MELA Meeting Minutes 2003 - 2017

offered as a Hybrid, rather than online. Hubert said that he feels that it is important to give academic freedom for instructors who are teaching these courses. Buffy stated that MGCCC pulls in the General Chemistry course and felt that it should be posted that five proctored exams are required so that students are not caught off guard. She does not have a problem with the five proctored exams, but felt that the information should be posted somewhere. Several people mentioned that allowing five proctored exams could be a potential problem with facilities. At what point do we stop adding additional tests? Hubert asked why there was a problem with the additional tests. Several feel that we are “online learning” and should have anywhere/anytime availability. Christian said that if we are requiring them coming to campus five times for a proctored exams, are we also going to allow them to mandate times for the students to login to Wimba each night? This gets away from the anytime/anywhere philosophy of online courses? At what point do we stop allowing virtual instructors to make the decisions? Hubert said that in a proctored exam environment, they are not told to be at the campus at a certain date or time. Christian said that you are getting away from anywhere/anytime philosophy. Christian feels that this is something bigger than our group. He fears that we are getting away from the spirit of what online learning is supposed to be. Ole Miss Pharmacy school accepted this as well as Alabama. The proctor component is not why Ole Miss is allowing the transfer of credit. This is why we have generalized policies for virtual. If your course doesn’t fit within these guidelines then they are not offered online. Christian feels that these students are subjective to different standards because they are requiring more for the online than the standard on-campus course. Jennifer James said that you also have to also consider our out of state students who have to pay and setup outside proctored exams. Dr. McCrimon said that she feels that three proctored exams are enough.

Holly made the motion to leave minimum/maximum number of exams as is. Ellene seconded the motion. We would like for this to be applicable for the fall 2010 semester since students have already registered. Motion carried.

Holly stated that on the time-limit we have a two hour maximum. If she is now testing one test on objectively and another on lab based components, would we need to increase the two hours time-limit? Jennifer Leimer made the motion to table the previous question. Hubert seconded the motion. The recommendation is to change the wording of Minimum/Maximum Number of Exams: A minimum of one (1) and a maximum of three (3) proctored exams per online course will be allowed, with the exception of four credit hour courses. Four credit hour courses may require a maximum of four proctored exams. Hubert made the motion to accept this changes, Audra Leverton seconded the motion. Motion carried. c. Students Auditing Online Courses. This is something that was put into place a long time ago. The problem with the online course is that the student still has access to electronic materials throughout the course, so it is a little different than traditional courses. Christian said that a student cannot audit an online course because the state cannot reimburse colleges for that student. Christian said that a statement needs to be added to the policies/procedures manual.

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