Distance Education MOU


MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, LOCAL 1493 AND
SAN MATEO COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

September 12, 2008

DISTANCE EDUCATION

 

Expanding student access, program need and faculty desire and preparation to teach a distance education course shall be the primary determining factors when the College decides to offer a course through distance education. There will be no reduction in force of faculty as a result of the College’s participation in distance education. The parties agree that the use of such technology shall not be used to reduce, eliminate or consolidate faculty positions within the District.

Definition

Distance Education means instruction in which the instructor and student are separated by distance and interact through the assistance of communication technology. A distance education course/section or session is defined as the use of technology utilized 51 percent or more of the time to deliver instruction during the course term and where the student and instructor are separated by distance. The delivery of instruction in the distance education modality can use the Internet, email, video and class lecture to deliver instruction (hybrid course). However, if the use of the combined mediated technology is 50 percent or less, or the student and instructor are not separated by distance, the course/section/session is considered a classroom-based traditional course/section/session. (State Chancellor’s Office Regulations and Guidelines on Distance Education Section 55205)

Policy

The colleges shall ensure that the distance education courses and programs comply with the Standards of Accreditation, Title 5 Standards of Curriculum and Instruction, and course outlines approved by the college curriculum committee. The referencing of the particular requirement listed in this policy does not imply that they are the only requirements of the principles that apply to distance education. This policy applies to degree and certificate programs and their courses.

Distance Education Advisory Committee (DEAC)

The Distance Education Advisory Committee is comprised of representatives appointed by AFT, the District Academic Senate, and District Administration. The AFT will appoint three (3) members (one from each College). The Committee will make recommendations regarding issues concerning or related to information technology and technological change in the District/College. The Committee shall consider issues of technological change and in that context the future of distance education. Where there may be an impact on the terms and conditions of employment of members of the bargaining unit, such matters shall be referred to the AFT and District negotiating team for negotiation and resolution.

The DEAC shall consider and make recommendations on issues including the following:

A. Policies and procedures relating to distance education in the District.

B. District-wide distance education goals, long range planning policies and enrollment trends.

C. How support services and training opportunities for faculty can be developed and enhanced.

D. How communications respecting such matters as changes in available technology, support services and training opportunities can be improved.

E. Policies respecting security and surveillance of electronic work activities such as e-mail and Internet access usage.

Faculty Training and Compensation

The District and AFT agree that a faculty member interested in receiving District designated training in how to develop an on-line distance education course will receive training if it has been determined by the appropriate administrator that the training is appropriate, applicable and necessary. Upon completion of the training the faculty member will receive a stipend in the amount of $1,500 for the equivalent of a twenty-five (25) hour training. A faculty member developing a new distance education course, or significantly restructuring an existing distance education course, shall receive, with prior approval of the appropriate administrator, funding to support educational development in the use of new technology not to exceed $1,500. The funding shall be paid upon offering of the new or restructured course.

Copyright

1. Ownership by faculty members. The copyrights to works created by faculty members will be owned by them, even if those works are created in connection with courses they teach or other duties they perform as faulty members, while they are employed by the District and in connection with their employment, unless the work is created under the circumstances described in paragraph 2.a. below.

2. Ownership by District. The District will own the copyright to works under the following circumstances:

a. Circumstances relating to substantial support by the District. The District will own the copyright to any work created with substantial support from the District. As used in this Article, “substantial support” means financial support over and above the cost of the faculty member’s normal compensation, office space, office computer, local telephone use, minimal office supplies and copy services. Substantial support would include extra compensation or the provision of reassigned time to create a work, the cost of providing secretarial, technical, legal or creative services specifically for the creation of work, as well as the cost or value of the use of expensive District equipment or facilities (such as professional film or recording studios).

b. Circumstances relating to the nature of the work. The District will also own the copyright to any work, such as a course outline, administrative policy, or information brochure that is formally reviewed by the District and becomes part of its curriculum, policies, or administrative or promotional literature.

Permitted uses

1. Use of work when copyright is owned by the faculty member.

a. Uses by faculty member. The District acknowledges that faculty members may use works whose copyrights they own in any and all ways they may wish, including for example, authorizing the for-profit publication of such works in return for royalties paid solely to faculty members, subject only to the District’s non-exclusive license to use those works (set forth in paragraph E.1.b below) without any further authorization from the District.

b. Uses by District and College.

The District shall have, after obtaining the written consent of the faculty member who owns the work’s copyright, a non-exclusive license to use the works whose copyrights are owned by faculty members in the following ways : (1) to reproduce such works (for example, by photocopying them, by duplicating computer disks on which they have been saved, or by installing them on computer networks); (2) to distribute such works (for example to students in classes); (3) to perform such works (for example, in classroom teaching, by webcasting, or by broadcasting); (4) to display such works (for example over the web); and (5) to create derivative works (for example companion materials or updated versions).

The District and its Colleges may do these things themselves, but neither the District nor its colleges may authorize others to do them, unless the District first obtains the written consent of the faculty member who owns the work’s copyright.

2. Use of work when copyright is owned by District

a. Uses by District. Faculty members acknowledge that the District may use works whose copyrights the District owns in any and all ways it may wish, including, for example authorizing the for-profit publication of such works in return for royalties paid solely to the District, subject only to the non-exclusive license of the faculty member who created the work to use it (in the manner set forth in paragraph E.2.b below), without any further authorization from the faculty members who created those works.

b. Uses by faculty member. Faculty members shall have a non-exclusive license to use works they created, whose copyrights are owned by the District, in the following ways: (1) to reproduce such works (for example, by photocopying them, by duplicating computer disks on which they have been saved, or by installing them on computer networks; (2) to distribute such works (for example, to students in classes); (3) to perform such works (for example, in classroom teaching, by webcasting, or by broadcasting); (4) to display such works (for example, over the web); and (5) to create derivative works (for example, companion materials or updated versions). Faculty members may do these things themselves, but may not authorize them to be done by others, unless they first obtain the written consent of the District.

Compensation

Full time faculty teaching on-line courses will be compensated in accordance with the regular full time faculty salary schedule. Part-time faculty who teach Distance Education courses shall be paid at the appropriate Lecture Rate or Laboratory Rate.

Assignment

1. Assignment to teach a distance education course shall be based on program need, the faculty member’s request, and the skills and abilities of the faculty member to teach via distance education. No faculty member shall be required to teach a distance education class.

2. Where feasible, a faculty member who has developed a distance education course will be given priority to teach the distance education section of the course in accordance with paragraph 1 above.

3. If a faculty member is assigned to teach a course that is cross-listed in both distance learning and face-to-face format, the faculty member will be compensated for teaching the two classes, i.e. cross listed classes taught in distance and face to face formats will be compensated for teaching two classes and will not be counted as just one class, unless it is mutually agreed upon by the faculty member and responsible administrator to count it as one class.

Office Hours

Faculty members teaching a course or courses in an online format during a given semester have the option to schedule “virtual” office hours during that semester that would count toward their total office hour obligation. The proportion of a faculty member’s total hours that are scheduled as “virtual” office hours may be equal to the proportion of that faculty member’s total units taught that are online courses. A “virtual” office hour in this context means an hour in which the faculty member is available for synchronous conferences or message exchange with students online. Such “virtual” office hours must be scheduled and noted in the faculty online syllabus and door card.

Faculty Evaluation

Evaluation of instruction in a Distance Education course shall be in accordance with instructional evaluation provisions agreed to by the AFT, Academic Senate and administration. These provisions shall be developed through the joint Trust Committee made up of equal AFT, Academic Senate and administration representatives.