Overview
Established by the Provost, this initiative creates a structured, university-wide process for reviewing and improving the quality of online courses to better support student success. The focus is on ensuring high-quality course design and a consistent learning experience across the university.
The process begins with selected lower-division courses, expands to all undergraduate
online courses, and transitions into an ongoing review cycle.
Purpose
- Strengthen the quality and organization of course design
- Ensure a consistent student experience through clear expectations and aligned learning outcomes
- Provide faculty with meaningful, actionable feedback and support
- Establish a sustainable process for continuous course improvement
Guiding Framework
All reviews are guided by the Quality Standards for Online Courses (QSOC) and supported by the High Impact Design for Online Courses (HIDOC) framework.
How the Review Process Works
CTE-Led Course Development and Readiness Process
- Faculty complete a QSOC self-review using the Online Course Readiness for Student Success Checklist to identify strengths and areas for improvement
- Faculty partner with a CTE instructional designer to support course development
- The checklist guides course development and refinement
This stage focuses on building and refining the course prior to the final review and emphasizes collaboration between faculty and the instructional designer.
A CTE instructional designer partners with faculty throughout the development process.
Instructional designers:
- Serve as an active partner in the process
- Provide ongoing guidance, feedback, and support
- Support alignment with QSOC standards and course readiness expectations
Faculty continue to revise and refine the course with support until required standards and course readiness expectations are clearly met.
Once the course meets readiness expectations, it advances to the final review.
- The Director of Distributed Learning and Innovation (DDLI) conducts a final review
- This review serves as a readiness check to confirm that required standards and course readiness expectations are met
The process outlined above reflects CTE-led course development and readiness. However, some colleges may implement their own QSOC-aligned review processes.
College-Led Reviews
Colleges that conduct their own reviews follow processes aligned with QSOC, including the College of Nursing, the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management (HRSM), and the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences (MCAS).
- Faculty complete any required college-level review steps
- A college reviewer evaluates the course and provides feedback
- Faculty revise the course as needed
- The college confirms that the course meets required standards
- The college submits a completion report for institutional record
If you have questions about the review process for your college, please contact the individuals listed below.
- Nursing: Vera Polyakova-Norwood, Director of Distributed Learning
- HRSM: Karen Edwards, Associate Dean, Academic Programs and Student Affairs
- MCAS: Lydia Frass, Director of Distributed Learning and Summer Sessions
Scope and Implementation
The initiative is implemented in phases to support a manageable and sustainable process:
- Initial focus on selected 100 and 200 level courses
- Expansion to all lower-division courses
- Inclusion of upper-division undergraduate courses
- Transition to a five-year review cycle
This structure ensures early attention to high-impact courses and long-term consistency.
Graduate courses are not included in the current review cycle. Faculty teaching graduate
courses are encouraged to apply QSOC standards, use the Online Course Readiness for Student Success Checklist, and engage with CTE resources to support course quality and student learning.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Complete required course review or readiness steps
- Revise the course based on feedback
- Ensure the course meets required standards or readiness expectations
- Conduct course reviews using college-level processes aligned with QSOC
- Provide feedback and support course revisions
- Confirm that courses meet required standards
- Submit completion reports for institutional record
- Provide guidance, feedback, and consultation
- Partner with faculty throughout course development and revision
- Support course readiness prior to the final review conducted by the DDLI
- Maintain institutional records
Faculty Responsibility and Support
Faculty are encouraged to take a proactive role in ensuring their courses meet quality standards. Using available resources early supports a smoother process. It also helps create a strong learning experience from the start. The CTE provides a range of resources to support course design, development, facilitation, and improvement:
- Designing and Delivering Effective Online Courses (self-paced)
- Foundations of Online Teaching (facilitated)
- Technology for Online Teaching and Learning (facilitated)
- One-on-one or small group support with instructional designers and multimedia specialists
- Support for recording, editing, and integrating instructional videos and other media
- Guidance on creating accessible and engaging multimedia content
- Focused sessions on designing, developing, and teaching online
- Opportunities to gather feedback from students and instructional designers to refine the course during delivery through the CTE course feedback service and the Online Course Delivery Feedback Guide
Engaging with these resources early supports course readiness and strengthens alignment
with QSOC standards.
Get Started
- Review the Online Course Readiness for Student Success Checklist early in course development
- Engage with CTE short courses and online guides
- Work with an instructional designer during the course development process
- Consult with a multimedia specialist as needed
- Revise and refine your course prior to the final review
Questions?
Contact Aisha Haynes, CTE Associate Director and Director of Distributed Learning and Innovation, at haynesa@mailbox.sc.edu.