Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges: Principles of Good Practice for Higher Education Institutions
These Principles were developed to ensure that distance higher education courses and programs for servicemembers, their families, and the Department of Defense (DOD) education community are of high quality and readily accessible. The Principles are founded on best practices in distance higher education and tailored to the unique needs of the military community. The Principles define parameters of excellence; enhance the legitimacy and worth of distance education; and foster dialogue to strengthen and improve the quality of these programs and services. The Principles contribute to the continuous improvement of the military voluntary education program by helping to establish benchmarks of quality.
Principle 1. Mission, Goals, and Objectives: The delivery of distance education programs is consistent with the institution’s mission statement and statement of goals and objectives (MGOs). The institution ensures that quality assurance in distance education programs is an integral part of its MGOs. The MGOs are widely promulgated, visible, and undergo periodic review.
Principle 2. Accountability to Stakeholders: The institution demonstrates its accountability to stakeholders by openly sharing aggregate learning assessment results, quality indicators, and academic program reviews of its distance education courses and programs.
Principle 3. Responsiveness and Flexibility: The institution demonstrates responsiveness and flexibility toward servicemembers with respect to programmatic, administrative, and academic processes.
Principle 4. Curriculum Development and Revision: The institution has established processes to accomplish its curriculum development, revision, and quality assurance that are grounded in instructional design principles and include periodic program (internal and external) and course reviews. The institution directly reviews and is responsible for the currency and quality of all outsourced program components.
Principle 5. Curriculum Delivery: The institution ensures that the content and quality of its courses and programs are the same regardless of delivery method. The distance delivery model(s), course materials, and technology are appropriate to the content and needs of the student, and do not create barriers to learning.
Principle 6. Interaction and Student Engagement The institution ensures that distance education courses are designed to maximize interaction between the faculty and students, among students, and between students and the course content to encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and mastery through student engagement in the learning process. Course models with little or no opportunity for interaction will only be deployed to the military community as requested by the Department of Defense.
Principle 7. Faculty Qualifications and Training: The institution ensures that all faculty members engaged in distance delivery meet the same academic qualifications and standards in accordance with the institution’s accrediting and oversight bodies. The institution trains, certifies, and supports faculty who teach distance education courses in the appropriate use of distance pedagogy, delivery methods, instructional technology, and the unique needs of servicemembers and their families. “Certifies” means a process that confirms a faculty
member has completed required training and successfully achieved its learning objectives.
Principle 8. Faculty Evaluation: The institution has clearly articulated measures in place to evaluate the performance and needs of faculty members who teach distance education courses.
Principle 9. Student Evaluation: The institution has clearly articulated measures in place to evaluate in a timely manner the performance of distance students. The institution is able to verify student identity in at least one significant assignment or examination used to
calculate the final course grade. The institution publishes a grading policy that includes instructions for issuance and completion of incomplete grades.
Principle 10. Learning Outcomes Assessment: The institution articulates student learning outcomes independent of delivery method, has a systematic and ongoing process for assessing student learning, and provides measurable evidence that the results are used to improve programs, curricula, instruction, faculty development, and services.
Principle 11. Institutional Integrity: The institution is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency, and is a member of Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC). The institution complies with the notification requirements of its accrediting agency whenever major changes (as determined by that agency) are made to the institution’s distance education programs. The institution maintains responsibility for the performance of faculty and program support staff supplied by consortia partners or outsourced to other organizations, including contractors who may not be accredited.
Principle 12. Disclosure: The institution discloses throughout its marketing and communications, accurate, truthful information about its mission, accreditation, courses and programs, services, policies, transfer credit, tuition and fees, use of recruitment incentives or commissions in its recruitment processes, and other factors important to prospective and current students and other stakeholders.
Principle 13. Services: The institution makes available 24 ⁄ 7 ⁄ 365 a full array of static and dynamic academic and administrative student services, independent of delivery method and appropriate to distance students’ needs. The institution ensures that faculty and staff respond in a timely manner to student questions and concerns, both academic and administrative.
Principle 14. Resources: The institution provides the necessary resources to accommodate demand and to ensure distance education students receive a quality education experience. Distance education courses and concomitant student and faculty services are offered through reliable, efficient, and readily available technologies. The institution has sufficient financial resources to ensure that students can complete the educational program to which they were admitted.
