How to Propose a
Distance Education Course

The FA has worked to negotiate contract and policy language to ensure that all of our members have a fair and equal opportunity to develop and teach DE courses.

There's a separate process for course development and for course assignment; instructions are below.

Keep in mind the following timeline for all Course Development Forms and for Course Assignment Forms by all faculty who are new to DE (veteran DE faculty, who have taught at least once before in the modality, are exempt from this timeline):

Course Development Form

What It Is

The Course Development process is for faculty who wish to develop and teach a course that has not yet been offered in their chosen DE modality. For example, if you wish to teach a specific course as a blended but it has never been offered as a blended course at Suffolk, you must use the Course Development Form.

Note: If you wish to develop and teach an entirely new course (one that isn't currently in the college catalog), you must first propose the new course through existing college governance procedures, then propose it as a DE course following the Course Development process described below.

When It's Done

All Course Proposal Forms must be submitted to DEC one year in advance of the semester in which you hope to teach the course. See the timelines above and on page 1 of the form (linked below).

This is to ensure that you have sufficient time to be trained in your chosen DE modality and to develop a DE course that is of high academic quality. You should be working with your assigned DE peer mentor throughout the process.

How It's Done

To develop a course for a DE modality, follow the instructions on the Course Development Form.

Here's an overview of the steps:

1. On the Course Development Form, complete page 1 with your faculty info and the proposed course info.

   On page 2, write your rationale for offering this specific course in your chosen DE modality.

   On page 4, in the Faculty Development section, if this is your first time developing a DE course, check off whether you prefer release time or overload compensation.

2. Attach a copy of a course outline for this course to your proposal.

3. Make a copy of pages 1 and 2 for your records, then send a copy of page 1 to OIT so they can keep track of all requests in the event paperwork is lost.

4. Notify your department chair/area supervisor of your proposal. If your department or area has a DE committee, your proposal should go to this committee in keeping with their timeline.

   If your department or area does not have a DE committee, you should then ask that your proposal be placed on the agenda for a future department meeting and that pages 1 and 2 are distributed to all department members.

   At the meeting, you should review your proposal, then your chair will ask for and record the results of the department’s vote (number of votes for, against, or abstaining) on page 3 of the form.

5. Once your course is approved by your entire department or by your department/area DE committee, obtain the signature of your chair and ask him or her to notify the chairs on other two campuses, cc’ing you on the memo or email. Your chair must attach copies of their notification to your proposal.

6. Your chair will next submit the form to your campus tech administrator. After they sign, they’ll obtain the signature of the campus dean and then forward the completed Course Development Form to the college-wide Distance Education Committee (DEC), via OIT, for review.

7. If approved by DEC, you will be contacted by OIT for training, certification, and assignment to a peer DE mentor (they will complete page 4 of the form).

Course Assignment Form

What It Is

The Course Assignment process is for faculty who wish to be assigned to a section of a course that has already been offered in their chosen DE modality.

Not sure if a course has already been taught in your desired modality? Contact the Office of Instructional Technology.

It doesn't matter if you have taught a DE course before or not; if the course has already been approved for that specific modality, then you simply complete the Course Assignment Form described below.

When It's Done

If you're a new DE faculty (i.e., you've never taught a DE course before), you must submit your Course Assignment Form to DEC one year in advance of the semester in which you hope to teach the course. See the timelines above and on page 1 of the form (linked below).

If you're a veteran DE faculty (you have previously taught in your chosen modality), you do not have to adhere to the one-year timeline.

How It's Done

To request assignment to a DE course, follow instructions on the Course Assignment Form.

Here's an overview of the steps:

1. On the Course Development Form, complete page 1 with your faculty info and the proposed course info.

   On page 3, in the Faculty Development section, if this is your first time developing a DE course, check off whether you prefer release time or overload compensation.

2. Attach a copy a course outline for this course to your proposal.

3. Make a copy of pages 1 and 2 for your records, then send a copy of page 1 to OIT so they can keep track of all requests in the event paperwork is lost.

4. Next, submit your proposal to your department/area DE committee or (in the absence of a committee) to your chair for approval. If your committee or chair does not approve the assignment, he or she must provide a written rationale.

5. If your chair/committee does approve the assignment, your chair will obtain the signature of your campus tech administrator and campus dean, who will forward the approved form to the college-wide Distance Education Committee (DEC), via OIT, for review.

6. DEC will take a formal vote on your assignment request and make a record of the number of votes for, against, and abstaining.

7. If approved by DEC, you will be contacted by OIT for training, certification, and assignment to a peer DE mentor (they will complete page 3 of the form).