Kevin Hulen from the University of North Florida is the Assistant Director of Quality and Assessment at UNF Online. They presented at the April Quality Matters (QM) conference on “The NeverEnding Story: Continuous Improvements to Online Programs.” The slides were shared at tinyurl.com/ynw8crtr They explained the neverending story is the need for quality assurance mechanisms. Hulen asked: what is quality and why does it matter? Who defines quality? The University of North Florida has about 17,000 students, and they are celebrating its 50th anniversary. They have about 500 online courses and 25 online programs with seven instructional designers. Hulen also mentioned that about 60-70% of online courses are delivered by certified instructors but only 10-14% of online courses are certified. Sixty-five courses have been reviewed by QM and 4.5 online programs are 100% QM-Certified. Three faculty are QM-Certified Master Reviewers and 17 are QM-Certified Peer Reviewers. Their challenges include maintaining quality and updates to courses and implementing sustainable instructional design practices. Hulen spoke about the challenges of variability between different online programs and all the elements involved. Hulen used Slido.com to ask: identify sources of variability in course design and delivery within online programs at your institution. Several responded with consistency, time, and faculty buy-in… Hulen then shared a chart/table with sources of variability and partners such as Canvas and QM. In general, faculty take an eight-week faculty development course. In the state of Florida, there is the Florida High-Quality (HQ) designation based on QM rubric. After certification, Hulen returns to the courses within three years to reengage in conversations about improvement and recertification. Hulen shared comparisons using graphics for multiple courses across online programs at their institution. Each online program has a plan and revisit to continue paying attention to each course. Hulen also identified five core tenets for all Online Program Quality Plans: design, content, technology, accessibility, and instructors. Within a couple of years, new instructors and needs may become apparent. This will set in motion processes for internal reviews, for example. I thought it was interesting that they use ClickUp to organize timelines. This presentation was part of a book chapter that Hulen published. This was useful to learn about the structure and management of online quality assurance programs.
