Introduction
Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative
The Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative (MCCVLC) is a
project of the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA), an association of all
28 publicly funded community colleges in Michigan. The MCCVLC student web site
may be found at the following url:
http://www.mccvlc.org/
A web site with information appropriate for Michigan community college administrators,
faculty and staff may be found at:
http://www.mccvlc.org/~staff/
The MCCVLC allows students from anywhere in the state to enroll in any one of the
online courses offered by Michigan community colleges (“provider colleges”) from a
single online catalog, while still maintaining a relationship with, and receiving support
from, their local “home” college. Michigan community colleges have agreed on a tuition
revenue sharing model that actually makes this an advantageous arrangement for both
home and provider college.
The primary objective of the collaborative since its inception has been to enhance access
to community college courses for Michigan residents. Barriers to education faced by
Michigan residents include geography (only fifty percent of the state is within a
community college district) as well as time (students increasingly report an inability to
attend regularly-scheduled classes, even in the evening), and for many students, online
courses offer a viable option for continuing their education. By collaborating, Michigan
community colleges have been able to offer students a far greater selection of courses
than would be possible for an individual college working in isolation. Further, by offering
specialty, technical courses in an online format, colleges can serve the needs of their
communities without having to duplicate course development efforts, which can be
particularly costly in some of the rapidly changing technical occupational areas.
A secondary objective of the collaborative has been sharing limited resources necessary
to develop and offer online courses. While there is an expectation that eventually the
costs associated with online courses will be comparable to traditional courses, initial
development of courses involves additional costs for infrastructure, professional
development and course redesign with little or no additional revenue generated, since
tuition is the same or only slightly higher for these courses. Michigan community
colleges recognize that quality online instruction limits the size of classes to numbers
similar to, or less than, traditional sections – which also limits options for decreasing
costs and increasing revenue. Thus, Michigan community colleges have identified
collaboration as a key way to share resources while building capacity.
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While the MCCVLC may appear to students and the casual observer to be similar to
other virtual campus initiatives in other states, it is important to recognize
organizationally, it is actually very different. Rather than being initiated by a state
legislature or administrative entity such as a state board for higher education, this
collaborative is a grass-roots initiative. It was conceived and organized by the public
community colleges in Michigan and is operated by the association (MCCA) to which all
28 colleges voluntarily belong. Member colleges are entirely responsible for governance
and management of the collaborative.
It is also significant that the Michigan community colleges have adopted a distributed
model for development of curriculum and support services, in contrast to a more
centralized approach. Certainly many of the challenges associated with online
programming are similar regardless of whether the model is centralized or distributed;
nonetheless, each does involve unique opportunities as well as challenges. The
transformation of 28 colleges to include some measure of programming and services for
online learners (the scope of programming and services are unique at each college) is
very different from the challenge of developing centralize programs and services on
behalf of a group of colleges.
Michigan community colleges recognize that the MCCVLC is a unique response to the
opportunities afforded by modern information technologies to enhance access to
community college programming. Organizationally and operationally, however, it is well
suited to the autonomous environment and culture in which Michigan community
colleges exist and operate. Perhaps more important, the collaborative has enabled
hundreds of students to enroll in courses to which they would otherwise not have had
access. The next logical step for member colleges is to begin offering complete associate
degree programs that are available online.
The initial success of Michigan community colleges with collaborative programming and
distributed services contributes to the confidence that high-quality online programs of
study can be offered via their participation in the MCCVLC. Likewise, collaboration in
the development of this request to the Higher Learning Commission was a logical
outcome of previous successful collaboration.
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Chapter 1
Proposed Change
The Specific Change Proposed and Relevant Commission Policy
The Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative (MCCVLC) is a
project of the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA), which has as
members all 28 publicly funded Michigan community colleges. This request has been
prepared collaboratively by 22 of the 28 MCCA member colleges and seeks approval
from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and
Schools for each participating college to offer programs of study at the associate degree
level that would be made available to students through the MCCVLC via distance
education technologies.
The Commission policy relevant to this change request is Policy I.C.2.b, which indicates
that Commission approval is required to extend accreditation to include:
4. Degree programs offered through distance delivery methods
The colleges that have collaborated in the development of this request are:
Alpena Community College
Bay de Noc Community College
Delta College
Glen Oaks Community College
Grand Rapids Community College
Henry Ford Community College
Jackson Community College
Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Kellogg Community College
Kirtland Community College
Lake Michigan College
Macomb Community College
Mid Michigan Community College
Monroe County Community College
Montcalm Community College
Muskegon Community College
North Central Michigan College
Northwestern Michigan College
Oakland Community College
St. Clair County Community College
Wayne County Community College
West Shore Community College
It is not the intention of these colleges that the MCCVLC itself will offer programs of
study; rather that the collaborative will facilitate program delivery much as it currently
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facilitates course offerings of member colleges. This facilitation currently involves
coordinating the services of all members in their often-simultaneous roles as home and
provider colleges, as well as by establishing formal agreements among member colleges.
With the approval of the MCCVLC Program Guidelines and MCCVLC Program
Agreement, the formal agreements are in place for the MCCVLC to facilitate delivery of
online programs of study – programs that will be developed by and offered by individual
member colleges.
Although a Michigan community college may choose to utilize the MCCVLC in order to
access courses from other colleges and student services provided via participation in the
MCCVLC, the decision to offer programs of study independent of the MCCVLC will
continue to be an option for each member college. If a college decides to offer an online
degree program independent of the MCCVLC, that institution will need to obtain
approval from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. It
should be noted that four Michigan community colleges have previously been approved
by the Higher Learning Commission to offer programs at a distance and are listed below:
Lansing Community College
Mott Community College
Schoolcraft College
Washtenaw Community College
In addition, Delta College will independently request approval of the Higher Learning
Commission for offering online degree programs, and a focused visit to Delta College for
consideration of that request is planned for April 15-16 of 2002.
Expected Outcomes of the Proposed Change
The primary objective of the Michigan’s community colleges in establishing the
MCCVLC was to enhance access to community college courses for Michigan residents,
regardless of their location or restrictions imposed by their personal, family or work
schedules. While Michigan community colleges are pleased to have over 520 courses
available online for the winter semester of 2002, we also recognize that the greatest
benefits of education are obtained by those engaged in a comprehensive program of
study. Thus, the primary outcome expected to result from this proposed change would be
to continue improving access to community college education to include complete
programs of study made available to students via distance education technologies.
In addition to availability of a variety of online programs to learners in communities
around the state, approval of this proposed change is expected to contribute to continued
growth in enrollment in online courses. These enrollments have been increasing
significantly each semester over the year-previous semester – for example, from winter
2001 to winter 2002, enrollment in online courses listed in the MCCVLC online course
schedule increased from 5200 to over 12,000 (over 100% increase). While it is
mathematically impossible to maintain such rates of increase indefinitely, these
enrollment patterns may persist for several semesters. Combined with the inherent
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convenience of the online delivery format, the quality of the courses, programs and
services will be critical to sustained growth.
Finally, this proposed change will enable colleges to better serve their communities by
making additional programs of study available to residents.
Impact of Proposed Change on Missions of Institutions
The mission of the MCCVLC, as established by the Michigan Community College
Association in the strategic plan for the collaborative in the summer of 1998 is:
“To connect the teaching and student support capacity of Michigan community
colleges so the learners and clients can access affordable, high-quality learning
experiences whenever and wherever desired.”
In order to successfully accomplish the mission of connecting the capacity of member
colleges in a manner that provides anywhere/anytime access for learners, the MCCVLC
has focused on two primary roles:
1) Facilitating communications between and among member colleges
2) Providing a single point of contact (web site) for students
Meanwhile, Michigan community colleges continue to provide the programming and
services according to their respective missions. All the colleges collaborating in this
request for institutional change have assumed a role of enhancing their communities by
offering a rich variety of educational opportunities to their residents; providing access to
online programs of study is consistent with the mission of all member colleges. The
mission statements (or a relevant excerpt thereof) of the twenty-two colleges participating
in this collaborative request are provided below:
Alpena Community College
The mission of Alpena Community College is to serve its communities' lifelong learning
needs by providing educational opportunities in the areas of transfer,
occupational/technical, developmental, community and continuing education.
Bay de Noc Community College
We enhance people's lives through wide ranging quality educational opportunities;
We embody a personalized, caring, innovative, learner-centered environment;
We embrace excellence, dedication, integrity, responsiveness, and respect;
And we empower people to make positive changes in their lives and communities.
Delta College
Our mission is to be an innovative and responsive community college dedicated to
meeting the diverse educational and personal growth needs of our students by providing
excellent learning opportunities and support services.
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Glen Oaks Community College
Glen Oaks Community College is committed to excellence in teaching and learning,
providing a supportive environment and maintaining high expectations for achievement.
The Glen Oaks environment is characterized by a genuine, caring, concern for all
individuals. Glen Oaks is committed to being an integral part of the community it serves.
All citizens who can benefit should have access to the College's programs and services.
Grand Rapids Community College
Our mission is to provide the community with learning opportunities that enable people
to achieve their goals.
Henry Ford Community College
(We) are dedicated to the education and enrichment of our students and community. As a
comprehensive community college with a diverse student population, we value teaching
and learning. To prepare our students for a rapidly changing world and workplace, we are
committed to providing knowledge, communication skills, and cultural opportunities. We
foster critical thinking, creativity, integrity, and self-esteem.
Jackson Community College
The mission of Jackson Community College is to provide quality learning opportunities
for individual growth and community improvement.
In fulfilling its mission, Jackson Community College provides learning opportunities and
other programs and services which:
 Enable students to transfer college credit and successfully pursue their education
at other institutions.
 Enable students to become employed and advance in a variety of occupations.
 Enable students to participate successfully in general, occupational or transfer
programs.
 Enable students to take and pass appropriate licensing and/or certification
examinations.
 Enable workers to become or remain productive employees.
 Assist students in identifying and reaching their educational goals.
 Support the economic development of individuals and the community.
 Enrich cultural, avocations and other intellectual interest of individuals and the
community.
Kalamazoo Valley Community College
As a diverse, open-door, flexible agent of change, Kalamazoo Valley Community
College incorporates the forces of education, technology and enterprise to bring
successful employees and techniques to the workplace; to promote and stimulate the
region's economic vitality; and to enhance the quality of life through the pursuit of
learning and the development of human potential.
Kellogg Community College
Kellogg Community College is a public institution of higher learning which shall provide
academic, occupational, general, and lifelong learning opportunities for all people in its
district and contiguous service area.
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Kirtland Community College
The purpose of Kirtland Community College is to improve the quality of life in the
Kirtland region by providing educational programs and services.
Lake Michigan College
The philosophy of Lake Michigan College, an institution of higher education, is founded
on the belief that education is for all who wish to develop their potential. It is
fundamental that a community college assist in meeting the educational, career, cultural,
wellness and recreational needs of the community it serves. This involves a five-fold
obligation:
 To provide for the educational aspirations, needs and learning expectations of the
individual and the community;
 To provide for the occupational needs and desires of the learner and the
community;
 To provide an assurance of quality in programs and in people;
 To develop an international perspective that prepares students;
 To develop employees and community members for a world economy and global
citizenship.
Macomb Community College
As a publicly funded and community-based institution of higher education, Macomb
Community College will provide a comprehensive program of high-quality educational,
enrichment, and economic development experiences designed to promote individual
growth and social improvement. Macomb Community College will endeavor to maintain
open, affordable, and lifelong access to the following learner-centered programs and
community services in fulfillment of its mission.
Mid Michigan Community College
The purpose of Mid Michigan Community College is to provide educational and
community leadership for the development of human ability. To this end the College
provides post-secondary education and services to enable students and the community to
achieve success in a global society.
Monroe County Community College
Monroe County Community College was established to provide a variety of higher
education opportunities for the residents of Monroe County. The College mission is to
provide:
 Programs for students planning to transfer to four-year institutions;
 Programs for students seeking an associate’s degree or certificate in an
occupational area;
 General education courses/experiences integrated throughout the curriculum;
 Training and retraining for business and industry;
 A strong complement of student support services;
 Other activities to meet the lifelong educational and employment needs of its
students.
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Montcalm Community College
Montcalm Community College creates a learning community in which educated and
trained people contribute to the economic, cultural and social well being.
Muskegon Community College
Muskegon Community College, an associate degree granting institution of higher
education, is a center for lifelong learning which provides persons the opportunity to
attain their educational goals by offering programs that respond to individual,
community, and global needs.
