Online Course Development Program

Submit course for QM Preparatory Review by: 5/30/2025

This program is for instructors who prefer step-by-step CETL guidance with the design and build of a course, including CETL instructional design feedback on a preliminary course build.

Step 1: Required Prerequisites

1. The course must be approved by the department for online delivery (approved in Curriculog only).
2. The instructor should have completed the CETL TECH certificate, Alt-Instruction certificate, or Teaching with Technology pathway (Pathway 1 of the TEACH program).

Step 2: Online Course Development Workshops

In this intensive 16-week program, the CETL team will cover the planning, design, and development of a fully online course in five sequential workshops with firm deadlines. Throughout the program instructors will collaborate with the cohort and experience what it is like to take a fully online program. At the conclusion of the Online Development program, the faculty member will have planned, mapped, and built at least 5 weeks (or lessons/modules) of a course. 

Workshop Schedule

Must submit fully developed course for QM Preparatory Review by: 5/30/25

Step 3: To earn the stipend: Dean recommends the course following QM Preparatory Review.

After successful completion of the Online Course Development Program, instructors continue developing the remainder of the online course. Once the full course has been built in Canvas, the course is submitted for QM preparatory review. A QM-trained master peer reviewer who is a subject matter expert in the course or discipline will review your course, apply QM standards, and provide feedback and recommendations on how well the course meets QM rubric standards. If the course does not initially pass QM preparatory review, the instructor may make modifications based on reviewer feedback to meet QM standards. More information is available on the QM Preparatory Review process may be found here.

Instructors understand they must submit a completed online course which is given feedback through QM Preparatory Review. The Dean makes the final decision that the course meets the quality standards and earns the $3000 stipend from the college.

Submit course for QM Preparatory Review by: 2/21/25

Option 2 is for instructors who have already designed a fully online course, have completed previous training at another institution, or feel confident enough to independently design and build a new fully online course.

Step 1: Required Prerequisites

1. The course must be approved by the department for online delivery (approved in Curriculog only).
2. The instructor should have completed a CETL DOC or Hybrid certificate OR taken OCDP Option 1.
3. The instructor must have a pre-built fully online (not remote) course ready before registering in the workshop

Step 2: Complete QM’s IYOC workshop

Complete the QM workshop, Improving Your Online Course (IYOC).  

Tentative Workshop Dates: 10/7/24 - 10/21/24

Improving Your Online Course (QM Workshop Description)

The “Improving Your Online Course” workshop provides an overview of the QM Rubric and the QM Preparatory Review process. Participants in QM’s “Improving Your Online Course” workshop complete a QM self-review of the participant’s existing fully online or hybrid course.  Participants apply all 23 essential (3-point) standards to their course and develop a final course improvement plan.  Participants should plan to spend 5-8 hours a week in this fully online 3-week workshop.

Participants must have a pre-built online course before enrolling in this workshop.

For the workshop description, please see QM’s Improving Your Online Course (IYOC) webpage. For informational purposes only. Faculty, please do not register for the workshop via this link. Your department and dean's office must nominate you. Registration will be arranged on your behalf. 

Step 3: To earn the stipend: Dean recommends the course following QM Preparatory Review.

After successful completion of QM’s IYOC using a pre-built fully online course, and making any necessary adjustments to the course, the course is submitted for QM Preparatory Review. A QM-trained master peer reviewer who is a subject matter expert in the course or discipline will review your course, apply QM standards, and provide feedback and recommendations on how well the course meets QM rubric standards. If the course does not initially pass QM preparatory review, the instructor may make modifications based on reviewer feedback to meet QM standards. More information is available on the QM Preparatory Review process may be found here.

Instructors understand they must submit a completed online course which is given feedback through QM Preparatory Review. The Dean makes the final decision that the course meets the quality standards and earns the $3000 stipend from the college.

Faculty in Option 3 must submit a fully developed online course for review during the term for which they sign up --and should be well-versed using the Quality Matters Course Design Rubric Standards.

Submit course for QM Preparatory Review by: 12/5/24

Faculty selecting Option 3 have already designed a fully online course using Quality Matters standards; this course is ready for immediate preparatory review. Instructors will be well versed in the QM (6th edition) Course Design Rubric Standards—the set of 8 general and 42 specific review criteria which will be used to evaluate the design of the submitted online course. All faculty submitting to Option 3 should have completed DOC, OR one of the following Quality Matters online courses: APPQMR or IYOC (Improving Your Online Course). Therefore, Option 3 faculty requires no additional training or CETL support, such as consultations.

