Hi there Brock1,
Thanks for your question.
Specific language from high school contracts was not available,
however the guidelines and information from the American Federation of
Teachers and from the Canadian Center for Curriculum, Transfer and
Technology apply to all instructional situations of distance learning.
Specifically the contract language available from the AFT is meant to
address all levels of education.
From the American Federation of Teachers, AFL/CIO, comes “Technology
Issues: A Survey of Negotiations”, Which is an appendix to the
report of the AFT Higher Education Program and Policy Council's Task
Force on Technology and Higher Education. The 16 page document
contains actual samples of contract language from at least 20
different sources on the following points:
I. Distance Learning
II. Access to Technology
III. Intellectual Property Rights
IV. The Committee Method
V. Information Technology and the Work Environment
Also included is a segment on Compensation for TV College, Studio
Teaching and Supporting TV Instruction.
The following is a sample from the entire 16 page document that can be
downloaded at:
http://www.aft.org/higher_ed/downloadable/newcb.pdf
(You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the document.)
Or you may choose to download it in MS Word format from this address:
http://www.aft.org/higher_ed/downloadable/newcb.doc
______________________________
Compensation and Workload Credit: Various Agreements. This area has
received the broadest range of contract coverage. Some examples:
1. Compensation for the delivery of courses offered via technology
shall be at the appropriate course load factor. Class size shall not
exceed 150 percent of the official capacity when taught by the
traditional format. (Edmonds Community College Federation of
Teachers.)
2. c. The loading formula for Telecourse Instructors will be as
follows: one (1) lecture hour equivalency for each group of seventy
(70) students. English Composition shall be loaded at one-half this
ratio.
(1) Telecourse Instructors, who are assigned as part of their regular
teaching load, will administer examinations, present review sessions,
prepare prescriptive feedback and complete other duties in lieu of the
office hour requirement as spelled out in Section 1 of this Article.
(2) Telecourse Instructors on overload assignment will be paid at the
overload rate for each hour of participation in review sessions, the
administration of examinations, and any other required duties which
cannot be fulfilled during designated carrel hours. (Coast
Federation of Educators.)
3. An off-campus course or a course taught via radio or television
shall be defined as any credit course normally offered as part of the
college curriculum but which is taught at a location other than the
college campus, or by radio or television. An off-campus course, or a
radio or television course may be considered as part of the regular
course load of the faculty member.
Should an off-campus course or a radio or television course fail to
develop after assignment, as part of a regular schedule, the faculty
member shall have three (3) regular semesters to teach an extra course
or courses in order to make up the deficit. (Nassau Community College
Federation of Teachers.)
4. Faculty who agree to teach a telecourse may accept the telecourse
assignment as an overload if their teaching load for the term in
question exceeds fifteen (15) hours, or if their annual teaching load
exceeds thirty (30) credit hours. However, the administration
reserves the right to assign a telecourse to an instructor if that
instructor's semester load falls below fifteen (15) credit hours or
below thirty (30) for the academic year (in this context only, the
academic year shall mean the fall and spring course available that the
instructor is qualified to teach). (State Community College and AFT
Local 3912.)
5. Distance Learning: For the purposes of this contract, distance
learning courses refer to the use of interactive television for
educational programming delivered to several geographic locations that
provides for immediate interaction between faculty and student.
1. A faculty member teaching a course utilizing distance learning
technology may select from the following options:
a. The course may be taught as part of regular load.
b. The course may be contracted as voluntary overload.
2. Sessions will be taped for the purpose of student review or system
failure. The tape will be available on a non-circulating basis for
appropriate student uses for two weeks after the class session. At
the discretion of the faculty member, the tape may then be destroyed
or may be kept by the faculty member.
3. The maximum class sizes for courses offered as distance learning
shall be the same as those in the Master Course Table. The course
maximum equals the total of all students enrolled at all sites. The
procedure for accepting students over the maximum class size shall be
the same as that provided in Section 4.19 of the contract.
6. Expanded student access, not high enrollment concerns, shall drive
distance learning course selection/scheduling. (Elgin Community
College Faculty Association/AFT.)
6. H. Class sizes for audio-tutorial and telecourses shall be the same
as for comparable traditional classroom courses, e.g., if a
traditional SOC 101 class has a maximum of 38 students, the SOC 101
telecourse shall also have a maximum class size of 38 students.
(South Suburban College Faculty Association/ AFT.)
7. O. Independent Study, TV Courses, Arranged Courses, Correspondence
Courses, Independent Study Contracts, Experiential Learning.
O. 1 The College agrees to pay the instructor responsible for
teaching these types of courses at a rate of $92.05 per student for a
five credit hour course up to a maximum of fifteen students ($92.05
was arrived at by dividing the current part-time rate by fifteen.) If
there are fifteen students, or more, in a class, compensation will be
at the current part-time rate. The class size for these type of
courses will be a maximum of twenty-five students. (Pierce College
Federation of Teachers.)”
