Policies and Procedures
Guidelines for the Development of Off-Campus Graduate Degree or Certificate Programs
May 6, 1980
Revised October 1984; November 1994; Updated August 2002
Introduction
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has traditionally sought to extend its graduate-level instruction mission to include the continuing education needs of citizens throughout the State of Illinois. In particular, the Urbana campus has placed a high priority upon meeting the continuing education needs of professionals such as teachers, social workers, engineers, and farmers as they strive to improve their skills and broaden their perspectives related to their own professional practice. The national and international role of the campus may also create opportunities where it is appropriate to extend graduate-level instruction beyond Illinois.
In recent years the Graduate College has sought to expand and improve off-campus educational opportunities and to encourage greater participation by academic units in the lifelong education of nontraditional students, particularly as it relates to continuing professional education. Graduate College policy allows students to satisfy their graduate residence requirement either through courses meeting on the Urbana campus or through courses that meet off-campus and are approved by the Graduate College to carry graduate residence credit. All courses must be approved before they can be offered off-campus, and depending on the restrictions of the academic unit and student eligibility, degree candidates as well as persons seeking professional development opportunities only may enroll in extramural graduate level courses. By carefully scheduling extramural courses, some academic units have been able to offer all or most of the course required for a graduate degree in locations distant from the Urbana campus. In most cases, the degree program objective has been to train graduate students for improved professional practice through the transmission and application of existing knowledge.
While Graduate College policy has expanded adult access to graduate education at Urbana-Champaign, it is also clear that high quality graduate programs involve much more than simply the accumulation of required courses. Programs must also involve such elements as a capable and accessible faculty, motivated students, a strong curriculum, competent academic advisement, appropriate and accessible academic facilities, and skilled program administration. Attention to these elements is particularly important in the case of off-campus graduate programs because the learners are often isolated from each other and from the rest of the campus community.
It is the statutory responsibility of the Graduate College to develop and maintain standards of graduate study for the Urbana campus. In this regard, the Graduate College has a particular responsibility to make clear its expectation regarding the design and conduct of off-campus graduate degree and certificate programs and to assist academic units to develop off-campus programs that meet these expectations. The following guidelines are intended to serve this responsibility.
Off-Campus Graduate Degree and Certificate Programs Requiring Approval
The off-campus graduate degree and certificate programs listed at the top of the next page require approval by the Graduate College Committee on Extended Education and External Degrees (CEEED).
- Graduate degree programs in which more than one-half of the graduate units required for the degree completion are offered either at off-campus sites or through real time or asynchronous technologies to students who are not physically in residence on the Urbana campus
- Graduate programs which must be approved as off-campus programs by the Illinois Board of Higher Education
Off-Campus Graduate Degree Program Approval
Graduate degree programs must go through an extensive approval process to be offered on campus. This discussion pertains to the process of approving an existing graduate degree program for delivery off-campus.
During the 1977-79 academic school years, the Graduate College Committee on Extended Education and External Degrees (CEEED) conducted an evaluation of several off-campus graduate degree programs offered by the Urbana-Champaign campus. An important outcome of this evaluation was the identification of problems and opportunities that are unique to this type of graduate education and that need to be carefully considered in the process of off-campus program design and implementation. As a result of this evaluation, the Graduate College Executive Committee urged the Dean, with the advice and counsel of the CEEED, 'to provide greater guidance and assistance to departments in their continuing education efforts." (See Executive Committee Minutes, September 19, 1979.)
It is the position of the Graduate College Dean and Executive Committee that the quality of off-campus graduate degree programs could be further enhanced if the Graduate College were to review the plans of academic units to offer such program prior to program implementation. The review process would allow the Graduate College, through its staff and committee resources, to share its experience and insight regarding off-campus graduate education in the process of program development. It would also allow the Graduate College to work collaboratively with academic units to further define and elaborate the off-campus program guidelines that are described below.
Accordingly, the review and approval route to be followed by an academic unit intending to offer an off-campus graduate degree or certificate program is through its college, to the Office of Continuing Education and then to the Graduate College prior to program implementation. All proposals will be reviewed by the CEEED. If approved, proposals will be signed by the Dean of the Graduate College and approval will be communicated to the Executive Committee as an information item. This review will focus upon the extent to which the program design satisfies the off-campus program guidelines described in the following section.
