College of Arts & Sciences: Online Course Funding Model

The College of Arts and Sciences funding model for online (100% web-delivered) courses follows closely the “on-campus” model.

Ownership:

• Responsibility for the content of courses rests with the faculty.
• Ownership of course materials that are created with financial support from the College of Arts and Sciences or with substantial use of University resources are works for hire and belong to the University. At the University’s discretion, these course materials may be shared with other faculty members who teach the same course or archived for use in other courses. However, should the creator of the course leave the University of Oklahoma, he or she is granted permission to reuse the course materials in subsequent employment.
• Decisions about how the development and teaching of online courses count toward a faculty member's  teaching load, annual evaluation and tenure and promotion are the responsibility of the academic unit to which the faculty member is appointed.  

Scheduling and staffing:

• The scheduling of online courses and personnel decisions are the responsibility of the academic unit offering the course(s).
• Courses will be listed in the Norman Campus class schedule and assigned a unique online section number (995-999) or the Tulsa Campus class schedule (section numbers 985, 986…..).
• Courses will be linked with the semester or other academic period such as intersession or summer term.
• Enrollment should be limited to a manageable number of students, as dictated by best practice considerations, typically 20-30 per section. Multiple sections may be offered to allow additional students to enroll.
• Instructors and teaching assistants must meet the University’s English proficiency requirement.
• Courses must include adequate means of assessing student learning, consistent with State Regents' policies and good practices.

Guidelines for faculty compensation:

• Unless the course is taught as part of a faculty member’s regular teaching assignment (inload), online courses follow the self-support model.
• Departments may pay faculty members up to 1/9 of their appointed nine month salary for teaching an overload online course. However, the department is responsible for both salary and fringe benefits, which must be taken out of the portion of the tuition (65% beginning Fall 2004) that is returned to the department. Note: The total amount of extra compensation that a faculty may take as salary is limited by University policy. Compensation in excess of the limit will be transferred to the budget of the faculty member’s academic unit and may be used only to cover professional expenses.  

Funding:

• Online courses, other than those taught by a faculty member as part of his/her regular teaching assignment (in-load) will be offered under the self-support model, with income from tuition distributed as follows:
  • 65% to the department to pay instructor salary and expenses
  • 33% to the general fund to cover tuition waivers and other costs
  • 2% to Norman campus administrative units
• The college will add an electronic delivery fee to all online courses of $25.00 per credit hour, to cover the college's administrative and support costs.
• All other approved fees will apply, except those specifically excluded by policy.

(Revised 4/18/2008)