Summer Online Core Course Initiative FAQs

Both Full-time and Adjunct faculty members are invited to submit a proposal.  Faculty in the School of Management are encouraged to reach out to Associate Dean Michelle Millar <mmillar@usfca.edu> in advance of considering a proposal.

In prior years some faculty have submitted group proposals. If you are interested in a group proposal, please reach out to us <she@usfca.edu> to discuss whether the program can accommodate additional group proposals, and participant interest in completing all program requirements.

No, you do not need to receive approval to submit a proposal. 

We do suggest you inform your Department Chair or Program Director of your intent to propose a course, as some departments may be seeking to develop proposals for specific courses only, and their guidance will also be a part of the overall proposal approval process.

SHE Committee members will refer proposals to the Associate Deans of the College or School to complete the selection process, consulting with Department Chairs and Program Directors about the modality change and course scheduling before proposal acceptance is communicated. 

Yes, proposals from all core areas (A, B, C, D, E, and F) will be accepted, along with courses in the Business Core. Effort will be made to ensure areas and programs are represented.

Online courses as part of this program are fully online, which we define as 100% asynchronous, actively facilitated by instructors. Courses are not self-paced.

Typical cohorts have been between 4-6 faculty (or faculty teams); the number accepted will depend on available funding and proposal quality.

Courses will be selected for online development by the SHE Committee and Associate Deans according to: (1) the clarity and strength of explanation for a course to function exceptionally well in delivering Core and Program Learning Outcomes as an online offering; (2) any particular background or expertise held by the faculty proposer(s) that will facilitate online development; and (3) likelihood of sustained demand for the course as an online offering.

Both faculty development and course development support will be provided through participation in the Online Course Design Program delivered by the USF Instructional Design team. 

• Faculty development will involve participating in an online program devoted to online course design, development, and facilitation.
• Faculty will then be paired with an instructional designer to incrementally work through course design and development throughout the Spring semester, inclusive of in-person or virtual meetings taking place biweekly.
• The Instructional Design team will also work with faculty to produce course videos and multimedia pieces.

It typically takes between 150 to 200 hours of a faculty member’s time to participate in the online course design program.

A significant amount of course content can typically be repurposed for an online course, this varies considerably and can be evaluated case by case.

Instructors should expect to create new video content for the purpose of this online course. Any previously developed video content will be reviewed and evaluated for inclusion based on the Online Course Media Design Checklist.

Each faculty will receive up to $8,000 - for adjunct faculty, this will be paid as hourly NTA.

Faculty will receive the same compensation for an online course that they would for a course of any other modality taught during summer session, subject to the common enrollment expectations  (currently, 15 or more students). 

The Office of the Provost, in partnership with the faculty unions and other USF community members, are in the process of developing a policy around intellectual property (IP) and online courses. In the meantime, the IP of these courses are subject to the existing language regarding IP in the current faculty contracts.

Yes, as with all summer courses, students will receive the discounted rate of 33% off normal tuition for these courses.

Courses as part of this initiative will be evaluated in several ways. A Quality Matters based framework for online courses and course media will be used in the course design and development process, and will serve as a measure of course design quality. Courses must achieve a passing score to launch.

Post delivery, student enrollments, student performance, and faculty and student satisfaction surveys will also be collected and reviewed to assist in evaluating the success of the courses and initiative.

The initial slate of courses were developed through a three-year pilot program and offered Summers 2020, 2021, and 2022.  Due to the measurable success of the SOCCI program, it is being continued so long as funding is available and new courses will contribute to program growth and/or sustainability. 

Whether a course continues to be taught online, and to which instructor or instructors it is offered, are the prerogative of the Dean in consultation with Department Chairs and Program Directors.  Any additional faculty assigned to teach the course would nevertheless have to participate in appropriate training in online course facilitation prior to being assigned a course. 

Additional questions can be sent to the SHE Advisory Board at she@usfca.edu.