Intersession Incentives Expanded

Following the Office of the Provost’s announcement of two new incentives for instructors who teach online in Intersession 2020, numerous questions were received by her team as well as CIT. This post offers guidance for faculty interested in pursuing these incentives and answers the question: “What specific requirements must be met to earn the incentives?”.

What incentives are available?

There are two incentives: section enrollment (incentive 1) and course development (incentive 2).

• Section enrollment (incentive 1): Faculty teaching a three- or four-credit online course, in Intersession 2020, enrolling eight or more students are eligible for additional compensation. This single, one-time payment is in addition to the usual intersession compensation.
• Course development (incentive 2): Faculty who develop a course that is
  • either high-need or high-demand (i.e., ANTH-202; COMN-102, 103, 160, 317; ENVR-124; GEOG-102, 111, 123)
  • built and published in Canvas no later than December 20, 2019
  • shared to the Canvas Commons under a CC-Attribution ShareAlike license
  • in complete fulfillment of SUNY Geneseo’s minimum course design requirements

With approval from the department chair, faculty who wish to earn the course development incentive for a course not listed above may contact Paul Schacht, Assistant to the Provost for Digital Learning and Scholarship, with an explanation of why the proposed course is high-need and/or high-demand.

Who is eligible for these incentives?

Individuals with a “faculty” designation who either attend “Intersession Innovations” (10/4/19) or participate in at least 3 course design consultations with one of Geneseo’s Instructional Designers.

What courses are eligible for these incentives?

Any course is eligible for the section-enrollment incentive, even if the same instructor has offered it in the past, provided it enrolls a minimum of 8 students during intersession 2020. Only high-need or high-demand courses (see above) are eligible for the course-development incentive. It is possible for a course (and therefore the instructor) to qualify for both incentives.

How do I get started?

Let us know of your plans by submitting this short survey (link)! If you’re planning to attend the workshop on October 4th, know we are excited to see you and your laptop at 2pm in Doty 302E. If you are unable to attend, please contact Laurie Fox, Assistant Director and Manager for Educational Technology, for a referral to the Instructional Designer best suited to your needs.

What are the minimum course design requirements?

Informed by Quality Matters and the Open SUNY Course Quality Review (OSCQR) rubric, the requirements below result from a partnership between Computing & Information Technology and the Office of the Provost to assure learners a quality online learning experience.

1. A printable syllabus is available on the course homepage
2. The gradebook has a column for each activity (in the syllabus) that comprises the final grade
3. Learners are guided through course content via Canvas modules
4. Unused items are removed from the course navigation menu
5. Information that introduces
   • the professor of record
   • the course and its learning outcomes
   • communication timeframes
   • (if applicable) tools to be used within the course along with resources for their use
6. Course material and design meet ADA compliance standards. Please view CIT’s Web Accessibility course for more information.
7. Course material is current (i.e., semester and year, length of course, etc.)
8. All content and learning activities are available in Canvas no later than December 20, 2019

Though not required, what follows are practices proven to enhance the likelihood of learner success when supplementing the minimum requirements above.

• Printable syllabus, on course homepage, has the automatic inline file preview enabled
• All content is contextualized so learners are aware of professor expectations (e.g., assignments include directions; hyperlinks are explained; recommended material is differentiated from required material; etc.)
• Learning activities are arranged into weighted assignment groups
• Modules leverage both requirements and prerequisites to guide learner access to content
  • Introductory module, opening at least one week before the course starts, that includes
    • Icebreaker activity
    • Rich media (e.g., video) introduction of the professor
    • Rich media (e.g., audio description) introduction of course
    • Professor expectations for communication
    • When learners can expect to receive a response from the instructor
  • Unit-level learning outcomes are clearly identified at the start of each module
• Alignment: learning activities and assessments of learning are aligned to the module (or unit) in which they are addressed and unit-level outcomes are aligned to course-level outcomes