Why CR Needs a DE Program - Report prepared by Wendy Riggs and Reno Giovannetti - BoardDocs
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Why CR Needs a DE Program Report prepared by Wendy Riggs and Reno Giovannetti Submitted (on 7/20/21) to President Keith Flamer, Vice President of Instruction Kerry Mayer, Senate leadership (President Erin Wall and Vice President Chris Gaines), CRFO leadership (President Michelle Haggerty and Vice President Erik Kramer), and IT Hero Paul Chown. What is Distance Education (DE)? “Distance education is defined by Title 5 as ‘instruction in which the instructor and student are separated by time and/or distance and interact through the assistance of technology (§ 55200).’” (1- College of the Redwoods AP 4105). DE includes courses that are fully online with synchronous and/or asynchronous components, hybrid (online with some face-to-face components), or delivered through telepresence. Anytime face-to-face class time is replaced by a synchronous or asynchronous online component, the course must comply with DE regulations. Although this report concerns DE classes, face-to-face classes also benefit from the technologies and support necessary for DE. Justification DE courses take place in an online “classroom” and instructors take on new responsibilities when teaching an online course. This is because, in essence, they must build the online classroom they will use to deliver content. Technology like Canvas and Zoom make this easier, but it is still a much different experience than the more familiar face-to-face model. Additionally, DE courses are accountable to different regulations, and this requires the institution to have policies and procedures in place that relate specifically to DE. A DE program can provide faculty with guidance specific to DE pedagogy and resources specific to the online environment. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions all over the US have been grappling with the challenges of online education, and almost all faculty have a new appreciation for how to leverage technology to continue teaching and connecting with their students in an online environment. Despite the hope that the COVID-19 pandemic is nearing its end, there are many reasons we must ensure a high-quality DE program with adequate resources and support moving forward. For example, most institutions anticipate an increased student demand for the flexibility that online education offers (2- CHLOE 6 survey report). Combine this with CR’s intention to join the CVC-OEI and enable our faculty to get their courses into the exchange (3- How to Join the CVC-OEI Consortium), and it becomes very clear we need to provide adequate structures and support so faculty can sustainably provide high- quality learning experiences for their online students. Keep Teaching In March 2020, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the College of the Redwoods DE team created a Canvas site called “CR Keep Teaching” (4- CR Keep Teaching) to help all faculty transition their courses to remote delivery. This site enabled faculty to find strategies to manage this rapid transition, share materials, obtain professional development, and connect with colleagues. Many CR instructors had never taught online before. As of the writing of this report, 312 faculty, administrators, and staff have logged into the Keep Teaching site as students. Since its creation, the Keep Teaching home page (which serves as a place for updates and announcements) has been viewed over 20,000 times by folks with this “student” role. The week of 3/22/20 was the most popular, with 6500 total page views during that seven-day span. This was the first “emergency remote” teaching week. During spring 2020, Keep Teaching averaged 1400 views/week. Summer 2020 use (May 17-Aug 1) increased, with an average of 2000 views each week. This corresponded with a robust professional development activity calendar for June and July with 3-4 workshops in Zoom and other activities each week. August page views
increased (Aug 2-29) to an average of 3000 per week. Predictably, views decreased as the fall 2020 semester
progressed, averaging 1000 per week (with a high of 2000 in September and a low of 400 in November). January
2021 saw another increase with almost 2000 views per week, though the rest of the spring semester saw much
decreased activity with about 450 views per week (with a high of 1300 in February and a low of 100 in March).
Keep Teaching has facilitated a vibrant community supporting all instructors during a very challenging time,
regardless of the modality through which they teach their classes.
In a survey of CR faculty (conducted in May 2021, n=76), the following percentages of respondents indicated the
listed items were “Very Important” or “Important” to be able to do in the future:
Learn more about online teaching 85.14% Connect with colleagues 80.56%
Learn about technology and teaching 86.49% Get fast support/help 94.59%
Stay informed about policy, practices,
91.79% Get ideas/get inspired 90.54%
and procedures related to teaching
Access professional development
85.14%
resources
A DE program can nurture our College of the Redwoods community through Keep Teaching and help meet these
needs for all faculty, and especially faculty teaching courses through DE modalities.