______________________________________
Also from the American Federation of Teachers, AFL/CIO, here is the 25
page report titled “Distance Education; Guidelines for Good Practice”:
http://www.aft.org/higher_ed/downloadable/distance.pdf
On related notes , from the Western Interstate Commission on Higher
Education and the Western Cooperative for Educational
Telecommunications, and their web site titled “Beyond the
Administrative Core: Creating Web-based Student Services for Online
Learners,” comes this guide to accreditation of online courses. It
has been developed by the eight regional accrediting commissions to
assist and facilitate the review of electronically offered degree and
certificate programs. (You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to
view the document.)
The title of this document is the Draft Statement of the Regional
Accrediting Commissions on the Evaluation of Electronically Offered
Degree and Certificate Programs -and- Guidelines for the Evaluation of
Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs. The
evaluation section, which I presume would interest you specifically,
addresses these points: Institutional Context and Commitment,
Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty Support, Student Support and
Evaluation and Assessment.
http://www.wiche.edu/telecom/resources/publications/guidelines.pdf
Canada’s Center for Curriculum, Transfer and Technology, has issued
guidelines also, regarding “Distributed Learning” and technology in
education. The “C2T2”’s web site is:
http://www.c2t2.ca/
and the report can be found here:
http://www.c2t2.ca/emerge/emerge/reports/JETF_Report12Oct00.pdf
INTRODUCTION AND MANDATE
This report is submitted to the Joint Administration and Resolution
Committee (JADRC) of
the Common Agreement as required by the terms of Letter of
Understanding #5 of the
Common Agreement effective April 1, 1998 – March 31, 2001.
The parties to the Common Agreement established this Committee under
point 2 of this
Letter of Understanding which lays out its mandate and terms of
reference. The
Committee is called the Joint Education Technology (JET) Committee.
Letter of Understanding 5
DISTRIBUTED LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
1. No regular employee will be laid off as a direct result of the
introduction of
distributed learning or education technology.
2. The parties agree to establish a Joint Provincial Distributed
Learning Subcommittee
that will:
(a) Review standards for implementing distributed learning and using
technology in post-secondary education within meaningful pedagogy
(b) Negotiate for governmental and institutional funding, support, and
resources
(c) Assess the potential impact of distributed learning and education
technology
on student access and learning and on terms and conditions of work
(d) Review issues of copyright and intellectual property relating to
the
introduction of technology
(e) Support the activities of the Standing Committee on Charting a New
Course
(f) Report to JADRC no later than April 1, 2000
3. Disputes arising under local collective agreements relating to the
development and
implementation of distributed learning and the use of technology may
be referred
by a local party to JADRC for resolution.
4. Despite any continuation clause in this or another Agreement, this
Letter of
Understanding will expire on renewal of this Agreement unless
specifically renewed
by the parties.
_________________________________________--
I hope that this satisfies what you were looking for. If you need
clarification or more information, don't hesitate to request a
clarification.
SEARCH STRATEGIES:
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"contract language" "delivering online courses"
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Clarification of Answer by
kutsavi-ga
on
09 Dec 2002 15:38 PST
Arrghh. Used the wrong button; did "Comment" instead of "Clarify".
Sorry to post this same info twice:
Hi Brock,
In that case, I guess I should have asked for a clarification of your
question.
The issue of extra time requirements in distance education is
addressed by the AFT publication "Distance Education; Guidelines for
Good Practice", on page 5, Item number 2, at
http://www.aft.org/higher_ed/downloadable/distance.pdf
However no specific contractual examples are given, only "guidelines."
It is suggested that "Compensation can be provided, [for increased
and extensive time commitments including preparation and e-mail], in
the form of credit toward load assignment, which means that the
additional time should count toward the faculty member's required
workload for the term." I know that's not contractual, but it comes
from the mouthpiece of all teachers in the country.
I have sent an e-mail to the AFT requesting information on specific
language regarding the distance learning work environment for
teachers, but I am unable to find any other specific references to it
on the web at the moment.
If need be, I will have my answer removed to allow another researcher
access to the question, but I would like to wait for a response from
AFT first, as they are the primary union representing teachers across
the United States, and any legislation or contractual information that
is available on the distance learning work environment will likely be
forthcoming from them shortly. Addtionally, I have been involved in
school-related collective bargaining as Public Relations Officer for a
chapter of the California School Employees Association, so I'm not
going at this cold.
In the mean time, a look at "Teaching in a Web-based Environment"
http://crlt.indiana.edu/publications/crlt00-13.pdf
might be of some help, although it contains no specific contractual
language, either.
You might also take a look at "IS ONLINE EDUCATION OFF COURSE?