North Central Michigan College
The mission of North Central Michigan College is to provide educational, economic and
cultural opportunities for individual growth and community improvement in the
following areas: quality education and support services, community services and
activities, educational pathways to economic and workforce development, educational
leadership, and a center for higher education in partnership with other providers.
Northwestern Michigan College
Northwestern Michigan College provides lifelong learning opportunities to our
communities.
Oakland Community College
Oakland Community College is a student-centered institution which provides quality
learning opportunities for individuals, communities, and organizations on an accessible,
affordable basis.
St. Clair County Community College
St. Clair County Community College will provide a broad range of educational, cultural
and social opportunities. The College will address the diverse needs of the individuals
and communities it serves, striving for excellence and programmatic leadership in career
development, personal and professional development, business and industrial training,
and community enrichment. The College will underscore its commitment with an
unswerving allegiance to creativity, innovation and the highest standards of quality.
Wayne County Community College
Wayne County Community College District is an affordable, comprehensive,
contemporary, “open door,” urban/suburban and multicultural institution, whose
mission is to promote the educational, cultural, and economic development of the
community by providing quality education.
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West Shore Community College
West Shore Community College, through visionary and principled leadership and team
empowerment, pursues excellence by:
 Delivering high-quality, affordable educational services with student learning as
its highest priority.
 Developing powerful partnerships with other educational organizations,
optimizing student success.
 Supporting diversity and heightened global awareness through special programs
and ongoing academic instruction.
 Creating open and direct avenues through which emerging technology is made
accessible and effective for students, community and self.
 Providing cultural and social opportunities for community enrichment through
cultural arts, recreational activities and lifelong learning.
 Participating actively in its district’s economic development, anticipating and
meeting workforce needs of business and industry.
In every case, offering online programs of study will allow participating colleges to better
meet their respective missions by making programs available to learners that would
otherwise not be able to enroll in the program. While the numbers of students seeking
online degree programs will likely be small initially, the colleges participating in this
request to the Commission recognize that this change will, in fact, alter both the nature of
program delivery as well as the provision of academic and student support services.
For the provider college (the college offering the program of study via the MCCVLC),
the students to be served are no longer effectively restricted to residents of the college
service area. The physical separation of student from the college can present difficulties
in providing learning activities (particularly assessment activities) and/or support services
when those activities or services are customarily provided in a ‘face-to-face’ method.
Relying on the student’s home college to provide such services on behalf of the provider
college represents an effective way to overcome these difficulties.
Each member college has agreed, as a part of the MCCVLC Memorandum of
Understanding (see Appendix A), to serve as the home college for any local student
seeking an online program via the MCCVLC; this is significant as well. The home
college is now able to make programs of study available to the community that have not
been developed at the college. For many Michigan communities, this means that many
more programs will be available to residents. This may be particularly significant for
those seeking degrees in specialty occupational areas, where program development costs
are high and potential student numbers may be too low to justify the development of a
traditional program. Making an online program available represents one way to meet a
community’s need within the limitations of available resources. By serving as a home
college for MCCVLC programming, each college becomes a gateway (and assumes a
student support role) for local residents to access a variety of programs that might
otherwise be unavailable.
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At the same time, colleges recognize that the curriculum and many of the courses offered
to their community will have been developed elsewhere, and it may be necessary to
reassure their constituents that the programming is of high quality. To this end, the
MCCVLC Program Guidelines were developed by member colleges to identify the
critical elements of program quality. These guidelines were recommended to the MCCA
Board of Directors and were unanimously adopted at the July 20, 2001 meeting of the
Board. The MCCVLC Program Guidelines can be found in Appendix A.
As home colleges make programs of study from other Michigan community colleges
available, there are additional issues that must be addressed. These issues include
program availability, the credentials that will result from program completion, provision
of support services and others. In order to address these concerns, the MCCVLC
Program Agreement was developed and subsequently approved by the MCCA Board of
Directors in July of 2001. The MCCVLC Program Agreement is found in Appendix B.
Thus, the colleges participating in this request for institutional change recognize a
significant expansion of the students to be served, certainly in terms of their
characteristics if not in initial numbers (which are anticipated to be modest). However,
aside from being geographically dispersed, these students are unlikely to differ much
from the traditional students, and so these colleges are confident of their ability to
develop appropriate programs of study.
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Chapter 2
Factors Which Led to the Proposed Change
Relationship Between the Proposed Change and Ongoing Institutional Planning
The well-being of our society and the foundation of our economy is a well-educated
citizenry, and as technology is incorporated into every aspect of our lives, post-secondary
education becomes increasingly vital to Michigan and its residents. Extending
convenient, affordable access to higher education opportunities has been a long-standing
mission of Michigan community colleges. These colleges have a tradition of utilizing
technology to address the barriers to education. Initial distance learning activities at
many campuses, which began in the late 1970’s, include the offering of telecourses and
live, interactive video networks that reached into the college communities by either local
cable systems or private networks.
Michigan community colleges also have a tradition of voluntary collaboration in sharing
resources and combining purchasing power to assist with the acquisition of content and
delivery systems to help with their educational outreach efforts. In 1981, eleven colleges
started the Educational Teleconsortium of Michigan (ETOM) for the expressed purpose
of “promoting and enhancing the development, implementation, delivery and
management of educational telecommunications services and systems in higher
education.” Today that organization includes all Michigan community colleges and has
assisted the colleges in statewide purchases of telecourse and teleconferencing licenses as
well as course management software – all of which have made it more affordable for
smaller institutions to offer distance learning programming.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the Michigan Community College Association was
the recipient of successful grants from the W.K.Kellogg Foundation for the development
of satellite downlinks and subsequently adding interactive video classrooms at each
community college. These projects provided member colleges with additional resources
to enhance outreach efforts. Michigan community colleges also participated in statewide
purchase of a Virtual Private Network, provided by commercial telecommunications
carrier (Sprint) and facilitated by the Michigan Collegiate Telecommunications
Association (MiCTA). These activities allowed Michigan community colleges to save
thousands of dollars while developing and offering college courses to students who were
unable to access traditional educational offerings because of geographic barriers. This
new capability enabled colleges to expand their scope of service by offering more courses
at “satellite” campuses throughout their service districts.
Describe the Needs Analysis Related to this Proposed Change
During the 1995-96 school year the MCCA established a Trustee/President Taskforce on
Statewide Services to investigate how to better serve the population that did not reside
within a Michigan community college district. It should be noted that 50% of the state is
geographically outside any community college service area, and 20% of Michigan
residents live in these ‘undistricted’ areas. The task force considered all potential options
for better serving all the residents of the state. In a report presented in the spring of 1996,
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the Task Force made three recommendations regarding actions to be taken to address the
issue. One of the recommendations addressed the use of technology to extend
educational opportunities to those residents who do not reside in a community college
service district:
“Immediately convene a planning group to develop detailed plans for a
Michigan community college partnership which would provide programs
delivered through various forms of technology. All Michigan community
colleges could collaborate in this effort, provide programs to the extent
each is willing and capable, and proportionately share in the expense and
revenue. Major issues which would need to be addressed in the
comprehensive planning effort include: funding, technology, curricula,
delivery, student support, community support and legal.”
As a result of that report, the MCCA Presidents’ Technology-mediated Instruction
Taskforce was created. MCCA leadership recognized an opportunity that would build on
a tradition of collaboration to leverage the unique advantages afforded by emerging
information technologies to offer learning opportunities to Michigan residents any time
and any place. In September 1996 the Presidents Taskforce established a staff committee
(Staff Taskforce) to study and make operational recommendations for developing a
Michigan Virtual Community College. The Staff Taskforce was comprised of one
representative from each college, appointed by the President.
The Staff Taskforce met monthly using five interactive video classrooms located around
the state. To facilitate between-meeting discussion, a shared resource environment was
created on the World Wide Web along with a Conferencing On the Web environment and
a listserv. During the first few months, the Staff Taskforce began an audit of the
Intercollegiate Programmatic Partnerships and identified and assessed other statewide
audits of technology and distance instruction.
At the December 1996 meeting of the MCCA Presidents, a draft mission statement and
core beliefs document was prepared for subsequent approval by the MCCA Board of
Directors. The project was named the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning
Collaborative (MCCVLC). It was agreed that developing a collaborative network open to
participation of all 28 community colleges was the goal, rather than development of a
new community college, which would represent competition for the existing member
colleges. Further, it was recognized that providing quality learning opportunities and
provision of student services would be the focal points of the collaboration.
On March 25, 1997 the MCCA Board of Directors (Trustees and Presidents) met to
consider formally investing in development of the collaborative. The initiative was
approved unanimously and an assessment fee was levied to fund the planning and early
development stages of the MCCVLC.
In the fall of 1997 the MCCA Presidents and Trustees developed policy strategies for the
collaborative based on the core beliefs. They also identified a seven-person lead team to
complete the final planning of the MCCVLC. The lead team worked with the Staff
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Taskforce during the final planning phase, seeking input to the draft strategic and
business plans. Out of that planning came the refinement of the Guiding Principles
(Appendix C), the Mission and Vision Statements (Appendix G) and a Strategic and
Business Plan for the project.
During the 1998 Summer Institute the MCCA Board of Directors approved the
MCCVLC Strategic and Business Plans and appointed an Executive Director for the
collaborative. During the fall of 1998 the Michigan Community College Association
identified members of the new MCCVLC Governing Committee. That committee
included a total of 8 appointees – four community college trustees and four presidents.
Describe the Involvement of Various Constituencies in Developing the Proposed
Change
The development of the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative
has involved representation from every Michigan community college and included those
with expertise in nearly every functional aspect of a modern, comprehensive community
college. The MCCVLC is a project of the Michigan Community College Association and
the Presidents and Trustees of that organization provided the initial strategic planning,
directions, and goal setting. MCCA involvement continues to ensure that the goals of the
collaborative remain consistent with member college strategic goals. The MCCVLC
Governing Committee, appointed by the MCCA Board of Directors, has the principal
task of providing strategic oversight for the project and staff.
The original Staff Taskforce that was created by the Presidents during the design of the
collaborative was retained as the MCCVLC Advisory Council, with responsibility for
addressing operational issues. Each member of the Advisory Council represents his/her
institution as issues of implementation are considered by the collaborative. In addition,
those Council members are the MCCVLC point of contact at each institution.
Accordingly, their responsibilities are to coordinate all efforts on their individual campus
relating to matters of the collaborative. The Advisory Council meets three times a
semester utilizing up to twelve interactive video sites throughout the state. While it
initially took some time and effort to become effective in conducting meetings via
interactive television, it’s the only conceivable way to frequently bring busy Advisory
Council representatives together in a state as large as Michigan.
The MCCVLC has a very small staff consisting of the Executive Director, Director of
Academic Programs and the Coordinator of Student Services. As a collaborative of
distributed programs and services, the staff is responsible for the daily processes and
procedures as well as assisting the Advisory Council.
During the 1998-99 academic year the MCCVLC staff and Advisory Council worked on
the development of the MCCVLC Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that defines
the relationships between and among the member colleges. The MOU is a significant
document, as it represents the consensus of the many individuals that participated in its
development. The purpose of the MOU is “to establish the general framework for
collaboration among Michigan Community Colleges in support of technology-mediated
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courses and to serve as a formal consortium agreement among member colleges in order
that students can receive financial assistance while enrolled in courses offered through
the collaborative.” The Memorandum of Understanding was approved by the MCCA
Presidents and Trustees in summer of 1999 and detailed the issues of membership,
governance, funding, home college/provider college participation, articulation of courses,
tuition, revenue sharing, and financial aid. The MOU is provided in Appendix A.
Development of the MOU, and continued work on MCCVLC policies, processes and
procedures is assisted by statewide professional associations with extensive expertise in
their respective service areas. The MCCVLC staff and the Advisory Council members
benefit from the working relationships that have been built with the statewide
organizations such as the business officers, financial aid directors, registrars, librarians,
and others, to help direct the operational functions of the collaborative in a ways that are
both effective and efficient. The following is a brief synopsis of some of the specific
expertise that has assisted the development of the MCCVLC:





Michigan Community College Business Officers Association developed the single
tuition rate as well as the revenue sharing policy and procedures. This
organization has continuously reviewed the procedures and revised accordingly.
Michigan Student Financial Aid Association prepared the Financial Aid
Consortium Agreement, which states the conditions under which financial aid
may be awarded to home college students taking classes from other provider
colleges.
Michigan Community College Student Services Association developed the
policies and procedures for placement testing and proctored testing. Specific test
proctoring specialists now oversee the procedures for proctoring tests from
provider colleges.
