A Report

On Meeting the Guidelines for

Electronically Delivered Programs

At Masters Degree Level

Submitted by


Table of Contents

Institutional Context and Commitment……………………………………………1

Curriculum and Instruction………………………………………………………...2

Faculty Support…………………………………………………………………….14

Student Support……………………………………………………………………17

Institutional Context and Commitment

1a. In their content, purposes, organization and enrollment history if applicable, the programs are consistent with the institution’s role and mission.

The broad objective of Fairmont State University (FSU) is the education of its students as intelligent and productive persons, capable of participating in and understanding the world of the twenty-first century. Specifically, the mission of FSU is to provide programs needed by those in its geographic service area, to the extent permitted by its financial and human resources and its assigned role in the state’s system of public higher education.

FairmontStateUniversity is closely identified with its community. Partnerships with business and industry, public schools, government agencies and other organizations contribute to the economic, cultural and social development of the region. Through these community relationships and educational programs, the University fosters enlightened and productive citizenship in its immediate locale, the region and the world.

This mission is accomplished by meeting a number of objectives, including:

  • Bringing selected study opportunities into communities in the University’s service region through the use of the mass media, regional education centers, external degree programs and other forms of nontraditional study.
  • Relating the breadth of the curriculum to the availability of appropriate employment opportunities and the needs of business, industrial and public service agencies in the University’s service area.
  • Encouraging a broad segment of the populace, including various age groups and the economically deprived, to avail themselves of educational opportunities.
  • Promoting graduate education by offering select graduate programs and by providing on-campus access to graduate programs of other institutions.

With the advent of electronically deliverable course material and its inherent ability to meet many of the critical elements of the mission statement, i.e., accessibility, affordability, responsiveness, and a quality higher educational opportunity, it is a natural progression for FSU to move in the direction of making electronic course delivery a reality for the citizens within its service region. It is also logical that the initial electronic degree offerings through the GraduateSchool be in the Masters of Education program since this degree program fulfills a distinct and essential need in the public education sector of our service region and we have a long, proud and successful history in training and educating public school teachers.

The number of courses delivered entirely online by Fairmont State (Fairmont State University and Fairmont State Community & Technical College) has steadily increased since the 2002- 2003 academic year when a total of 45 courses were offered.In 2004-2005 a total of 144 online courses were taught. In 2005-2006 weoffered a total of178 online courses. Two years ago we offered no graduate courses online while in 2005-20062005 we offered39.

1b. It is recognized that a healthy institution’s purposes change over time. The institution is aware of accreditation requirements and complies with them. Each accrediting commission has established definitions of what activities constitute a substantive change that will trigger prior review and approval processes. The appropriate accreditation commission should be notified and consulted whether an electronically offered program represents a major change.

The offering of distributed programs can affect the institution’s educational goals, intended student population, curriculum, modes or venue of instruction, and can thus have an impact on both the institution and its accreditation status.

“Fairmont State University has already developed a substantial set of courses taught online to its service area using the WebCT Vista platform and has put in place a number of excellent support structures for these courses, including creation of an office supporting online faculty development for faculty developing courses, establishment of financial support and release time for these faculty, and the creation of the Center for Teaching Excellence. In addition a number of WebCT learning resources for students have been developed, and the experience base of the faculty is growing rapidly. Online courses being offered currently or planned for the near future will enable students to receive a degree. However, FSU will need to ensure and document that all elements of the program address criteria for best practices in electronically delivered programs.” (Assurance Section, Report of a Comprehensive Evaluation Visit to Fairmont State College, ID# 1663, April 28-30, 2003 for The Higher Learning Commission, page 29.)

“The Center for Teaching Excellence and the Center for Learning Technology are two excellent examples of how FSU has responded to new and emerging challenges. These Centers address the need for faculty development and for leading the university into new areas of endeavor such as the electronic delivery of degree programs.” “The information technology infrastructure of FairmontState has been significantly upgraded over the past four years, and a plan for continued upgrades is in place. Investments in BANNER software and implementation, Campus Pipeline and WebCT Vista all contribute to strongly position the College for the future.” (Advancement Section, Report of a Comprehensive Evaluation to Fairmont State College (University), ID#1663, April 28-30, 2003 for The Higher Learning Commission, page 41.)

Fairmont State Community and TechnicalCollege has already developed an accredited on-lineAssociates degree program in General Studies made possible in large measure by the excellence of the faculty development opportunities and continuing support of the Centers mentioned above.

1c. The institution’s budgets and policy statements reflect its commitment to the students for whom its electronically offered programs are designed.

