6,013: Standards and Approval Procedures for Online Courses
Revised: June 2024
Departments shall provide accurate information in the student information system (e.g. MyNEVADA) indicating the mode of instruction that best describes each of their class offerings each instructional term. Departments are only permitted to schedule class sections of a course that are consistent with the approved modes of delivery for that course.
For all new and revised courses approved by the University Courses and Curricula Committee (UCCC) the allowable modes of delivery shall be recorded in the student information system.
The allowable modes of instruction associated with proposed new or modified courses shall be reviewed by college curriculum committees and the UCCC. Courses having a “mode of instruction” attribute of WA (web-based asynchronous), WL (web-based synchronous) or WM (web-based with on or off-campus organizational meetings, labs, or proctored tests) are considered to be “online courses” at the University.
For courses for which WA, WL, and WM are allowable modes of instruction, the instructor qualifications and quality expectations for course development, content, retention of intellectual property rights, assessment of student learning outcomes, grading of student performance, security of examination procedures, currency of instructional materials, availability of instructor for student questions, and instructor and course evaluations are identical to those for traditional modes of instruction.
Expectations for faculty training: Each faculty member assigned to a WA, WL or WM course shall receive consultation, training, implementation, and evaluation support from instructional design and delivery staff that will ensure the effective and efficient use of the chosen delivery system, or provide evidence that they have previously received such training. Training will be delivered by Nevada Online.
Course Evaluation: Student teaching evaluation of an online course shall be no different from the evaluation of that course when delivered by some other mode, but shall also include response items that assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the online delivery systems, access to academic resources, access to faculty, and access to student services.
Accessibility: The design and implementation of online courses and the supporting technological infrastructure shall be in compliance with regulations related to ADA accessibility.
Approval Procedures: The review and approval procedures for proposed new or modified courses which include the WA, WL, and WM modes of instruction are identical to those with other modes of instruction
In order to add the WA, WL or WM modes of delivery to existing courses, departments shall use the Curriculog approval process, which includes “Online Course Approval Request” for review by the Vice Provost Online Learning and approval by college curriculum committees.