1. Purpose:
   The purposes of this policy are to (1) define distance education, (2) establish minimum requirements regarding regular and substantive interaction between instructors and students in distance education courses, (3) establish division and department responsibilities related to distance education, and (4) establish processes for student identity verification,.
   Definition: Distance Education at Salish Kootenai College refers to the delivery of instruction when the majority of the instruction (75% or more), uses web-based technologies regardless of the student or the instructor’s location. Delivery may be synchronous or asynchronous, can include some face-to-face interaction, and must incorporate regular and substantive interaction between students and instructors.
2. Scope
   This policy applies to all faculty members, whether full-time, part-time, or adjunct, who are teaching undergraduate or graduate distance courses.
3. Division and Department Responsibilities
   1. Rigor and Quality
      1. Distance education courses must offer equivalent quality, rigor, and student learning opportunities as a face-to-face course. Courses must include measurable student learning outcomes and assess student achievement of those outcomes.
      2. All online courses offered for credit must meet the requirements of the College’s academic credit policy (Policy 407.00).
   2. Department Responsibilities
      1. Departments must receive approval from the Curriculum Committee for moving programs online. Additional approval from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is required prior to offering more than 50% of a certificate or degree program online.
      2. Departments will notify Curriculum Committee if changing mode of delivery of a course.
         1. Department chairs are responsible for ensuring that part-time or adjunct faculty members who teach distance courses are familiar with and comply with this policy.
4. Instructor Responsibilities
   The institution has established scheduled and predictable opportunities for substantive interaction between students and instructors and created expectations for instructors to monitor each student’s engagement and substantively engage with students on the basis of that monitoring.
   1. Course Implementation
      1. The course syllabus must explain instructor availability for regular communication with students, course requirements, and any requirements for student identity verification.
      2. To enhance accessibility and effectiveness for the students, faculty will deliver distance education programs and courses using the official SKC learning management system.
      3. Instructors of online courses must regularly monitor each student’s academic engagement and success. The instructor is responsible to maintain substantial engagement with students based on that monitoring promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student on the basis of course monitoring or at the request of the student.
      4. Regular and Substantive Interaction
         1. All distance education programs and courses must provide regular and substantive interaction between the instructor(s) and the students. “Regular” is defined as providing the opportunity for interactions with the student on a scheduled and predictable basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course. At a minimum, such interaction should occur weekly within the course period. “Substantive” means engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment, consistent with the content under discussion, and also includes at least two of the following:
            1. Providing direct instruction
            2. Assessing or providing feedback on a student’s coursework
            3. Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency
            4. Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency
            5. Other instructional activities approved by the institution’s or program’s accrediting agency
         2. Regular and substantive interaction requirements are not satisfied when interactions are limited to:
            1. grading assignments without supplying specific feedback to the individual student
            2. relying solely on student-initiated requests for engagement with the instructor
      5. Instructors of online courses must regularly monitor each student’s academic engagement and success. The instructor is responsible to maintain substantial engagement with students based on that monitoring promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student on the basis of course monitoring or at the request of the student.
      6. Availability for Communication With Students Instructors teaching distance courses are required to offer regular and predictable times for students to contact them. Instructors may use various modes of synchronous online communication including but not limited to phone or video conference.
      7. Course Load and Compensation Distance learning courses are part of a faculty member’s regular teaching load, with the same rate of compensation as face-to-face courses.
5. Verification of Student Identity
   Student identity in online courses will be verified using one of the following methods.
   1. A secure login and pass code;
   2. Proctored examinations; or
   3. New or other technologies and practices that are effective in verifying student identification.

References:

NWCCU Distance Education Policy
Code of Federal Regulations, 34 C.F.R. 600.2

History: 

Adopted: Policy has been in place since 4/2025
Revised:
Reviewed: