Academic Policies & Procedures

The following policies apply to all Angelo State University faculty. Faculty members should also familiarize themselves with college- and/or department-level policies.

Student Privacy and FERPA

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Security of Personally Identifiable Information (PII): Students and Faculty will comply with information security policy, security controls, and regulatory requirements as outlined in Information Security Roles and Responsibilities, OP 44.00. Specific policies referenced within OP 44.00 include Acceptable Use policy, OP 44.01, which defines requirements for the use of university information systems by all users and does not designate differences between face-to-face and distance education users. As stated in Identification and Authentication, OP 44.08, Angelo State has policies that define the information security controls for the purpose of identification and authentication of all users, which includes distance education students. Angelo State protects the username and passwords of students by requiring the confidentiality of passwords (OP 44.01.d) and having effective information security controls in place as described in Access Control, OP 44.02, Identification and Authentication, OP 44.08, and Personnel Security, OP 44.12.

Instructors should not share the following student information without explicit permission from the student:

• Email addresses
• Course work
• Social media information
• E-portfolios and resumes
• Individual or group Capstone Projects, reports, and written assignments
• Non-directory information (photographs, date and/or place of birth, major field of study, dates of attendance at the school, grade level, degrees or honors received, all or part of the student ID or other unique personal identifier)

Express written consent for information sharing is not required if:

• Students are given prior notice of course posting requirements then post their own work
• Students’ identities remain anonymous and there are no grades or evaluative comments
• Posted work is available only to members of the class

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) allows students at an institution of higher education to control outside access to their education records, including requests for information from their parents, guardians, or others as designated by the student. Without a student’s written consent, Angelo State may not disclose information from a student’s education records to outside third parties. However, students can also provide a standing release allowing Angelo State to disclose information to others.

Online student privacy must always be maintained by keeping grades secure in Blackboard. Grades must not be viewable to other members of the course. No student grades or information may be posted outside of secured systems any time during or after the semester. If external tools (wikis, blogs, etc.) are used, the faculty member must ensure that Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requirements are met.

In most cases, it is acceptable for faculty to ask students to post and comment on collaborative and/or social media platforms. However, students should not be required to post information that is protected under FERPA (their class schedule, for example). Faculty comments and grades on student work should never be made public. As a solution, faculty should inform students that their work may be public and provide students with information on making their wikis and blogs private if so desired. Faculty cannot require students to reveal private information to the class and should respect students’ requests to not post such information for class viewing.

The Registrar houses all things FERPA including FERPA releases. Questions around these laws can be addressed through their office. More information can be found on the FERPA webpage.

FERPA Guidelines

• Before using any student information outside of Blackboard, get explicit permission from the student
• Avoid posting (or requiring) students’ directory information in a course
• Avoid releasing non-directory or personally identifiable information about a student to a third party (parents included) without the student’s written authorization or consent to release to a specific individual or organization
• Avoid emailing student specific information (grades, assignment critiques, or other non-directory information) to an email address not issued by the University
• Use the Blackboard Grade Center and Course Messages

Student Privacy: Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA) of Personal Information, Angelo State’s FERPA website provides definitions and Angelo State’s obligations, including required FERPA training for faculty and staff every two years. Angelo State’s FERPA website does not distinguish between face-to-face and distance education students; therefore, FERPA policy is applied equally to both. Additionally, Access Control, OP 44.02 and Information Privacy and Protection, define information security controls around information privacy and protection.

Copyright of Course Materials

The TEACH Act (Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization) provides guidance for academic institutions relative to copyright regulations. Under the TEACH Act, it may be permissible to make some copyrighted materials available to students if they are:

• Directly related and integral to the course content
• Accessible only by students enrolled in the course
• Retained only for the duration of the class
• Do not exceed the length or amount displayed in a face-to-face class

Students should be made aware of the institution’s copyright policies, specifically that course content may be subject to copyright laws and protections.

Copyright

Copyright is of special concern in education because faculty members continually deal with the creation and communication of ideas and information embodied in copyrighted works. As both creators and users of copyrighted materials, it is vital that faculty, students, and staff understand copyright law and the rights and responsibilities afforded them under it. This is especially true as we expand our use of technologies and digital resources, which challenge the long-standing educational exemptions and interpretations.

Copyright compliance in a course is ultimately the responsibility of the instructor delivering that course. The following information is intended to aid with compliance, but copyright questions are best addressed by library staff.

The Fair Use Doctrine

Copyright law permits some “fair use” of copyrighted materials without written permission of the owner. To fall under “fair use,” a majority of the four factors of fair use should be met. If the analysis indicates that the user meets only one or two of the factors, then it is up to the user to get written permission from the owner.

Guidelines for Determining Fair Use

• The purpose and character of the use, including whether it is for commercial use or for nonprofit educational purposes - In evaluating the purpose and character of the use, courts favor non-profit educational uses over commercial ones. However, there are instances in which commercial uses would qualify as fair use and other instances where educational uses would not meet the
• The nature of the copyrighted work - This factor focuses on the work The legislative history states that there is a definite difference between reproducing a short news note and reproducing a full musical score because of the nature of the work. Moreover, some works, such as standardized tests and workbooks, will never qualify for fair use because by their nature they are meant to be consumed. Uses of factual works such as scientific articles are more likely to fall within fair use.
• The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyright-protected work as a whole - This factor considers how much of the copyrighted work was used in comparison to the original work as a whole. Generally, the larger the amount used, the less likely a court will find the use to be a fair use. Amount and substantiality is also a qualitative test; that is, even though one takes only a small portion of a work, it still may be too much if what is taken is the “heart of the “
• The effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the copyright-protected work - Courts use this factor to determine whether the use of a work is likely to result in an economic loss that the copyright holder is otherwise entitled to It looks at whether the nature of the use competes with or diminishes the potential market for the use that the owner is already exploiting or can reasonably be expected soon to exploit. Even if the immediate loss is not substantial, courts have found that, should the loss become great if the practice were to become widespread, then this factor favors the copyright holders

While these four factors are helpful guides, they do not clearly identify uses that are or are not fair use. Fair use is not a straightforward concept; therefore, any fair use analysis must be conducted on a case-by-case basis considering all four factors and the circumstances of the situation at hand.

Examples of Fair Use

• Quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations
• Spontaneous and unexpected reproduction of material for classroom use-for example, where an article in the morning’s paper is directly relevant to that day’s class topic
• A parody that includes short portions of a work
• A summary of an address or article, which may include quotations of short passages of the copyright-protected work

Copyright Compliance Checklist

Material may be posted to a password protected LMS such as Blackboard without permission only if the following conditions are met:

• The instructor owns the NOTE: Authors of academic papers are often required to transfer copyright to publishers, and therefore retain no rights in the work. In this case, permission to post a digital copy must be obtained from the publisher
• The College has a license in place that permits posting to an LMS (examples include library databases)
• A publisher has provided digital supplements (ePacks, course packs, course cartridges) with a textbook and the license explicitly permits posting to an LMS, or written permission has been obtained from the publisher
• The material has been obtained under a Creative Commons license or from OpenAccess sources
• Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/
• Open Access Journals: http://www.doaj.org/
• The material is in the public Material enters the Public Domain 50 years from the death of the author(s) (or translator)
• Federal documents and publications are NOT eligible to be copyrighted so they may be used without written permission

Additional Copyright Guidelines

• Access to audio/video recordings that are on the public Internet, such as those found on YouTube, should be provided using a link rather than by uploading a file directly to the LMS
• Access to online resources is provided via links rather than uploading the items directly into the LMS
• Published material that is not covered by a suitable license, not in the public domain, and not available through a Creative Commons or Open Source provider, should not be uploaded to the course
• Copies of published worksheets or other materials intended as “consumables” by students (i.e. study guides, workbooks, ), or any copyrighted book or video in its entirety, should not be included in the LMS without faculty obtaining appropriate written permission
• After ensuring that copyrighted material can be legally used in a course, the instructor should include a citation of the original source and a copyright notice

Tracking Student Attendance in an Online Course

Faculty members ensure accurate tracking of attendance in online courses by maintaining records of student participation. Faculty regularly monitor attendance throughout the course duration, noting the last day a student engages with the material. Attendance in online courses is determined by students logging in to the virtual platform and actively participating in course activities. This active involvement serves as the basis for assessing attendance, reflecting students’ commitment to their learning journey.

