 hour meeting
   ATS role: Setup and facilitate the meeting. 
   Developer role: Bring all documents relating to the course to begin discussing the course content.
    
2. Step 2: Analysis and Design Phases 
   Approximate time to complete: 1 hour meeting (both designer/faculty) 3 weeks working on course content independently
   ATS role: Setup the meeting, review course content with developer
   Developer role: Syllabus should be in draft form. Faculty should have draft of each unit’s resources
    
3. Step 3: Design Phase 
   Approximate time to complete: Designer to review syllabus and resources. 1 week, independently. Faculty 2 weeks independently.
   ATS role: Setup the meeting. Work with the developer to put Unit 1 together. 
   Developer role: Syllabus to be completed. Resources lists should be nearing completion.
    
4. Step 4: Development Phase 
   Approximate time to complete: Designer be available for faculty questions. Faculty approximately 4-6 hours to build 1 unit. About 15 weeks to build a 15 Unit course. 
   ATS role: Be available for questions and troubleshooting.
   Developer role: Faculty are responsible for taking their syllabus and moving it to the course in the LMS. This includes, building each item, in each unit, as well as all assignments, rubrics and grading schemas. 
    
5. Step 5: Implementation and Evaluation Phases
   Approximate time to complete: Designer will review course upon notification from developer. This takes approximately 1 week. After the designer ‘approves’ the course the Chair and Dean will review. 3 weeks. 
   ATS role: Internal evaluation of the course with Quality Matters. 
   Developer role: Be available for questions and edits. 

For more detailed information regarding the Online Development Timeline click here.  

After the course has gone through all of the steps, the course will be copied into the semester shell, and paperwork will be returned to the Provost's office. 

Questions? Email ats@arcadia.edu