EMU-IS: Policy for Requesting a Course on EMU's Blackboard CMS

Policy for Requesting a 'Course' on EMU's Blackboard CMS

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to clarify issues related to deciding what are appropriate requests for creating CMS mediated 'courses', and who is authorized to make such requests.

Definitions

CMS - courseware management system, which as of academic year 2001-2002 at EMU is Blackboard version 5.5.1 - Level 1, Basic Learning System.

course - in a CMS, the unit of organization is the course. A 'course' can be used for multiple purposes; the primary use is for modules that parallel the academic courses taught for credit under the auspices of the Provost. Other courses may be created to facilitate communication and information distribution for organizations, offices, clubs, and any other unit which could benefit from the functionality of a CMS.

instructor - the person(s) who is listed with the Registrar's office if the course is officially part of EMU's course catalog; else the person who is identified as the sponsor of that course. The instructor is responsible for the proper use of the course.

club, group, or organization - clubs, groups and organizations which are authorized to request a course are those which are formally recognized by regular policies of the university, and for which regular meetings occur, and for which minutes are kept and submitted to the President's office.

sponsored project - a project that is described and sanctioned by a club, department or organization and for which there is a minute entry describing the project with an action of approval being part of the official minutes of the entity.

sponsor - any formal employee of EMU, either faculty, staff, or administrator, and either full-time, or part-time who agrees to be the responsible party in an arrangement for creating a course not directly academic in nature (i.e., not involving credit hours nor listed in EMU's course catalogs) within the CMS, and who is designated as the contact person for the club, group or organization requesting a course.

related group/individual - a group which has a relevant affiliation with EMU, and who has secured an EMU sponsor, may ask for consideration of their request, even though they are not a formally constituted club, group or organization.

Areas of interest:

The primary areas of interest are:

A desire to offer effective and efficient channels of communication, and a medium for the creation, storage and dissemination of information with easy to use web-enabled systems, when appropriate;
That courses created in the CMS must have some relevance to the mission and values of EMU;
That information contained in, and communications channeled through such courses must conform to the policies of EMU, specifically the Community Lifestyle Commitment, the Network Acceptable Use Policy, and other similar policies; and,
That courses must be supervised by an individual formally affiliated with EMU.

Policy Statement

Course creation:

Courses will be created automatically using the following:
	1.	The Name of any course registered with the Registrar's Office
Courses will be created upon request to the Director of Instructional Technology using any of the following. The Director may ask that the request be put into writing.
	2.	The Name of any official club, organization or department of EMU
	3.	The Name of any officially sponsored project of any club, organization or department of EMU. A copy of the minutes authorizing such a request will be submitted as part of the request.
	4.	Any Name related to research efforts necessary for the on-going development, testing and training related to the CMS.
Courses will be created upon written request to the Director of Instructional Technology, and subsequent approval, for the following:
	5.	Any Related Group/Individual that submits an application and receives the necessary approval by the Director of Instructional Technology or his/her supervisors. Such a request must include the following:
		Name of the course, reflecting its purpose or function. Name of the 'instructor' who will accept and bear responsibility for the use and contents of the course and who is considered the sponsor. A rationale explaining
			1.	the relevant affiliation of the Related Group/Individual,
			2.	the purpose of the requested course,
			3.	the targeted audience for this course, and
			4.	why it is in the interest of EMU to honor this request from the related group/individual.
		The request should not be for trivial use, considering the cost of web/network resources. The application should be submitted to the Director of Instructional Technology for consideration. The decision can be referred to the Director of Information Systems, The Provost, and the Information Systems Planning Committee, in that order, for further discussion. A decision should normally be taken within a week of the submission of the request, unless additional consultation is deemed necessary. If such requests are denied, the requestor can seek clarification or review of the request by contacting those in the above sequence.

Sponsorship.
If the requested CMS course is not an academic course listed in any of the official EMU course catalogs, sponsorship will be necessary. The sponsor will be registered as an 'instructor'. The sponsor must be a person employed in a formal relationship with EMU and have a valid EMU ID number and electronic ID. This person is responsible to ensure that the content contained in the course is appropriate and conforms to EMU's policies, and that the the course is used responsibly. In the event a sponsor leaves EMU, a replacement sponsor will need to be identified or else the course will be deleted.

Violation of standards/policies.
After a course has been created, if an instructor or sponsor ascertains that the course is not conforming to the standards as set forth in this policy, he/she will voluntarily take the initiatve to notify the Director of Instructional Technology, who will monitor and/or deactivate the course until the issue is satisfactorily resolved. If it cannot be resolved, the course will be deleted upon approval from those in the above channels.

If it comes to the attention of the Director of Instructional Technology that the course is being misused, he/she will investigate and determine an appropriate course of action, will notify the instructor or sponsor of that action, and will then proceed with the action. If the instructor, sponsor or related group/individual wishes to challenge the resulting action, such challenge can be routed through the above channels. If the issue cannot be resolved, the course will be deleted upon approval from those in the above channels. If the issue is resolved, the instructor or sponsor will be notified and the course will be restored.

Responsible Party

Responsibility for this policy lies with the Director of Instructional Technology who is responsible for the administration of the courseware management system.

Policy Review:

This policy is to be reviewed every two years, or whenever an issue arises that requires additional clarification, as determined by the discretion of the Director of Instructional Technology or a courseware management system administrator.

Distribution:

This policy is distributed through the web pages of the Department of Information Systems. The URL is: www.emu.edu/is/policies.

Related Policies:

[Note: The following policies are located in the EMU Faculty/Staff handbook and can also be obtained from the Office of the President. Informational copies of these policies may also be located on EMU's web site.]
Community Lifestyle Commitment
Acceptable Use Policy for Campus Computers & Networks
Security Standards for EMU Network Users

Approved by ISPC
April 17, 2003

Reviewed by ISPC
April 17, 2003