Certification to Teach Online
According to Title 5 § 55208 b Faculty Selection and Workload (5- Article 1. Distance Education), “Instructors of
distance education shall be prepared to teach in a distance education delivery method consistent with local
district policies and negotiated agreements.” In May 2020, the CRFO and RCCD signed an MOU (6- 2019-22-21
MOU Online Certification) asserting that “Every faculty and associate faculty member will be enrolled as a
“student” in the CR Keep Teaching Canvas resource site. Prior to teaching an online course for College of the
Redwoods, faculty and associate faculty must earn a score of 100% on the Online Education Legal Requirements
Quiz.” The MOU states that this is required “In order to provide compelling evidence to the ACCCJC that all online
instruction offered at College of the Redwoods is taught by instructors who are knowledgeable of federal and
state regulations related to distance education…”
Standing alone, this “Legal Requirements Quiz” represents completely inadequate preparation to teach online. All
faculty deserve access to support, resources, and strategies, for online teaching, and this is especially important
for faculty who are new to online teaching. A DE program can coordinate access to this kind of important
support.
Accessibility
Because of a newsletter published by the CRFO in December 2020, much of spring 2021 was spent debating
accessibility requirements in online classes. It would have been extremely helpful to have a DE program
administrator who was able to deal with that controversy. Eventually, the Curriculum Committee Chair presented
a letter summarizing accessibility requirements to the Academic Senate. This letter described the Curriculum
Committee’s understanding of accessibility in DE courses (7- 4/9/21 Curriculum Committee meeting agenda item
6.2), and clarified the need for new policy to be written in the 21-22 school year.
DE Program Personnel Needs
Because DE courses are different than face-to-face courses, faculty who teach DE classes have different needs in
terms of professional development, technology support, guidance for course design and delivery, and
professional responsibilities. It is important to have human support available to help faculty with these needs.Past Personnel Investments
CR has had a rocky relationship with DE in the past, and this report won’t attempt to summarize that history.
Instead, we simply present the TLU investment in the DE program since 2015. These data were hastily mined
from past SARTCo’s (8- CR Approved SARTCo’s). The listed DE Administrator simply reflects the person who
submitted (or didn’t submit) the DE Program Review (PR) for that year and does not indicate whether or not
there was a DE administrator doing the tasks described in the rest of this report.
Section DE Administrative TOTAL
Instructional Faculty DE Summer
report: Administrator DE Coordinator SARTCO
Technologist Coordinator OTLT
% DE (submitted PR) TLU's TLU's
2021-22 ??? Reno
90% in fall? Angelina Hill 45
16
2020-21 75% in (no PR Reno Riggs (incl 270+ 61
Riggs
spring? submitted) DE addenda)
Cathy Cox (only 9 18 4
2019-20 14% Reno 31
submitted PR) Winter Riggs/Sayles Sayles
18
Reno 9 $4000
2018-19 11% Reno Sayles (incl 28 27
Giovannetti Winter Sayles
DE addenda)
9 18
2017-18 10% Cathy Cox Reno 27
Winter Sayles
18
2016-17 Cathy Cox Reno 18
Butler/Sayles
2015-16 Cathy Cox Reno 0
Other Notes: OTLT Graduates: 26/46 (2018-19), 21 (2017-18), before unknown…
Cathy Cox was removed from her position as DE Director in (2017-18) however ½ her salary
remained in the DE budget until she retired this year.
Projecting Future Personnel Investments
In 2019-20, the DE team of the time (Mark Winter- DE Admin Coordinator, Wendy Riggs and Lisa Sayles- DE
Faculty Coordinators, and Reno Giovannetti- Instructional Technologist) brainstormed a list of DE-related tasks
that needed to be completed by humans. The goal of this brainstormed list was to explain why a DE program was
necessary, and to justify the resources needed to support such a program. The list was delivered to (then) Vice
President of Instruction Angelina Hill in Spring 2020. However, after COVID-19 hit, both Mark Winter and Lisa
Sayles were released from their SARTCo obligations and the DEPC was disbanded (to eventually be replaced by a
Senate DE Committee in November 2020).
We updated the original list to reflect the current state of DE and we attempted (as much as possible) to ensure a
comprehensive list of program needs. While we have identified five distinct positions required to support a DE
program and have attempted to clarify the specific responsibilities for each position, we recognize that not only
will the task lists surely change over time, but also that tasks may be shuffled based on the skills and expertise of
the current team members. In other words, please do not read this list as prescriptive, but just as an example of
one way tasks might be organized and distributed.
As of the writing of this report, Reno Giovannetti is the only person on the DE team for 2021-22.ALL members of the DE team will:
• Stay current with relevant DE regulations, policies, procedures, services, and best practices from the
Chancellor's office, accrediting agencies, and federal law (for example, Title 5 regulations related to DE
are currently being revised).
DE Administrator: Leads the growth and development of a thriving DE program
1. Monitor DE compliance with federal and state law, accreditation standards, and College of the Redwoods
policies and procedures (9- ACCJC Policy on Distance and Correspondence Education (revised June 21)).
2. Provide year-round administrative support for DE staff, and faculty teaching DE courses.
3. Use enrollment and retention data as well as instructor and student surveys, to oversee the
development, implementation, and assessment of DE related plans, including:
a. the Accessibility Plan (created in 2018…status unclear)
b. the annual DE Program Review
c. the DE annual plan
4. Manage various DE-related administrative tasks like:
a. maintaining a DE-related budget to fund technology and staff
b. maintaining a database of instructors certified to teach online at CR for the Deans
c. enabling state regulations and authorization for cross-state enrollment and registration in online
classes
d. ensuring “Online Classes” webpage (10-) is accurate and relevant
e. submit annual DE report to the Chancellor’s Office in May
5. Represent DE with college stakeholders including senior administrators, instructional deans, student
development staff (counselors/advisors, enrollment services, DSPS), and committees.
6. Participate in the creation of DE related policy related to things like accessibility, FERPA, regular and
substantive interaction- RSI, SB 1359- no/low cost textbook indications, lab kits, telepresence, HyFlex
(11- 7 Things you should know about the HyFlex course model), proctoring, etc.
7. Facilitate alignment of all DE-related forms and processes, or propose needed changes to those who have
the authority to do so (curriculum, F2DE, syllabus template and checklist, board and other institutional
policies, etc.).
8. Coordinate tasks related to the CVC-OEI Consortium/Exchange and possibly serve as the Project Lead on
the College Consortium Team (12- CVC-OEI Consortium Self-Assessment Package and 13- Senate
presentation (4-2-21) from Riggs on how to join the CVC-OEI).
9. Work with student services to ensure DE students have access to the same resources as face-to-face
students, including things like a complaint process, tutoring, library access, and counseling.
10. Support coordination of a strategy (such as online course orientation letters) to facilitate effective
communication between DE instructors and their future students.
11. Ensure faculty have access to professional development/training opportunities for specific topics that
meet online teaching requirements, such as regular and substantive interaction, accessibility, and how to
use Canvas tools.
12. Maintain updated DE faculty and student handbooks.
Instructional Technologist/Canvas Administrator: Manages Canvas and other technology and supports faculty
with their tech needs
1. Provide Canvas support as needed for all faculty, including faculty new to College of the Redwoods or
Canvas and manage all non-instructional Canvas sites.2. Provide Canvas training and develop documentation related to Canvas use (especially when Canvas
updates take place) and plan for the rollout of new features to ensure faculty are prepared for any
changes to the Canvas learning management system.
3. Help coordinate and implement Canvas integrations requested by faculty and work with IT as needed
4. Ensure that Canvas use is secure and student identity and privacy is maintained.
5. Help faculty create, maintain, store, and ensure the accessibility of all instructional materials (including
audio, video, images, and other course materials).
6. Help train and support faculty using tools such as Telepresence, Zoom, Cidilabs, Proctorio, Pronto,
Panopto, Canvas Studio, and Softchalk.
7. Help train and support faculty so they can use accessibility checkers/resources such as UDoIt (included
with Cidi Labs), Ally, Verbit, Pope Tech (free through the Accessibility Center), and WAVE (free).
8. Setup, coordinate, and troubleshoot E-Kit to facilitate the student evaluation component of all faculty
evaluations.
9. Explore, analyze, implement, and evaluate innovative and emergent technologies, trends, and strategies
for teaching and learning in all modalities.
10. Help develop materials to support students when taking online classes (prep-courses, orientation letters,
welcome messaging).