Michigan Community College librarians have completed work on the MCCVLC
Interlibrary Loan Policy as well as the development of an informational web page
for students on Doing Research in the Library and on the Web.
The MCCA chief academic officers reviewed and provided input into the
development of Guidelines for Online Programs, which is the primary agreement
for programs of study offered via the MCCVLC.
Collaboratively linking the existing professional organizations into the MCCVLC
provides a level of ownership on the part of those organizations to see that their work is
successful. It also encourages a greater level of visibility for the MCCVLC on all
member institutions campuses. But perhaps the greatest advantage to this collaborative
work is the increased opportunity for students who are pursuing courses and programs of
study in non-traditional formats. The continuous link of the MCCVLC with the various
organizations of institutional administration and support services provides the
opportunity for increased integration of services that are appropriate for the distance
learner.
Externally, the MCCVLC has a partnership with the Michigan Virtual University (MVU)
and works closely with representatives of MVU on issues of articulation with 4-year
universities and the Michigan Virtual High School. MVU also provides assistance with
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faculty development activities for Michigan community college faculty and staff, and
provides technical assistance and infrastructure support for the MCCVLC web site.
The MCCVLC also has significant associations with the Michigan Department of
Education and works with that state agency in the area of professional development for
faculty and staff. Additionally, the Michigan Department of Career Development is a
state agency that has worked with the collaborative in the development of staff
professional development.
Finally the MCCVLC and the MCCA have provided regular updates to the Michigan
Legislature, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and Department of
Management and Budget with regard to distance education (and in particular the
activities of the MCCVLC) with respect to financial aid, enrollments, tuition, copyright
issues, etc.
College Plans for Online Programming
While Michigan community colleges are collaborating in planning and implementation of
online programming through the MCCVLC, each individual college has a unique history
in distance learning and is developing plans for online programming consistent with the
needs of their community and the institution. A summary of those plans is included
below for the 22 colleges participating in this collaborative request.
Alpena Community College
Alpena Community College does not currently have plans to offer a full certificate or
associate degree online. The college's plan is to offer a variety of courses online which
support the traditional certificate and degree programs. Courses currently offered support
the Business Information Systems and Network Administration occupational associate
degree programs. General Education courses in English Composition and Language and
Reason (Philosophy) are also offered online. We plan to continue to expand online
offerings slowly in these areas and possibly other occupational programs such as
Concrete Technology.
Bay de Noc Community College
Bay de Noc Community College (Bay) plans to offer degrees programs in business and
transfer studies through the MCCVLC beginning in September 2002. The Associate of
Applied Science (AAS) degree in Business is a 63 credit hour program designed for
direct entry into employment. The Associate of Arts (AA) degree is designed for
students who plan transferring into a baccalaureate program. Students will take a
compilation of courses from Bay and other colleges in the MCCVLC. Specialized
program counseling and tracking of students’ achievement will be conducted by Bay
staff.
Bay has participated with the MCCVLC since its inception and has been offering online
classes since the autumn semester of 1998. That first semester we offered three classes in
which 49 students were enrolled. During the autumn semester of 2001 we offered 29
classes to 497 students. Growth by semesters has be consistent by the number of sessions
15
offered: 3, 7, 14, 19 and 29; and by total enrollment 49, 113, 230, 363, and 497. From an
initial two-faculty teaching online, we now have twenty different faculty teaching online
sections. The breadth of disciplines includes business, social sciences, computing,
communications, literature, economics, history, and the health sciences.
Delta College
Request for change of institutional status: Delta College is requesting an institutional
change of status to offer an Associate of Arts degree via e-learning, which includes
course offerings through telecourses and on-line/Internet. As of Spring 2001, Delta
College recognized that the number of e-learning courses and the number of students
enrolled in them approached the level identified by the Higher Learning Commission-a
Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools as requiring an
institutional change of status. At that time, the number of courses offered through elearning reached 50% of the courses required for completion of an Associate of Arts
degree.
Upon reaching this determination, Delta College staff began working with our College's
liaison at the Higher Learning Commission to initiate a request for a change in
institutional status for e-learning as required by Commission Policy 1.C2.b, which
addresses changes in educational offerings. College staff are currently completing the
Request for Approval of Institutional Change to obtain institutional approval for an
Associate of Arts degree via e-learning and our Focused Visit is scheduled for April 1516, 2002 (evaluators: George Bagwell, Professor, Colorado Mountain College-Alpine
Campus and Dr. Terry Britton, Executive Vice President, Rose State College). Due to the
College's involvement in the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning
Collaborative and the Kellogg grant, we are participating in a parallel process.
Rationale: The motivation and rationale for the Delta College institutional change of
status request is to provide an alternative instructional delivery system of our existing
Associate of Arts degree for our students, primarily those who reside in the College's
district (Bay, Midland, and Saginaw Counties). As verification that we are providing
alternative instructional delivery to our students (versus expanding our geographical and
student base), in the Fall 2000 semester, Delta College enrolled a total of 9,358 students
(unduplicated headcount). Of the 9,358 students enrolled, 86 students only enrolled in a
telecourse(s), and 84 students only enrolled in an Internet course offering. This trend has
continued; during the Winter 2001 semester, a total of 9,138 students enrolled at the
College, with 71 students only enrolled in a telecourse(s) and 100 students only enrolled
in an Internet course offering; and likewise during the Fall 2001 semester, a total of
10,058 students enrolled at the College, with 75 students only enrolled in a telecourse(s)
and 114 students only enrolled in an Internet course offering. During the same timeframe
of Winter 2000 through the Fall 2001 semesters, a total of 2,727 enrollments occurred in
telecourses (duplicate headcount) and 2,138 enrollments occurred in Internet courses
(duplicate headcount). This data provides evidence that our campus-based students
enhance their learning options through e-learning.
e-learning Enrollment Trends at Delta: Online/Internet student enrollment has steadily
increased since the first course was offered during the winter 1996 semester. A student
enrollment in telecourses has been steady, with enrollments slightly increasing in 199916
00 and 2000-01. The following chart describes the student enrollment and course
sections offered via e-learning and the trends:
Telecourses
Internet
Year:
Sections
Enrollments
Sections
Enrollments
1994-95
53
1,412
1
1
1995-96
51
1,312
5
60
1996-97
51
1,383
8
124
1997-98
56
1,303
11
187
1998-99
55
1,409
37
370
1999-00
59
1,619
56
870
2000-01
103
2,727*
131
2,138*
*Includes Winter 2000, Spring/Summer 2000, Fall 2000, Winter 2001 and Fall 2001
semesters.
Faculty Training for e-learning: Delta College requests all faculty who wish to teach
on-line/Internet courses to complete the ED 392 "Internet Teaching Techniques for
Teachers" course. This is a 45-hour contact course and the outcomes and objectives are
as follows:
Outcome #1: Create a project for use in a classroom situation that uses at least two of
the Internet tools taught in the course.
Objectives:
 Write rationale for the use of Internet strategies into their existing curricula based
upon course readings, lectures, use of Internet tools, and guest lectures.
 Create strategies and plans to implement the Internet into their course curricula.
 Create exercises related to existing curricula.
Outcome #2: Create evaluation strategies for their Internet project.
Objectives:
 Evaluation models of already existing Internet-delivered courses and strategies.
 Evaluate research on using the Internet instruction.
 Cite the uses of a discussion list in a traditional classroom and in distance learning
situations.
 Search the Internet for discussion lists relevant to curricula.
 Cite the uses of WWW in a traditional classroom and in distance learning situations.
 Cite uses of synchronous chat tools in traditional classroom and distance learning
situations.
Outcome #3: Implement their Internet project in their classroom.
Objectives:
 Manage a discussion list for use in the classroom.
 Display classroom management techniques related to the use of discussion lists at
various instructional levels and curricula.
 Demonstrate search strategies on the WWW.
 Create a web page that presents instructional materials.
 Demonstrate the elements of instructional design in creating web pages.
17


Use at least two synchronous chat tools.
Lead a discussion in a synchronous chat environment.
Outcome #4: Create a notebook/file of Internet resources.
Objectives:
 Demonstrate their knowledge of this pedagogy in the creation of appropriate learning
activities for their students to use.
 Create discussion questions and activities to use with a discussion list.
 Create exercises related to existing curricula that use synchronous chat.
A total of 39 Delta College faculty have successfully completed ED 392 as of Fall 2001.
By discipline, the following Delta College faculty are available and/or have provided online/Internet instruction:
Joyce Howard
David Bailey
Charisse Urbano
Masood Mowlavi
Deb Temperly
diedra knox
Mark Robertson
Leslie Hersch
Ron Sharp
Marty Goodson
Scott Schultz
David Baker
Carolyn Sandford
Dee Mulholland
Robert Hoag
Tim Klingler
Michele Whitaker
Scanlon Romer
Nadine Nader
Frank Yurgens
Biology
Biology
Biology
Biology
Biology
Biology
Biology
Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry
Computer Systems
Computer Systems
Computer Systems
Criminal Justice
Economics
English
English
Mitchell Jarosz
English
Pat Hutchins
English
Joan Ramm
English
Elaine Karls
English
Sylvia Robins
English
R. Holtman
Fire Science
Pheobe Lutz
Mathematics
James Ham
Mathematics
Peter Carlson
Mathematics
Dawn Schmidt
Mathematics
Gail Johnson
Office Systems
Chris Curtis
Psychology
Ralph Worthing
Psychology
Ellen Waxman
Psychology
Mary Kate Hiatt
Political Science
Christine Eckerle
Quality Systems
Judy Gonzalez
Speech
Nancy Vader-McCormicSpeech
Peggy Crawford
Wellness
Given the trends in e-learning generally and specifically at Delta College, we anticipate a
continued student enrollment increase in courses delivered through e-learning as well as
an increase in the number of courses offered. The College is currently preparing its SelfStudy Plan and is due for a Comprehensive visit from the Higher Learning Commission-a
Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in Fall 2003. One
of the purposes of the Self-Study is to obtain approval for additional e-learning degrees.
By the Fall 2003 semester, we hope to receive approval from the Higher Learning
Commission-a Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to
offer Associate of Applied Arts and Associate of General Studies degrees via e-learning.
Delta College staff are currently reviewing the feasibility of offering all components of
an Associate of Applied Science degree via e-learning, and approval for this degree may
be also be requested during the Comprehensive evaluation, as appropriate.
18
Articulation Agreements: Delta College has signed articulation agreements with fouryear institutions so that Delta College students can complete the requirements for a
bachelor's degree via e-learning. Currently, the College has the following signed
articulation agreements with four-year institutions:
Franklin University: A Delta College Associate degree plus 20-24 credit hours from a
recommended list may be transferred. Majors are available in Business Administration,
Computer Science, Technical Administration, Health Service Administration and
Management Information Systems. All courses may be taken through distance/e-learning.
Eighteen minors are also available.
Career Programs: Architectural Technology, Automotive Service Technology, Child
Development, Computer Numerical Control Technology, Construction Management,
Dental Assisting, Dental Hygiene, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Medical Office
Professions/Medical Secretary, Nursing, Paramedic, Physical Therapist Assistant,
Radiography, Residential Construction, Respiratory Care, Skilled Trades, Surgical
Technology, Water Environment Technology and Welding Engineering Technology.
Transfer Programs: Business Administration and Computer Science.
Saint Leo University: A Delta College graduate may transfer up to 66 credits including
general education and go into a BA in Accounting, Business Administration, or a BS in
computer Information Systems. All courses through St. Leo University are available via
e-learning.
Career Programs: Computer Science and Information Technology (Accounting,
Application Specialist, and Programming).
Transfer Programs: Business Administration and Computer Science.
Governors State University: A senior-level university offers Delta College students a
Board of Governors Bachelor of Arts Degree. Adult learners have the opportunity to
design their own degree program and take courses that fit their career goals and personal
interests. Students may transfer up to 80 credit hours from Delta College. To complete
the bachelor degree a minimum of 40 upper-division semester hours must be taken from
any four-year university, and 15 semester credit hours must be completed from GSU and
may be distance learning courses.
Delta College has recently updated its website through a contract with Collegis (Delta
College outsources Information Technology), and e-learning students are able to obtain
Student and Educational Services including admissions, financial aid, records, advising,
tutoring, bookstore services and library services, via Internet. In addition, by Spring
2002, it is planned that students will be able to complete registration and payment for
courses on-line.
19
Glen Oaks Community College
Glen Oaks Community College presently offers 17 online courses in areas such as
computer technology, social work, accounting, allied health and the social sciences.