According to 34 CFR Section 668.22, which addresses the treatment of Title IV funds, faculty members teaching an online course must record attendance within the first week of class by demonstrating that students have participated in a class activity or were otherwise engaged in an academically related online activity.

OP 10.04 also provides guidance around student performance and attendance. Students are able to contact Student Affairs to assist them in notifying a professor that they will be missing class due to a major life event, illness, or short term disability.

Options to comply with Attendance Requirement

• Physically attending a class where there is an opportunity for direct interaction between the instructor and students
• Completion of an initial assignment regarding academic policies, introduction discussion board posting, or graded assignment
• Submitting an academic assignment
• Completing an exam, an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction
• Attending a study group that is assigned by the institution which can be done virtually
• Participating in an online discussion about academic matters

Activities that CANNOT be used for attendance

• Logging into an online class without active participation
• Participating in academic counseling or advisement

Student Attendance After Week 1

After the first week, the student’s “attendance record” should be based on the student’s meeting course requirements such as submitting assignments or communicating with the instructor on subject matter questions as outlined in the course syllabus. Students are required to be given weekly work to meet attendance requirements based on what is stated in the course syllabus.

Options to comply with weekly attendance requirements include

• Assignments
• Quizzes
• Discussions
• Exams

Course Merge Requests

There are times when faculty may want to merge two sections of a course into one section. The course sections should all be in the same term and have the same course number. To do this, a course merge process is in place that requires the Department Chair and Dean to review and sign off on the merge. They will review the request and make sure that the process is compliant with FERPA regulations. This impacts tools that can be used with the merged groups like discussion boards, messaging tools, and virtual synchronous meeting tools. Completing a course merge does not alter any of the other requirements or expectations for an online course and should not impact the quality experience or learning outcomes for students.

Regular and Substantive Interaction

Introduction and Definition of RSI

Regular Substantive Interaction (RSI) in online classes is required federally by the DOE (§ 602.3 of the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations). Correspondence courses do not have RSI and are not eligible for Federal Financial Aid. It is important that our online courses are interactive courses, not correspondence courses. Students should never feel isolated, and we should strive to build an online community to meet these guidelines and work towards achieving our core values.

The definitions below provide guidance for what the DOE means when they state online classes should have Regular and Substantive Interaction.

• Regular: Interaction between students and the instructor is on a predictable and scheduled basis ensuring consistent engagement and support throughout the learning experience.
• Substantive: Interactions are considered substantive when they are:
  • Meaningful and relevant to the academic course material, going beyond just providing assignment grades.
  • Delivered by a faculty member who meets the necessary qualifications for teaching the subject matter.
• Interaction: These interactions need to be initiated by the instructor. According to the DOE, interactions that occur only upon the request of the student (either electronically or otherwise) are not considered regular and substantive interaction. (§ 602.3 of the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)

Examples of Faculty Initiated RSI may include:

• Detailed and specific course welcome
• Faculty announcements focused around course materials
• Email/messages
• Graded assignments with feedback on student work that is personalized and specific
• Assessments (tests/essay exams) with timely and substantive instructor feedback
• Office hours
• Moderating small groups
• Leading discussion boards
• Moderating a bulletin board
• Ask a Question/public forum discussion boards

For more ideas, several specific standards in the OLC-OSCQR can be leveraged to meet these federal guidelines. This SUNY checklist can help determine if a course is meeting the guidelines at both the design and delivery phase.

Academic Integrity

Instructors should take appropriate measures to foster a culture of academic integrity in their online courses. The Student Handbook provides guidance on how Academic Integrity can be addressed in your classroom.

