PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR ELECTRONICALLY DELIVERED ACADEMIC DEGREE AND CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges

(Adopted June 1996)

Recognizing that most institutions must make use of the growing range of systems for delivery of instruction, including various forms of broadcast and other electronic means to serve students at a distance, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges has adopted a set of Principles of Good Practice to help assure that distance learning is characterized by the same concerns for quality, integrity, and effectiveness that apply to campus-based instruction. The Principles are not a substitute for the Standards for Accreditation, which apply to all educational activities offered in the name of the institution, regardless of where or how presented, or by whom taught.

Application of the Principles

It is expected that an institution conducting distance learning activities will be able to assure at all times that its distance programs and courses are offered in accord with the principles. An institution seeking to begin distance learning programs for the first time will be asked to demonstrate, as part of the Substantive Change Report, that provisions are in place to assure that the principles will be adhered to. Institutions completing comprehensive self studies will be expected to provide specific evidence that the Principles are followed.

Principles

Curriculum and Instruction

• Each program of study results in learning outcomes appropriate to the rigor and breadth of the degree or certificate awarded.
• An electronically delivered degree or certificate program is coherent and complete.
• The program provides for either real-time or delayed interaction between faculty and students and among students.
• Qualified faculty provide appropriate oversight of programs delivered electronically.

Institutional Context and Commitment

Role and Mission

• The program is consistent with the institution's role and mission.
• Review and approval processes ensure the appropriateness of electronic delivery to meeting the program's objectives.

Faculty Support

• The institution provides faculty support services specifically related to teaching via electronic delivery.
• The program provides training for faculty who teach via electronic delivery.

Resources for Learning

• The program ensures that appropriate learning resources are available to students.

Students and Student Services

• The program provides students with clear, complete and timely information on the curriculum, course and degree requirements, the nature of faculty/student interaction, assumptions about technological competence and skills, technical equipment requirements, availability of academic support services and financial aid resources, and costs and payment policies.
• Enrolled students have reasonable and adequate access to the range of student services appropriate to support their learning and assess their progress.
• Accepted students have the background, knowledge, and technical skills needed to undertake the program.
• Advertising, recruiting, and admissions materials clearly and accurately represent the program and the services available.

Commitment to Support

• Policies for faculty evaluation include appropriate consideration of teaching and scholarly activities related to electronically delivered programs.
• The institution demonstrates a commitment to ongoing support, both financial and technical, and to continuation of the program for a period sufficient to enable students to complete a degree/certificate.

Evaluation and Assessment

• The institution evaluates the program's educational effectiveness, including assessments of student learning outcomes, student retention, and student and faculty satisfaction. Students have access to such program evaluation data.
• The institution provides for assessment of student achievement in each course, and at completion of the program.

Background of the Principles Document

These Principles are the product of a Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications project, "Balancing Quality and Access: Reducing State Policy Barriers to Electronically Delivered Higher Education Programs." The three-year project, supported by the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, was designed to foster an interstate environment that encourages the electronic delivery of higher education programs across state lines. The Principles were developed by a group representing the Western states' higher education regulating agencies, higher education institutions, and the regionally accrediting community.

Recognizing that the context for learning in our society is undergoing profound changes, those charged with developing the Principles tried not to tie them to or compare them to campus structures. The Principles were also designed to be sufficiently flexible that institutions offering a range of programs - will find them useful.

Several assumptions form the basis for these Principles:

• The electronically delivered program is offered by or through an institution that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body.
• The institution's programs with specialized accreditation meet the same requirements when delivered electronically.
• The institution may be a traditional higher education institution, a consortium of such institutions, or another type of organization or entity.
• It is the institution's responsibility to review educational programs it provides via technology in terms of its own internally applied definition of these characteristics.

"Principles of Good Practice" was approved by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges on June 11, 1996.