COMPLIANCE AUDIT REPORTS

Section 3: Comprehensive Standard 3.4.6

The institution employs sound and acceptable practices for determining the amount and level of credit awarded for courses, regardless of format or mode of delivery.

Statement of Compliance: Dyersburg State Community College is in compliance with Comprehensive Standard 3.4.6.

Rationale for Judgment of Compliance:

Through institutional controls and the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Guideline A-019 [Ref 1] and Guideline A-030 [Ref 2], Dyersburg State Community College (DSCC) employs sound and acceptable practices for determining the amount and level of credit awarded for courses. TBR Guideline A-019 prescribes the amount of time required per semester hour of credit awarded, and TBR Guideline A-030 addresses the criteria for offering freshman and sophomore level courses.

The amount and level of credit awarded for courses is initially determined by faculty members involved in developing and proposing new courses. Amount and level of credit must be indicated on all new course proposals [Ref 3]. Prior to the presentation of the proposal to the Instructional Council [Ref 4], the academic division dean responsible for the course must approve the development of the course including the amount of credit attached to it. After receiving the dean’s approval, the course is proposed to the Instructional Council. Usually, if the course is included in a change of program of study, major, concentration, or certificate, the faculty member or academic division dean will appear before the Instructional Council to justify the proposed course and credit to be assigned. If approved by the Instructional Council, the proposal is routed to the Vice President for the College and ultimately to the President. If courses approved at the institutional level are a part of a proposed academic program, they are then submitted to the TBR and possibly to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) for further review.

In determining the amount of credit to award, DSCC faculty members have traditionally been guided by TBR Academic Guideline A-019 [Ref 1], which states: “All terms, including summer, intersession, and special compressed terms provide approximately 750 minutes of instruction per semester hour of credit awarded. When providing alternate class formats, the institution is responsible for documenting equivalence of terms of instructional time, student effort, and/or student achievement.” The 750-minute expectation is the TBR’s primary safeguard for determining sound and acceptable practices for amount of credit. 

The TBR has been active in reviewing the determination of the appropriate level of credit to improve uniformity through a system that includes both community colleges and four-year institutions and to ensure effective transfer from one to the other. In 2000-2001, all TBR institutions were required to review course numbering to develop a degree of commonality, especially in the general education core. As a result of this review, DSCC, along with the other TBR institutions changed the rubrics and numbers for many courses. DSCC changed 61 courses [Ref 5].

The area of greatest concern for determination of credit hour requirements is DSCC’s online courses, since such courses cannot be governed by the 750-minute requirement but rather must be judged by their equivalence to courses that do conform to the 750-minute requirement. However, through compliance with TBR Policy 2:05:00:00 [Ref 6] and TBR Guideline A-070 [Ref 7] which both address quality, consistency with on-ground courses is maintained. Additionally, all DSCC online courses are reviewed by the Teaching, Learning Technology Roundtable (TLTR) [Ref 8], which is comprised of faculty and staff familiar with the use of technology in teaching. The TLTR developed an online class evaluation form scoring rubric [Ref 9] which is used to review the course design, the use of technology in the course, and the strength of the course content. Any faculty member who develops an online course is responsible for assuring that the course outcomes, content covered, course requirements, and assessment of student learning are equivalent to those of on-ground sections and are in conformance with TBR Policy 2:05:00:00 [Ref 6] and TBR Guideline A-070 [Ref 7] addressed above.

Online courses developed through the Regents Online Degree Program (RODP) are reviewed by the RODP Curriculum Committee [Ref 10] which includes a DSCC faculty member. The development of RODP courses is also   in conformance with TBR Policy 2:05:00:00 [Ref 6] and TBR Guideline A-070 [Ref 7].

Authored by Mr. J Dan Gullett in coordination with the SACS Leadership Team

Documentation: