GVSU identifies three forms of course delivery: traditional, hybrid, and online. This document describes the meaning of those forms, and explains how the Online Education and Microcredential Council (OEMC) uses the curriculum review process to authorize a change in delivery format.

Definitions

Face-to-Face (Traditional)
A standard in-person, on-campus course. Typically, an instructor and students come to a regular meeting space a fixed number of times per week. There are exceptions (e.g., independent studies, clinical rotations, Master's theses, etc.), but the expectation is that any content delivery/instruction is done face-to-face with the student, supplemented with technology.

Hybrid
A course in which the instructor deliberately and purposefully replaces some face-to-face instruction with online instruction. A hybrid course is one that requires purposeful use of online instructional strategies in lieu of coming to class (of note, a course is not considered hybrid to replace absence due to illness, snow days, etc.).

Online
A course where the instructor has replaced all in-person, on-campus instruction with online teaching and learning. Students and instructors never come to campus. Online courses can be synchronous (i.e., virtually meeting at the same time), asynchronous (i.e., students and instructor interact with course material at different times), or a combination of the two.

Course Approval Process

Proposals to change an existing course, or to create a new course, to be offered in a hybrid or online format must be created and submitted in Sail, the online curriculum development system. Proposals can be authored by any faculty member (tenured/tenure-track and affiliate faculty), although some proposal questions are best answered by the faculty member that may ultimately teach the course. Complete proposals are routed to OEMC for review. This review happens simultaneously with review by IT and Library.

Note: Faculty Governance committees do not meet over the Spring/Summer semesters and no approval will be possible during that time.

Approval for hybrid and online delivery follows a continuum from traditional through online.

Traditional - All courses are approved for traditional delivery. It is the de facto delivery method. It requires no special course review or faculty training. The ability to schedule a course face-to-face is never removed.

Hybrid - A course that intends to replace some face-to-face instruction with online instruction must be approved for such delivery by OEMC. Courses approved for hybrid delivery retain their ability to be offered in a traditional format. However hybrid courses are not automatically approved for fully online delivery.

Online - Offering a course in a fully online format requires a more extensive course redesign than making a course hybrid. Therefore, requesting approval for a course to be offered fully online requires a separate review process by OEMC. Courses approved for fully online delivery are automatically approved for hybrid and traditional delivery as well.

For information on course capacity, please visit the information on course caps in online and hybrid courses page. 

Faculty Approval Process

Hybrid - Faculty scheduled to teach a hybrid course where some face-to-face instruction is replaced with online instruction must also attend a Faculty Teaching and Learning (FTLC) workshop or show prior competency. 

Online - Faculty scheduled to teach a fully online course must attend an FTLC workshop/module(s) on online/hybrid pedagogy or provide evidence of competency in online/hybrid pedagogy to the OEMC, their Dean, and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center offers training on how to engage students in online and hybrid courses, with levels ranging from beginning to advanced.  Please visit the Faculty Resources for Online Education website for links to training options as well as other resources intended to support hybrid and online teaching and learning. It is important that departments plan ahead to identify those individuals who will teach online or hybrid courses so that training may be completed in a timely manner.