Hot Topics in Distance Education

1. Hot Topics in Distance Education Dolores Davison, Foothill College Dustin Hanvey, Pasadena City College Danielle Martino, Santiago Canyon College

2. Creation of a Distance Education Ad Hoc Committee • “The Distance Education Ad Hoc Committee is established to review, prioritize, and recommend to the Executive Committee policies and practices regarding distance education needs that are within the purview of the Academic Senate. The committee will interact with existing standing committees, as appropriate, write resolutions as needed, and provide a recommendation to the Executive Committee in spring 2012 on the prospect of forming a permanent ASCCC committee on distance education.” • Approved by the ASCCC Executive Committee at its February 2011 meeting

3. Major Areas of the DE Committee’s Responsibilities • E-materials and concerns • DE accreditation issues • OER and concerns • Existing Title 5 Compliance Issues • Senate-Union DE Issues • Effective Practices • CMS Selection • Local Support of DE • Providing education as to why DE is not the answer to budget/capacity issues • International outreach issues

4. What are the hot topics on your campus in de?

5. Current Legislation: AB 851 • AB 851 (Nestande) calls for the following: • Reports from the CCC and CSU on workload and performance data on Distance Learning courses, including #s of students and completion rates (both of courses and of programs that are entirely Distance Ed).;

6. AB 851 (continued) • Calls for a report on feasibility of developing an accelerated bachelor’s degree completion program of DL courses, targeting students who started college but did not obtain a degree. • Calls for the LAO to convene a task force to identify the steps necessary to establish a Western Governors University in California (WGU is an accredited, non-profit online university headquartered in Utah). • Was made a two year bill at the end of the legislative session in October.

7. The LAO Report on DE • The reason for the above bill • Published by the LAO in November 2010, so escaped close scrutiny because of the elections, etc • Summary in Rostrum (December 2010): “While the LAO points out that distance education will not replace face-to-face education, the potential for growth is almost unlimited and as such merits closer scrutiny.“

8. Hot Topics in DE Curriculum • E-Materials for Instruction • What can faculty require? • What can be charged for materials? • How long should those materials be available? • How does this tie into open source educational materials?

9. Hot Topics in DE Curriculum: Defining Online Attendance • Definition & documentation of attendance in fully online courses significantly impacts students with financial aid • When a student receiving Title IV grants and loans withdraws from a program, the student’s institution must determine the amount of assistance the student earned to calculate the amount of unearned funds that must be returned to the Department of Education

10. Defining Online Attendance • There is increased oversight of federal student aid for distance education programs by U.S. Department of Education • U.S. Department of Education is scrutinizing “last day of attendance” calculations for financial aid students who unofficially withdraw or drop-out from their online courses • “Last day of attendance” is used to determine the amount of aid a student is eligible to receive when he/she withdraws or leaves a course

11. Defining Online Attendance • Victims of online financial-aid fraud in 2009* • Axia College at University of Phoenix • Lansing Community College in Michigan • Dallas County Community College in Texas • Rio Salado College in Arizona *According to the Inspector General’s report to Congress

12. Anatomy of an Online-Ed Scam http://chronicle.com/article/Graphic-Anatomy-of-an/63578/

13. Defining Online Attendance • Office of Federal Student Aid to increase program reviews of student aid operations next year by 50% • Audit-like examinations of student aid operations designed to ensure that: • Students receive only the grants/loans they’re entitled to; • Institutions make refunds in accordance with the law in cases where students withdraw

14. Defining Online Attendance • Baker College audited by U.S. Dept. of Education • College did not maintain records that were adequate to support its determination of student attendance during 2006-2007 • College incorrectly identified when distance education students began and ceased attendance • Result • Baker College was required to reimburse the U.S. Government thousands of dollars in financial aid funds for errors found and is subject to additional audits to verify the first day of attendance for these students

15. Defining Online Attendance • Dept of Ed recommends: • Develop & implement written policy & procedures for attendance • Policy and procedures should address maintenance of records adequate to support student eligibility for financial aid • Ensure that the specific date is documented and retained in accordance with the record retention requirements in those cases where the institution has chosen to use the last date of academic activity as the last date of attendance

16. Defining Online Attendance • Attendance must be based on student’s Last Day of Attendance in a documented “academically related activity” • Acceptable • Meaningful participation in an online discussion • Student initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a course-related question via email or chat room • Quizzes, tests, assignment submission • Unacceptable • Student-tracking of course site login • Student posting of bio in Discussion forum