Additionally, the college offers certificate programs in Banking & Finance and Social
Work Technician. Currently being developed for online delivery are an Associate Degree
in Applied Science in Social Work in collaboration with Kellogg Community College, a
Health Insurance Coder/Biller Certificate in collaboration with Jackson Community
College and computer course work toward MOUS Certification. A 2002/2003 plan for
online course and program development is currently being addressed.
Grand Rapids Community College
Grand Rapids Community College is currently a partner in three certificate programs:
Network Specialist, Web Administration, and Child Development. These programs will
be listed in our catalog as online programs offered through GRCC.
GRCC currently offers 9 courses online. Our proposed plan is to offer 16 courses next
year, to offer 32 the year after, and 64 the year after that. Our intent is to focus courses in
three areas: those needed to complete the requirements for the A.A. degree, at least one
degree program in Computer Applications, and at least one degree program in Business.
We are currently supporting the course development for next year and are working out
the financial strategies to support the planned expansion of our online offerings. This is
still in a proposal stage on our campus, with commitment to support next year’s activities.
Henry Ford Community College
The Henry Ford Community College computer information systems department is
developing online certificates in two areas – Network Administration and Web
Development. The courses for these certificates, and the certificates, will be jointly
offered by four community colleges: Henry Ford, Grand Rapids, Northwestern Michigan,
and Oakland.
At this time, the Henry Ford CIS department has offered only one class for the Network
certificate, and it was cancelled for low enrollment. The first online class for the Web
certificate was offered and is currently running. As other courses are developed for these
certificates, they will be offered. Now that our MTEC is ready, we expect the number of
sections of these classes to increase as well. It should be noted that students can take
these courses either online or in a classroom setting in order to earn the certificates.
As for other online courses, we are offering entirely online sections of: Beginning
Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, and Introductory Biology (except for the lab). We have
three courses online in the Energy Technology program. By fall we expect to have a
section or two of English 131 online.
20
Jackson Community College
Jackson Community College has developed sixty-five (65) online courses over the past
three years. During fall and winter semesters, approximately forty-six (46) different
courses are offered. Approximately twenty (20) courses are offered during spring
semester. Online courses have accounted for approximately seven percent (7%) of
Jackson Community College’s total credit hours for Fall 2001 and Winter 2002
enrollment.
Based on student demand as well as the strategic intent of the college to complete full
online certificates and degrees, new online courses are developed each semester. This
enrollment increase has also created the need for additional course sections. For
example, ENG 131 Writing Experience was first offered in spring 1999 with only one
section. Student demand has resulted in the addition in two extra sections of Writing
Experience in the three major semesters. This growth pattern is also reflected in other
online courses where additional sections are being added.
Jackson Community College is currently in process of completing the following:
Certificates
Customer Energy Specialist – expected completion Fall 2002
Health Insurance Coder /Biller - expected completion Fall 2002
Mammography – expected completion Fall 2002
Business – expected completion Fall 2003
Marketing – expected completion Fall 2003
Management – expected completion Fall 2003
Diagnostic Medical Sonography – expected completion Fall 2002
Vascular Sonography – expected completion Fall 2002
Mini Certificates
Entrepreneurship - expected completion Fall 2003
E-Commerce - expected completion Fall 2003
Financial Services - expected completion Fall 2003
Advanced Management - expected completion Fall 2003
Degrees
Diagnostic Medical Sonography Associate in Applied Science – expected completion
Fall 2002
Nursing Associate in Applied Science - expected completion Fall 2002
Vascular Sonography Associate in Applied Science - Winter 2003
Associate in Arts – expected completion Winter 2003
Associate in General Studies – expected completion – Winter 2003
Business Administration Associate in Applied Science – expected completion Fall 2003
Marketing Associate in Applied Science – expected completion Fall 2003
Management Associate in Applied Science – expected completion Fall 2003
MACRAO Transfer Agreement – expected completion Winter 2003
Jackson Community College is currently completing articulation agreements with the
University of Phoenix, Franklin University and Walsh College, which would enable
students to complete their baccalaureate degree online.
21
Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC) is currently offering eight courses
through the MCCVLC. We anticipate that the number of online courses will increase by
approximately two to three per year. This estimate could change based on our needs for
development of online courses or programs. In addition, KVCC is involved in two
collaborative W.K. Kellogg grants for the development of online programs/certificates:
the LPN Re-entry to RN – Associate Degree and the Customer Energy Specialist
certificate.
Kellogg Community College
Associate Degree Programs currently offered:
 None
Associate Degree Programs under development:
 Associate of Applied Science in Social Work
 Associate of Applied Science in Nursing
Associate Degree Programs proposed:
 Associate in General Studies
Certificate Programs currently offered:
 Social Work Technician Certificate
 Microsoft Office User Specialist Preparation Certificate
Certificate Programs under development:
 Information Technology Job Readiness Certificate
Kirtland Community College
Kirtland Community College started offering online classes in the fall semester of 1998.
Growth in student enrollment and class offerings has continued over the last three years.
This academic year the college will offer 31 online classes to a projected enrollment of
400 students.
As a small community college with limited resources, Kirtland has embarked on
collaborative efforts in offering online classes. Online classes were initially offered
through the Dallas Community College District LeCroy Center for Distance Education.
(http://www.lecroy.dcccd.edu/) When the opportunity to join the MCCVLC/MCCA
collaborative developed, Kirtland became an active member. Recently, Kirtland
completed an articulation agreement with Franklin University, which enables Kirtland
students to complete their baccalaureate degree online.
Currently, Kirtland is participating in a W. K. Kellogg grant with Kalamazoo Valley and
Monroe County Community Colleges in developing an online RN - completion program.
This program is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) re-entry program. It will enable LPNs
to return to school to become a Registered Nurse (RN) by completing an Associate
Degree online.
Kirtland is also in the process of developing an online Business Certificate, which may be
available to students as early as the 2002-03 academic year.
22
Lake Michigan College
Lake Michigan College plans to offer many online courses which will support our
certificate and degree programs or other community college programs but will not in the
near future be in the position to offer a full certificate or degree program. Our plans are
to expand our online offerings in the areas of Occupational Studies and Liberal Arts.
Macomb Community College
Macomb Community College intends to offer the following online programs through the
MCCVLC for fall, 2002: General Business, General Studies and Web Programming. In
addition, three certificate programs will be implemented. These include General
Business, Web Developer and Web Master.
In fall, 1998, MCC’s online programming started with four courses, three trained online
facilitators, and eighty students. By fall, 2000, enrollment grew to 594 students. Last fall,
2001, enrollment increased to 1,531 students – a 158% increase. Currently, MCC offers
42 unique online courses, averaging 76 sections per semester, and our spring, 2002 online
enrollment equals 1,593 students.
Mid Michigan Community College
Mid Michigan Community College is currently offering 30 to 35 online courses in the fall
and winter semesters. The college does not yet have all courses developed to complete an
online Associates degree exclusively from Mid Michigan Community College. Online
coursework is now completed for MOUS certification but the problem of final on-site
testing for the certification is not yet solved.
Mid Michigan Community College is planning to continue development of online classes
with complete two-year degrees and certificates but no completion date has been set.
Science classes with labs and certain General Education classes are mainly undeveloped
because of technical difficulties or faculty concerns. If these problems or concerns can be
overcome, complete online degrees will be accomplished.
Our first online classes were offered in the winter 1999 semester and each year, growth in
student enrollment has been steady. Liberal Arts courses in particular are in heavy
demand and the college could often open extra sections of these classes. Trained and
experienced online faculty are not always available which restricts our ability to offer
extra sections. Another consideration is that online students are often our local students,
and opening more online sections can deplete enrollment in on-site sections.
Monroe County Community College
Monroe County Community College currently offers twelve course sections each fall and
winter semester using distance learning technologies, two of which are videotape-based
and the remainder online. The twelve sections represent approximately two percent of all
offerings each semester. The college plans to gradually increase distance learning course
offerings over the next three years to perhaps five percent of total sections, provided that
student reaction remains favorable and demand continues to grow. Monroe does not
currently foresee offering complete certificate or degree programs online, although the
institution is part of a consortium of three Michigan community colleges currently
developing an online LPN-to-RN completion program.
23
Montcalm Community College
Montcalm Community College currently offers twenty-three online courses. Nine of
these offerings are in Criminal Justice and seven are in business or accounting. The
majority of the rest of the courses are general education courses including Psychology,
English, and Economics. The college also offers a computer course and two biology
courses in a hybrid (partially on line and partially face-to-face) format. For most of these
courses, one section is offered each semester.
At the present time, Montcalm Community College offers an online certificate program
(15 hours) in Criminal Justice/Corrections. The college is currently in the process of
seeking approval to offer an Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice in an
online format. A possible certificate offering in business is at the discussion stage of
development.
Muskegon Community College
Muskegon Community College serves a large population of students in communities that
are rural to the Muskegon area. Muskegon Community College also recognizes the need
to offer educational opportunities to all students including not only those with
transportation concerns, but also those who may have physical disabilities, are
homebound, those that have jobs that don’t allow them to attend on campus courses for
fifteen straight weeks at a specific time and place, and those who may have child care
concerns. Muskegon Community College enrolled 610 students in thirty-five online
courses in the Fall 2001 semester.
Muskegon Community College is actively involved in the development of online degree
and certificate programs. We are in the process of implementing a two-year degree in
computer applications and exploring the possibility of certificate programs in
international business and a Michigan state certification for prison workers.
North Central Michigan College
North Central Michigan College (NCMC) currently has no immediate plans to offer a full
program, certificate or degree, online, i.e., with 100% online delivery methods.
However, the college is currently engaged in a partnership project with Grand Rapids
Community College in which a series of courses (not a “program”) are being developed
which will enable students to sit for a national certification examination in early
childhood education. This project is being funded by the W.K Kellogg Foundation under
the auspices of the MCCVLC.
Currently NCMC has no complete programs offered entirely online. However, faculty
are exploring various additional courses that can be offered online with the expectation
that our offerings will increase in the future. In addition a significant number of the full
time faculty (~>50%) are currently augmenting traditional courses with online
components, and it is reasonable to assume that these developments will likely evolve
into full-blown online courses, and even more, in the not too distant future. Interest
among adjunct faculty is also growing rapidly in the institution.
Currently, NCMC offers the following courses online (Offering Locations):
24
a.
b.
c.
d.
PSY 161, Introduction to Psychology (MCCVLC & NCMC)
ECE 130, Child Guidance and Communication Skills (MCCVLC & NCMC)
ENG 102, English Composition II (NCMC)
ENG 250, Mythology (MCCVLC & NCMC)
As can be seen, the number of online courses is limited. As this number increases,
however, it is expected that faculty and administration will consider more seriously and
deliberately the offering of entire programs online. Currently there are no immediate
plans to do so.
Northwestern Michigan College
Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) in collaboration with MCCVLC partners will
soon be offering two associate degree programs and two certificate (level 1) programs.
One of the associate programs, the Associate of Nursing Degree, is ready for delivery.
The program will begin as soon as we receive Michigan Board of Nursing approval. The
second associates will be a transfer degree program, an Associates of Sciences and Arts.
This program could also begin at any time, but we are waiting to provide more options to
our students. We are working on articulation agreements where students who elect to
focus on criminal justice will be able to transfer into a 4-year Criminal Justice program.
The certificate programs are Network Specialist and Web Developer Programs. These
programs are designed to enable students to complete the level 1 certificate online, or
with some additional courses that may or may not be offered online, complete Network
Administration and Web Master Level 2 Certificates.
NMC supports flexible learning options for its students. We have over 130 courses
available in alternative delivery formats, 43 of which are delivered online. As demand
warrants we will be adding more programs to our online offerings.
Oakland Community College
At Oakland community College (OCC), current plans for online programming are those
programs being developed as part of the MCCVLC Kellogg grant. The first two programs
will be the web developer certificate program and the network specialist certification
program. These should come online in the next year or so. We are presently offering 23
fully on line courses and 124 traditional courses that augment with online components
(OCC uses the BlackBoard course management system). Presently under development is
an online dental assistant program, however the clinical portion of the program will not
be online. The college has made no commitments to other online programs, but an
Associate in Arts degree program is under consideration.
St. Clair County Community College
St. Clair County Community College's plan for online program accreditation is currently
limited to active participation in the collaborative effort through the MCCVLC.
Although the number of online courses continues to increase here at St. Clair, the
college is still a fair distance away from applying for online program accreditation
directly. For the Winter 2002 semester just beginning, St. Clair has 18 different online
offerings. Three of them have multiple sections. Also, in reserve for re-offerings are 7
more, and another 5 are already in the design stages.
