Substantive Change Proposal:

Associate of Arts Degree via Distance Learning

Hawai`i Community College

200 W. Kawili St.

Hilo, HI 96720

Written by

Ellen Okuma, Campus Distance Coordinator

With input from

Noreen Yamane, Assistant Dean, Liberal Arts

Laura Brezinsky & Marilyn Bader, co-Chairs, Math & Natural Sciences Dept.

John Cole, Chair, Humanities Department

Doug Dykstra, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Mary Goya, Chair, Social Sciences Department

Pam Hudson, Chair, English Department


Table of Contents

page

A. A concise description of the proposed change and 3

the reasons for it

B. If the substantive change involves a new educational 4

program, a description of the program to be offered

C. A description of the planning process which led to the 4

request for the change

D. Evidence that the institution has provided adequate human, 13

administrative, financial, and physical resources and

processes to initiate, maintain, and monitor the change and

to assure that the activities undertaken are accomplished

with acceptable quality

E. Evidence that the institution has received all necessary internal 15 or external approvals

F. Evidence that each eligibility requirement will still be fulfilled 16

after the change

G. Evidence that each accreditation standard will still be 18 fulfilled after the change and that all relevant Commission

policies are addressed…

Standard I: Institutional Mission and Effectiveness 18 Standard II: Student Learning Programs and Services 19 Standard III: Resources 20

Standard IV: Leadership and Governance 20

H. Other information requested by Commission staff… 21

End Notes (for urls cited) 22

Appendices

Appendix A—Three Year Rolling Plan

Appendix B—Synopsis of Distance Learning Report

Appendix C—Hawai‘i Community College Liberal Arts Advising Sheet, 08/09

Appendix D—Fall 2008 Registration Information [Distance education course listing]

Appendix E—Year-end Report to Academic Senate of …

Appendix F—e-mail Message from Academic Senate Chair: e-Café

Appendix G—e-mail Message for UHH Laulima Training Schedule

Appendix H—Liberal Arts Program Learning Outcomes

Appendix I—Tech Purchasing Strategies

Appendix J—KapCC Certificate Update

Appendix K—HawCC Organizational Chart

A. A concise description of the proposed change and the reasons for it

·  A brief description of the change

As of Fall 2008, Hawai‘i Community College (HawCC) is able to offer the Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree via distance using the modalities of online, interactive television/video and courses held at off-site locations. Banner, the University of Hawai‘i student information and registration system, utilizes a code for these distance learning modalities: DCO is online (Distance Completely Online), DIV is Distance Interactive Video, and OS is Off-Site. For the purposes of this report, traditional classroom lecturing is identified as f2f (Face to Face).

·  Evidence of a clear relationship to the institution’s stated mission.

The expansion of HawCC’s traditional offerings in the A.A. degree to include distance education (DE) is consistent with the College’s mission, which is:

Hawai`i Community College promotes student learning by embracing our unique Hawai`i Island culture and inspiring growth in the spirit of E `Imi Pono. Aligned with the UH Community Colleges system's mission, we are committed to serving all segments of our Hawai`i island community.(from the College web site) (1)

·  Discussion of the rationale for the change.

HawCC is the only community college on the island of Hawai‘i. HawCC serves the entire island, which, at 4,028 square miles, is the largest of the seven inhabited islands in the state. Much of the island is rural. The main HawCC campus is located in Hilo, on the east side of the island. A small university center (University of Hawai’i Center, West Hawai’i, or UHCWH), which offers an A.A. degree administered by HawCC, is located on the west side in leased facilities, more than 95 miles away. The center also brokers with other UH system campuses to offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees and certificates.

In order to meet the higher educational needs of the island, HawCC began offering classes via distance for the A.A. degree in 1990, using the Hawai‘i Interactive Television System (HITS), which was funded by the State Legislature in 1984. This funding allowed for the installation of transmission towers, which enabled the statewide connection of HITS studios, located at campuses. They also required complex, centralized scheduling through the University of Hawai‘i (UH) system headquarters, located in Honolulu on Oahu. HITS towers necessitated line-of-sight technology and hardware-intensive studios.