11. Gather instructor and student feedback to help improve the DE program.
Instructional Designer: Helps faculty build efficient, effective, compliant Canvas courses
1. Consult with/support faculty when converting traditional courses to distance learning modalities,
including translating face-to-face methods for meeting course outcomes to distance education tools and
methods.
2. Use CidiLabs to create accessible course templates that meet CVC-OEI rubric standards and can be easily
adopted and customized by faculty.
3. Provide instructor-specific support for organization, navigation, and customization of course materials,
such as creating module structures, page templates, and visual elements and themes.
4. Perform accessibility audits for faculty (when requested) and develop mechanisms for remediation,
including training for using accessibility resources such as UDoIt (included with Cidi Labs), Ally, Verbit,
Pope Tech (free through the Accessibility Center, but we don’t have this yet), and WAVE (free).
5. Help faculty ensure their videos can be captioned.
6. Help develop materials to support students when taking online classes (prep-courses, orientation letters,
welcome messaging).
Faculty DE Coordinator: Supports faculty by providing professional development, a vibrant professional
community, and pedagogical support
1. Co-chair DEPC.
2. Facilitate Peer Online Course Review (POCR) process (which has yet to be defined), but might include the
following tasks:
a. POCR oversight and scheduling for faculty interested in going through the process
b. Coordinate faculty (peer) evaluations of courses (2 evaluators per course)
c. Act as the lead reviewer to synthesize peer evals and organize and facilitate POCR team meeting
with faculty
d. Re-check course after corrections are made and then submit course to CVC-OEI Exchange
3. Provide DE training and update training materials to reflect current DE regulations and best practices.
4. Support DE faculty through individual consultation and professional development workshops.
5. Maintain the resources and support available through Keep Teaching:
a. Update and improve training resources for online course building/teachingb. Coordinate discussion forums, Pronto conversations, and Zoom workshops to promote
collaboration, learning, and community
c. Keep faculty informed about DE related opportunities (like OER, CVC-OEI, and POCR).
6. Help develop materials to support students when taking online classes (prep-courses, orientation letters,
welcome messaging).
7. Attend monthly DECO meetings and the yearly DECO retreat at the Online Teaching Conference; and
attend DETCHE meetings when available.
Chair of Senate DE Committee: Serves the Academic Senate in 10+1 matters related to DE
1. Chairs the committee that provides direction and leadership on matters pertaining to academic quality,
faculty training and support, student learning, and institutional effectiveness in distance education. Tasks
include:
a. Accept assignments from the Senate on issues of distance education;
b. Advise the Senate and the administration on issues related to distance education;
c. Participate in development of policies regarding distance education, including training and
ongoing professional development of DE instructors, policies regarding training in the use of
Canvas, and policies for ensuring that all courses and materials are accessible to all people with
disabilities;
d. Support the DE program in matters related to the Chancellor’s Office, regional and State-wide
consortia (e.g., Online Education Initiative), ASCCC, and the ACCJC; and
e. Communicate and collaborate with the Curriculum Committee, Student Development,
Counseling and Advising, Disability Services and Student Programs (DSPS), LRC, and other District
stakeholders regarding distance education.
2. Participate in the Curriculum process and evaluate DE addenda for the Curriculum Committee, assuming
that is the wish of the Curriculum Chair and Academic Senate.
a. Stay current on laws and guidelines related to DE curriculum.
b. Consult with faculty as needed and provide support related to DE curriculum development.
c. Interface as needed with the Curriculum Committee to answer questions about DE addenda and
attend Curriculum Committee meetings as needed/requested.
Canvas and tech support: Provides tech support for students and faculty whenever they need it
1. Provide 24/7 support for faculty and student technology needs.
Committees
In addition to personnel, the following committees do coordinated work that impacts a DE program.
1. DE Planning Committee (DEPC)
This is a district planning committee that existed from 2014-2020, was disbanded during 20-21, and may
be reestablished in 21-22.
2. Senate DE Committee
This Senate sub-committee addresses 10+1 issues and was established in November 2020. The
committee began meeting in Spring 2021.
3. Technology Planning Committee
This district planning committee has existed at least from 2012-13, though the history is not quite clear.Technology Tools
All listed tools require someone who knows how they work, can teach faculty how to use them, and can support
faculty when things get funky. The tools must also be paid for, and ideally, there would be a DE budget so DE
leadership could prioritize available resources.
