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Institutional Readiness and SUNY Online

SUNY Online is a system-wide effort designed to maximize online-enabled learning opportunities for all SUNY students current and future. To answer your questions about SUNY Online and to be sure your campus is prepared to participate fully, System Administration is offering assistance, at no cost, to help campus leadership teams assess their institutional readiness for SUNY Online efforts, including SUNY Online+ and SUNY Online Signature Programs.

Why Does Institutional Readiness Matter?
  • The quality of online-enabled education is a frequently voiced concern, and this process will help address concerns about quality on your campus and ensure you know what it takes to deliver a high-quality experience to your students. 
  • SUNY Online calls for an expansion of degree programs available online across the system. Ensuring quality at the degree program level requires support and commitment of campus leadership. This process will engage your campus leadership team to build that support and commitment. 
  • This process will allow you to explore the benefits your campus may be able to receive through participation in SUNY Online. We offer supports designed for students, faculty, and campuses through SUNY Online. By participating in this process you will become aware of the supports available and can determine how to leverage those supports to benefit your students and faculty. 
  • Use this process to learn what it takes to be as successful as possible in your online enabled learning efforts.
  • This process will help you identify areas in which you can improve processes and policies on your campus to save time, money, and improve quality.

What is the Institutional Readiness Process Like?

This is a three-part campus consulting engagement process, facilitated by expert leaders in online learning, using a nationally recognized standard for quality. The process is outlined below:

STEP 1: Overview of Process and Campus Commitment/ Expectations

2 hrs. (virtual)

Engagement with Campus Leadership, and could include Campus Community 

  • Campus background and strategy/ goals for online learning
  • Update on SUNY Online and discussion of campus role
  • Review of Online Learning Consortium Quality Scorecard – Seven categories of quality and 70 indicators
  • Outline process and time frame for deliverables

STEP 2: Self Assessment

1 day (virtual)

Engagement with Campus Leadership

  • Individuals complete self-assessment
  • Facilitated discussion to determine consensus ratings
  • Identify best practices
  • Identify areas where gaps need to be closed to meet requirements of quality indicators

STEP 3: Implementation Planning

1 day (virtual)

Engagement with Campus Leadership

  • Individuals document best practices & identify possible actions to close gaps
  • Facilitated discussion for consensus building
  • Proposal for comprehensive implementation plan:
    • Org Structure
    • Sustain best practices
    • Close gaps
    • Benchmarking
    • Continuous Quality Improvement

What is the Online Learning Consortium Quality Scorecard?

The Online Learning Consortium (formerly Sloan-C) Quality Scorecard is the most comprehensive quality standard for the administration of distance learning programs that exists. It was developed by a team of distance learning leaders across the US and has been strongly endorsed by the Online Learning Consortium, the leading organization for quality in online learning. The quality indicators align closely to both Middle States standards and NYS Education Department standards/criteria for distance learning programs and serve as a good framework for campuses to use in either building programs or assessing their readiness to ensure quality and success in online learning.

Quality Framework

70 indicators across 7 categories:

  • Institutional and Administration Support
  • Technology Support
  • Course Development and Instructional Design
  • Teaching and Learning
  • Faculty Support
  • Student Support
  • Evaluation and Assessment
Who Should Be Involved?

This process is designed to engage the campus leadership team representing academic leadership as well as all of the functional and infrastructure areas covered by the quality indicators in the scorecard. The required roles on the campus include, but are not limited to:

  • Provost
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Chief Information Officer
  • Chief Student Affairs Officer
  • Faculty Governance Leader
  • Program Director(s)
  • Distance Learning Leader (if this position exists)
  • Library Director
  • Institutional Research Coordinator
  • Academic Leadership (Deans/Dept Chairs)
How Do You Participate?

For more information on the institutional readiness process, or to initiate the process with your campus, please contact Maureen Kinney (maureen.kinney@suny.edu).

For more information on SUNY Online, visit https://online.suny.edu