2024-2025 — Sonoma— OCS Grant Report

Proposal Summary:  

At Sonoma State University, we proposed to (1) complete Phase 2 of the SQuAIR research project initiated in 2023–24. We also planned to (2) facilitate an additional QLT Faculty Learning Community (FLC) with no fewer than eight participants to support course redesign and external QLT certification. Additionally, we aimed to (3) launch an Online Program Development Institute to support the design of three new online programs aligned with QLT “Core 24” objectives.

1. We were unable to complete Phase 2 of the SQuAIR research project due to ongoing departmental and campus-wide reorganization, which resulted in reduced resources and limited participation from faculty members. Many faculty were heavily engaged in addressing the impacts of significant campus budget reductions, which limited their capacity to participate in research activities during the grant period.
2. We launched the QLT FLC with a cohort of nine faculty members. Due to participant attrition, we expect five faculty members to complete the program with QLT external certifications. One faculty member has already received certification, two are in the external review process, and two additional participants are currently completing the self-review process in preparation for external submission.
3. Despite a delayed start, we successfully facilitated the Online Program Development Institute as an intensive winter intersession program in collaboration with two academic departments. The focus of the Institute was the development of online degree completion programs in Spanish and Liberal Studies. As with the SQuAIR project, ongoing campus reorganization, budget constraints, and staffing changes have temporarily paused further development. We anticipate reinstituting and expanding this initiative in the 2025–26 academic year.

Campus Goals for Online Course Services

The focus of our proposal was to 1) advance our understanding of student perceptions of online course quality by completing Phase 2 of the SQuAIR research project, which explores student attitudes using a validated version of the QLT instrument, 2) support faculty in obtaining QLT Certification through participation in a QLT Faculty Learning Community, and 3) continue building institutional capacity for high-quality online instruction through faculty development and program design aligned with QLT standards.

• Complete Phase 2 of the SQuAIR Research Program.
• Support 8 faculty members through a QLT Faculty Learning Community.
• Facilitate an Online Program Development Institute to support the design of 3 new QLT-aligned online programs.

Online Course Services Lead(s)

• Justin Lipp, PhD, Director, Center for Teaching and Educational Technology

• John Lynch, PhD, Assistant Director, Center for Teaching and Educational Technology

• Kristin Denver, Psy.D, Senior Instructional Designer, Center for Teaching and Educational Technology

• Kyle Falbo, LMS Administrator, Center for Teaching and Educational Technology

• Gina Baleria, PhD, Assistant Professor of Journalism

Supporting Campus Partners

Center for Teaching and Educational Technology, Information Technology, Disability Student Services, Office of the Provost, Academic Affairs. SSU Faculty and Staff subject matter experts.

Campus Commitment Toward Sustainability of OCS Efforts

• Ongoing support for Level 1: Canvas Design Foundations and Level 2: Online Facilitation Fundamentals programming.

• Increase the number of QLT Certified courses.

• Graduate Initiative support; increasing accessible course materials via CTET's Accessible Content Partnership and participation in ATI’s instructional materials subcommittee.

• Regular training opportunities to support faculty members in using course design best practices, using innovative teaching tools, developing accessible course materials, gradebook and rubric support, UDL, inclusive teaching practices, AI integration, and a variety of other topics.

Summary of Previous OCS  Accomplishments

• Completed a HyFlex Working Group 2023 - 2024.

• Contributed to the Academic Master Planning initiative involving a number of specific objectives related to online and hybrid education.

• Completed additional cohorts of Level 1 and Level 2 in Fall 2024.

• Created department-specific Canvas course templates to support hybrid degree completion program efforts.

Dissemination of OCS Efforts— Conferences 

List the conference(s) attended, who attended, and the link to the presentation — National, Regional, State or Local

• SSU OCS personnel participated in the 2024 DET/CHE and Educause Annual Conferences this year
• SSU will participate in the 2025 Instructurecon Annual Conference

Training Completions

Course Peer Review and Course Certifications

Completed

• Cecile Bhang COUN 540 (Dec. 3, 2024)

• Kristin Denver PSY 325 (Dec. 3, 2024)

• Elizabeth Stanny BUS 330A (March 19, 2025)

• Matthew Callahan PSY/WGS 405 (March 11, 2025)

• Adam Zagelbaum COUN 520 (March 12, 2025)

• Poram Choi KIN 401 (April 2, 2025)

Student Online Quality Assurance Impact Research 

We were unable to complete Phase 2 of the 2023-24 SQuAIR research project due to departmental and campus reorganizations, which left us with fewer resources, and lack of participation from faculty who were otherwise engaged in the outfall from the severe budget reductions to campus.

Development of Campus Online Course Services Resources

• Level 1: Canvas Course Design Foundations

• Level 2: Online Facilitation Fundamentals

• Online Course Design Template - Canvas Commons

• All Instructors - Canvas Self-Paced course - Canvas Commons

• QLT Webpage

• Online and Hybrid Teaching Webpage

• HyFlex Training Course (and Showcase video recordings)

• AI in Education resources webpage

• Accessible Content Partnership

Accessibility/UDL Efforts

• Canvas Accessibility Tools

• ALLY/Canvas integration

• UDL and Accessibility content in Level 1 and Level 2 programming

• UDL, Accessibility, and ALLY workshops offered by the Center for Teaching and Educational Technology; piloting emerging accessibility tools (CidiLabs, YuJa, etc.)

• QLT self-review and external certifications

• Partnership with DSS

Next Steps for OCS Efforts 

• Facilitate QLT Faculty Learning Community with 5-6 participants.

• Increase the number of previously QLT-certified SSU faculty members to become course reviewers.  

• During Summer 2025, enroll 2-3 SSU faculty in the CO’s “Reviewing Courses with the QLT Rubric” online course (in the July-August 2025 timeframe) to support the QLT Redesign FLC efforts.