The system is now referred to as HITS2 and the technology used is MPEG2-over-IP. In HawCC’s early offerings of HITS classes to the UHCWH, the technology allowed two-way audio and one-way video. As the higher educational demands and the population of Hawai‘i increased, scheduling through HITS grew more difficult. As a result, the offerings at the UHCWH and HawCC’s Hilo campus became inadequate. When the internet became readily available and regarded as a legitimate and useful tool for distance learning, faculty began to create and offer a few classes each semester that lead to the A.A. degree via online.

Through Title III funding, the Hawai‘i Lifestyles program installed the necessary equipment and software to support interactive video (i.e., videoconferencing) in remote regions in order to reach underserved areas of predominantly Native Hawaiians. These facilities, currently using Polycom technology, were much less expensive to set up and maintain than the HITS studios. Polycom facilities do not require centralized scheduling through the UH system. Polycom H.323 and H.320 are supported through the UH system’s internet based UHNET, but are incompatible with HITS2. (ITS FAQ’s) (2) Both HITS2 and Polycom are included in the Banner DE code of DIV.

Over time, it became evident that offering DE in general, and online classes in particular, was contributing significantly to the college’s ability to meet its mission. Students in far-flung areas of the island, as well as those who worked full time and/or had family obligations were now able to enroll in the college and pursue a degree. We were creating access and were serving more students.

B. If the substantive change involves a new educational program, a description of the program to be offered

The offering of the A.A. degree via distance does not involve a new educational program; therefore, this item is not applicable.

C. A description of the planning process which led to the request for the change

• How the change relates to the institution’s planning process and stated mission.

While HawCC increased its efforts to offer courses off campus, the University of Hawaii Community Colleges (UHCC) began planning for state-wide access courses and programs through distance learning. In 1997, the University of Hawaii’s Community College (UHCC) Chancellor’s Office assigned the planning to Academic Affairs. In 1998, the UH System-wide Executive Policy for distance learning (E 5.204) (3) was updated to include two tasks for the UHCC’s: develop a UHCC Distance Strategic Plan and develop a coordinated effort to offer the A.A. degree state-wide. In June 2000, Chancellor Joyce Tsunoda approved the UHCC Distance Strategic Plan. According to Appendix B (4) of the working draft of 1999, the coordinated effort to offer an A.A. degree via distance would be implemented in 2000. The A.A. degree would be offered as a collective of the UHCC’s, but a specific campus would be chosen by the DE student as the home campus for the awarding of the degree. The coordination of support services provided would be the responsibility of the student’s home campus while the actual services could be obtained at any of the campuses at which the student enrolled in DE classes. UH system Campus Distance Coordinators developed the e-learn web site (5) to enable community college students to find the lower division DE classes offered for each semester by the community colleges and the services provided in support of distance learners. Beginning August 2000, a student could thus obtain an A.A. degree via distance through the cooperation of the UHCC’s.

• The assessment of needs and resources which has taken place.

The assessment of needs and resources associated with the rapid development of DE options at the system and the college levels have focused on scheduling, technology needs, support services, faculty training and quality control. These are addressed here and in the sections below.

As part of UHCC’s distance learning system-wide planning efforts, the Master Scheduling Group (MSG) was given the assignment as determined by E 5.204 to develop a 3-year rolling plan of distance degree and program offerings to minimize duplication across the UH system (p. 10). The current 3-year rolling plan covers Fall 2008 - Fall 2011. The section pertaining to UH Manoa, UH Hilo and the UHCC’s is shown in Appendix A.

In April 2007, the UHCC Chancellors were given a comprehensive distance learning report, prepared by Helen Sina (retired Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Kauai Community College), that contained numerous interviews with faculty, staff and administrators; a 12 year review of various committee minutes; data; 32 possible recommendations; and 40 Appendices (for a complete report, click here) (6). A synopsis of the lengthy report is included as Appendix B.

A major conclusion derived from this report was that “given the mission of the UH System and in examining national trends, it is reasonable to expect that distance learning can play a major role in efforts to provide affordable access to postsecondary education.”

Furthermore, “There should be a clear understanding of the value of campuses working together to utilize resources in the most cost effective way to meet student needs.”