25
One of the first complete online programs that St. Clair will pursue will be a Liberal Arts
Transfer. It will follow guidelines defined in the MCCVLC document "Template for
Generic AA Degree Online." The program will meet all graduation requirements
including the seven specific competencies in general education. Courses provided by St.
Clair will be combined with those only available in the MCCVLC. An information grid
of this blend will be finalized by the end of this semester.
Wayne County Community College
Online learning began at Wayne County Community College in the fall of 1998 with one
instructor offering two English classes on a "free" Blackboard site. In the spring 2002
semester we are offering 16 different courses with a total enrollment of over 300 students
on the college’s Blackboard server. At the present time we have no exclusively online
certificate or degree program. Our focus has been directed towards assisting faculty to
enrich present classroom practice with online components. In addition, all 22 of our
telecourses have online components. As more faculty and students become comfortable
with online learning, and the demand continues to increase, our expectation is to add
more totally online classes and possibly online certificate or degree programs.
West Shore Community College
West Shore Community College serves four very rural counties in Michigan.
Transportation to and from campus is a challenge for many or our students. West Shore is
committed to serving all students and is therefore committed to providing distance
learning opportunities for students. Currently the College offers approximately 17 online
and three interactive television (ITV) classes, per semester, to make our educational
programs more accessible to our students. This semester we have 230 students enrolled in
online classes and each semester this total increases. One certificate program (Banking
and Finance) and two degree programs (Criminal Justice and Business Management) are
currently under development for delivery online.
West Shore Community College is actively collaborating with other community colleges
in the development of online degree and certificate programs. We believe that being a
member of the MCCVLC benefits our students because they will have access to a wider
variety of courses and programs than we are able to provide.
26
Chapter 3
Necessary Approvals
Identify the Internal Approvals Required
The internal approvals necessary for the submission of this request have been provided
by both the MCCA Board of Directors as well as by individual member colleges. The
MCCA Board of Directors is comprised of two representatives from each member
college – the president and a trustee director, for a total of fifty-six voting members.
Actions approved by the MCCA Board of Directors are broadly representative of the
collective priorities of Michigan community colleges and the MCCA. Formal actions
passed by the MCCA Board include approval of:
 MCCVLC Memorandum of Understanding (July 17, 1999)
 MCCVLC Program Guidelines (July 20, 2001)
 MCCVLC Program Agreement (July 20, 2001)
The MCCVLC Memorandum of Understanding describes the relationships between and
among the member colleges, including an Articulation Agreement and a Financial Aid
Consortium Agreement. The MCCVLC Program Guidelines, approved at the summer
2001 meeting of MCCA, establish formal guidelines for the development of online
programs of study to be offered via the MCCVLC and become a component of the
Memorandum of Understanding dealing with the issue of quality of programming.
The MCCVLC Program Agreement is an information form that was also approved at the
summer 2001 MCCA meeting. For each online program of study that a college would
like to make available through the collaborative, the college will submit a Program
Agreement form to MCCA providing relevant information to other member colleges
about this program, the resultant credentials awarded to completers, program availability,
program assessment criteria and other pertinent information.
In addition, each MCCA member college participating in this collaborative request for
institutional change has submitted a letter signed by the college CEO specifically
requesting that the MCCVLC include their college in this process with the Higher
Learning Commission. A copy of all twenty-two letters is included in Appendix H.
Identify the External Approvals Required
While MCCA has been, and will continue to be, proactive in making the state legislature
and state administrative agencies aware of the collaborative efforts of Michigan
community colleges in online programming, the legal authority to submit this request
resides with the member colleges alone; no external approvals are necessary to change
the delivery method for associate degree programs. As established by the Michigan
legislature with Public Act 331 of 1966, also known as the Community College Act of
1966, Michigan community colleges are autonomous entities governed by a locally
elected board of trustees; as such, the letter of request from the duly appointed CEO of
each college represents the authority required to seek this institutional change.
27
Chapter 4
Impact of Proposed Change on Challenges Identified by the Higher Learning
Commission
Challenges Directly Related to the Proposed Change
Colleges planning to offer online programs of study face several challenges, some related
to program development, others related to program delivery and still others related to
providing support for students as they proceed through the programs. For Michigan
community colleges, these challenges seem to be relatively consistent, regardless of
college size or location.
The principal challenge associated with online program development is a lack of
resources for curriculum and course development – human resources (faculty,
instructional designers, technicians), financial resources, and technical resources. A
quality online program requires that all the program-specific courses, all the required
general education courses, and a reasonable selection of elective courses be available
online. The history of online course development at member colleges has been fairly
similar, where interested individual faculty from a wide variety of disciplines have
transitioned some of their courses to an online format. This has resulted in each college
having a smorgasbord of online courses available, but rarely are all the courses necessary
to complete an online program of study available at a single college.
Colleges face similar challenges in the delivery of online programs of study. To a
student, the value of an online program is diminished considerably if all the required
courses aren’t available on a regular basis – preferably, every semester. Faculty teaching
online courses, however, are faced with multiple demands on their time; in addition to
teaching online sections, they may be asked to allocate time to develop new online
courses, and they most likely will have continuing responsibilities for teaching traditional
courses. All these factors have resulted in an inability on the part of most colleges to
offer enough online sections to meet student demand, and certainly the unavailability of
courses may impact the ability of students to complete a program of study.
Finally, the challenges colleges face in providing academic and student support services
cannot be overlooked. In many respects, online students differ little from their more
traditional counterparts – they need access to library resources, academic advising,
financial aid, tutoring and other support services. In addition, some online courses
require proctored testing as a component of course assessment.
Addressing the Challenges
Michigan community colleges have recognized that one way each of the challenges
above can be addressed effectively and efficiently is through collaboration. In some
cases, this collaboration is informal, but the importance of this collaboration is such that
in many instances, this collaboration has been formalized. Actions taken by the
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Michigan Community College Association, including the approval of the MCCVLC
Memorandum of Understanding, the MCCVLC Articulation Agreement, the MCCVLC
Financial Aid Consortium Agreement, the MCCVLC Program Guidelines and the
MCCVLC Program Agreement, provide a stable and well-understood basis for
collaboration.
In the case of program development, colleges are discovering that by utilizing the
Articulation Agreement, they can recommend that students complete an equivalent
course from another member college to fulfill a program requirement. In some cases
where programs are being developed collaboratively, this sharing of courses within a
program of study is actually planned; in other cases colleges will find an equivalent
course in the online catalog that is already available from another member college.
Regardless of whether it’s planned or not, the MCCVLC Memorandum of Understanding
and MCCVLC Articulation Agreement make it possible for colleges to collaborate and
share resources in the development of online programming.
While sharing the burden of course development offers provider colleges some
significant flexibility in curriculum and course development, it does not relieve provider
colleges from the responsibility of preparing and offering complete programs of study, as
described in the MCCVLC Online Program Agreement. This obligation to offer a
complete program of study may prove significant in the event that a program of study
from a provider college is dependent on a course from another Michigan community
college, and for whatever reason, that course becomes unavailable. Should this occur, the
college offering the program of study has a responsibility to develop and offer this course
(or otherwise make the course available to students) as soon as possible in order to keep
the program of study complete.
Colleges anticipate that the challenges of program delivery, as well, will be eased by
collaboration, such that each college may not find it necessary to offer every course
within every program each semester. An equivalent course from another member college
will serve the student just as well, as long there is no question about the transferability.
Formal approval of the MCCVLC Memorandum of Understanding and Articulation
Agreement ensure that if the course equivalency is listed in the online course catalog, that
the course will, in fact, transfer.
The challenges associated with providing academic and student support services for
online learners vary greatly depending on the service in question, the particular student
and the situation, but the challenges are often exacerbated by the fact that utilizing
technology may not be the optimal solution in a case where technology is part of the
underlying problem. Recognition that personal contact may be the optimal way to
provide student services was a critical factor in MCCA developing a “provider college /
home college” model for the MCCVLC. The MOU section regarding student services
states:
Michigan community colleges have long recognized that successful learning is the result of
appropriate student services in support of quality programs of instruction. There is currently
no reason to expect that support services will not be equally critical to the success of students
enrolled in technology-mediated courses. Thus, this memorandum of understanding will
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define the role of the college providing the technology-mediated instruction as the “provider”
college, while the student support services will be provided by the “home” college.
Examples of student services that may be more effectively provided by the home college are:
 Awarding of financial aid
 Test proctoring
 Access to and support for technology / computers
 Advising / counseling
The MCCVLC Guidelines for Online Programs (Appendix A) are more specific in
identifying the requirements for information and services to be made available online (or
through the use of other common technologies) by the provider college, as well as the
expectations of each college in the capacity of home college. Member colleges have
agreed that it is the responsibility of the provider college to provide the following for
each program of study to be offered through the MCCVLC:
 Authoritative program information will be available online:
o Requirements for program completion (including any activities that may
not be completed online)
o Program costs
o Technology requirements
 Program advisement information
o Name and title of program advisor(s)
o E-mail address of program advisor(s)
o Phone number of program advisor(s)
 Program admission requirements and procedures
 Access to required software, media and/or other course materials
 Financial aid for students enrolled in program
 Help desk for any program-specific technologies
Provider colleges are expected to make the above services directly available to students
and prospective students since it is unreasonable to expect colleges without faculty and
staff with expertise in the program of study to be able to provide this support. It should
be noted that while the home college may have the expertise in the area of financial aid to
provide support to students, in many cases financial aid must be provided by the
institution offering the program of study in which the student is enrolled – which is, of
course, the provider college.
On the other hand, it is not unreasonable to expect that a student enrolled in an online
program of study could access some services at the local, home college, albeit with some
limitations. It may be most convenient for a student to use the home college library for
research and resources, for example, but it is unreasonable to expect that the home
college will have an equivalent collection to the provider college. The librarians at
Michigan community colleges have agreed to provide inter-library loans at no cost to
MCCVLC students as a partial remedy to this difficulty (see Appendix D)
Students may benefit from other services at the home college as well – orientation
(particularly orientation for distance learners), placement services, and help desk
services. Clearly, the home college help desk will be able to provide only general
30
assistance rather than help for program-specific technologies (which is included in the
responsibilities of the provider college). The testing center directors at Michigan
community colleges have spent considerable time and effort establishing protocols to be
used for proctoring tests for MCCVLC students in an effort to make test proctoring a
relatively convenient service at the home college.
Providing tutoring services for all those traditional students who might benefit is a
challenge for most colleges, and that challenge is exacerbated as program delivery is
extended to students accessing online programs. While most home colleges will have
tutors available in some subjects such as math and writing, it is often difficult to identify
and prepare tutors in many of the program-specific occupational courses, much less for
programs offered to students by another college. Provider colleges may or may not have
tutors available at any given time, and even if they do have a tutor, online tutoring
requires skills beyond those of typical tutors. Michigan community colleges are
experimenting with online tutoring provided by a commercial vendor
(Smarthinking.com) as well as with online tutoring provided by their own tutors. At a
minimum, the student can expect the home college to provide general support and
assistance.
It has been the experience of Michigan community colleges over the past three years that
student services for online learners are best developed and delivered, not by some
specialized organization dedicated only to online learning, but rather by the professionals
at each campus responsible for providing the services traditionally. These professionals
have the most expertise in their respective areas, and generally find that with online
learners most of the issues are very similar to those faced by traditional learners – the
primary difference being the communication medium and techniques are changed.
In order to engage as many student services personnel as possible in supporting online
learners, the MCCVLC is cooperating with statewide associations of student services
professionals and participating in workshops and conferences. These associations, in
turn, have the expertise to develop well-defined agreements and effective systems and
protocols to serve online learners. It should be noted that such professional groups
developed many of the documents in the appendix to this ‘Request for Institutional
Change’. These professional associations will be instrumental in addressing the on-going
challenges of providing appropriate online support services for students. Determining an
appropriate and consistent method of recording online courses from various provider
colleges on student transcripts is another current challenge that will benefit from the
expertise of the relevant professional associations.
Clearly, Michigan community college staff are beginning to discover the variety of needs
for academic and student support services required by online learners and at the same
time are discovering the opportunities afforded by new information technologies. In
many cases, they are also discovering that through collaboration, these services may be
provided more effectively, more efficiently, or both. The Michigan Community College
Association supports this dynamic process of discovery; the MCCVLC will continue to
work with student services staff from both individual colleges as well as various
professional associations to foster collaboration where appropriate.