The institution hada designated and sufficient budget for the fiscal year 2005 for the support and delivery of distance education. This year, Fairmont State was one of three public higher education institutes (Marshall University and University of West Virginia being the other two) that were selected to implement the new VISTA version of WebCT. VISTA is a much for flexible and powerful tool for both faculty and students.

The Center for Learning Technology is providing intensive training workshops for faculty members to facilitate their transition to VISTA. The Center also provides an expanded faculty support system that includes faculty mentors that are available to assist any faculty member with questions regarding the fundamental use of VISTA as well as ways to enhance the pedagogical use of this on-line delivery system.

Refer to Appendix A for the Online Course Policy that was developed for online course delivery.

1d. The institution assures adequacy of technical and physical plant facilities including appropriate staffing and technical assistance to support its electronically offered programs.

The Instructional Technology office has a full-time staff of three. The Director has primary responsibility for preparing and delivering instruction for faculty in the development of online course materials. The director holds faculty rank within the School of Education.

The other two positions within the office include a Learning Systems Administrator and one full-time clerical support position. The Learning Systems Administrator has the responsibility to see that the technical components of the online delivery service are functioning properly. In addition, she is responsible for supporting batch processes to load courses from the student information system into the online course management system. The clerical position serves as the initial point of contact for faculty’s technical questions. This individual either addresses questions directly using an established knowledge base, or she refers questions to the Director or Learning Systems Administrator.

Online courses are also supported by the college’s help desk located in the computer services office or alternatively in the Library during the hours when the computer services help desk is not available. These services are the initial point of contact for student questions concerning the technological functions of the online course system. Course content questions are the responsibility of the faculty member. Technical questions that cannot be answered by these services are referred to the Instructional Technology office.

All faculty members have computers at their desks with an internet connection. A help desk exists at the Ruth Ann Musick Library to assist students with technical problems they encounter with their computer connections. The library’s hours are M-TH7:30 a.m. to midnight, Friday 7:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday 2 p.m.-midnight. Students also have direct access to their instructor via WebCT interfaces. There are over 700 computers available on campus in open laboratories giving students computer access while on campus and e-learning centers are available in 6 locations in the service area with broad band connectivity to the campus servers. Currently there is a three year cycle for up-grading computers owned/leased by the FairmontState.

1e. The internal organizational structure which enables the development, coordination, support, and oversight of electronically offered programs will vary from institution to institution. Ordinarily, however, this will include the capability to:

  • Facilitate the associated instructional and technical support relationships
  • Provide (or draw upon) the required information technologies and related support services.
  • Develop and implement a marketing plan that takes into account the target student population, the technologies available, and the factors required to meet institutional goals.
  • Provide training and support to participating instructors and students.
  • Assure compliance with copyright law.
  • Contract for products and outsourced services.
  • Assess and assign priorities to potential future projects.
  • Assure that electronically offered programs and courses meet institution-wide standards, both to provide consistent quality and to provide a coherent framework for students who may enroll in both electronically offered and traditional on-campus courses.
  • Maintain appropriate academic oversight.
  • Maintain consistency with the institution’s academic planning and oversight functions, to assure congruence with the institution’s mission and allocation of required resources.
  • Assure the integrity of student work and faculty instruction

FairmontState determined that an electronically delivered M.Ed. degree in Online Learning and a M.Ed. degree in Professional Studieswere important in meeting its mission. The service region for FairmontState constitutes 13 contiguous counties in north-central West Virginia, one of the most rural states east of the Mississippi river. The topography is mountainous, making travel difficult to the main campus in Fairmont or to one of the two larger delivery sites within the service region; i.e., Clarksburg or Morgantown. There is adequate computer connectivity and bandwidth throughout the region to support delivery of courses via internet; therefore, the decision was made to offer a significant number of courses withinthese graduate degree programs via the Web. Once this decision was made steps were undertaken to assure that there was an infrastructure in place to support the delivery.

FairmontState chose to use WebCT as their Learning Management System (LMS) software because:

  • there was a statewide license for WebCT
  • it was currently being used by most higher education institutions in West Virginia and
  • it was being used by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) of which FairmontState is a member.

Support for the WebCT server hardware and software resides in the ComputerCenter. Organizationally, the Center falls under Academic Services. Maintenance on the server is provided by the Computer Center Staff. In October 2003, a WebCT administrator was hired to support the WebCT server and provide a level of technical support beyond what is provided by other staff.

