Policies & Procedures Manual

167

Policy No: 403.4

Policy Contact: Vice President for Instruction

Policy Title: eLEARNING EDUCATION

East Central Community College uses technologies in teaching and learning to communicate and collaborate. This includes technology that supplements the traditional classroom environment with educational technologies and web-based components and learning environments where the educational process is experienced completely online. The eLearning opportunities provided will meet all quality standards to which the other educational offerings of the College are held.

The specific goals of the College’s eLearning program are:

1. To provide quality educational programming; 2. To provide potential students with greater access to higher education resources; 3. To reduce focus on place and time restraints for delivery of educational services; 4. To provide educational services equal in content and quality to traditionally delivered educational services; and 5. To provide opportunities within the courses offered via eLearning for student/faculty interaction. East Central is a member of the Mississippi Virtual Community College (MSVCC), a consortia of Mississippi’s 15 community college districts and the Mississippi Community College Board (MCCB). The mission of the consortia is to provide educational opportunities to constituencies who live within the various community and junior college districts in Mississippi. Through MSVCC, students may take courses from community and junior colleges anywhere in Mississippi while getting support services from their local college. The MSVCC makes it possible for colleges to leverage their distance learning resources, including faculty, courses, support services, and technology, thus benefiting students throughout Mississippi. When a student registers for an online class at East Central Community College, the student is assigned a secure User ID and Password by the college. Secure information is stored in the Student Portal, and the student has the ability to change his/her password as often as desired. All ECCC full-term provided MSVCC courses must administer at least two proctored examinations during the semester and one of the two must be the final examination. All ECCC TERM I/TERM II/Summer MSVCC provided courses must administer at least one proctored examination which must be the final exam. Proctored examinations account for 35% of the weighted total for MSVCC course. The student must provide credentials such as a state-issued photo ID or school ID to the proctor before being admitted into the testing center. Procedures for proctored testing are described below. 1. In-State Procedure: The student must schedule an appointment using the ECCC software for proctoring SmarterProctoring to test at one of the numerous MSVCC locations in-person or through the College’s approved virtual proctoring service. 2. Out-of-State Procedure: The student must contact the eLearning office to receive a packet and instructions on how to obtain a qualified proctor located outside of the state of Mississippi or the country. All out-of-state proctoring locations must be approved by the Director of eLearning Education. Students needing to use out-of-state or virtual proctoring may be assessed a testing fee for site utilization. No fee is assessed to students participating in the MSVCC when using a proctoring site on a Mississippi community/junior college campus.