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Chapter 5
Plans to Implement and Sustain the Proposed Change
Involvement of Faculty and Staff
Prior to the establishment of the MCCVLC, five or six colleges had offered a handful of
online courses. Highly innovative faculty who were interested in distance education
usually developed these courses; however, the courses typically represented only a
fraction of the diversity of the college course offerings. In many cases, there was initially
little or no deliberate strategic planning in the development of courses offered via
distance education technologies. With the development of the collaborative, the MCCA
Presidents and Trustees provided a clearer vision and opportunity for the growth of
curriculum development for online delivery. See Appendix G for the mission and vision
statements for the MCCVLC.
It is noteworthy that this vision included a set of principles established to guide the
development of the collaborative, and the first of those principles identifies the
importance of faculty involvement and professional development of faculty and staff.
From the MCCVLC Guiding Principles (Appendix C):
“The faculty and staff at all Michigan community colleges will have the
opportunity to demonstrate their capacity to contribute to academic, training and
service programming of the collaborative and to receive training and support to
improve their capacity to contribute.”
Consistent with these guiding principles, the development of all courses offered through
the collaborative has been accomplished by individual faculty at member colleges,
faculty experienced in pedagogy as well as their discipline. While these courses have in
some cases utilized online and CD-based resources from sources such as textbook
publishers and courseware developers, MCCVLC-listed courses are expected to be more
than just a collection of online resources. Online courses should foster a community of
learners and include substantial interaction – between student and faculty as well as
between and among students. Because of the significance of interactivity and the
necessity that this interactivity be integrated with the learning materials and all other
aspects of the course, curriculum development and delivery have been, and will continue
to be, the responsibility of the faculty at member colleges.
This reliance on the faculty at member colleges has profound implications not just for the
quality of the resultant programs, but also for the professional development needs of each
college. Both administrators and faculty recognize the significant differences involved in
developing and facilitating an online course as opposed to a traditional one, and that new
techniques for content development and delivery, communication with students, and
assessment are required. The original vision of the MCCA in establishing the MCCVLC
was that some of the necessary professional development could be done collaboratively.
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Collaborative professional development has indeed been utilized effectively. Since 1999,
the MCCVLC professional development program has provided 21 workshops for both
faculty and staff – providing a depth and breadth of programming that most colleges
would be unable to provide individually. Over 875 individuals have participated in these
workshops, seminars and webcasts.
The original vision of online learning for Michigan community colleges also included the
development of complete programs of study that would be available. From the
MCCVLC Memorandum of Understanding:
“It shall be a common goal of the member colleges of the MCCVLC to
collaboratively develop programs of study which may be completed primarily
through enrollment in technology-mediated courses. It shall be the role of the
home college to make such programs of study available. It is anticipated that
students seeking these degrees and certificates may select courses from multiple
provider colleges, and that credits earned for completion of such courses taken
through the MCCVLC will fulfill any residency requirements of the program of
study.”
The development of complete programs of study is a challenge for all Michigan
community colleges, particularly those smaller institutions. Several larger colleges have
the resources available (human resources, financial resources and technology resources)
to independently develop complete online programs of study. The entire basis of
collaboration, however, allows all members of the collaborative the opportunity to work
together in the development of programs of study that can be delivered online. With the
MCCVLC Articulation Agreement, member institutions are able to develop programs
collaboratively, sharing courses that are identified as equivalent in the MCCVLC course
catalog.
To assist member colleges, and provide some guidance for individual member institutions
in the development of programs to be offered through the collaborative, the Advisory
Council drafted language to address specific Program Guidelines for developing
programs to be offered through the MCCVLC. The Program Guidelines were reviewed
by Chief Academic Officers at Michigan community colleges and subsequently
recommended to the MCCA Board of Directors for formal adoption. These guidelines
were approved by the MCCA Board in July 2001 as an appendix to the MCCVLC
Memorandum of Understanding (Appendix A).
The Program Guidelines identify the issues that colleges must address when developing
an online program of study to be offered through the MCCVLC. Those guidelines are
divided into six categories and briefly described below.
 Program Development – including consistency with mission, identified need,
outcomes clearly identified, appropriate credentials upon completion, long-term
allocation of resources for program continuation and external/internal approvals.
 Curriculum Design & Development – including guidelines for program
development by academically qualified faculty, utilizing instructional design
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processes consistent with best practices, managed by faculty/staff with a
knowledge of distance learning, complete and addresses all components of the
program (i.e. clinicals/labs), fosters community, is available and is reviewed for
currency, and that the appropriate institutional policies are in place.
Faculty Support for Online Programming – including faculty development and
training as well as appropriate faculty support services for program delivery.
Student Support Services – including access to authoritative program information
online, program advisement, admission, access to required course materials and
financial aid.
Program Assessment – including clearly articulated program assessment plan and
a plan for course-level assessment of learning outcomes.
Program Review – including program enrollment, program graduates, program
costs, faculty composition and expertise, and currency of curriculum.
Each Michigan community college, or group of colleges that collaboratively develop a
program of study, will adhere to the above guidelines when offering a program via the
MCCVLC web site. Prior to submission of the program on the collaborative website, all
institutions involved in offering that degree must submit a Program Agreement Form,
documenting the particulars of the program. All Program Agreement forms are received
by the MCCVLC office and reviewed prior to the program offering inclusion on the web
site. A generic copy of the Program Agreement form can be found in Appendix B.
Beyond the definition of clear Program Guidelines, the collaborative is developing
specific course guidelines to address the issues involved with the development of online
courses. These guidelines are being created by and for the benefit of faculty, to assist in
the design of courses that are of the highest quality and will provide exceptional learning
experiences for students. The development of collaborative course guidelines is
influenced by similar documents from the Higher Learning Commission of the North
Central Association, The American Council on Education, the Higher Education Program
and Policy Council of the American Federation of Teachers, The American Association
of Higher Education and the Michigan Virtual University. The course guidelines were
subject to a review during a two-day retreat of Michigan community college faculty and
staff and once finalized, may be utilized by member colleges in the development of
online courses offered through the MCCVLC.
Briefly, the course guidelines address eight specific areas of an online course, including:
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Course Outcomes – clearly stated, observable, measurable and achievable,
appropriate for online delivery and closely correlate with real world performance.
Course Content – appropriate to the learning objectives, provide clear
expectations, define all prerequisite knowledge and skills, all requirements are
clearly stated, all necessary components are present, content, practice and testing
are consistent with type of objectives, appropriate for multiple learning styles,
encourages active learning and provides clear, understandable instructions.
Course Interaction – requirements are clearly stated, activities foster appropriate
interaction, encourages cooperative/collaborative learning, provides flexible
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opportunities for interaction, and instructor response standards are clearly
articulated.
Course Assessment – methods are appropriate to outcomes, activities and
technologies, is timely, appropriate and responsive to learner, documented
assessment conducted by comparing student performance to the intended learning
outcome, and effective policies and procedures are employed to assure integrity.
Course Technologies – are appropriate for subject matter, necessary infrastructure
in place to support instruction, properly integrated with textbooks and lesson
assignment.
Course Resources – are accessible to students, in accordance with Americans with
Disabilities Act, adoption of textbooks and other instructional materials have
input from appropriately qualified people, and reading level of instructional
material is identified.
Course Maintenance – design is evaluated regularly for effectiveness, and plan in
place for continual review and improvement.
Course Development Support – faculty have appropriate training, technical
support and access to appropriate technical infrastructure, qualified instructional
designers have appropriate role in course development.
Describe the Administrative Structure Necessary to Support the Proposed Change
During the very early planning by the MCCA, considerable attention was given to the
appropriate administrative structure for the collaborative, with consideration for the legal
authority of Michigan community colleges and the Michigan Community College
Association (a non-profit corporation dedicated to the advancement of community
colleges in the state of Michigan), the traditions and history of member colleges and the
association, as well as other successful collaborative efforts in distance learning. The
issue of governance is addressed in the Memorandum of Understanding:
“The Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative will be sponsored
by and operated under the legal authority of the Michigan Community College
Association. The MCCA Executive Committee will have the authority to:
 Approve consortium agreement(s)
 Appoint the governing committee for the collaborative
The governing committee of the MCCVLC will include nine members who currently
serve as trustees or presidents of Michigan community colleges; the Executive
Committee will attempt to maintain a balance between presidents and trustees on this
committee. No more than one member from any college shall serve concurrently on
the governing committee. Committee members will be appointed for staggered terms
of three years; committee members may not be re-appointed immediately upon the
expiration of their term. The president of MCCA will serve as a standing committee
member. Responsibilities of the governing committee include:
 Approve MCCVLC strategic plans, budgets and audits
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Select and contract/appoint staff leadership
Consider issues of MCCVLC policy and make policy recommendations to the
MCCA Board of Directors
Recommend the financial structure, including membership dues, to the
MCCA Board of Directors”
Current information about the governing committee is provided in Appendix F.
A staff of three – an Executive Director, a Director of Academic Programs and a
Coordinator of Student Services – provides leadership for the functioning of the
MCCVLC. While all programming and student services are provided by the various
member colleges, the staff of the collaborative have assumed responsibility for those
functions of the collaborative that are beyond the scope of authority of any individual
college – functions such a managing the collaborative web site and providing a single
point of contact for students with the ability to direct them to the appropriate resources at
either their home college or one of their provider colleges.
This administrative structure facilitates linkages between the collaborative and individual
member colleges at two levels:
1) At the strategic and policy level, regular communication is maintained between
the MCCVLC staff and college presidents and trustees. This is accomplished
through regular meetings of the MCCVLC Governing Committee as well as
regular updates to the full MCCA Board of Directors at the quarterly meetings of
MCCA.
2) At the operational level, each college president has appointed a representative to
the Advisory Council, which meeting three times each semester to deal with any
operational and student support issues that may arise.
This administrative structure has proven efficient and effective, providing responsiveness
to students, faculty and staff with a minimum of bureaucracy.
Describe how Learning Resources and Support Services Will be Provided
By adopting a model (the ‘home college / provider college’ model) with shared
responsibility for supporting online learners, Michigan community colleges afford
students maximum flexibility in accessing learning resources and support services. This
model also recognizes the important role that personal contact may play for some
individuals, and provides reasonably convenient opportunities for these contacts at the
home college as needed and when needed by each student. The design of the
collaborative support services utilizes a vision of providing the student with as much
information as possible in a flexible format and then providing the option of personal
assistance as warranted. The “Services and Support” section of the MCCVLC web site
will illustrate this model.
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Many student support resources were originally developed and are currently provided
online in a collaborative nature with the assistance of professional associations affiliated
with the MCCA. The associations work in conjunction with the MCCVLC to design
policies and procedures that will address the needs of online students.
The MCCVLC web site – http://vcampus.mccvlc.org – contains a “Services and
Support” section, which gives general information and then provides links to specific
college information. Those support services include:
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Admissions – Students must be admitted to their home college and if they have
not completed that step already, there are links to all Michigan community
college Admissions office. Most of the colleges have admissions forms online,
or have a link to a contact source for further assistance.
Financial Aid – Students wishing to pursue financial aid at their home college
can utilize the MCCVLC Financial Aid Consortium Agreement that allows their
home college to facilitate concurrently enrolled students in their receipt of
student financial assistance funds. There are links to every college’s financial
aid office or contact, as well as links to the US Department of Education
information on Federal Financial Aid, and the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA).
Library Resources – Students have access to the Michigan Electronic Library
as well as links to all home college libraries and a free reciprocal interlibrary
loan policy among Michigan community colleges.
Test Proctoring – Students may be required to take proctored tests in their
online courses, and can do so at no charge at their home institution. The
Michigan community college test proctors have set up a procedure for assisting
in the facilitation of such assessments for any course offered through the
MCCVLC. Links to the home college testing centers are included.
Virtual Bookstore – Information on required and recommended textbooks for
each course are included in the course information available in the online
catalog. Students have the option of utilizing virtual bookstores or access their
provider college’s bookstore to order the books.
Help Desk – The MCCVLC provides several options to assist students with
help desk inquiries. An online option, allows the student to post a question to
the VLC staff for assistance. The collaborative has partnered with
SequoiaNET.com to provide a toll-free telephone access for assistance with the
MCCVLC website, as well as assistance with course management software
concerns. Additionally, a link is provided for the MCCVLC contact at each
college who may directly assist a student with a concern or need.
Academic Advising – The MCCVLC web site provides students with the
opportunity to take courses from any number of Provider Colleges; however, it
is the student’s Home College that will maintain a permanent transcript of all the
courses they have taken. Students are provided with transfer equivalency
information in the online course catalog for all courses. They are also
encouraged to work with an academic advisor at their Home College to be
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certain that the coursework will count toward their program of study. Links to
the Home College Academic Advisors are available.