NEW AFT REPORT PROPOSES STANDARDS FOR ONLINE COLLEGES"
http://www.aft.org/press/2001/011701.html
Which also addresses the issue of instructor time, but again, is not
contractual in nature.
Kutsavi
|
Clarification of Answer by
kutsavi-ga
on
13 Dec 2002 09:59 PST
Hey Brock,
Here is some more information from AFT. I sent them two requests for
information, one before you clarified the work load issue, however
this response is from the first request. Here's more information
related to the issue, but the contract language isn't exactly there.
Hang in there, and hopefully they'll post a reply to my 2nd message
later today. You can also search the AFT site if you would like:
http://www.aft.org/research/models/contract.htm
and
http://www.aft.org/psrp/contracts/index.html
Kutsavi
______________________________
Contract: The Board of Trustees and Belleville Area Community College
District #522, College Chapter, AAUP/AFT
Service and Work Load Standards
Section 3.14.Telecourse and PACE Courses.
1. Definition. A telecourse is an alternate method of instruction in
which the student does most of the academic work off campus.
Telecourses combine professionally televised and/ or video taped
lessons with related textbook readings and assignments. Students are
required to complete assignments and mail them to the college.
Oncampus examinations are also required. Depending upon the course,
additional oncampus activities may be required by the individual
instructor. Students have contact with their assigned course mentor
who is a college faculty member. Contact may be made by telephone,
personal visits, orientations, or examinations.
2. Instructor Responsibilities. Instructors are expected to maintain
one student conference hour per week for each hour of credit in the
telecourse. These telecourse student conference hours are in addition
to the normal office hours and are in addition to the regularly
scheduled midterm and final examinations for telecourses. These
telecourse student conference hours may be held in the Telecourse
Office or in the individual faculty members's regular office.
3. Telecourse Teaching Load and Class Size.
a) Telecourse assignments shall be made in accordance with Section 4.5
of this Memorandum of Understanding. Faculty members may bump into
telecourses only when there are no other courses available for the
faculty member, which the faculty member is qualified to teach and
which are within his department on his assigned campus
.b) Telecourse sections shall be considered to be a part of the
maximum teaching overload and shall be compensated at the overload
rate. In the event that a faculty member's standard load cannot be
filled due to a lack of courses which the faculty member is qualified
to teach, telecourses which the faculty member is qualified to teach
shall be assigned to fill the standard load (unless other, nonteaching
options are agreed to by both the affected faculty member and the
College). During the fall semester in 1992, instructors may receive a
telecourse teaching assignment to be compensated at the rate of $9.00
per equated hour per enrolled student with an additional $2.00
completion fee for each student who receives a grade on the final
roster.
c) The maximum telecourse class size shall be 75 students per section.
4. PACE Courses.
a) Faculty members teaching PACE courses are compensated at the rate
of $9.00 per equated hour per enrolled student with an additional
$2.00 completion fee for each student who receives a grade on the
final roster.
b) The maximum number of PACE students per telecourse section per
semester is 15
.c) PACE course sections are not considered to be a part of a faculty
member's regular load or overload.
Section 3.15. Minimum Faculty Standards. Changes in minimum standards
for instructional areas will be made in consultation with the faculty
in the affected area of instruction. Proposed changes, or a request to
review current standards will first be given to the faculty of the
affected instructional area by the appropriate Dean. The faculty will
have ten (10) working days to respond in writing to the appropriate
Dean. This 10 day review process shall be repeated in the event that
the original proposal is revised as a result of the comments received
from faculty during the review period. Such written response will
accompany the recommendation of the administration. The proposed
minimum standards shall then be reviewed by the Executive Committee of
the AAUP/IFT Chapter and the Executive Committee's recommendations
shall then be taken into consideration by the administration. If there
is disagreement between the administration and the AAUP/IFT Executive
Committee regarding the proposed minimum standards, the Board of
Trustees shall be informed of the AAUP/IFT Executive Committee's
objections. Final authority for minimum standards rests with the Board
of Trustees. For the purposes of this section, faculty members who do
the major portion of their teaching in the specific, affected area
will be included in the consultation outlined above. Changes in the
Minimum Faculty Standards (education and experience credentials for
counselors and librarians shall be handled in a manner identical to
the procedures above for instructional faculty.
Section 3.16 Telecommunications Committee.
1. A Telecommunications Committee shall be formed consisting of five
(5) faculty members appointed by the BAC AAUP/AFT President, and five
(5) administrators appointed by the College President. The charge of
the Telecommunications Committee is to research and explore the
development of telecommunications such as video tapes and disks,
television broadcasting (other than that now included in the
Memorandum of Understanding as Telecourses), fiber optics and other
modes of electronic image and/or information transfer as they relate
to instructional and educational uses
.2. The Committee shall specifically investigate matters of
instructors' right and the academic quality of such methods of
instruction using electronic image and /or information transfer in
higher education classrooms.