Finally, “In order to address … other distance learning issues, the UHCC Distance Learning Committee will be reconstituted with faculty, staff, and administrators from across the UHCC campuses. This Committee will be convened by the Director of Teaching and Learning Support Services from the UHCC System Office. This has been discussed with the Deans of Instruction, the CDC (Campus Distance Coordinators) and with David Lassner, Chair of DLAC. Campuses have already submitted names for representation on the UHCC DL Committee and it is expected that the Committee will be ready to meet at the beginning of Fall 2007. One of the first tasks for the Committee to address will be the development of a UHCC Distance Learning Strategic Action Plan with a rolling two year schedule of distance offerings resulting in a planned Associate of Arts Degree available by distance technologies.”

• The anticipated effect of the proposed change on the rest of the institution, and the intended benefits that will result from the change.

The most important effect on the college of offering an A.A. degree through DE delivery is that individual courses and the A.A. degree are accessible to more students. Through making DE courses available, the college further meets its stated Mission. By creating DE options, the administration, faculty, staff and facilities begin to meet the educational and work force development demands for the 21st Century.

The operations behind offering of DE courses in the A.A. degree at the college

Requirements for HawCC’s A.A. degree appear in the most recent catalog (2008/09, p. 58-61) (7). At HawCC, the number of courses in the A.A. degree offered by distance modalities over the past several years increased. Appendix C is HawCC 2008/09 worksheet that was developed by counselors when advising Liberal Arts students. It is used to identify the individual courses that meet each of the Liberal Arts components. The worksheet was adapted to serve as a tool to determine the approximate percentage of the f2f and DE modalities for all of the Fall 2008 Liberal Arts classes (by alpha) that were scheduled and actually offered using the Check Class Availability web site (8).

A retrospective study for each of the previous four semesters--Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008 and Fall 2008--was conducted to determine the number of courses that were scheduled and offered in the different DE modalities and which lead to the A.A. degree. A summary appears in Table 1. The information was taken from Banner, at the end of the fifth week of instruction, and is based on courses actually held, not those that were scheduled but cancelled due to low enrollment. Both the courses (i.e., the alpha) and the number of sections are indicated.

Table 1

Number of A.A. Courses & Sections by DE Modality, Spring 07-Fall 08

Modality (Banner IM code for DE) / # of COURSES in DIV / # of sections in DIV / # of COURSES in DCO / # of sections in DCO / # of COURSES in OS / # of sections in OS / Combined # of DE A.A. sections by semester
Spring 07 / 10 / 10 / 21 / 24 / - / - / 34
Fall 07 / 11 / 11 / 24 / 26 / - / - / 37
Spring 08 / 10 / 10 / 25 / 27 / 1 / 1 / 38
Fall 08 / 12 / 12 / 32 / 40 / 4 / 4 / 48

Each semester, a free “Registration Information” booklet is prepared for distribution. In the front of the booklet, the DCO and DIV DE courses (alphas only with no schedule information) are listed by each modality (see Appendix D for Fall 2008 as an example). The OS code is not used by HawCC to identify DE offerings; therefore, such classes are not included in this DE listing.

Also included in the Registration Information booklet is a table showing the planned A.A. course offerings for West Hawai‘i for five semesters, including the one covered by the booklet. This table enables students on the West side of the island to plan for the completion of an A.A. degree within a specified period of time.

The enrollments of students in DCO and DIV distance courses who have declared Liberal Arts as a major were tracked for the past four semesters, Spring 2007 to Fall 2008. Table 2 is the summary of the enrollments, duplicated and unduplicated.

Table 2

Enrollment of Declared Liberal Arts Majors in DE Courses (DCO and DIV)

Modality of course / Spring 2007 / Fall 2007 / Spring 2008 / Fall 2008
DCO + DIV / 375, undupl.
587, dupl. / 437, undupl.
705, dupl. / 345, undupl.
494, dupl. / 307, undupl.
504, dupl.

In the 2006/2007 academic year, the HawCC Academic Senate, in consultation with the Vice Chair for Academic Affairs (VCAA), appointed an ad hoc Distance Education Committee to develop policy statements in support of distance education. Statements were based on the Guidelines for Implementation in the ACCJC Distance Learning Manual.