Records/Registration – The MCCVLC web site provides students with the
ability to request enrollment in a course. That request is passed on to the
appropriate Provider College Records/Registration contact, and that contact
assists in the registration of the student. The student is advised by the Provider
College Records/Registration contact of any additional information that will be
needed to process enrollment and invoice the student. The MCCVLC “Services
and Support” web page provides links to all Provider College Records and
Registration contacts for assistance with students’ requests.
Accounting - Students taking courses through the MCCVLC will pay tuition to
the Provider College, in accordance with the policies of each provider college.
Because the terms and conditions at various provider colleges may be very
different from the student’s home college, or if the student has a question about
the tuition, when payment (or a refund) is due, methods of payment or other
issues related to the student account, a contact list is provided with links to the
Accounting office at each Provider College.
Tutoring - Most students will utilize their Home College Tutoring services
when needed, however, the MCCVLC web site provides a listing of College
Tutor contacts to assist the student who may need help during the course.
The involvement of both the provider and home college in the delivery of academic and
student support services provides flexible options for online learners, but also
complicates the maintenance of confidentiality of student information. To address this
challenge, the collaborative has developed a Family Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Information document (see Appendix E). This document provides students with
comprehensive information about FERPA and must be signed and submitted to the
MCCVLC in order for student academic records to be shared between home and provider
colleges. This is the only paper document students must provide in order to enroll in
courses through the MCCVLC.
The collaborative web site also provides general information for all programs of study
offered through the MCCVLC. That information is available in the “Online Degrees”
link of the web site and is developed with information provided from the Program
Agreement form. This information includes both programmatic information as well as
information on Acceptable Use policy, Confidentiality of Student Information policy and
Student Complaint Resolution Policy for that Provider College.
Document the Financial Capacity to Implement and Sustain the
Proposed Change
With the development of over 500 online courses and more than a score of online
programs recently, Michigan community colleges are gaining first-hand experience with
the financial requirements of online programming. Initial expenses of developing online
programs are significant, including costs for course development, faculty and staff
38
professional development, technical infrastructure deployment, and the development of
online student and academic support capacity.
Nonetheless, Michigan community colleges are also discovering that once initial
development is accomplished, the long-term financial model for online programming is
not significantly different from that of many traditional programs. While it is certainly
the case that online programs involve expenses for new technologies and support staff to
manage the online courses, it is equally true that these programs incur no expenses for
other categories of expenses such as physical plant and related plant staff. Student and
academic support services must likewise be provided in a different format, but again
there is no evidence that providing these services in a new format will prove any more
costly on an on-going basis than the traditional methods. Most colleges are discovering
that, just as with traditional courses, the costs of online courses are most directly
correlated to such issues as class size and faculty composition. This suggests that
offering online programs of study will not present the institutions with substantially
increased financial burdens once the programs have been developed and that sustaining
them may be commensurate with sustaining other programs.
Further, the capacity to sustain MCCVLC operations has been a consideration since the
initial planning; thus the decision to take advantage of the existing infrastructure of the
Michigan Community College Association to keep staffing and overhead needs minimal.
The MCCA annual budget has included a self-assessment of all member colleges for the
past five years – for planning the collaborative (fiscal years 1997-1998) and now for
operations (1999 – 2001). It is the intention of the MCCVLC Governing Committee as
well as individual member colleges that this self-assessment will continue to support the
MCCVLC operations.
Specify the Timeline to Implement the Proposed Change
Event
Request from MCCVLC Member Institution Presidents
MCCVLC Advisory Council approval of Program Guidelines
MCCVLC Advisory Council approval of Program Agreement
MCCA approval of MCCVLC Program Guidelines
MCCA approval of MCCVLC Program Agreement
MCCA approval of draft Request document
Submission of Draft Request for Change
Site Visit with Higher Learning Commission Team
Marketing of Online Degree Programs
Implementation of Online Degree Programs
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Date of Event
Mar 21, 2001
June 20, 2001
June 20, 2001
July 20, 2001
July 20, 2001
Oct 26, 2001
Nov 7, 2001
March 18/19, 2002
Summer 2002
Fall 2002
Chapter 6
Strategies to Evaluate the Proposed Change
Describe the Measures to be used to Document Achievement of Expected Outcomes
The plan for documenting the achievement of outcomes for this request must derive from
the objectives of the initiative, from the objectives of the participating colleges and from
the mission and guiding principles of the collaborative. The mission of the MCCVLC, as
established by MCCA in the strategic plan for the collaborative in the summer of 1998 is:
“To connect the teaching and student support capacity of Michigan community
colleges so the learners and clients can access affordable, high-quality learning
experiences whenever and wherever desired.”
From the Guiding Principles for the MCCVLC:
“Each Michigan community college will have the opportunity to access
programming from other participating community colleges to its campus and to
learners within its traditional service area.”
Given that the primary objective of this request for institutional change, as stated in
Chapter 1, is to enhance access to associate degree programs from Michigan community
colleges by providing programs of study through distance delivery methods, the measures
to document these outcomes must provide evidence that online programs are, in fact,
available to students around the state. Thus, the number and variety of programs
available to students through the MCCVLC will be a significant measure of success.
If these programs do indeed meet the needs and expectations of students, it is reasonable
to anticipate that they will enroll in the online programs of study as well as continue to
enroll in online courses offered by member colleges. Thus, a secondary method of
evaluating the success of the proposed change will be reviewing enrollment patterns in
both programs of study as well as course enrollment.
How Assessment of Student Learning will be Integrated into the Assessment Plan
One of the fundamental assumptions on which the MCCVLC is based, as well as a
requirement for membership in the MCCVLC, is that each college will maintain
accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. The
‘membership’ section of the MCCVLC Memorandum of Understanding states:
“Participation in this collaborative is open to all members of the Michigan
Community College Association. Eligibility for participation is also contingent
on maintaining accreditation by the Commission on Institutions of Higher
Education of the North Central Association. The extent to which participating
40
colleges choose to engage in the activities, beyond those basic commitments
included in this memorandum of understanding, will be at the sole discretion of
each participating institution.”
Whether member colleges maintain their accreditation by the traditional method, or
whether they are involved in the Academic Quality Improvement Project (which
represents a new alternative for maintaining accreditation) each college will certainly
have a strategy and methodology for ensuring that programs of study address the general
education core requirements as well as for assessing student achievement. While these
individual strategies and methodologies are likely to share some common elements, there
has never been any expectation that they be identical, or that there will necessarily be any
correlation between the essential components and/or data elements. This request to the
Commission is not intended to alter this reality.
The MCCVLC Program Guidelines do establish common expectations for program
development and support, but they do not (and were not intended to) establish a common
method of evaluating student achievement in online programming. It was the consensus
of all the Michigan community colleges (not just those submitting this request) that it
would not be desirable to do so at this time. Aside from the complexity of such a task in
an environment where there are no common curricula, courses, or even common course
objectives, it was felt that there was insufficient experience in both delivering online
programming as well as identifying the essential common outcome measures. Rather, the
most effective method to begin evaluating online courses and programs for participating
colleges will be to extend the existing assessment plan to include online courses and
programs of study. The plans of the participating colleges to accomplish that are
described below.
College Plans for Evaluation of Outcomes
Alpena Community College
Alpena Community College's assessment strategy for online courses will be that currently
used in the Student Outcomes Assessment Plan as approved by the North Central
Association.
Bay de Noc Community College
Bay de Noc College is committed to examining the effectiveness of learning in both
regular and online courses. Faculty teaching online classes have created outcomes-based
syllabi that specify embedded general education outcomes and course-specific outcomes
expected of students. In addition, these syllabi indicate the manner in which outcomes
are assessed. Students are encouraged to provide to faculty summative feedback in the
form of classroom assessment techniques (eg., One-minute Paper). Such feedback can
serve to identify weaknesses in students’ understanding of course materials and direct the
faculty member to help reduce the weakness. Moreover, online courses are evaluated
using a modified version of the student evaluation form.
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Online courses are also evaluated at the program level. Each program has created goals
and objectives. Assessment plans will identify the method in which each program (such
as Business) will assess. Many online courses would be considered part of the AA and
AS programs. Therefore, the emphasis is on general education that is embedded into the
online course. Faculty will be asked to provide data indicating attainment of general
goals and outcomes as well as how the data was used to improve attainment.
Online courses will also be included in the college’s fall and winter assessment weeks.
During the week, classes are randomly selected to participate in various types of
assessment.
Delta College
Delta College is offering an increasing number of courses and learning opportunities to
students through e-learning. To ensure that e-learning students receive an equivalent and
valuable learning experience as compared to traditional, face-to-face instruction, the same
course assessment projects are being implemented in both types of instructional formats.
The results from the e-learning sections of a course are aggregated separately from the
assessment results obtained in traditional format sections, and data collection/research
will be conducted to determine if there are differences between face-to-face and elearning students' retention and academic achievement.
Glen Oaks Community College
Glen Oaks Community College’s transition into the online learning environment is a
college-wide movement and as such all policies regarding assessment of student learning
and evaluation of online courses will reflect those standing institutional policies and those
presently being developed.
The institution is participating in the Higher Learning Commission’s Academic Quality
Improvement Project (AQIP), which encompasses student assessment as one of the
College’s target goals. Modifications in this area are in progress and a revised
institutional policy is anticipated to be in place by January 2003.
Program evaluation is also one of the College’s AQIP goals. Measures are being taken to
integrate existing evaluation tools into a standardized program review process for all
programs, including those offered online. Presently, the Dean of the College has initiated
a Program Review Committee whose responsibilities will be to determine a program
review schedule, to create a program rating system, to evaluate programs and to report
the results. This process is expected to be completed by 2003/04.
Grand Rapids Community College
Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) has developed a course model for online
courses that includes assessment of the achievement of learner outcomes. At this point,
our plan is to use course grades to compare the on-line courses to on-ground courses.
Instructors are also including student satisfaction assessment in their courses.
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In the GRCC new Course Approval and Review Process, we are revising all of our course
outlines. Assessment of General Learner Outcomes and of the specific learner outcomes
of the course must be planned for each course. As part of our online course development
process, we are requiring that the course outline be revised to the new standards.
Therefore, we will have in place an assessment plan for each of our new online courses.
We are currently defining measurement options for our General Learner Outcomes of
Technology Skills, Interpersonal Skills, and Critical Thinking. Any of the online courses
that work to develop these skills will incorporate those measures into the course
assessment. We will continue to define the measurement options for our other General
Learner Outcomes over the next two years. Concurrently, we are developing
measurement models for faculty and departments to use to look at specific course learner
outcomes. These would also apply to our online courses. The Program Evaluation process
would incorporate the online programs, when those are developed. Our current model
incorporates both the Perkins PROE process, a quality self-assessment based on Baldrige
criteria, and financial data on the program. This process of course revision, course
development, course delivery, and assessment is one of our 3 Action Projects for our
AQIP accreditation.
Henry Ford Community College
In regard to assessment of online courses at Henry Ford Community College, when the
final courses are developed and the certificate is approved by our curriculum Council,
each certificate will have the required program goals with stated objectives. They will be
subject to the same assessment process that any program at HFCC is required to go
through.
Jackson Community College
At Jackson Community College, students who are considering online courses are
encouraged to complete an online course readiness self evaluation with an online
orientation available through JCC’s Distance Learning web site. Instructors also create
readiness lessons as part of the student’s first assignments during the add/drop period.
All online student’s declaring a program of study must go through Jackson Community
College’s course placement assessment. This assessment of reading, writing and math
skills is available online.
The Center for Distance Learning provides the following assessment opportunities: 2nd
week student evaluation (student specific), 8th week evaluation for adjunct instructor,
12th week student evaluation (student specific). In addition, the faculty Assessment
Committee has since the early 1990’s collected data on student academic achievement.
Student Outcomes Assessment of online courses follows the same process that is used in
traditional face-to-face courses. Instructors are asked to: identify course or program
learning objectives, design or select assessment tools and success criteria, write
assessment plan, assess student outcomes, create success table, review and submit student
data to assessment committee and adjust teaching strategies to improve student learning.
This process is consistent with the MCCVLC guidelines.
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JCC uses a wide variety of methods that are useful in measuring student preparation and
program success. For example; the college participates in the State of Michigan’s
Program Review in Occupational Education (PROE) which reviews each occupational
program every five years. In addition, Jackson Community College is also accredited by;
the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs for the offering of the
Associate in Applied Science degree programs in accounting, management, data
processing and marketing, Commission for Accreditation of Allied Health Educational
Programs (CAAHEP) for the offerings of the diagnostic medical sonography program
and medical assistant program, The Michigan Board of Nursing for the offering of
nursing programs.
