A&S BoK Carousel Program Overview

Participation in this program is completely optional. Instructors will not be required to develop courses for this specific structure or offering.

A&S is developing this carousel to meet the specific BoK requirements in fully online degree programs. While addressing these requirements, we hope to engage as many departments as possible in this process. We are also balancing options with the understanding that adult learners in these programs are looking for streamlined and predictable paths to degree completion. Selections will be made by College leadership in collaboration with department heads.

This program will be an ongoing effort. Courses will be developed throughout the academic year. A first group will be selected for Summer development. A second for Fall, and a third for Spring.

Our goal is to develop about 15-20 courses in this first selection. Additional courses will be slated for development in future semesters.

While we are looking for courses that fit the needs of fully online students in general, we are also looking for courses that may fit themes within fully online programs, for example business or healthcare related programs. However, we would also like for the courses offered to represent the diversity of our departments and course offerings. 

There is no pre-determined maximum or minimum enrollment for these online courses; enrollment caps are traditionally set by instructors and Department Heads. Actual course enrollments may be smaller initially as the offerings from our college are new to the programs but may grow over time.

Any faculty, staff or adjunct is eligible to participate in the course development program in accordance with their contract requirements and with department approval.

The Adult Learning Institute is an opportunity for instructors to participate in a facilitated, asynchronous online course centered on andragogy, active learning, and course design principles as they are shaped by adult learner demographics and data, feedback, and continuous improvement. Instructors will partner with an instructional designer to create a course utilizing what they learned from the Institute. 

The Adult Learning Institute is a collaborative learning experience in which UC Online (UCO) Instruction staff and a group of instructors (Fellows) teaching in a program supported by UCO collaborate to build an innovative and engaging online course that will be ready for deployment in the term following the Institute. 

Generally, yes, instructors will need to complete the Adult Learning Institute. This workshop provides access to valuable resources, research and best practices to creating condensed delivery courses specifically for adult learners. You will also be collaborating with instructors from across the university. If instructors have already completed this training, or a similar training, the A&S Instructional Design team will discuss alternative options.

The Adult Learning Institute runs for 10 weeks. During this time, instructors will typically spend 3-5 hours a week working on their courses. At the end of the course, instructors will have a completed course plan to assist UCO in building their online course in Canvas.

Departments will continue to make decisions on course assignments regardless of the course  being offered as part of the Online BoK Carousel initiative. There is no requirement for faculty to  teach specific BoK Carousel courses attached to developing the course beyond the commitment  of the department to make courses available, and reserved, for all UC Online students who meet  prerequisites. 

Collaboration with the UCO team provides many benefits, including ongoing access to their instructional design team. UCO instructional designers will work with instructors to ensure that courses developed as part of the Online BoK Carousel initiative maintain the highest level of quality. After the first term offering, UCO instructional designers will reach out to instructors to support updates or changes as the instructor decides are appropriate. When the course is ready to be copied for the following term, UCO instructional designers will copy the course and update references to term, due dates, etc. as a service to the instructor.   

Similar to other models across campuses in colleges such as Allied Health Sciences, course development as part of the BoK Carousel will allow the College to offer these courses on an ongoing basis. This co-ownership model means instructors will maintain ownership of their course content, as well.

Stipends are for a course development. If multiple instructors develop one course, the stipend will be shared between or among the instructors developing the course. Only one instructor will participate in the Adult Learning Institute and be eligible for the $500 stipend. Where course development necessitates multiple and collaborative inputs, we might have to consider alternative modeling.