Policy: Electronic Delivery of Educational Instruction

Document Number: 1.005
Title: Electronic Delivery of Educational Instruction
Effective Date: 06/13/2024
Revised Date: N/A

Policy Statement

River Parishes Community College (RPCC) is committed to providing legendary educational opportunities to all students at all instructional sites and by all instructional delivery modes. To extend educational opportunities to more individuals in the College’s service area and expand the instructional resources available to all students, RPCC employs distance education or electronic delivery modalities for a variety of courses and programs. Realization of the College’s commitment, with adherence to the requirements of the state of Louisiana, the College’s accrediting agency and the federal government, ensures consistent and equitable delivery of instruction to all students and aligns with the College’s mission and strategic plan. 

RPCC utilizes Canvas as its Learning Management System (LMS) for the creation, management, and delivery of course materials to students for all instructional delivery modes. To ensure consistent and equitable access to course materials for all students, all faculty (full-time and adjunct) are required to utilize Canvas as the common access point for all courses, all learning materials, at all RPCC instructional sites, and for all modes of delivery. Additionally, the LMS is the College’s platform for recording student learning outcomes assessments results. 

Policy Scope

All courses offered for credit at RPCC are approved by the College’s Curriculum Committee for all modes of delivery. Courses and instructors must first be approved prior to scheduling a course for distance education or electronic delivery.  This policy applies to all faculty interested in teaching courses for distance education/electronic delivery and all courses to be so delivered. 

All RPCC courses, inclusive of instructional site and mode of delivery, are expected to have content available to students in the College’s Learning Management System (LMS), currently Canvas.  The minimum, described in RPCC’s Minimum Mandatory LMS Usage Policy, is typically appropriate for traditional, in-person course delivery.  RPCC students engage in courses electronically, from the mandatory minimum to the provision of all instructional resources in fully online courses.  To address various challenges of electronic delivery, RPCC has developed procedures for verifying the identity of students enrolled in courses delivered electronically, protects the privacy of students enrolled in courses delivered electronically, and informs students of tuition and fees specific to courses delivered electronically. 

Policy Definitions 

Distance education: 

I) as defined by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), RPCC’s institutional accreditor. 

“a formal educational process in which the majority of the instruction (interaction between students and instructors and among students) in a course occurs when students and instructors are not in the same place. Instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous. A distance education course may use the internet; one-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices; audio conferencing; or other digital media if used as part of the distance education course or program”1 

II) as defined by the United States Department of Education. 

“(1) Education that uses one or more of the technologies listed in paragraphs (2)(i) through (iv) of this definition to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor or instructors and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor or instructors, either synchronously or asynchronously. 

(2) The technologies that may be used to offer distance education include— 

(i) The internet; 

(ii) One-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices; 

(iii) Audio conference; or 

(iv) Other media used in a course in conjunction with any of the technologies listed in paragraphs (2)(i) through (iii) of this definition. 

(3) For purposes of this definition, an instructor is an individual responsible for delivering course content and who meets the qualifications for instruction established by an institution's accrediting agency. 

(4) For purposes of this definition, substantive interaction is engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment, consistent with the content under discussion, and also includes at least two of the following— 

(i) Providing direct instruction; 

(ii) Assessing or providing feedback on a student's coursework; 

(iii) Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency; 

(iv) Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency; or 

(v) Other instructional activities approved by the institution's or program's accrediting agency. 

(5) An institution ensures regular interaction between a student and an instructor or instructors by, prior to the student's completion of a course or competency— 

(i) Providing the opportunity for substantive interactions with the student on a predictable and scheduled basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course or competency; and 

(ii) Monitoring the student's academic engagement and success and ensuring that an instructor is responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student when needed on the basis of such monitoring, or upon request by the student.”

In-person delivery:  characterized by students and instructors meeting in the same physical setting at the same time.  The nature of the course determines the extent of student engagement with learning resources provided electronically/online. 

• In-person courses must meet federal guidelines for “class time” (direct instruction) and “out-of-class” time.  Consistent with RPCC’s Credit Hour Policy, a three (3) credit-hour in-person lecture course includes 2.5-3 hours instructor-student interaction on campus per week, with possible instruction and interaction online.  On average, students are expected to spend approximately six (6) hours per week preparing for class, completing homework, and studying for quizzes and exams. 

Hybrid delivery:  distance education modality characterized by a combination of in-person and online instruction and instructor-student interaction and engagement.  Students may be required to complete high-stakes quizzes and exams on campus in the RPCC Testing Center. 

• Hybrid courses must meet federal guidelines for equivalent “class time” (direct instruction) and “out-of-class” time.  Consistent with RPCC’s Credit Hour Policy, a three (3) credit-hour hybrid lecture course includes instructor-student interaction totaling 2.5-3 hours per week, as for an in-person course.  Some of the instructor-student interaction is online.  As for an in-person course, students are expected to spend, on average, approximately six (6) hours per week preparing for class, completing homework, and studying for quizzes and exams.  The course learning outcomes are the ultimate guide to the amount of in-person and online instruction and engagement:  the online instruction must enable students to achieve the same outcomes as could be met in an in-person offering of the course. 