Academic units planning to offer off-campus graduate programs should first complete an Off-Campus Program Proposal or an Off-Campus Certificate Proposal, and initiate the approval process within their own college. Once this review is completed, the proposal should be submitted to the Office of Continuing Education for review and forwarding to the Graduate College. In the case of international programs, the Office of International Programs and Studies should be informed.
Approval of off-campus courses for graduate credit can be accomplished in one of two ways: (1) Academic units proposing an off-campus degree or certificate program should include a list of courses that may be offered off-campus as part of that program. These courses will be reviewed and approved as extramural courses at the same time that the program is reviewed and approved. (2) If the academic unit wishes to have additional off-campus degree related courses at a later date, it should submit the standard extramural course approval form to its college office (when appropriate) and then on the Office of Continuing Education and the Graduate College. Likewise, the standard extramural course approval process should be followed when academic units wish approval for any other extramural courses not directly related to the off-campus program.
Guidelines for Off-Campus Graduate Degree or Certificate Programs
The following guidelines are intended to reflect the expectations of the Graduate College concerning the design and implementation of high quality off-campus graduate degree or certificate programs.
- Program Purpose
An academic unit proposing an off-campus degree or certificate program must clearly state the purposes it intends to serve and the goals that it hopes to achieve though such a program. In particular, how does the program contribute to the unit's teaching, research, and service missions? - Program Need
The decision to offer an off-campus degree or certificate program must be based upon a thorough and systematic assessment of program need. This needs assessment should include attention to the following:- The nature and extent of student demand
- The availability of similar programs in the same geographic area offered through other post-secondary institutions
- Determination that the program will meet an educational need that is not currently being served
- Determination that the off-campus program will not adversely affect the campus-based program.
- Faculty
Faculty members involved in an off-campus graduate degree or certificate program should ordinarily be members of the Urbana-Champaign faculty. Exceptions to this rule, including the use of adjunct faculty, should be allowed only by reason of a person's ability to make a unique contribution to the program because he or she possesses professional skills, experiences, or perspectives that are not represented or not available within the academic unit's own gradate faculty.
Off-campus program instruction should involve a wide variety of the academic unit's faculty members and ordinarily be conducted as part of the faculty member's regularly assigned teaching load.
Finally, faculty members who are involved in advising or instruction in an off-campus degree or certificate program must be oriented to the design and purpose of the program, characteristics of the students, and the unique circumstances of the off-campus teaching/learning setting.
- Students
The quality of a graduate degree or certificate program is directly related to the quality of the students. A graduate program should therefore endeavor to select and admit applicants who show the greatest academic or leadership potential.
Graduate College admission standards should be as rigorous for off-campus students as they are for their on-campus counterparts. However, this should not necessarily mean that the admission criteria used in both cases must be the same. For the older adult student, those qualities that suggest promise for academic excellence may not be evident in such measures as undergraduate transcripts, standardized aptitude and achievement tests, and estimated quality of the undergraduate institution. For these students, the intervening years since graduation may have meant a considerable increase in knowledge, motivation, maturity, the development of specific career goals, commitment to a profession, and even a distinguished record in that profession. To the extent that these and other factors appear related to successful graduate study, they should be included among the admission criteria along with the Graduate College minimum admission requirements. Often these factors can be measured through reference letters, interviews, or evaluation of job experience and professional writing. In the case of programs admitting international students, the Office of International Admissions should be consulted regarding appropriate admission polices and procedures prior to promoting the program.
Whatever the academic unit's admission criteria, they must be well defined and articulated before seeking approval for an off-campus degree program. - Curriculum
The quality of an off-campus degree program cannot be assured by simply teaching the same courses, with the same content, in the same way as on-campus. The design and content of the off-campus program curriculum should certainly be consistent with the academic standards and requirements of the academic unit, but it should also reflect the unique background, culture, and educational needs of the students whom it serves. Nontraditional students often possess far greater professional experience than their traditional counterparts. They are also likely to be more independent more goal oriented, and consequently have a much different set of expectations related to their degree program.
