Section 1: Introduction

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1. NSHE Code: Definition of Distance Education
   1. The term distance education means a formal educational process in which the majority of the instruction occurs when the student and instructor are separated by geographic distance or time. Instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous. Distance education may employ correspondence study, audio, or other electronically mediated technologies.
2. Western Nevada College offers online courses in a learning centered environment that fulfill the same objectives, meet the same outcomes, and are assessed with the same rigor as traditional courses. Just as traditional courses observe standards appropriate to that mode, online courses observe the guidelines and standards defined in this document.
3. All WNC courses will adhere to current WNC policies and bylaws, and to all NSHE requirements.
4. For Definitions refer to Admissions and Records

Section 2: Faculty Training

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1. The institution provides appropriate training and the opportunity for exposure to new and innovative technologies, tools and software for enhancing access and learning.
2. All Faculty using the Learning Management System (LMS) for the first time are required to attend training prior to their first session of that class. The person responsible for Digital Learning (DL) will notify the Digital Learning Committee and the Academic Director of instructors who have met the training requirements.
3. All faculty teaching using the LMS are required to go through the currently established quality assurance faculty training.

Section 3: Course Development

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1. Approval for a new LMS course must be obtained from the Academic Director.
2. New courses shall be designed using the Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR) adopted for use at WNC, which will be submitted to the Academic Director.
3. The instructor ensures approval and/or copyright permissions and clearance for all multimedia that will be used in their courses. Western Nevada College copyright policy must be followed: https://wnc.edu/policies/policy/3-2-8.php
4. If an instructor chooses to use a third party vendor, it is their responsibility to provide accessibility instructions and login information to students. Additionally, the instructor must provide login information to the Department of Instructional Innovation. 
5. The college will provide the course expectations to the faculty before the beginning of the semester.

Section 4: Course Delivery

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1. All digital courses must be delivered in the accepted WNC LMS.
2. All online classes must be complete with content one week prior to the start of the semester.
   1. New courses will have multiple weeks worth of content.
3. All courses will be available by 8:00 AM on the first day of instruction.
4. Faculty will log into all digital classes within the LMS a minimum of three times weekly, evenly spaced to ensure proper student/instructor interaction.
5. Faculty will respond to student communications within 48 hours except during weekends and holidays. This will be stated in the syllabus.
6. Faculty will return graded assignments according to best practices (Generally 10 business days).
7. Exam Proctoring of Online Courses
   1. Exam proctoring for online courses ensures equal access for all students.
      1. Students participating in an online course are allowed to complete proctored exams at any instructor-approved proctoring site.
      2. Approved sites may include schools, libraries, colleges and organizations actively engaged in learning and proctoring capability.
      3. Students have the responsibility of procuring an instructor approved proctoring site and communicating this information to the course instructors.
      4. Online course instructors will facilitate the completion of the proctored exam. This could include several process steps.
         1. Contacting the test proctor.
         2. Transmitting the testing materials to the proctoring site.
         3. Informing the testing site of proctoring instructions.
      5. Students will be required to provide proper current photo identification when they attend the proctoring session. Approved forms of ID will consist of: drivers license, state-issued photo ID, military ID, student ID, or passport.
      6. Third party online proctoring is available and can be set up through the course instructor. Students may be assessed an additional fee for this service.
   2. A WNC onsite test proctoring schedule will be published online by the second week of the semester.

Section 5: Online Course Review

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1. WNC is committed to quality digital instruction.
   1. After designing a course, instructors will conduct a self-evaluation of their courses based upon the OSCQR Rubric established by the Digital Learning Committee.
   2. A minimum of one course per instructor must meet the internally designed rubric, following the Peer Review Procedure, as established by the Distance Education Committee.

Section 6: Course Sharing

1. Sharing Developed Course
   1. Nothing in this policy infringes upon the faculty members right to their intellectual property.
   2. If compensated to develop a course, then the institution has the ability to use that course with other instructors. However, the faculty who develops the course has the first right of refusal on teaching the course if applicable.
   3. If the faculty member was not compensated in developing the course, then the faculty can choose to share a course with a specific person or not.
   4. An instructor using a course developed by another faculty member only has rights to use the course during the semester designated and only at Western Nevada College.

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