3. The Committee shall have two cochairs, with one being an AAUP/AFT
member and one being an administrator, each selected or appointed by
his/her constituency.
4. The Committee shall convene by November 1, 1992, and shall meet at
least once a month at the request of either one and/or the other of
the Committee cochairs, at times when Committee members are available.
A quorum shall exist when at least 3 faculty members and at least 3
administrators are present at a scheduled committee meeting. The
Committee shall from time to time, as necessary, request information
from the college community and/or necessary external sources.
5. The Committee shall prepare and provide to the College President
and to the AAUP/AFT Executive Committee a detailed report to be used
as a guidelines for resolving any inclusion in the Memorandum of
understanding of language governing the future uses of electronic
image and/or information transfer as it applies to instruction at BAC.
This study shall be completed by no later than 90 days prior to the
expiration date of this contract. Minutes shall be maintained and
circulated throughout the college.
http://www.aft.org/research/models/contracts/he/bacfac.htm#A3
______________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 6, 2000
AFT PROPOSES STANDARDS FOR ONLINE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Guidelines are Designed To Ensure Quality in Distance Education for
College Credit
PHILADELPHIA –The 3,100 delegates to the biennial convention of the
American Federation of Teachers approved a resolution today calling
for a set of quality standards for college-based distance education
programs.
Distance education is one of the fastest growing trends in higher
education. Increasingly, "bricks and mortar" education is being
replaced by "clicks and mortar," where higher education institutions
are delivering courses and entire academic programs to students via
computer and video. In just three years – from 1995 to 1998 – the use
of Internet-based courses grew from 22 percent of institutions to 60
percent.
Bill Scheuerman, an AFT vice president and president of the faculty
union at the State University of New York said, "Distance learning
offers great opportunity. The important thing is to insure that
decisions are first based on what is educationally sound rather than
financially sound. This is why standards are important."
AFT President Sandra Feldman said, "Distance education programs hold
great promise for enriching educational opportunity, especially for
the homebound, for geographically isolated students and for those
whose professional and personal obligations make it difficult for them
to attend on-campus programs. However, it is critical that we hold
these programs to a high standard of academic rigor and ensure
interaction between faculty and students and students and other
students." Added Feldman, "If we fail to do this, these degrees and
the people who earn them will not be accepted in the workplace and
elsewhere." The AFT guidelines in distance education include the
following general principles:
Academic faculty must maintain control of shaping, approving and
evaluating distance education courses. Faculty who teach distance
courses need to be adequately compensated and provided with the
necessary time, training and technical support to develop and conduct
classes. Faculty should retain creative control and intellectual
property rights over the use and re-use of distance education
materials.
Distance education students must be given advance information about
course requirements, equipment needs and techniques for succeeding in
a distance learning environment, as well as technical training and
support throughout the course. No student should be offered distance
education as his or her only opportunity to obtain a public college
education.
Student-teacher interactionneeds to be determined through the same
procedures used for traditional courses. Close personal interaction
needs to be maintained in distance education courses among students
and between teachers and students through electronic means, and
whenever feasible, opportunities for same-time same-place interaction
should be provided.
Equivalent library materials and research opportunities should be made
available to distance education students.
Assessment of student knowledge, skills and performance should be as
rigorous as assessments in classroom-based courses. Distance learning
programs also should be assessed for their effectiveness in delivering
particular subjects and to different types of students. Research in
this area should be accelerated.
Academic counseling and advising should be available to distance
learning students at the same level as it is for students in more
traditional campus environments.
Full undergraduate degree programs should include classroom-based
coursework, with exceptions on a case-by-case basis for students truly
unable to participate in classroom education. More than 70 percent of
distance learning practitioners in a recent survey felt that same-time
same-place communication is a critical part of the undergraduate
experience.
The AFT will release a detailed report this fall entitled Guidelines
for Good Practice in Distance Education. The guidelines in the report
will apply to public, private for-profit and private non-profit higher
education institutions. The union plans to update the report annually.
A national survey of faculty who teach distance learning courses will
be included in the report. AFT will use the guidelines as a standard
in faculty contracts it negotiates with colleges and universities. The
guidelines also are designed to assist faculty members teaching or
preparing to teach distance education courses, and for use by
administrators and public officials concerned about maintaining
quality in distance learning programs
AFT has released a number of reports on the topic of distance
education beginning with Teaming Up With Technology in 1996.
The million–member AFT counts 110,000 higher education faculty among
its membership. AFT represents more college and university faculty
than any other union. AFT also represents K-12 teachers, school
support staff, nurses and other health care workers, and state and
local government employees. The union is holding its 76th convention
at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
http://www.aft.org/press/2000/0706a00.html
___________________________________________
|