In September 2001, the Learning Technologies Center (LTC) was established to assist the campus community in their efforts to develop the online two-year associate degree program. The Center’s Director initiated the Online Course Development Grant program to support faculty who were developing online courses. The grants are available through an application process and require the signature of the department chair. A person seeking a grant must be a full-time faculty member or an adjunct faculty member who has previously taught the course for the college. A committee consisting of the Provost of FSC&TC, the Vice President and Provost for FSC, the Vice President of Academic Services, and the Director of Learning Technologies review applications and award the grants. Grantees must sign a waiver form indicating that they give up ownership of the course to FairmontState. The LTC staff is also responsible for all faculty training, support, and documentation.

The first line of support for students is the reference desk at the Library. All reference desk staff members havecompleted a six-hour training course on the use of WebCT from a student perspective. Second tier support is currently being offered by the LTC staff. The newly hired WebCT administrator will also offer second tier support.

1f. In its articulation and transfer policies the institution judges courses and programs on their learning outcomes, and the resources brought to bear for their achievement, not on modes of delivery.

According to System Procedure No. 31 of the Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC), students who transfer from one state college or university to another may transfer core coursework that will count toward fulfillment of institutional requirements at the receiving institutions. Copies of the agreement are available in the office of the Registrar and online at

Additionally the GraduateSchool has a Graduate Transfer of Credit Requirement policy approved and adopted by the Graduate Council. Refer to Appendix B.(NEED B)This policy includes a formal process by which any prospective graduate student can seek transfer credit of any graduate course they have completed. The underlying intent of our policy is to insure an appropriate level of quality while remaining flexible to the diversity of graduate school experiences. The mode of delivery has no significant role in the determination of transfer credit. The essential element is that the course must have been offered by an accredited graduate school.

1g. The institution strives to assure a consistent and coherent technical framework for students and faculty. When a change in technologies is necessary, it is introduced in a way that minimizes the impact on students and faculty.

FairmontState informs faculty and students of new software in several ways. First, the Learning Technologies Center (LTC) has a webpage where updated information is posted. Second, information is sent to all faculty members via email. Third, the LTC offers extensive training and orientation sessions for faculty. In addition, any new resources or changes that directly affect WebCT are posted as announcements in WebCT. These announcements appear on every faculty and the student’s MyWebCT portal.

This infrastructure and process was utilized during the spring and summer of 2005 as a lead up to the institutional transition to the new VISTA version of WebCT. Training and education of faculty, staff and students continued during the 2005-2006 academic year.

1h. The institution provides students with reasonable technical support for each educational technology hardware, software, and delivery system required in a program.

Currently the reference desk at the Library is the first point of contact for students needing help with WebCT. The Library’s hours are M-TH 7:30 a.m. to midnight, Friday 7:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday 2 p.m.-midnight. Students may call the Library, send email, or visit. In addition, there is an email link on the standard WebCT template that students can use to send email to the LTC. LTC staff monitors and check the email at least three times a day. The LTC also maintains a webpage that includes a student FAQ, a series of online tutorials for students, and a student handbook.

1i. The selection of technologies is based on appropriateness for the students and the curriculum. It is recognized that availability, cost, and other issues are often involved, but program documentation should include specific consideration of the match between technology and program.

FairmontState chose to use WebCT as their Learning Management System (LMS) software because:

  • there was a statewide license for WebCT,
  • it was currently being used by most higher education institutions in West Virginia, and
  • it was being used by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) of which Fairmont state is a member.

The state recently acquired a statewide license for the next generation of WebCT software called Vista. Due to the stability of their current WebCT server, the campus-wide support for online learning, and their well-planned faculty development program, FairmontState was selected to serve as one of three host sites for in the state. The campus beta testedVista in the Spring 2004 semester and fully implemented it as its online delivery system in the Fall 2005 semester

WebCT, Inc. is the world's leading provider of e-Learning solutions for higher education. It is used by over 3000 colleges and universities in the world. It offers FairmontState faculty the flexibility and features necessary to create and deliver their online courses. It allows for 100% asynchronous courses but offers the ability for synchronous learning if desired. In addition, WebCT has developed a “PowerLinks” relationship with a number of software and hardware vendors which provides increased seamless functionality.

1j. The institution seeks to understand the legal and regulatory requirements of the jurisdictions in which it operates, e.g., requirements for service to those with disabilities, copyright law, state and national requirements for institutions offering educational programs, international restrictions such as export of sensitive information or technologies.

The Director of the Instructional Technology office is the individual primarily responsible for keeping the college informed of legal compliance requirements as they relate to online course systems. This requirement is explicitly identified in the director job responsibilities. The director maintains currency in these matters by attending professional development conferences and seminars. For the last three years the college has provided support for the director to attend an average of three national and/or regional conferences per year. It is expected that this same level of support will continue into the future.