Course Development

During the course development, the faculty developer and instructional designers will meet weekly over 12 weeks to design a course according to Quality Matters (QM) Standards using the (you will receive a fully annotated version during the Course Development Process). The first 10-weeks of the process are spent developing the course. the instructional designer will review the course in the final two weeks using the ) Then the faculty will use the remainder of the two weeks to revise the course as needed to meet QM standards at an 85% level. Visit the ETS Quality Matters page for more information about QM.

Additional support is available from the faculty's and the university's Open Education Resources librarian during the process. They can assist with locating of developing quality low-cost/no-cost course materials to replace or supplement traditional/costly materials.

Steps of the Course Development Process

Flowchart shows 6 steps of course development from faculty expressig desire to course completion.

Quality Matter Essentials Course Recognition

In 2023, UNA hopes to begin recognizing courses with badging. A QM Essentials badge means that a course has completed a QM Internal Review that used all of the essential QM Specific Review Standards of the QM Rubric. If your course is part of an online program, you are also helping your program move toward Quality Matters Program Recognition. Please visit the ETS Quality Matters Page for more information about QM and Internal Reviews at UNA.

Course Development FAQs

Course Development Agreement

The is an online form and an electronic signature process.   You will be asked to login to your UNA account to submit the form and/or complete the signature fields.   Once you have submitted the initial form, you will receive an email asking you to electronically sign the form.  The form will continue along to your department chair, associate dean, and the ETS Director for electronic signatures.  Once all signatures have been obtained, you will receive an email notification and an opportunity to download a copy of the signed form.

What do I need to do to be eligible?

The faculty developer must complete the 麻豆社ing the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) workshop or the Designing Your Online Course (DYOC) workshop prior to beginning either the New Online Course Development (NOCD) or Redesign processes. Faculty must complete all prior developments prior to starting another development process.  We may restrict number of developments per faculty member per academic year.

Which courses are eligible?

Courses that have gone through either the NOCD, or Course Redesign process are not eligible to go through the course development process a second time. This includes courses previously developed/ taught online by a different instructor.   If a course has never been taught/delivered online, it will be considered as New Online Course Development (NOCD).  If a course has been taught online in the past, it will be considered as Course Redesign.  Courses recently taught online may not be eligible for the redesign process. Redesign eligibility is determined by the department chair and dean's office in consultation with ETS.     Courses must contain primarily faculty-developed content (not publisher/3rd-party).  

Priority will be given to courses that are part of new or existing online programs.

How do I participate in the NOCD or Course Redesign Processes?

To initiate the process, complete the with faculty, department chair, and dean’ signatures and send to the ETS Director, UNA Box 5005.    

How long does it take?

Both processes are 12 weeks with the first 10 weeks used for course development with the final two weeks reserved for the internal Quality Matters-based review and revision.   

When should I begin the process?

ETS recommends starting at the beginning of the semester prior to when you expect to teach the course.  You can apply at any time up to twelve weeks prior to the date the course is offered so long as the development occurs during a semester.  However, acceptance into the process is first-come-first-served and developments may be limited to a certain number for an academic year.

When will I receive the stipend(s)?

Stipends are paid via EPAF.  EPAFS must be processed prior to the 15th of a month in order to be available for the subsequent pay period.   Stipends that need to be processed after the 15th of the month will be processed prior to the next month.  Faculty developing a new course will be compensated $2500.  Faculty submitting an existing course for redesign will be compensated $1250.  The initial half of the development stipend will be disbursed when course development agreement is approved by chair/dean and the faculty developer completes an initial meeting with their instructional designer. The remaining stipend will be disbursed when development is completed, the course meets QM standards at 85%, and the instructional designer has marked the course as complete.

What would a typical development process involve?

  1. Initial meeting between faculty developer and instructional designer
    1. Set meeting schedule, 10-week deadline, and 12-week completion date
    2. Develop/evaluate course and module objectives
    3. Begin developing course map
    4. Begin QM Internal Review Process
  2. Additional meetings with Instructional Designer as scheduled/needed to create the course
  3. At 10 weeks, the course should be fully developed, and the instructional designer will conduct an Internal Review of the course
  4. Faculty member revises course as needed to meet QM Standards.
  5. At 12 weeks, the course should be complete
    1. Faculty Completes Outcome Response form in QM Course Review Management System (CRMS)
    2. Instructional Designer notifies department chair, dean, and ETS director that development is complete
  6. Return Course Development agreement with final signatures to ETS Director, UNA Box 5005.

Instructional Design During Course Development

The primary focus of your instructional designer is to provide essential support throughout the course development process. They assist in creating course and module objectives, checking for alignment between objectives, assessments, and course materials, and offering recommendations. They also look at the accessibility of course material and will guide you in making your course accessible to all students. Finally, our Instructional Designers help you deliver the online course experience you envision for your students.

UNA Course Development Policy

As per section 5.1 of the UNA Faculty Handbook, "the University requires that all non-traditional courses delivered online, through other technology -based instruction, or via distance education be equivalent to traditional, Campus -based courses in terms of course descriptions, expectations, assessments, and learning outcomes."