UAB Online Services (5/10/13)
1. SACS Preparation for Reaccreditation
a. Creation of office meets the SACS requirement for an "integrated, institution-wide"
structure and process for continuous improvement in online education (Core
Requirement 2.5).
b. Hired a SACS eLearning reviewer as a consultant to analyze baseline areas for
improvement and strategy moving forward (i.e., Deb Gearhart).
c. Developed and distributed UAB's first-ever faculty survey to establish a baseline
understanding of quality. (Based on Sloan-C scorecard, which has been vetted by
SACS).
d. Raw data currently being analyzed. The analysis report will be distributed to Deans,
followed by one-on-one meetings within the Deans to develop improvement
strategies.
e. Developed Academic Advisory Committee to develop and vet required institutional
policies for online learning. Held first meeting on May 3, 2013.
2. Continual Improvement in Quality
a. Institutional representative for Quality Matters is Division staff.
b. Will pay institutional membership in Quality Matters.
c. Developing plan to create campus-wide internal assessment team (cost savings to
school).
d. Annual surveys of quality assessment to be administered and compared to baseline.
3. State Authorization Support
a. Conducted research to establish current status of UAB compliance and potential
financial impact of state authorizations.
b. Plan to cover annual reaffirmations and associated costs, as needed, within the
Division.
c. Produced comprehensive spreadsheet of state-by-state requirements.
d. Assisted UA System lobbyists in current session (provided data).
4. Website (www.uab.edu/online)
a. Designed and developed a website portal commensurate with other world-class
institutions with online programs. Launched on May 10, 2013.
b. Commissioned, directed and paid for professional videos of students in the schools,
which are being made available to the schools for their own use.
c. Will pay for search engine optimization and electronic advertising to promote all
totally online and blended programs on the UAB campus.
5. New Model for Academic Credit/CEU offerings
a. Significant collaborative effort to provide this heretofore, unavailable model for
schools to market programs.
b. Accessible registration through the UAB Online web portal.
6. ADA Coordination
a. Experienced ADA coordinator in higher education available for free, individual school
consultation for online course offerings.
b. New courses (academic/CEU model) being developed in Disability Rights and
Disability Risk Management, which school faculty and staff can take using UAB
tuition assistance benefit.
7. New Program Development
a. Consultation (free) with Schools to develop and deploy unique, niche-market
educational offerings (e.g. Sustainable Smart Cities certificates; Patient Safety and
Quality Health Care).
b. Instructional design support provided on a limited basis for those schools that do not
employ full-time instructional designers.
8. Market Research and Viability Studies
a. Retainer agreement with Hanover Research to provide degree/certificate viability
studies, free of charge to schools (initial screen by Provost, Vice Provost, and
Interim-Director).
b. Division will provide additional marketing support to schools, conditional upon
adequate revenue.
9. Advocacy for Technical Support
a. Monthly meetings with the Instructional Designers Consortium with follow-up to Bb
and infrastructure issues.
b. Intervention when regular "ticket channels" fail to produce results (e.g. Collat School
of Business).
c. Intervention to coordinate the timely review and deployment of enterprise-wide
instructional technology software (e.g. MediaSite).
10. Financial underwriting of initial costs of enterprise-wide instructional technology software
a. Financial commitment made to School of Nursing to underwrite the licensing and
implementation of Jenzabar™ on campus for non-academic continuing education
course offerings.
b. Commitment to share in ongoing annual costs of enterprise-wide instructional
software, conditional upon adequate revenue.