Fully online delivery:  distance education modality characterized by completely online instruction and instructor-student interaction and engagement.   

• Fully online courses must meet federal guidelines for equivalent “class time” (direct instruction) and “out-of-class” time.  Consistent with RPCC’s Credit Hour Policy, a three (3) credit-hour online lecture course includes 2.5-3 hours of instructional activity and interaction per week conducted entirely online.  As for hybrid and in-person courses, students are expected to spend, on average, approximately six (6) hours per week preparing for class, completing homework, and studying for quizzes and exams.  The course learning outcomes are the ultimate guide to the amount of weekly instructor-student interaction, instruction, and engagement:  the online instruction must enable students to achieve the same outcomes as could be met in an in-person or hybrid offering of the course. 

Synchronous online delivery:  an online course or course component during which the instructor and students interact in real time. 

Asynchronous online delivery:  an online course or course component during which the instructor and students engage in the instructional materials at different times. 

Policy Implementation 

Approval of a course for delivery via a distance education modality requires consideration of the nature and goal of the course.  Courses with the expectation and assessment of skills development may be appropriately delivered in hybrid modality and may not be candidates for a fully online modality. Faculty interested in teaching a course via a distance education modality must be recommended by their direct supervisor (department chair or dean) and approved by the Director of Innovative Teaching and Learning and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.  Approval requires completion of training provided by the Center for Teaching Excellence and evidence of adherence to the Mandatory Minimum LMS Usage requirement and the RPCC Online Teaching Guidelines, as well as compliance with regulations such as the Family Educational Rights and Responsibilities Act (FERPA). 

Mandatory Minimum LMS Usage 

Each semester, faculty are to make the following available in the LMS for each course: 

1. A home page with the name of the course, the instructor’s name, the class format (in-person, hybrid, synchronous or asynchronous online), and information on how the course will meet (room number and days/times of meetings). The RPCC home page template is to be used for all course home pages. 
2. A complete and accurate course syllabus based on the approved “master” syllabus for the course. 
3. A gradebook in which each student's attendance/participation and performance on assignments and exams that make up the ongoing and/or overall grade in the course are recorded. 

These three mandatory components are considered the minimum resources faculty are to provide students in each course in the LMS each term. All must be published for each course no later than five (5) days before the class begins. 

All faculty are to use the LMS for reporting results for assessment of course and program learning outcomes as well as for general education learning outcomes. A representative of the College’s Institutional Effectiveness unit assists faculty each term with the process for incorporating assessment results reporting in their courses, establishes the deadline for reporting results, and extracts assessment data for review by academic divisions. 

In addition, the overall grade reported for each student in Canvas at the conclusion of the semester must be the same grade submitted as the student’s final grade in the College’s student information system (Banner). 

If a faculty member is not able to meet the mandatory minimum requirements, the dean or department chair should be notified at least two weeks before the beginning of the term so that instruction in how to prepare the minimum requirements may be provided or an alternative instructor may be assigned to the course. 

Verification of the Student Identity 

To ensure that the student accessing learning resources provided in the LMS is the same student participating in and completing the course, RPCC students access their course materials using their unique identification (ID) number (assigned upon admission) and their password.  For students enrolled in fully online courses for which exams must be taken via a supervised or proctored setting requiring verification of the student’s identity, RPCC has implemented test proctoring software which records a video capture of the student while taking the exam remotely and identifies any identity risk and/or plagiarism risk while the student is taking the exam. RPCC may implement new or other technologies and practices for verifying the identity of students participating in learning activities or examinations when deemed appropriate for the course. 

Protection of Student Privacy

The Office of the Registrar is responsible for ensuring that the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) are upheld and publishing RPCC’s FERPA Act notification. Additionally, RPCC maintains security measures to protect and back up electronic data through the (1) student information system, Banner® (a product of Ellucian Company, L.P.), managed for RPCC by the Louisiana Community and Technical College System via the portal “Log On Louisiana” and (2) LMS (currently Canvas, a product of Instructure).  RPCC students are provided with a single username and password for both Banner and Canvas. Student logins are protected by encryption techniques via Secured Sockets Layers, which uses 256–bit encryption and third-party verification. The logins and passwords are encrypted as they move through the Internet.  GeoTrust certificates are employed by RPCC servers to provide third party verification, which ensures students that RPCC is a trusted site. 

Notification of Tuition and Fees for Online Courses 

The Tuition and Fees page published on the RPCC website provides schedules for in-person and online courses.  The same page includes a statement regarding the non-refundable Online Registration Fee (charged per semester) for enrollment in an online course.  Additional fees required for individual courses are published in the Course Registration portal and are visible to students when they register for courses. 

Instructors teaching courses in distance education formats must inform students in writing of any proctored exam requirements and the cost for taking an online exam proctored through a third-party service provider.  The RPCC Testing Center establishes procedures for exam proctoring when students are required to take an exam in person.