When the instructor is ready, the course is submitted for Quality Matters Preparatory Review. The course will be reviewed outside of Cal State LA by a QM-certified Master peer reviewer who is a subject matter expert in the course or course’s discipline. QM preparatory reviews are managed by Quality Matters, a national non-profit organization. The cost for a preparatory review is $500 (billed to college).  The master reviewer will review the course, apply all QM standards, and provide feedback and recommendations to the dean on how well the course meets all 42 QM rubric standards (e.g., preparatory QM review).  If the course does not initially pass QM preparatory review, the instructor may make modifications based on reviewer feedback to meet QM standards. 

Instructors understand they must submit their completed course which passes Quality Matters Preparatory Review which is recommended to the dean to earn a $3000 stipend from the college.

More information is available on the QM Preparatory Review process may be found here.

To earn the stipend: Dean recommends the course following preparatory review.

Submit course for QM Preparatory Review by 5/30/2025

This program is for instructors who prefer step-by-step CETL guidance with the design and build of a course, including CETL instructional design feedback on a preliminary course build.

Step 1: Required Prerequisites

1. The course must be approved by the department for hybrid delivery (approved in Curriculog only).
2. The instructor should have completed the CETL TECH certificate, Alt-Instruction certificate, or Teaching with Technology pathway (Pathway 1 of the TEACH program).

Step 2: Hybrid Course Development Workshops

In this intensive 16-week program, the CETL team will cover the planning, design, and development of a fully hybrid course in five sequential workshops with firm deadlines. Throughout the program instructors will collaborate with the cohort and experience what it is like to take a fully online program. At the conclusion of the Hybrid Development program, the faculty member will have planned, mapped, and built at least 5 weeks (or lessons/modules) of a course. 

Asynchronous Online Workshops

Synchronous Workshops (In-Person or Webinar)

Complete 4 total workshops: 3 cores, 1 elective.

Step 3: To earn the stipend: Dean recommends the course following QM Preparatory Review.

After successful completion of the Online Course Development Program, instructors continue developing the remainder of the online course. Once the full course has been built in Canvas, the course is submitted for QM preparatory review. A QM-trained master peer reviewer who is a subject matter expert in the course or discipline will review your course, apply QM standards, and provide feedback and recommendations on how well the course meets QM rubric standards. If the course does not initially pass QM preparatory review, the instructor may make modifications based on reviewer feedback to meet QM standards. More information is available on the QM Preparatory Review process may be found here.

Instructors understand they must submit a completed online course which is given feedback through QM Preparatory Review. The Dean makes the final decision that the course meets the quality standards and earns the $3000 stipend from the college.

Submit course for QM Preparatory Review by 2/21/25

Option 2 is for instructors who have already designed a fully online course, have completed previous training at another institution, or feel confident enough to independently design and build a new hybrid course.

Step 1: Required Prerequisites

1. The course must be approved by the department for hybrid delivery (approved in Curriculog only).
2. The instructor should have completed a CETL DOC or Hybrid certificate OR taken OCDP Option 1.

Step 2: Complete QM’s DYHC workshop

Complete the QM workshop, Designing Your Hybrid Course (DYHC).  

Tentative Session Dates: 10/24/24 to 11/07/24

($165 per course developer paid to QM)
CETL strongly recommends Option 1 programming for cost savings. 

Designing Your Hybrid Course (QM Workshop Description)

The “Designing Your Hybrid Course” workshop explores the eight General Standards in the QM Rubric and provides a framework to build a hybrid course. While QM recognizes that each institution will define "hybrid" in its own way, this framework will work with any combination of face-to-face and online elements. Participants use the QM Rubric to review key hybrid elements and develop a plan for one module for your hybrid course.

Step 3: To earn the stipend: Dean recommends the course following QM Preparatory Review.

