Summary of Faculty Responsibilities for Online Teaching

Training

  • Faculty teaching online or partially online classes must have regular access to a reliable internet connection, possess the necessary training in online pedagogy and use of the currently supported learning management system, either through the SMCCCD Quality Online Teaching and Learning (QOTL) courses, on-campus training activities, @ONE, or another approved or accredited program. This training must be kept current, and re-certified at least every three years.

 Policies and Practices

  • Successful online teaching requires following several state Links to an external site. and federal Links to an external site. policies around regular and substantive interaction that are different for online classes compared to face-to-face classes. At any time, if you need additional support, please contact your CSM Distance Education Coordinator, Instructional Designers, and Instructional Technologists.
  • Faculty should never give out their Canvas login information (username and password) to anyone. This specifically includes technology support for third party and publisher course materials and add-ons. District-provided Canvas support will never ask for this information.
  • The United States Department of Education requires that regular and effective contact between students and faculty take place in all online and partially online courses. This CSM faculty distance education handbook outlines best practices for regular and substantive interaction. Faculty are responsible for organizing their online courses to meet this requirement, and this should also be specified in the Course Outline of Record (COR) DE Addendum.
  • Federal guidelines around attendance policies in online courses are meant to protect institutions from financial aid fraud. Instructors must drop students based on whether they are actively completing course activities, such as assignments, assessments, and posting on discussion forums. Participation and instructor-initiated drop policies must be clarified in the syllabus.

Course Facilitation

  • Online faculty are responsible for the same administrative functions as those teaching in a traditional classroom, including following the Course Outline of Record (COR) which is approved by the College’s Curriculum Committee.  Faculty also choose books and curriculum, verify course rosters for accuracy and submit a census. Faculty provide add codes to students, calculate final grades and enter those grades into WebSmart by the specified deadline. Faculty are responsible for creating and loading course syllabi, assignments, exams/quizzes and calendars to their course shell in the district-supported LMS.

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