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Bylaws

Distance Education Committee Submenu

I. PURPOSE

  1. The Distance Education (DE) Committee is a committee of the academic Senate consisting of experienced online instructors and those supportive of online education that support faculty as they prepare and teach their distance education (online and hybrid) course.
  2. MERRITT COLLEGE DE MISSION STATEMENT The goal of distance education is to promote the delivery of online and hybrid distance learning courses that meet the educational needs of our students, by using innovative and accommodative technology, and good teaching practices by well-trained faculty members.

 

II. MEMBERSHIP

  1. The Distance Education Committee will be composed of:
    1. A minimum of 5 voting faculty members, preferably consisting of:
      1. At least 4 full-time
      2. At least 1 counselor
      3. Preferred: one CE representative
      4. Part-time Faculty representative
      5. Additional faculty are welcome; no upper limit to membership
    2. One non-voting Administrator
    3. One voting student member preferably selected by the Associated Students, if possible
    4. Recommended: Instructional Technology Specialist, a librarian, and a staff member, member of Curriculum committee, or employee of student services
      • The committee should have a chair or two co-chairs
      • Faculty members will be appointed according to the Academic Senate Guidelines
      • The faculty members will serve on the committee from year to year
      • The student representative will serve from semester to semester
  2. The committee should have a chair or two co-chairs
  3. Faculty members will be appointed according to the Academic Senate Guidelines
  4. The faculty members will serve on the committee from year to year
  5. The student representative will serve from semester to semester
  6. Requirements for maintaining active memberships include: consistently attending meetings, acting as a mentor, making recommendations to other bodies on campus where DE advice is concerned, and participating in other DE projects shared with the committee.
  7. In the event of a long-term absence of a faculty member, the senate will be informed of a need for a substitute.
  8. Qualifications
    1. The group of instructional faculty members should have taught an online or in a hybrid class, or demonstrate an interest in distance education
    2. The A.S. representative must be a current Merritt College student in good standing.

 

III. MEETINGS

1. The DE will meet once a month over the course of the semester

2. The goals of DE Committee meetings will include:

         a. Discussing and developing recommendations for procedural, pedagogical, and legal questions related to Distance Education.

         b. Sharing progress on DE related tasks and discussing strategies for continued progress.

3. A quorum shall consist in 4 voting members of the Committee

 

IV. SUPPORT ONLINE FACULTY

Members of the DE Committee support colleagues in a number of different ways. Individual committee members are encouraged to build on their strengths and interests. Committee members are expected to commit to at least one of the following tasks each semester:

1. Participate in Peer Course Review for the CVC-OEI

2. Host FLEX Day activities centering on distance learning

3. Advocate for funding (e.g. stipends, licenses, professional development, etc.) and recruitment of new online instructors & support staff.

4. Develop and/or participate in a Community of Practice for online instructors.

5. Mentor new online faculty. The DE committee encourages a “faculty helping faculty” relationship between new and more established online instructors.

6. Collaborate with other constituents on campus (such as SAS, the Library, the Welcome Center, Counseling, etc.) to improve support for online students and instructors.

7. Collaborate with EDT or District DE to evaluate 3rd party resources and develop support resources and trainings for online faculty.

8. Develop presentations (both locally and more broadly) on topics such as: current research on effective teaching strategies for online classes, personal experiences with online course design, etc.

9. Participate in statewide DE discussions and projects such as CVC-OEI, @ONE, Vision Resource Center, etc.

10. Develop strategies and creative projects to help students succeed in online classes.

11. Demonstrate commitment to the DE team by completing requested tasks assigned by the distance education committee and attending meetings regularly

 

V. Support for Curriculum Committee

1. The Chair of the DE Committee will be a liaison to the Curriculum Committee so approval activities might be better coordinated

2. Recommend best practices for curriculum design where distance education is concerned

3. If called upon by the committee, we may recommend updates to DE addendum procedures, review specific DE addendums, and attend meetings to advise regarding best practices