+
What's around the corner?
Clarifying Student Authentication in the Higher
Education Opportunity Act of 2008
+ Presenters
Rhonda
Epper
Co-Executive Director of
Learning Technology for the
Colorado Community College
System
Lori
McNabb
Assistant Director, Student and
Faculty Services, University of
Texas System TeleCampus
Kay
Gilcher
Senior Policy Analyst, Office of
Postsecondary Education, U.S.
Department of Education
Fred
Lokken
Chair of the Instructional
Technology Council and
Associate Dean of WebCollege,
Truckee Meadows Community
College
What's around the corner?
Clarifying Student Authentication in the Higher
Education Opportunity Act of 2008
Fred Lokken
Chair
Instructional Technology Council

Legislative Background:
◦ The act had been under review by Congress for the
past nearly 6 years
◦ Various controversies – including the Spellings
Commission – had delayed progress
◦ In the past 18 months, there had been a renewed
effort to pass a re-authorization bill
◦ The bill passed the House in September 2007 – for
many, it was unexpected

Instructional Technology Council involvement
◦ The ITC alerted its members of the proposed DE
language last fall
◦ Our Executive Director contacted a lobbyist of the
AACC to receive more detailed information about
the bill, expectations for passage, and to share our
concerns about the current wording – we proposed
that the language be amended to apply to
institutions with “greater than 50% of its annual
enrollment online” – but it was too late for that

Our initial concerns:
◦ Unclear as to the motivation of the language – what
problem was being addressed?
◦ Was there data to confirm a problem existed – in
other words, why had the language been inserted in
the bill?
◦ As we move forward, how will the privacy rights of
students be protected (in our quest to authenticate
a student’s identify)? Really, what is appropriate
◦ Online education should not be put to a higher
standard of expectation than traditional instruction
(security/ethical concerns exist there too)

ITC involvement
◦ We continued to work with our AACC lobbyist
throughout the spring of 2008
◦ In May, we again alerted our membership and
encouraged them to contact their legislators to
express their concern
◦ We contacted the offices of Senator Harry Reid and
Senator John Ensign (both from Nevada) – and
worked with their educational liaisons to insert
language in the “clarifying language” section
regarding both the intent of the DE language and
our concerns about student privacy

