DISTANCE EDUCATION

27.1     Definition of Distance Education: Distance Education refers to instruction in which the professor and students are separated by time and/or distance and interact through the assistance of technology. All approved courses offered as distance education (including fully online and partially online [hybrid] courses) must include regular, effective, and substantive contact between professor and students and among students.

27.2     Preparation and Professional Development for Faculty Who Teach Online: All faculty who teach online (including partially online or hybrid courses) must have successfully completed a professional development program (course or mentorship) in online pedagogy and technology (including Learning Management System [LMS] competency) approved by the Districtwide Distance Education Council (DDEC), which shall include campus Distance Education Committee Chairs.

27.2.1         District shall make DDEC-approved professional development (course and mentorship) in online pedagogy and technology (including LMS competency) available at no cost to faculty every semester online. The DDEC- approved course will allow faculty to submit exiting material as part of their coursework.

27.2.2         Faculty who are currently teaching online or have taught online in the past but who have not completed DDEC-approved training shall have until January 1, 2021, to successfully complete the training. During that time, they may continue to teach online, subject to regular staffing and scheduling considerations.

27.2.3         Faculty who are scheduled to teach online in spring or fall of 2020 and who have taught online in the 2018-19 or 2019-20 academic years but who have not completed DDEC-approved training are eligible to be compensated for up to            10 hours at their “other academic rate” for participating in DDEC-approved training.

27.2.4         A faculty member may present evidence of equivalent training for approval by DDEC in lieu of completing any of the above such as comprehensive @ONE training offered in past years.

27.2.5         A faculty member who presents evidence of professional development to the DDEC that is not accepted as equivalent to locally approved training may file a due-process appeal following procedures outlined in Article 8.1.1.4.

27.2.6         Having been deemed qualified to teach online at one District college qualifies a faculty member to teach online at all colleges in the District.

27.2.7         Having completed training or otherwise having demonstrated qualifications to teach online does not guarantee that a faculty member will be assigned to teach online.

27.3     Staffing, Scheduling and Load for Teaching Online: Online classes shall be staffed and scheduled in the same manner and according to the same contractual provisions as face-to-face classes.  Load for new online classes shall be established consistent with load for in-person classes, per Article 7.2. Faculty who teach online are subject to the same expectations as faculty teaching in-person for professional work and contributions outside the classroom.

27.3.1         No faculty member can be required to teach online, except in underload   situations as described in Article 7.4.

27.3.1.1      A part-time faculty member who is offered an online section but is not offered an in-person section shall not be deemed to have been required to teach online.

27.4     Evaluation of Faculty Teaching Online: If the first semester in which a faculty member teaches online or partially online is a semester in which a regular evaluation is scheduled, the faculty member’s online class shall be one of the classes evaluated. If the first semester in which a faculty member teaches online or partially online is a semester in which a regular evaluation is not scheduled, the faculty member’s online class shall be evaluated using the online procedures as outlined in Appendix X, except the results shall not be used for part-time staffing preference eligibility or tenure decisions. The off-schedule evaluation of the online class (the first time it is offered) shall have no effect on the cycle of regular evaluations. The first online evaluation must be completed by at least one evaluator who has demonstrated qualifications to teach online.

27.5     Privacy: Whenever possible, faculty shall be notified in advance and informed of the purpose whenever management enters an online classroom, except where safety concerns necessitate immediate intervention. Faculty who teach online have the same privacy expectations, rights and responsibilities as faculty who teach in person.

27.6     Learning Management System (LMS): All online classes shall include regular and substantive interaction between professor and student and among students using the District-adopted learning management system. Students must access all online course material through the District-adopted LMS; this does not preclude integration of external resources.

27.7  Technical Support: The District and/or colleges shall provide technical support for online instruction.