These tools will support our participation in the CVC-OEI course exchange. It is a heavy lift for faculty to create
online courses that satisfy the requirements of the OEI Course Design Rubric (14- OEI Course Design Rubric),
especially where it relates to accessibility. These resources lighten faculty load.
1. Canvas (learning management system)
$0 Currently supported through the chancellor’s office
2. Canvas Studio (video creation, storage, engagement, and captioning)
$0 Currently supported through the chancellor’s office through June 2022
3. Cidi Labs Design Plus and TiduUP (robust course design tools)
$8000 Purchased July 2021 for one year
4. *Cidi Labs UDoIt (checks accessibility and enables easy remediation of Canvas content)
$3000 Purchased July 2021 for one year
5. *Ally (checks accessibility of Canvas content and provides alternate formats of files)
$6000 Was free in 20-21, but purchased for another year via STAC
6. Pronto (robust communication tool embedded in Canvas to facilitate connections between faculty and
students and between students)
$6000 Purchased through STAC in June 2021 for one year
7. Proctorio (provides online proctoring)
$7000 Purchased through STAC in June 2021 for one year
8. *Verbit (provides captioning for videos)
$40,000 Purchased in April 2021 and funds must be used in one year
9. Softchalk (enables easy creation of interactive activities)
$6200 One year contract, used by a handful of faculty
10. Panopto (facilitates lecture capture)
$13,000 Paid for by the Nursing Program
11. *Pope Tech (checks accessibility of content as it is being built in Canvas)
$0 Currently offered free through the Accessibility Center, but it is unclear if that will continue
12. *WAVE (checks accessibility of content as it is being built in Canvas 15- https://wave.webaim.org)
$0 This is a free tool available to anyone, though we do not have professional development yet
*Accessibility tools that, when used in tandem, help faculty ensure accessible online course materials per federal
regulations 504 and 508.References
1. College of the Redwoods AP 4105 (approved by Academic Senate in May 2020):
http://go.boarddocs.com/ca/redwoods/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=BPKU767AA10C
2. CHLOE 6 survey report produced by Quality Matters:
https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/resource-center/articles-resources/CHLOE-6-report-2021
3. How to join the CVC-OEI:
https://cvc.edu/about-the-oei/college-participation/new-colleges
4. CR Keep Teaching:
https://redwoods.instructure.com/courses/11374
5. Title 5, Article 1. Distance Education (see § 55208. Faculty Selection and Workload)
https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Browse/Home/California/CaliforniaCodeofRegulations?guid=ICD714E2
0D48411DEBC02831C6D6C108E&transitionType=Default&contextData=%28sc.Default%29
6. 2019-22-21 MOU Online Certification
https://www.redwoods.edu/Portals/229/CRFO%20MOUs/2019-22-
21%20MOU%20Online%20Certification.pdf?ver=2020-05-18-135637-807×tamp=1626801298798
7. Letter to the DE Committee from the Curriculum Committee (from the 4-9-21 Curriculum Committee
meeting, agenda item 6.2):
http://go.boarddocs.com/ca/redwoods/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=BZNPCF61CE12
8. College of the Redwoods SARTCo’s:
https://www.redwoods.edu/sartco
9. ACCJC Policy on Distance and Correspondence Education (revised June 21):
https://accjc.org/wp-content/uploads/Policy-on-Distance-and-on-Correspondence-Education.pdf
10. College of the Redwoods “Online Classes” webpage:
https://www.redwoods.edu/online
11. 7 Things you should know about the HyFlex course model:
https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2020/7/eli7173.pdf
12. CVC-OEI Consortium Self-Assessment Package:
https://cvc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CVC-OEI-Consortium-Self-Assessment-Packet.pdf
13. Senate presentation (4-2-21) from Riggs on how to join the CVC-OEI:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v7xgxYt6FtH1hI3Jg9vwNcUFewzrXrcFhEi8K3Exv04/edit?usp=s
haring
14. OEI Course Design Rubric:
https://onlinenetworkofeducators.org/wp-
content/uploads/2021/05/CVC_OEI_Course_Design_Rubric_rev_April_2020_ACC_52021.pdf
15. Wave online accessibility checker:
https://wave.webaim.orgYou can also read