Outcomes:
◦ The clarifying language addressed the concerns we
had:
 Focus is on “authenticating” the student – there is no
need to place an undue burden of cost on students
 Affirmed privacy protection for our students
◦ We learned the importance of being involved earlier
in legislation (potential for greater impact)
Higher Education Opportunity Act
Distance Education Provisions
Kay Gilcher
Senior Policy Analyst
9
Higher Education Opportunity
Act (HEOA)
 Reauthorization of the HEA – signed
into law on August 14, 2008
 Public Law 110-315
 Provisions effective upon enactment
unless otherwise specified
 Changes affecting distance education in
Title I and Title IV
10
Title I – General Provisions
 “Distance education” replaces
“telecommunications course”
 The use of one or more technologies
(specified in definition)
– To deliver instruction to students who are
separated from the instructor and
– To support regular and substantive interaction
between the students and the instructor, either
synchronously or asynchronously.
 Mirrors definition of “telecommunications
course” in regs as amended on Aug 9, 2006
11
Title I – New NACIQI
 National Advisory Committee on
Institutional Quality and Integrity
(NACIQI) restructured
 Appointing authority shifted from
Secretary to Secretary, House and
Senate
 Increased from 15-18 members
 Terms increase from 3 to 6 years
12
NACIQI – Effective dates
 Termination of current committee
members’ terms – August 14, 2008
 Establishment of new committee –
January 1, 2009
 Appointment of members – not earlier
than January 31, 2009
 Meeting to review agencies – no earlier
than June 2009
13
Title I – Distance Education
Demonstration Programs
 Directs Secretary to provide annual
reports on the DE Demo Programs
 Currently there are no demonstration
programs
 No expectation that we will seek new
applications
 Change in 50% rules; no add’l waiver
authority; no benefits in terms of policy
14
Title IV, Part H– Recognition
of Accrediting Agencies
 An agency that has, or seeks to include,
within its scope of recognition the
evaluation of institutions or programs
offering DE or correspondence
– Must demonstrate that its standards
effectively address the quality of education
offered in these modalities
– Is not required to have separate standards,
procedures or policies
15
Expansion of Scope
 Agencies no longer required to obtain
approval of Secretary to expand scope
to include DE or correspondence
 Must notify the Secretary in writing of
change in scope
16
Rapid Growth is a Concern
 Accrediting agencies are required to monitor
the growth of programs at institutions that are
experiencing significant enrollment growth
 Review required of any addition of DE or
correspondence to scope via Secretarial
notification if enrollment of institution offering
DE or correspondence increases by 50% in
an institutional fiscal year
17
Student Authentication
 Accrediting agencies must require
institutions that offer DE or
correspondence education to have
processes to establish that the student
who registers is the same student who
participates in and completes the work
and gets the academic credit.
 Effective date: August 14, 2008
18
What Does this Mean?
 Greater precision in meaning generally
comes through regulations
 Department required to do negotiated
rulemaking for Title IV
 Subject to master calendar
– Regulations published by Nov 1
– Effective July 1st of the following year
19
Negotiated Rulemaking
 Public hearings scheduled
– Sept 19 – Texas Christian University
– Sept 29 – Univ of Rhode Island, Providence
– Oct 2 – Pepperdine University
– Oct 6 – Johnson C Smith University
– Oct 8 – US Dept of Education, K Street
– Oct 15 – Cayahoga Community College
 http://www.ed.gov/HEOA
20
Negotiated Rulemaking
 Federal Register solicitation for negotiators
for several committees
 Selection of negotiators for each committee
 Three to four negotiating sessions
 Publication of NPRM
 Public comment
 Publication of Final Rule – Nov 1, 2009
 Effective date – July 1, 2010
21
Dear Colleague Letter
 Department may issue a DCL with
guidance to accrediting agencies
 Expectations relative to all provisions
affecting accrediting agency recognition
 Accrediting agencies communicate
expectations to institutions/programs
they accredit
 Published on Dept website
22
In the Meantime
 Use language in conference report as
guidance
– Institutions that offer distance education are
expected to have security mechanisms in place,
such as ID numbers or other pass code info
required to be used each time the student
participates in class time or coursework online.
Adapt technology as it becomes better, cheaper
and more mainstream. Not to interfere with
student privacy
 Does not address correspondence
23
Title XI – Studies and Reports
 Comparison of quality DE vs campusbased
– Secretary enter into agreement with
National Research Council of National
Academy of Sciences to conduct a
statistically valid evaluation of quality
– Interim report not later than June 30, 2009
– Final report not later than June 30, 2010
 No action until money is appropriated
24
Academic Integrity
in Online Education
Lori McNabb
September 2008
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Briefing Paper & Survey
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Current Efforts
• Education initiatives
• Course design
• Identity verification
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Academic Dishonesty
•
•
•
•
•
Plagiarism
Self-plagiarism
Unpermitted collaboration
Unauthorized help
Cheating
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Education Initiatives
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Education
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Education
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Education
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Education
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Education
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Education
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Education
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Course Design Ideas
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Course Design
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Course Design
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Course Design
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Course Design
Questionmark
Secure
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Course Design
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Course Design
SafeAssign
& Turnitin
Plagiarism
Detection
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Course Design
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Identity Verification
Technologies
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Identity Verification
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Identity Verification
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Identity Verification
Acxiom
FactCheck-X
Authenticate
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Identity Verification
Software Secure
Securexam
Remote Proctor
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Identity Verification
Kryterion
Webassessor
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Typical Cheater
Most likely to cheat:
• Males
• Undergrads
• Younger students
• Unmarried students
• Students w/low GPAs
Source: McCabe, Trevino & Butterfield (2001)
Most likely departments:
• Business students 
• Engineering students
Increasing:
• Explicit test cheating
• Collaborative cheating
• Cheating by women
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
Academic Integrity in Online Education
Lori McNabb
lmcnabb@utsystem.edu
UT TeleCampus | www.uttc.org | www.uttcturns10.org
+
Questions?
Rhonda
Epper
Co-Executive Director of
Learning Technology for the
Colorado Community College
System
Lori
McNabb
Assistant Director, Student and
Faculty Services, University of
Texas System TeleCampus
Kay
Gilcher
Senior Policy Analyst, Office of
Postsecondary Education, U.S.
Department of Education
Fred
Lokken
Chair of the Instructional
Technology Council and
Associate Dean of WebCollege,
Truckee Meadows Community
College
If you would like to ask a question and don’t
have a microphone set up, please type your
question into the chat box. We will answer as
many questions as possible.
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