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Investing in Quality Pays Off
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Recently ranked #2 on U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best Online Programs, the University of Florida (UF) continues to make major strides in course quality, forging a reputation for offering robust, rich online experiences for learners. To support this investment and ensure that its digital courses meet the needs of its learners, the institution leverages its QM membership. UF has provided 176 faculty with QM professional development, and has four QM-Certified Peer Reviewers and two QM-Certified Master Reviewers who have conducted 76 internal reviews of its online courses. To date, 42 of the institution’s courses have achieved QM Certification through Official Course Reviews.
Dr. Evan Kropp spearheads these efforts for UF's College of Journalism and Communications (CJC) as its Executive Director of Distance Education. He sees quality assurance as being vital to the success of the CJC’s online program, which boasts a 90% graduation rate. He has challenged the department to achieve QM Certification for all of its courses and plans to launch a formal continuous improvement model based on QM processes to support this goal. “I think it’s vital for every course in our catalog to be examined through the lens of quality,” he says. “Our learners deserve the best we can offer them, and QM helps us achieve that.”
Evan works closely with IDs and instructors to earn trust and investment in these processes, and four years into these efforts, he has a team of engaged educators eager to offer the highest quality courses. “I’m thrilled that our faculty is dedicated to collaborating on continuously improving the quality of our courses to support our learners,” says Evan. Want to brainstorm about how you can deepen your investment in quality like UF has? We’d love to hear from you and help you develop a plan for success. Reach out today!
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Leverage AI for Your Learners
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How are you responding to the growing prevalence of AI in your courses — and the world? In case you missed it, the November QM Success Story webinar, “Don’t Panic! Leading and Learning in an Age of AI” featured a number of insights on how educators might think about this growing technology. Led by Dr. Jason Neiffer, Executive Director of the Montana Digital Academy, the webinar frames generative AI tools as something that can help us and our students achieve their goals, providing tools and insights for how to leverage them for continuous improvement. He also provided a list of resources for understanding and using AI in your course design or delivery practice.
If you’re a QM member, you have access to an archive of inspiring and informative QM Success Story webinars like this one. Explore them today!
Not a QM member? Individual memberships are a great way to test out quality assurance, receive discounts and hear from members in Success Stories webinars — helping you build a case for quality assurance at your organization.
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Make Your Mark on the Field
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Don’t wait — March 29 is your last chance to submit a QM Connect presentation proposal for the early deadline.
When you present at QM Connect, you support your peers and help learners across the nation. Plus, you’ll engage in invaluable discourse on your work with fellow practitioners and receive recognition from the higher ed community.
Submit by March 29 to get feedback you can use for your final submission. And if your early submission proposal is accepted, you’ll receive a $100 discount on early conference registration.
“Presenting at QM felt like I had finally reached the next level of my professional process. Learning and collaborating with colleagues from across the nation was a fresh breath of inspiration and motivation to creating new pathways for growth and innovation at my institution.”
— Maikel Alendy, QM Connect presenter
The QM community is eager to hear what you have to offer — create your submission today!
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New Role to Focus on Online Program QA
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Congratulations to Dr. Amy Grincewicz for being named a Senior QM Research Colleague! Dr. Grincewicz’s focus in her new role will be spearheading targeted research efforts and resources for online degree programs.
Amy has served as a QM Research Colleague since 2022, and has organized research cohorts within the QM Ohio system. She also serves as a QM Coordinator for Kent State University, a QM-Certified Facilitator for online and face-to-face professional development, and the QM Ohio Course Review Manager. She has participated in dozens of QM peer reviews on both sides of the process, including leading the design and QM Program Review of Kent State’s Online MBA. She is also a member of the QM Instructional Designers Association. In 2022, Grincewicz was formally recognized when she received the QM Directors’ Award for Exceptional Service to Quality Matters.
“The Senior Research Colleague plays a vital role in fostering the culture of inquiry and evidence within QM and the quality assurance community, and supports the continuation of a credible and trustworthy ethos for QM. We are delighted that Amy will be taking on this role!”
—Dr. Deb Adair, Chief Executive Officer, QM
The Quality Matters Research Colleagues is a group of educators that supports QM by conducting, presenting, writing, and publishing research on online learning. If you’re interested in connecting with QM research or the Research Colleagues, please email us at: research@qualitymatters.org
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Help Your Learners Access Support
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While you don’t need to be accessible to your learners 24/7, they need to know when and how they can get help with questions. QM Specific Review Standard 5.3 states that “The instructor’s plan for regular interaction with learners in substantive ways during the course is clearly stated.” Here are two approaches to consider to meet this important element of course delivery:
- Offer virtual office hours to answer questions. It may be ideal to offer these during scheduled class times (via chat, Zoom). Providing drop-in hours enables learners to decide when they can engage.
- Create a discussion forum titled “Ask the Instructor, Ask a Peer.” Post a statement such as “Post any general questions about the course to this discussion forum. Feel free to respond to the questions of your peers so that we can all learn from one another! Be sure to include your topic in the subject of your thread. If you have questions of a personal nature, please email me/the instructor(s) directly.”
The forum can serve as the course FAQ and save instructors time from answering the same questions repeatedly. Check the forum regularly or set it to send notifications. Encourage learners to subscribe to the forum so they can be notified when questions are answered.
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Please join us in congratulating the following Higher Education, Publisher and Continuing & Professional Education members for having one or more courses recently QM-Certified.
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- Appalachian State University
- Austin Community College District
- Austin Peay State University
- California State University-Los Angeles
- Cameron University
- Clemson University
- Cleveland Community College
- Florida Atlantic University
- Florida International University
- Florida SouthWestern State College
- Florida State College at Jacksonville
- Frederick Community College
- Frostburg State University
- Gaston College
- Hagerstown Community College
- Idaho State University
- Indiana University-Southeast
- Joliet Junior College
- Miami Dade College
- Missouri Baptist University acting as the Lead for the Missouri System
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- Mount Carmel College of Nursing
- North Park University
- Northeastern State University
- Oregon State University
- Polk State College
- Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
- Salisbury University
- San Jose State University
- South Florida State College
- South Texas College
- Southern Union State Community College
- Stark State College
- The University of Texas at Arlington
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- University of North Florida
- University of Southern Indiana
- Wright State University-Main Campus
- Science Interactive
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- Calbright College
- CETYS University
- Florida National University-Main Campus
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- Nightingale College
- The University of Tampa
- University College of the Cayman Islands
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