In most cases, the off-campus program will not provide the same variety of courses available to students enrolled in the similar program on-campus. Nevertheless, the off-campus setting provides several unique opportunities that can be addressed in curriculum design. For example, off-campus degree programs can be designed to build upon the extensive professional experience of the students, thereby developing a strong link between theory and professional practice.
The Graduate College encourages academic units engaged in off-campus graduate education to experiment with different methods and combination of methods of instructional delivery. In addition to the traditional once-a-week-for-fourteen-weeks classroom format, academic units should consider the use of such instructional modes as correspondence study (Guided Individual Study), concentrated periods of study on or off-campus (e.g. Summer Session, Weekend), and various communication and instructional technologies alone or in various combinations. There is no good evidence, to our knowledge, that one instructional mode is more successful in all situations than all the others or that inventive mixtures are not more effective than the use of a single mode. The opportunities for instructional innovation in presenting graduate programs to mature adult students are great, and should be limited only by academic integrity and by the limits of imagination. - Advising
Academic advising is a fundamental dimension of any graduate degree program. Students enrolled in off-campus program must be assigned an adviser at the time of admission and must be provided with the regular opportunity to meet with their advisers to discuss not only choice of course enrollment and satisfaction of degree requirements, but other intellectual and professional concerns as well. A method must exist to assist students with particular academic or professional interests to be linked with faculty members with similar interests. This opportunity is essential for both on-campus and off-campus students. Provisions must also be made for the continuous monitoring of student progress and the maintenance of appropriate academic records for the purpose.
Academic advising for off-campus students can be facilitated through such things as the Extramural Program's Division's toll-free line, electronic mail, computer conferencing, and the scheduling of special advisement days in off-campus locations. No matter what the method, academic advisement must be established and maintained as in integral part of the off-campus graduate program. - Academic Facilities
Off-campus graduate study requires the availability of adequate academic facilities and resources. Classrooms should be convenient to the student and conducive to the instructional approach being utilized. Instructional resources such as overhead projectors, screens, and VCRs should be available when needed. Libraries should contain the necessary books and periodicals and be accessible at times convenient for nontraditional students. Laboratories should also be well equipped and up to the standards required for graduate study. Access to needed computer resources should be assured.
While the specific requirements will differ by field of study, it is imperative that off-campus degree programs be supported by the necessary facilities and resources. Good advanced planning is required to insure that this support is available. - Program Administration
The program must be under the direct and continuous supervision of the academic unit(s) sponsoring the program. The responsibility for the administration of an off- campus degree program must be assigned to a single faculty member within the academic unit that is offering the program. The academic unit's program administrator should work cooperatively with the Division of Extramural Programs and other involved administrative and academic units to insure that the following issues are adequately addressed:- That the academic unit insures, prior to enrollment, that students are fully and accurately informed about the purpose of the program, objectives, admission requirements, program requirements, cost, academic and financial policies, timelines, and the services to be provided or not provided.
- That adequate communication channels exist between students and faculty, between students and the academic unit.
- That courses will be schedules far enough in advance to assure that students have adequate time to plan their schedules.
- That steps will be taken to insure that the faculty understands the purpose of the program, the characteristics of the students, and the nature of the off-campus teaching/learning setting.
- That if non-Urbana-Champaign faculty is utilized, the academic units have a mechanism to insure consistency in course content and academic standards.
- That program planning involved those academic units who may necessarily have to contribute to the program. (For example: Educational Policy Studies and Educational Psychology in the College of Education degrees.)
- That the funding is adequate to insure a quality program. That in the case of out-of-state programs, State funds will not be used to support the program.
- That all necessary approvals from governmental bodies will be obtained prior to offering the program.
- That if professional accreditation is needed for entry into the field, as specified in the objectives of the program, this need has been addressed.
- That in the case of discontinuation of the program, all obligations to students be fulfilled.
- That criteria exist for evaluation of the program by the academic unit. That faculty will be evaluated consistent with the procedures of the academic unit and campus. Departments are encouraged to require evaluation of all their off-campus offerings.
- That in the case of contractual programs, the arrangement is consistent with State of Illinois guidelines for contract credit programs and the contract specifies that the University controls the program, consistent with its academic polices and procedures.
- That in the case of international programs, the program is consistent with the "Principles of Good Practice in Overseas
International Education Programs for Non-US Nationals" subscribed to by the regional accrediting associations.