In conclusion, JCC is attempting to follow the same process of assessing online courses
that has been used to successfully assess traditional courses since the early 1990’s.
However, some of the elements of this assessment process need to be modified and are
not currently being used in all online courses. It is expected by Fall 2002 all online
assessment tools will in place.
Kalamazoo Valley Community College
At Kalamazoo Valley Community College, assessment of student learning is managed by
individual program and department faculty, with oversight from an Assessment Task
Force. Our approach is for each discipline or occupational program to develop a
statement of purpose, expected learning outcomes, and appropriate measures for those
outcomes. Not every learning outcome is measured every year. Faculty choose their area
of emphasis for that year, and are required to have a written plan and to submit a written
report (which then becomes part of the subsequent year's plan). We see online programs
fitting in nicely with this approach. Assessment plans will usually deal with areas that are
new or have a special concern for the faculty. As online courses and programs proliferate,
these have a natural appeal to faculty . . . whether or not learning outcomes are being
achieved is a question faculty readily ask in regard to online offerings.
Kalamazoo Valley Community College has developed a Plan for the Instructional Use of
Technology for 2002-2003 that is incorporated into the Institution-wide Technology plan.
The six Guiding Principles of the Plan for the Instructional Use of Technology will drive
not only our goals for development, but also ensure a formal measurement of learning
outcomes.
Guiding Principle 1: The use of instructional technology requires a human
investment in training and support and an investment in hardware and software.
Guiding Principle 2: Improve instruction in college entry level, large enrollment
courses by utilizing technology.
Guiding Principle 3: Strong instructional design principles will be used in the
implementation of all technology-mediated instruction.
Guiding Principle 4: Increase access to learning by utilizing technology.
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Guiding Principle 5: Work toward the acquisition and use of consistent
hardware, software, and instructional delivery tools.
Guiding Principle 6: Measurement of learning outcomes is an essential
component of this plan.
Kellogg Community College
Kellogg Community College has developed a system for assessment of student academic
outcomes. Systems are also in place to measure elements of institutional effectiveness.
These assessment and evaluation systems are valid across various modes of delivery of
the instruction and services. Therefore, separate systems for online programs have not
been established. A description of these plans is available in the Kellogg Community
College Self Study Report submitted to the Commission on Higher Learning of the North
Central Association of Colleges in January 2002.
During the initial implementation period for a degree program offered completely online,
data for success by students and institutional effectiveness in the online degree program
is compared to corresponding data for traditional degree programs. The resulting
information is provided for analysis and potential improvement to academic departments
administering the degree program and the distance learning administrator.
Kirtland Community College
At Kirtland Community College, assessment for each online class is done through an
online evaluation instrument that is filled out by students. The results are shared with
each faculty member, chairpersons, deans, and the college president. The following url is
an example of this evaluation tool:
http://kosmo.kirtland.cc.mi.us/distancelearning/online/survey/default.asp
Lake Michigan College
Lake Michigan College will use the same evaluations and assessment strategies for our
online classes as we do for our traditional classes. Faculty have created outcomes-based
syllabi and course-specific outcomes expected of students.
Macomb Community College
During the fall, 2000, semester, course outcomes for all Macomb Community College
courses, both onground and online, were written by faculty. Beginning with the spring,
2001, semester, faculty began writing assessment plans for their courses; and plans were
written by the end of the fall, 2001 semester. During this current spring, 2002, semester,
faculty are reviewing and refining course outcomes and assessment plans in a series of
department meetings. Others will assess their courses, discuss the results this summer and
develop their action plans for fall, 2002, implementation.
To show its support for the assessment of student learning, the Macomb Community
College Board of Trustees, at their January 2002 Board meeting, approved the purchase
of Scantron machines to be distributed throughout the college. The implementation of
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assessment plans to measure student learning at the course level will begin in phases
starting with this spring semester. This assessment activity includes faculty interpretation
of the results, discussion, and developing plans for the continuous improvement of
teaching and learning. Those improvement plans will, then, be incorporated into the
college’s planning cycle to ensure support for the assessment of student learning at the
course level.
With course level assessment completed, faculty will begin the process of aligning course
outcomes and assessments with program/discipline outcomes and assessments. As with
course-level action plans, program/discipline improvement plans will be incorporated
into the college’s planning cycle.
Mid Michigan Community College
Mid Michigan Community College currently evaluates online courses in multiple ways.
The distance education administrators assess all newly developed online courses before
they are approved for teaching. At the end of each semester students are asked to fill out
an evaluation of technical assistance from the distance education staff. The distance
education staff compiles the information from these surveys and reports back to the
Distance Education Committee for review and revision. This committee consists of
online faculty and distance education administrators. The committee also evaluates any
proposed redevelopment of online courses.
Student evaluations of classes and the instructor are conducted in the same manner as
traditional classes on campus. The instructional administrator calls for these evaluations
on a rotating basis unless the instructor is new or some problem with the class exists. In
the latter two cases the student evaluation is scheduled immediately.
The distance education staff also compiles information on student success in online
courses which is compared to similar on-site courses. This information is disseminated to
the Distance Education Committee, the instructional administrators, and the Assessment
Committee for inclusion in the academic assessment and program evaluation planning.
Monroe County Community College
Monroe County Community College incorporates all existing assessment methodologies
into its distance learning course offerings. Learning outcomes are the same for each
section of a given course regardless of the instructional delivery system. Instructors of
distance learning courses may employ different strategies to assess student learning
which are appropriate to this instructional method. Students in distance learning sections
have the same opportunities as their on-ground counterparts to evaluate the course, the
instructor, and the delivery system. The college uses grade spread analyses each semester
to monitor successful completion among students. Distance learning courses are included
in these reports and special efforts have been made to review completion rates in DL
courses and compare them with traditional courses.
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Montcalm Community College
At the course level, Montcalm Community College assesses learning outcomes in its
online courses just as it does in the face-to-face courses. At the program level, online
general education courses are already being assessed along with all other general
education curses. If approved, our online Criminal Justice program will also be assessed
at the program level as well as the course level. In addition, we will compare learning
outcomes in our online classes and programs to those in our face-to-face classes and
programs in order to assure that student learning is comparable in both formats.
Muskegon Community College
At Muskegon Community College we have implemented the following activities to
ensure that we offer quality programs and courses:
 Testing center is available for proctored examinations
 Online tutoring program
 Online library services
 Online enrollment and registration
 Orientation program for students taking online courses for the first time
 Training for faculty
 Course development assistance for faculty
 Online students are surveyed
 Distance education users group meets on a regular basis
 Online courses are subject to the same methods of assessment as any other
course
North Central Michigan College
North Central Michigan College (NCMC) does not currently have any online programs.
Also, it is still actively working on the development of its course and program assessment
system. The college will, of course, include online course and program evaluation in this
assessment system. Currently the assessment of online courses is being handled by the
individual instructors of those courses. As this activity increases and broadens in the
college (See Chapter 2, NCMC plans for online programming), these individual efforts
will be coordinated through the college’s Curriculum Review and Academic Policies
Committee. As this assessment work continues, maintaining the same course outcomes
and objectives in both environments and documenting that the objectives are met will be
the key and the college is committed to insuring that this happens.
Northwestern Michigan College
Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) views all courses the same, whether or not they
are delivered in a non-traditional format. Therefore, basically the same evaluation and
assessment strategies are planned for our online programs as for our traditional programs.
Currently we have processes in place for faculty evaluation, course evaluation, program
evaluation, and student satisfaction.
Faculty evaluation is an annual plan whereby NMC faculty establish goals and outcomes
that they work towards, submitting a report to their discipline chair for review at the end
of the academic year. Course evaluation includes the IDEA evaluation system, the Small
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Group Individual Diagnosis method, and/or the NMC Standardized Student Evaluation
Feedback Form. Probationary faculty are required to evaluate each course, each semester;
while other faculty perform these evaluations at least on an annual basis. It is expected
that students be given the opportunity to provide feedback in some form in every class,
regardless of whether the class data will be used for formal evaluation. NMC hopes to
begin implementation of the online IDEA system in our online courses Winter/Spring
2002. In addition, the college has instituted a General Education Assessment process that
targets all NMC courses. Program evaluation is a review process that has two
components: PROE (Program Review of Occupational Education) and PSSA (Program
and Services Self Assessment Process). PROE is a Perkins Grant requirement for our
occupational offerings and PSSA is a campus-wide assessment process.
Oakland Community College
Oakland Community College presently has an assessment component for our online
courses. Each semester the Office of Institutional Research completes a survey of the
courses and students. We compare them to the same face-to-face courses. Our research
looks at retention rates, demographics, grade distribution and even the most often used
times of the day for Blackboard. We survey the students asking them about the
experience, why they chose this form of instruction, highlights and problems.
St. Clair County Community College
St. Clair County Community College has developed multi-layered evaluation system for
its online courses. This was done for a variety of reasons:
1. Provide three opportunities to collect data at different phases of the instruction
2. Allow flexibility in their delivery
3. Not overwhelm students with numerous questions and redundancy in the process
The evaluations are conducted through the Blackboard e-Learning system.
The three evaluations that are conducted are:
1.
Online Skills and Equipment Survey: This survey is part of the WEB099 –
Introduction to Online Courses – and is given as students enter the online environment.
Eight questions provide useful information about the student’s capabilities for Student
Services, Academic Services, and Technology Services.
2.
Semester Start Survey: This survey is given for each online course and provides
the instructor with information about the student’s status at the College. The instructor’s
can review the information on individual students and make contact with them.
3.
Semester End Survey: This survey focuses on the course activities, the quality of
content, and the instructor’s role. Responses are retrieved anonymously. The feedback
from this survey is important in enforcing the College’s commitment to excellence in
programs and services.
The Instructional Technology Committee meets regularly and assesses the responses
from these surveys and suggests other questions and methods to assure appropriate
assessment of students in online courses is being achieved.
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Wayne County Community College
At Wayne County Community College District, assessment plays a key role in the
development and delivery of online courses. As part of the curriculum development
process, all new courses and programs that are considered by the college’s curriculum
committee are required to have an assessment component (in the case of courses) or a
defined assessment plan (in the case of programs). Before courses are adapted for the
online environment, the instructor must develop a course plan that includes both course
objectives and assessment measures. This instructional design process, which was
originally developed for ITV and distance education courses, has been a part of teacher
training for distance education courses. Instructors were provided with design packets,
samples of course designs, and special training to assist them with the concepts involved
in developing effective courses and assessments.
The college’s assessment plan expects that assessment will be defined in practice and will
be sensitive to the particular needs of each curricular area. Therefore, in addition to the
special training related to distance education, instructors are also bound by the
assessment measures that have been developed by their departments or programs. For
example, where grading rubrics have been developed, the same rubrics apply to all
courses within a department, including those offered through alternative delivery
methods.
Online faculty meet regularly to discuss a variety of questions relating to teaching in an
online environment. Many of these relate to assessment. We are currently discussing a
technical evaluation instrument to determine student preparedness and ability to succeed
in these types of courses. The college is using Blackboard as the platform for online
course delivery, and faculty have used the survey component of Blackboard to write our
own course evaluations. These surveys have been shared with other faculty, both to
assist in survey preparation and to compare results.
Finally, the institution has demonstrated support for professional development in online
teaching. Release time is provided for faculty to develop online courses. In addition, the
college has provided experienced faculty members release time so that they can serve as
mentors for their colleagues. The college has provided, and continues to provide, support
for faculty participation in external workshops and training.
West Shore Community College
Online courses at West Shore Community College are subject to the same methods of
assessment that we use in our face-to-face classes. Course outcomes are evaluated by
proctored paper and pencil tests, online tests, presentations, and projects. In the
Occupational area, all our students who graduate with an Occupational degree or
certificate take the SOCAT test (Student Occupational Competency Achievement Test).
If scores indicate that students are not learning a particular objective, then adjustments
are made in the curriculum to improve that area.
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At the course level, in the Liberal Arts area, each course has defined objectives, learning
activities, assessment tools and criteria for evaluation. When appropriate, students are
given a pre-test and a post-test and our goals are to achieve a specified level of
competency by the end of the course and to see improvement between pre and post test
scores. At the program level, each division (Communications, Humanities and Fine Arts,
Social Sciences, and Mathematics/Science) has defined a broader goal, with expected
outcomes, and an assessment plan.
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