Distance education addendum language forISP courses
Need/Justification
For ISP, offering the course in correspondence mode allows FRC to deliver course materials to students at various prisons. Prisons do not allow their inmates to receive education in other DE methods because of security issues, and California Education Code does not permit correspondence courses to provide face-to-face instruction. College faculty and staff to meet with inmates at least once per semester, for tutoring of students, planning and networking with educational administrators, and overseeing clerical tasks.
Fostering and Maintaining Student Engagement
For ISP, students have effective and regular contact with their instructors who are required to submit written feedback on module assignments, every two weeks, and on midterms and final examinations, twice per semester. In addition, students are provided with an Instructor Office Hour form to correspond with instructor on course related issues. An early alert system (within the first six weeks of the semester) requires instructors to identify students struggling in the course, and identify additional academic resources, including tutoring. Students receive progress reports half way through the semester.
Course Quality
The course will uphold and maintain the rigor required for studyin the discipline. Assignments will align with the defined student learning outcomes. Review by program lead faculty will occur regularly. All courses taught in the Incarcerated Student Program align with Title 5 Course Outlines, CID course descriptors, and are part of the Associate of Arts degree sequence that fulfills the California State University General Breadth Requirements with a major in Liberal Arts and an emphasis in Fine Arts and Humanities. Materials used each semester are similar or the same for each section of the course, and assignments for each mode of delivery are created to assess student learning related to the course SLOs. This consistency ensuresthe maintenance of college-level standards. All materials are reviewed by faculty in the field, the ISP administrative staff, and the peer review team assembled during instructor evaluation cycle. The ISP has made considerable changes in its mode of delivery and program materials to confirm alignment with the Student Learning Outcomes and ensure that delivery delays do not impact student success.
• All ISP course formats are divided into 7 learning modules over a 14 week semester. Assignments are due every two weeks.
• In addition to a course textbook, each module contains course notes and a lecture component to substitute for the face to face presence of an instructor.
• Instead of the course arriving piecemeal every two weeks, the ISP now offers students "a course in a box," in the event of delivery delays.
• The ISP is creating a data bank of instructor videos, audio tapes, secondary sources, and lab materials that will be made available as needed.
• Planning stages in effect for instructor videos to accompany course’s lecture component.
• A Student Education Plan that aligns with advising guidelines and criteria.
• A triplicate Instructor Student Communication form to handle issues that remain unresolved (Copies of the form are sent to the instructor, Dean of Instruction, and ISP Director).
• An Assignment Sheet form to prevent delivery mix-ups.
• Incarcerated Student Proctor Agreement form to formalize the on-site proctoring arrangements with the objective of reducing plagiarism.
• An Office Hour form allowing students to raise issues through correspondence that would typically be accomplished during instructor’s on campus office hours.
• Incarcerated Student Program Catalog to provide information about the Program’s mission, purpose, background, curriculum, faculty and staff, advisement, registration, and other ISP policies, and prison locations to students, instructors, and prison education officials.
Student Identity Verification
There are a number of ways student identity may be verified. For the ISP section, all ISP students are required to complete and sign a Registration Application in front of a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation education coordinator who then send the application to FRC's ISP office for processing and delivery to the Admissions and Records Office. Course assignments and exams are updated every semester, and midterm and final exams are proctored.
SLO Assessment
All ISP courses follow assessment guidelines on individual Title 5 Course Outlines. For instance, ISP proctored midterm and final examinations are associated to the relative course SLO and assessed for evidence of student learning. All graded assignments require instructor feedback. A post course learning assessment (student assessing their own learning and accomplishment of SLOs) occurs through proctored final examinations and final papers, when required. Grades are recorded by the instructor of the section, calculated at the end of the term, and provided to the student in an official transcript at the end of each semester.
Accommodating Students with Disabilities
In coordination with prison educational staff, FRC’s Disability Support Program for Students offers support to students with temporary or permanent disabilities.
Additional Resources
The ISP has two computers, one office printer, two phones, and daily access to the FRC Print Center. The ISP Office is staffed with a full time instructional assistant, a program staff specialist/student success and support programs (SSSP) assistant, with two student workers and an Incarcerated Student Program Director. To avoid potential interruptions to the delivery system,entire coursesare deliveredto students at the beginning of the semester with adequate instruction that allows students to complete assignments without regular instructor/student content. Arrangements for the proctoring of each midterm and final are made in advance of exam dates.