- Colleges and universities offering distance education now have an alternative to program-by-program review for registering their programs in the distance education format. The institutional capability review is a one-time assessment by expert consultants of a college's capability to plan, deliver, and evaluate distance education programs. The review is based on the
Principles and Operational Criteria for Good Practice in Distance Education developed by the Task Force on Distance Higher Education.
- If an institution meets the criteria for good practice and is approved, it becomes eligible, for a period of five years, to use a streamlined program registration process in place of the normal proposal review procedures for registering "new" distance education programs. This streamlined process can be used only for those programs that are already registered in the standard classroom format, that is, that have previously passed through academic review.
- If an institution wishes to offer a new program by distance education that it does not already offer on campus, that program will go through the normal academic review process.
- The implementation of the institutional capability review process will:
- Streamline program registration for distance education
- Provide the Department with a more complete picture of institutional practice in distance education
- Give colleges and universities more flexibility to respond to new needs and educational markets promptly
The Steps
Before deciding whether the individual program review or the Institutional Capability Review (ICR) is right for your institution, read the
Principals and Operational Criteria for Good Practice. These are the standards used in
both review processes. If your institution does not yet have the
infrastructure, expertise, and resources to meet these criteria, it is not a
likely candidate for an ICR.
If the institution does seem to meet the criteria, fill out and submit the Preliminary Application. Within a few weeks of receiving this application, the Project Director will arrange a conference call with the key personnel at your institution to discuss its contents and the institution’s readiness.
If it is mutually agreed that the institution is ready for an ICR, the institution should bring together a working group of faculty and administrators to prepare the
Capability Statement or institutional self-study. This statement should be sent electronically to the
Office of College and University
Evaluation. Supporting materials may be mailed.
The Project Director will then assemble a team of reviewers with expertise in various aspects of distance education. The team will review the Statement and other written and electronic materials.
Working with the institution, the Project Director will schedule a 2-day site visit, during which the team will verify and expand on the information received.
A Draft Report of the team’s findings and recommendations will be prepared for approval by the Assistant Commissioner, after which it will be sent to the institution’s president. The institution will respond with any corrections or additional comments.
After any necessary changes have been made to the Draft, the institution will receive a Final Report along with a determination letter describing the outcome of the review.
More Information
For more information, please contact Ellen Zunon, Assistant in Higher Education at ezunon@mail.nysed.gov) or at (518) 474-2593.
The institutional capability review concept is based on the assumption that there is an institution-wide oversight or quality assurance function for distance education. The locus of this responsibility varies with the institution, but is generally the Provost, Academic Vice President, or Academic Dean. If an institution leaves the oversight of distance education programs to individual schools or units, a capability review can only be conducted within, and the resulting streamlined authority granted to, a particular school or unit.
At this time the approval as a distance education provider does not apply to programs leading to professional licensure or in professional fields. These programs must still be submitted for individual program review for adding the distance education format.
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