After successful completion of QM’s DYHC and completing the course build, the course is submitted for QM Preparatory Review. A QM-trained master peer reviewer who is a subject matter expert in the course or discipline will review your course, apply QM standards, and provide feedback and recommendations on how well the course meets QM rubric standards. If the course does not initially pass QM preparatory review, the instructor may make modifications based on reviewer feedback to meet QM standards. More information is available on the QM Preparatory Review process may be found here.

Instructors understand they must submit a completed online course which is given feedback through QM Preparatory Review. The Dean makes the final decision that the course meets the quality standards and earns the $3000 stipend from the college.

• Fall 2024
• Summer 2024
• Spring 2024
• Fall 2023
• Summer 2023
• Spring 2023
• Fall 2022
• Summer 2022
• Spring 2022
• Fall 2021
• Summer 2021

The following are the deadlines to submit the course for QM Preparatory Review:

It depends on how familiar you are with the online course design process—especially the concept of alignment and module-level objectives.

All three options ultimately require you to build a fully online course that goes through QM Preparatory Review. Allow at least one semester to build out your online course (in addition to any training).

The following are the deadlines to submit the course for QM Preparatory Review:

Ask your chair or dean. Your college may have applied for a special exemption to offer this course fully online in an upcoming term. Otherwise, Options 1 and 2 will take you roughly two semesters to complete, from training to QM Preparatory Review submission and approval. If you already have a fully online course developed and ready for QM Preparatorpeer review (Option 3), the process should take you one semester. Plan accordingly!

Your college Dean nominates the course and faculty designer(s) to OCDP. Faculty may not apply to the program on their own.

• Option 1 participants will receive a proof of completion from CETL once they complete training. The faculty member must still build the online course and then submit the course for QM Preparatory Review. Once your course has passed QM Preparatory Review, the instructor, dean, associate dean, chair, and college resource manager will be notified by CETL.
• Option 2 participants will receive a certificate from Quality Matters once they successfully complete IYOC training. The faculty member must still build the online course and then submit the course for QM Preparatory Review. Once your course has passed QM Preparatory Review, the instructor will be notified, along with the dean, associate dean, chair, and college resource manager.
• Option 3 has no training component, but faculty will submit the completed online course directly for QM Preparatory Review. Once the course has passed QM Preparatory Review, the instructor will be notified, along with the dean, associate dean, chair, and college resource manager.

In all cases faculty must first pass QM Preparatory Review to complete OCDP and qualify for the stipend. Training certificates are not proof of OCDP program completion.

Once instructors submit their completed course and pass the QM Preparatory Review, CETL will send the QM recommendation to the dean who will approve faculty to earn their stipend from the college.

Yes, but it's recommended that you wait one term until you have first successfully completed peer review for a current course. Some faculty have reported frustration or confusion working on two courses simultaneously. As stated elsewhere, one online course takes about a semester to build.

If you have taken Option 1 (or DOC) you do not need to repeat the course and should move on to Option 2 or 3. Faculty who completed Option 2 should move on to Option 3 and go straight to QM review.

Please see this table for a general comparison of remote instruction vs. fully online courses.

Curricular decisions about online courses should be discussed with department faculty, chairs, and associate deans. Communicate with your department to determine whether offering the course online is aligned with student demand and departmental curricular needs. There may be some courses that should not be offered only (100%) online. The department should consider potential impacts on WSCUC accreditation and on groups of students, including veterans and international students, who cannot take online courses due to various financial aid and other restraints.

As with all modifications to existing courses, the proposal to offer the course online should be submitted through Curriculog and approved at department and college levels before being sent out for consultation and approved by EPC. 

Departments and colleges are encouraged to develop their own guidelines. They can also consult the Guidelines for Technologically Mediated Courses policy to help them evaluate whether a proposal to offer an online/hybrid course should be approved.

There are multiple paths available to faculty and departments in their efforts to design and offer online courses that that meet proven quality standards. See Overview of Program Options above.

Note that university policy does not require that faculty complete one of these options in order to develop or teach online courses. These are provided to support faculty in course and pedagogy development. It is up to the individual College and faculty to establish criteria for online course quality.

A QM Preparatory Review uses a QM-certified Master peer reviewer who is a subject matter expert in the course or course’s discipline. QM Preparatory reviews are managed by Quality Matters, a national non-profit organization. The submitted course will be reviewed using all 42 QM Specific Review Standards. A final report will list feedback, recommendations, and final rubric score.