Balancing Student Load and
Regulatory Demands
Andrew Esposito
Instructional Designer
Rodney Murray Ph.D.
Executive Director of Academic Technology Services

• USciences
• Academic Technology Services
• Our Regulatory Environment: a few definitions
• Online Course Development Process
• Managing Student Load
• Evaluating Online Courses
• Q & A / Demonstration (time permitting)

University of the Sciences
• Founded in 1821 as the Philadelphia
College of Pharmacy
• 4 Colleges
– Mayes College of Healthcare Business and Policy
– Misher College of Arts and Sciences
– Philadelphia College of Pharmacy
– Samson College of Health Sciences

Academic Technology Services

Why this type of rigorous course development?
• Effective teaching & learning
• Regulatory Requirements
– US Department of Ed
– PA Department of Ed
– Middle States Commission on Higher Education
(MSCHE)
– Title IV funding (e.g. Federal Financial Aid)
• Student value

Failure to Meet Our Regulatory
Requirements
• Loss of accreditation
• Loss of Title IV funding eligibility
• Repayment of Title IV funds
• OIG recommendations include language such as:
– We recommend that the COO for FSA require the College to —
•
Return to the Department or the appropriate FFEL Program lenders…
$380,067 in Pell funds disbursed for correspondence students…”
• “Terminate the College’s participation in the Title IV programs.”
• “Require the College to return to the Department or the appropriate FFEL
Program lenders the $ 42,362,291 in Title IV funds …”
Whitman, G. D. (2012, March 29). OIG Fiscal Year 2012 Audit Reports.
Retrieved March 24,
2015, from U.S. Department of Education: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/fy2012/a05k0012.pdf

A Few Definitions: Federal
Federal Credit Hour
• A credit hour for Federal purposes is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates some minimum amount of student work reflective of the amount of work expected in a Carnegie unit: key phrases being “institutionally established,” “equivalency,” “reasonably approximates ,” and “minimum amount.”
– Institutionally established
– Equivalency
– Reasonably approximates
– Minimum amount
• The Federal definition does not dictate particular amounts of classroom time versus out-of-class student work.
Ochoa, E. M. (2011, March 18). IFAP - Dear Colleague Letters.
Retrieved March 18, 2015, from
Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP): http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1106.html

A Few Definitions: Pennsylvania
• “ §
31.21, one college semester credit is defined as 14 hours of classroom Instruction …A three-credit semester based course, for example then, would need to meet for 42 hours of rigorous college classroom instruction over the semester.”
• “ §
31.21 allows for determining activities that are "the equivalent" of classroom instruction. For example, if the course is offered in part via online technology, such as WebCT or Blackboard, then the faculty as a whole need to agree upon criteria for determining what online activities constitute the equivalent of classroom instruction for uniform implementation across the institution .”
Pennsylvania Department of Education. (2008, March). Curricular Credit Policy 08.pdf (2).
Retrieved March 2015, from Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Enterprise Portal: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=18&objID=885823&subspace=mySubspaceKey&cached=true&mode=3&userID=2

A Few Definitions: Pennsylvania
Equivalent online instruction
• directly related to the objectives of the course/program,
• be measurable for grading purposes,
• have the direct oversight or supervision of the faculty member teaching the course,
• And in some form be the equivalent of an activity conducted in the classroom.
Pennsylvania Department of Education. (2008, March). Curricular Credit Policy 08.pdf (2).
Retrieved March 2015, from Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Enterprise Portal: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=18&objID=885823&subspace=mySubspaceKey&cached=true&mode=3&userID=2

A Few Definitions:
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
MSCHE
–
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
• “One lecture, seminar, or discussion credit hour represents 1 hour per week of scheduled class/seminar time and 2 hours of student preparation time. Most lecture and seminar courses are awarded 3 credit hours. Over an entire semester, this formula represents at least 45 hours of class time and 90 hours of student preparation .”
• Basic Credit hour equations
– Total Hours = (2 x Credit Hours + Credit Hours) x Weeks
3 Credit Course
In-Class
Out-of-Class
1 Credit Course
Middle States Commission on Higher Education. (2009, June 26). Policies, Guidelines & Procedures.
Retrieved March 18, 2015, from Middle States Commission on Higher Education: http://www.msche.org/documents/Degree-and-Credit-Guidelines-062209-FINAL%5B1%5D.pdf

Our Course Development Process
• Industry Best Practices
– Backwards design
• Work “backwards” from the desired outcomes, writing the objectives first
– Project planning
• ≈ 20 weeks
• ≈
80 faculty hours
– Collaborative development

Build the Course “On Paper”
MS Word or Google Docs
• Easier to revise in MS Word/Google Docs
– Track changes or revision history
– We prefer Google Docs for sharing and accessibility
• Our Design Documents
1.
Course Outcomes Grid
2.
Online Student Load Calculator
3.
Online Course Evaluation Rubric

Course Outcomes Grid
1

Online Student Load Calculator:
What does it do?
• Interactive spreadsheet
• Accounts for all assigned student activities
• Provides an audit trail
• More detail than required than by any regulatory body
• Helps Faculty & ID check for:
– Logical inconsistencies

Online Student Load Calculator:
Is the course feasible?
• Can a student realistically meet the deadlines?
• Evaluate the expectations placed on students
– “I once had a course…”

Student Load Calculator: Weekly Page
1 Week Planning Page
Developed by Andrew Esposito, Instructional Designer, Office of Academic Technology
© 2015 University of the Sciences

Student Load Calculator: Summary Page
Summary Page
Developed by Andrew Esposito, Instructional Designer, Office of Academic Technology
© 2015 University of the Sciences

Course Complete: On Paper
• Final check for content and completion “on paper”
• Build the course in (LMS) Blackboard
• Add online lectures
Course Complete: in Blackboard
• All the pieces are in place
• Conduct a final check with the Online Course Evaluation Rubric

Online Course Evaluation Rubric
• Last step in the dev. process
• 5 point scale
• 47 criteria in 3 sections
– Course Template
•
22 criteria
– Technical
• 14 criteria
– Pedagogical
•
11 criteria
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Online Course Evaluation Rubric

Online Course Evaluation Rubric:
2 Use Cases
• Collaborative / Summative
– Faculty and ID in partnership
• Evaluative
– Chair/Dean requesting 2 nd opinion
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When is a Complete Course?

Design docs

Assignments
& Activities

Online Lectures

Syllabus
 All items posted to LMS
• All design docs are complete
• What does a “Done” course look like?
– There will be NO course development required during delivery.
• A course is Not the syllabus.

Contact Information
Andrew Esposito a.esposito@usciences.edu
215-596-8959
Instructional Designer
Office of Academic Technology Services
University of the Sciences