Best Practices for Promoting Academic Integrity

• Provide an academic integrity policy within the online learning environment and discuss it early in the course; require the students to sign policy and turn it in.
• Require student engagement with the academic integrity policy. For example:
  • Ask students for their input on how to create a community of integrity at the start of the course. This establishes the students as stakeholders in the community and the process of its formation.
  • Require students to read and sign an agreement to adhere to the campus academic integrity policy.
  • Write a letter to students about integrity and post it in the course.
  • Ask students to restate the academic integrity policy (this can also be used as a writing sample to use when grading and reviewing student work).
  • Ask students to reflect on the academic integrity policy in the discussion board.
• Include a lesson on avoiding plagiarism.
• Have assignments and activities in which appropriate sharing and collaboration is essential to successful completion. Foster a community of integrity by choosing authentic learning tasks that require group cohesiveness and effort. For example, focus assignments on distinctive, individual, and non-duplicative tasks or on what individual students self-identify as their personal learning needs.
• Provide students with a course or course lesson on research and/or study skills. Work with library staff to design assignments and prepare materials on plagiarism and research techniques.
• Include an ethical decision-making case study within the course.

Academic Integrity and Assessment Verification

Faculty are responsible for defining the standards to measure student success in their courses in accordance with the standard set out in the Angelo State Student Handbook and department policies. Delivery of these assessments to measure student success must be aligned with the policies for being Higher Education Opportunities Act (HEOA) compliant. The Higher Education Opportunities Act passed into law in 2008, included a requirement that schools take adequate measures to ensure that the student enrolled in an online class is the student doing the coursework.

Alternative Assessments

The use of a multi-faceted assessment strategy is a research-based best practice for promoting both academic integrity and student authentication. Frequent assessments including interactive discussions, writing assignments, quizzes, capstone projects, group work, and online exams serve to familiarize instructors with students’ comprehension and writing styles, thus enabling them to better authenticate the work of their online students. Options for alternative assessments include:

• Asking follow-up questions to assignments such as, “expand upon this statement you made,” “tell me why you chose this phrase, description or reference,” and “expand upon the ideas behind this reference”
• Selecting one or two difficult concepts from a submitted assignment and ask students to restate/rewrite the information
• Requiring students to share key learning by doing a self-reflection on an assignment in the discussion board

Plagiarism Detection Services

Turnitin and Safeassign are plagiarism prevention tools integrated into Blackboard. These services help faculty prevent plagiarism by detecting unoriginal content in student papers. In addition to acting as a plagiarism deterrent, they also provide valuable feedback to students on proper citation practices and help faculty identify areas where students may need additional instruction on academic integrity.

Learning Management System

The Information Technologies (IT) and Center for Digital Learning and Instruction departments administer and support the Learning Management System that is used to deliver digital course materials.

Blackboard is the learning management system used for the delivery of instruction by Angelo State. Blackboard is a Web-based platform that provides faculty and students with features including:

• Course content for posting articles, assignments, and resources
• Calendar for posting due dates for assignments and tests
• Folders for organizing content
• Assessments for administering quizzes and exams online
• Assignments for posting assignment areas for student submissions and online grading
• Grade Center for posting grades for students to view

Course Creation and Enrollment Management

Courses are automatically created based on information from Banner. Course creation and instructor enrollment for each semester is coordinated by the IT Departments.

• Course Creation: Courses are automatically created based on information from Banner. Course creation and instructor enrollment for the new semester occurs one week prior to registration opening for that semester.
• Student Enrollment: Student enrollment data for Blackboard courses is imported from Banner 42 days prior to the beginning of the term. Enrollment information is then updated every 12 hours through the drop/add period at which time enrollment updates are run on a limited
• Purged Students: Students purged from courses for non-payment or failure to meet attendance requirements are removed from their Blackboard courses.
• Dropped Students: Students may drop a course until the end of the add-drop period for the semester. After a student drops a course, they are removed from their courses.
• Withdrawn Students: Students may withdraw from a course from the first day after the add-drop period through the last day to withdraw as identified by the

Course Management

Course Availability: All courses are automatically set to the “unpublished” status when they are created. All courses should be “published” to students the Friday prior to the beginning of the session in which they are being delivered. Faculty are asked to refrain from opening the courses up early for students to see.

Tracking and Usage

All instructional delivery platforms used by the University have tracking capabilities and can generate usage reports to show logins and access. IT staff may check usage statistics for any course and user at the University. Data will only be shared with authorized personnel.