Distance Education

405.     DISTANCE EDUCATION

Distance Education credit courses shall be defined as courses that rely on technology to deliver course content when the learner and instructor are not in the same place at the same time. Distance Education courses may be synchronous (in real time; simultaneous) or asynchronous.  Distance education is distinct from hybrid courses, where the instructor and students have a regular meeting schedule (usually once a week) but rely on technology to deliver a portion of the course content.

In accordance with Federal Regulations, no student at Warren County Community College shall earn more than 50% of his/her degree program through distance education offerings unless the degree program has been accepted by Middle States Commission on Higher Education as an approved Distance Education offering of Warren County Community College.

Also, in accordance with Federal Regulations, the College must establish procedures to ensure the identity of each student taking distance education classes.  These procedures are intended not only to protect student privacy, but to also prevent any academic misconduct.  WCCC satisfies this requirement through the following controls:

a)      Students and instructors are only permitted access to classes for which they are enrolled.

b)      Users must submit both a unique user ID and a password in order to access their distance education classes.

c)      Instructors or academic administrators can monitor student use and disable a user’s access to a class in the case of any suspected violation of academic policies or procedures.

d)      An instructor may specify in-person assessment(s) for distance education or hybrid courses, as long as these requirements are made clear in the section syllabus.  All in-person assessments must be proctored by the instructor or an authorized college representative.  No additional fees shall be charged to students for the proctoring of distance education or hybrid course assessments.

The college shall verify that a student is actively attending a distance education course prior to the disbursement of federal financial aid.  Because distance education courses do not include face-to-face contact between a professor and a student, it is necessary for the college to establish standards for determining attendance for purposes of financial aid disbursement.  Attendance in on-line class shall be defined as active participation in course assignments, including the completion of papers, on-line postings and exams.  Merely logging into an on-line educational system does not constitute attendance.

Students enrolled in a distance education class who have not completed a single course assignment/exam for the class, shall receive an NF grade (Failure to Withdraw/Never Attended).  Students who have stopped actively participating in the class prior to the end of the semester shall be awarded an XF grade (Failure to Withdraw/Stopped Attending) and have a “last date of attendance” (or LDA) date recorded by the instructor.  This LDA shall reflect the date the student’s last assignment or exam was received by the instructor.

Any instructor or administrator concerned about the sharing, tampering or access to usernames, passwords, or distance education courses by unauthorized individuals shall report concerns immediately to the Vice President of Academic Affairs or his/her designee.  This includes concerns regarding possible student fraud, plagiarism and/or other conduct specifically prohibited in the Student Handbook, the Campus Code of Conduct (Policy 304.2), the Policy on Computer, Email and Internet Usage (Policy 202.19) or the Copyright Policy (Policy 404).