Transcript Hot Topics in Distance Education

Dolores Davison, Foothill College
Dustin Hanvey, Pasadena City College
Danielle Martino, Santiago Canyon College
“The Distance Education Ad Hoc Committee is
established to review, prioritize, and recommend
to the Executive Committee policies and
practices regarding distance education needs
that are within the purview of the Academic
Senate. The committee will interact with
existing standing committees, as appropriate,
write resolutions as needed, and provide a
recommendation to the Executive Committee in
spring 2012 on the prospect of forming a
permanent ASCCC committee on distance
education.”
 Approved by the ASCCC Executive Committee at
its February 2011 meeting

 E-materials
and concerns
 DE accreditation issues
 OER and concerns
 Existing Title 5 Compliance Issues
 Senate-Union DE Issues
 Effective Practices
 CMS Selection
 Local Support of DE
 Providing education as to why DE is not
the answer to budget/capacity issues
 International outreach issues
 AB

851 (Nestande) calls for the following:
Reports from the CCC and CSU on workload and
performance data on Distance Learning courses,
including #s of students and completion rates
(both of courses and of programs that are
entirely Distance Ed).;
 Calls
for a report on feasibility of
developing an accelerated bachelor’s
degree completion program of DL courses,
targeting students who started college
but did not obtain a degree.
 Calls for the LAO to convene a task force
to identify the steps necessary to
establish a Western Governors University
in California (WGU is an accredited, nonprofit online university headquartered in
Utah).
 Was made a two year bill at the end of
the legislative session in October.
 The
reason for the above bill
 Published by the LAO in November 2010,
so escaped close scrutiny because of the
elections, etc
 Summary in Rostrum (December 2010):
“While the LAO points out that distance
education will not replace face-to-face
education, the potential for growth is
almost unlimited and as such merits
closer scrutiny.“
E-Materials
for Instruction
 What can faculty require?
 What can be charged for materials?
 How long should those materials be
available?
 How does this tie into open source
educational materials?
 Definition
& documentation of attendance in
fully online courses significantly impacts
students with
financial aid
 When a student receiving Title IV grants and
loans withdraws from a program, the student’s
institution must determine the amount of
assistance the student earned to calculate the
amount of unearned funds that must be returned
to the Department of Education
 There
is increased oversight of federal student
aid for distance education programs by U.S.
Department of Education
 U.S. Department of Education is scrutinizing “last
day of attendance” calculations for financial aid
students who unofficially withdraw or drop-out
from their online courses
 “Last day of attendance” is used to determine
the amount of aid a student is eligible to receive
when he/she withdraws or leaves a course
 Victims
of online financial-aid fraud in
2009*
Axia College at University of Phoenix
 Lansing Community College in Michigan
 Dallas County Community College in Texas
 Rio Salado College in Arizona

*According to the
Inspector General’s
report to Congress
http://chronicle.com/article/Graphic-Anatomy-of-an/63578/
 Office
of Federal
Student Aid to
increase program
reviews of student
aid operations next
year by 50%
 Audit-like
examinations
of student aid
operations designed to
ensure that:
•
•
Students receive only the
grants/loans they’re
entitled to;
Institutions make refunds
in accordance with the
law in cases where
students withdraw
 Baker
•
•
College audited by U.S. Dept. of Education
College did not maintain records that were adequate
to support its determination of student attendance
during 2006-2007
College incorrectly identified when distance education
students began and ceased attendance
 Result
•
Baker College was required to reimburse the U.S.
Government thousands of dollars in financial aid funds
for errors found and is subject to additional audits to
verify the first day of attendance for these students
 Dept

of Ed recommends:
Develop & implement written policy & procedures for
attendance
 Policy
and procedures should address
maintenance of records adequate to support
student eligibility for financial aid

Ensure that the specific date is documented and
retained in accordance with the record retention
requirements in those cases where the institution has
chosen to use the last date of academic activity as the
last date of attendance


Attendance must be based on student’s Last Day of
Attendance in a documented “academically related
activity”
Acceptable



Meaningful participation in an online discussion
Student initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a
course-related question via email or chat room
Quizzes, tests, assignment submission
 Unacceptable
 Student-tracking of course site login
 Student posting of bio in Discussion forum