New Directions:
Online Courses & the University of California’s
A-G Subject Area Requirements
Monica H. Lin, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions
University of California | Office of the President
Available online at:
http://www.ucop.edu/agguide/get-help/trainings/index.html
California Consortium for Independent Study (CCIS) Conference
January 31, 2013
Overview
 Policy background
 The “a-g” course lists & course update process
 New “a-g” review process for online courses
 Policy implementation: challenges & successes
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Policy Background
UC and Online Learning
 University of California priority: accessibility of a broad
range of high-quality, rigorous college-preparatory courses
 UC keeping pace with the changing landscape of online
learning
– Facilitate students’ access to “a-g” online courses
– Encourage online educators to uphold promising practices of
online learning for student success
 Revised policy to offer improved guidance and more
efficient process of satisfying UC admission requirements
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Highlights of Policy Revisions
 UC “program status” requirement for online entities has
been eliminated
 New policy focuses on quality assessment of online
courses for “a-g” purposes
– Flexible to accommodate differing types of online courses
– Addresses UC faculty online learning guidelines
 Policy revisions incorporate national quality standards for
online courses and programs
 Partnership between UC and the California Learning
Resource Network (CLRN)
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A-G Course Lists &
Course Update Process
A-G Course Lists
 UC and CSU admissions requirements include satisfying a
15-course pattern of college-preparatory “a-g” courses
– High school courses must undergo “a-g” review and approval to
appear on the “a-g” course list
 The “a-g” course list is an important component of the
applicant review process
– All “a-g” course lists must be updated each year to maintain
accuracy for applyUC and for UC’s comprehensive review
 Updates to the “a-g” course list are submitted using the
UC Online Update website:
– https://doorways.ucop.edu/update
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A-G Course List Update Timeline
2013-14
A-G Online
Updates website
opens for course
submissions on
March 1, 2013
PHASE 1
March 1-June 1,
2013
New courses
submitted may
have up to 2
resubmission
opportunities
PHASE 2
June 2-August
1, 2013
New courses
submitted may
have only 1
resubmission
opportunity
PHASE 3
August 2September 15,
2013
New courses
submitted have
no opportunity
for resubmission
All new course
submissions and
resubmissions
must be
submitted by
September 15,
2013
*2013-14 update cycle will open
March 1, 2013
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New A-G Review Process for
Online Courses
Online Course Publisher vs. Online School
 UC now differentiates between an online course publisher
and an online school
– Online course publishers develop their own curriculum and sell
or license their online courses for delivery by a teacher within a
high school or district
– Online school is a credit- or diploma-granting institution that
offers courses strictly through Internet-based methods, with time
and/or distance separating the teacher and learner
 Institutions that act as both an online course publisher and
online school will follow the procedures for online schools
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Review of Online Courses
STEP 1
Submit online
course to CLRN
for review*
Assess the online course
against the iNACOL Standards
for Quality Online Courses and
CA content standards
CLRN-certified
OR
Self-assessed
STEP 2
Submit online
course to UC
for “a-g” review
Conduct subjectspecific review
against UC faculty’s
content criteria
*If not eligible for CLRN review, the online course must be
self-assessed by the online publisher or school.
Approve course for “a-g”?
YES
Add course to
online publisher’s or
online school’s “a-g”
course list; approval
expires in 3 years
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Step #1A: CLRN Certification
 Effective for:
– Online course publishers serving public institutions
– Public online schools
 A CLRN-certified online course must:
– Meet at least 80% of CA Content or Common Core Standards
– Fulfill all 15 “power standards” from the iNACOL Standards for
Quality Online Courses
– Satisfy at least 27 (or 80%) of the remaining iNACOL Standards
 Courses not aligned with a set of standards must be selfassessed (Step #1B)
 To submit a course to CLRN:
– http://clrn.org/elr/index.cfm?event=publisher.login
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Step #1B: Self-Assessment
 Effective for:
–
–
–
–
Online course publishers serving only private institutions
Private online schools
Any online courses not aligned with state standards
2014-15 school year: Non-online high schools, districts, and
programs
 Institution conducts self-assessment against iNACOL
Standards for Quality Online Courses
 Self-assessment will be incorporated into the course
submission process for UC “a-g” review
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Step #2: UC A-G Course Review
 Only CLRN-certified or self-assessed online courses can
be submitted to UC during the course list update cycle
 Basis for “a-g” course review and approval:
– “a-g” course evaluation guidelines
– Subject area course requirements
 All courses are reviewed by a subject area analyst
– “Blind” reviews
– Goal: new CLRN-certified online courses reviewed within 2-4
weeks
 To submit a course to UC:
– https://doorways.ucop.edu/update
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Adding A-G Online Courses
Access UC’s “a-g”
Online Update
website
Indicate intent to add
previously approved
online course(s)
Certify that program/school/district
will satisfy UC’s online learning
guidelines and policy for online
courses to receive “a-g” approval
(once per annual update cycle)
Select online
course to add to
“a-g” course list
Add online course
to “a-g” course list
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Policy Implementation
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Challenges & Successes
 Definitions of online entities are not always clear-cut
 Elimination of principal certification for non-UC-approved
online courses
– Not acceptable for online courses completed in 2013-14
academic year and beyond
 Re-evaluation of policy regarding online courses in
laboratory science and in visual & performing arts
– Under current policy: online science courses require supervised,
on-site wet lab and online VPA courses not allowable
 UC encourages educators to incorporate promising
practices for excellence in online teaching and learning
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http://www.ucop.edu/agguide/index.html
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Resources
 Helpful links:
– California Learning Resource Network (CLRN)
 http://clrn.org
– International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL)
 http://inacol.org
– UC Doorways websites:
 “a-g” Course List website – https://doorways.ucop.edu/list
 Online Update website – https://doorways.ucop.edu/update
 Contact UCOP High School Articulation:
– E-mail: hsupdate@ucop.edu
– Phone: (510) 987-9570
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