Principle 15. Institutional Outcomes: The institution regularly measures and publishes the retention, graduation, course completion, and withdrawal rates of its students, including those taking courses via distance education (the rates of such students to be disaggregated and reported separately from the overall student population). The formulae used to calculate these rates are defined and readily available. The institution regularly assesses the satisfaction of its students and alumni and the job-related outcomes of its graduates.
Principle 1. Mission, Goals, and Objectives: The delivery of distance education programs is consistent with the institution’s mission statement and statement of goals and objectives (MGOs). The institution ensures that quality assurance in distance education programs is an integral part of its MGOs. The MGOs are widely promulgated, visible, and undergo periodic review.
Principle 2. Accountability to Stakeholders: The institution demonstrates its accountability to stakeholders by openly sharing aggregate learning assessment results, quality indicators, and academic program reviews of its distance education courses and programs.
Principle 3. Responsiveness and Flexibility: The institution demonstrates responsiveness and flexibility toward servicemembers with respect to programmatic, administrative, and academic processes.
Principle 4. Curriculum Development and Revision: The institution has established processes to accomplish its curriculum development, revision, and quality assurance that are grounded in instructional design principles and include periodic program (internal and external) and course reviews. The institution directly reviews and is responsible for the currency and quality of all outsourced program components.
Principle 5. Curriculum Delivery: The institution ensures that the content and quality of its courses and programs are the same regardless of delivery method. The distance delivery model(s), course materials, and technology are appropriate to the content and needs of the student, and do not create barriers to learning.
Principle 6. Interaction and Student Engagement The institution ensures that distance education courses are designed to maximize interaction between the faculty and students, among students, and between students and the course content to encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and mastery through student engagement in the learning process. Course models with little or no opportunity for interaction will only be deployed to the military community as requested by the Department of Defense.
Principle 7. Faculty Qualifications and Training: The institution ensures that all faculty members engaged in distance delivery meet the same academic qualifications and standards in accordance with the institution’s accrediting and oversight bodies. The institution trains, certifies, and supports faculty who teach distance education courses in the appropriate use of distance pedagogy, delivery methods, instructional technology, and the unique needs of servicemembers and their families. “Certifies” means a process that confirms a faculty
member has completed required training and successfully achieved its learning objectives.
Principle 8. Faculty Evaluation: The institution has clearly articulated measures in place to evaluate the performance and needs of faculty members who teach distance education courses.
Principle 9. Student Evaluation: The institution has clearly articulated measures in place to evaluate in a timely manner the performance of distance students. The institution is able to verify student identity in at least one significant assignment or examination used to
calculate the final course grade. The institution publishes a grading policy that includes instructions for issuance and completion of incomplete grades.
Principle 10. Learning Outcomes Assessment: The institution articulates student learning outcomes independent of delivery method, has a systematic and ongoing process for assessing student learning, and provides measurable evidence that the results are used to improve programs, curricula, instruction, faculty development, and services.
Principle 11. Institutional Integrity: The institution is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency, and is a member of Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC). The institution complies with the notification requirements of its accrediting agency whenever major changes (as determined by that agency) are made to the institution’s distance education programs. The institution maintains responsibility for the performance of faculty and program support staff supplied by consortia partners or outsourced to other organizations, including contractors who may not be accredited.
Principle 12. Disclosure: The institution discloses throughout its marketing and communications, accurate, truthful information about its mission, accreditation, courses and programs, services, policies, transfer credit, tuition and fees, use of recruitment incentives or commissions in its recruitment processes, and other factors important to prospective and current students and other stakeholders.
Principle 13. Services: The institution makes available 24 ⁄ 7 ⁄ 365 a full array of static and dynamic academic and administrative student services, independent of delivery method and appropriate to distance students’ needs. The institution ensures that faculty and staff respond in a timely manner to student questions and concerns, both academic and administrative.
Principle 14. Resources: The institution provides the necessary resources to accommodate demand and to ensure distance education students receive a quality education experience. Distance education courses and concomitant student and faculty services are offered through reliable, efficient, and readily available technologies. The institution has sufficient financial resources to ensure that students can complete the educational program to which they were admitted.
Principle 15. Institutional Outcomes: The institution regularly measures and publishes the retention, graduation, course completion, and withdrawal rates of its students, including those taking courses via distance education (the rates of such students to be disaggregated and reported separately from the overall student population). The formulae used to calculate these rates are defined and readily available. The institution regularly assesses the satisfaction of its students and alumni and the job-related outcomes of its graduates.
