The Impact of Administrative Decisions on Online Education: A Three-Part Series
Welcome to our series exploring the crucial role administrative decisions play in shaping the online learning environment. This collection of articles delves into the experiences of students, faculty, and administrators to provide actionable strategies for improving online education. Let’s begin by focusing on the Administrator experience.
Administrators are the architects of online education. Their decisions affect faculty and students alike, shaping the culture and outcomes of online programs, and creating policies and procedures driven by best practices. The following sections are factors that administrators may wish to consider.
Foster a Culture of Institutional Learning
Nothing slows down growth like a closed mind. This is especially true in the rapidly changing world of online education. Program leaders who are open to feedback and willing to adapt can easily reflect on industry trends and and regularly assess the success and opportunities of their program.
Here are some strategies institutions can use to ensure administrators stay abreast of the latest techniques:
- Regularly review and update policies to reflect evolving best practices.
- Engage with industry trends and incorporate feedback into decision-making.
- Promote a growth mindset across all levels of the institution.
In much the way that faculty members need to stay up to date on what’s occurring in online course design and delivery, administrators also need to remain focused on evolving best practices and industry trends. By creating a culture of institutional learning and improvement, you help ensure that all facets of the institution—administrators, faculty members, and more—are evolving to continually meet and exceed industry standards.
Institutional Decision Making and Ownership
In online education, where a centralized approach to governance is ideal, consistent leadership is crucial. Consider implementing the following practices to support decision making for online programs:
- Identify a single individual to oversee the entire online initiative and approve policy implementation.
- Identify individuals to establish and implement accountability and support procedures for faculty members.
- Determine levels of LMS permissions, and identify which personnel will receive what level.
- Craft an independent organizational structure to support all decisions and execution related to online learning.
- Create a transparent process for decision making regarding online learning that involves appropriate stakeholders from faculty members and administrators.
- Create an independent department within the institution that assumes primary responsibility for the execution of all online initiatives.
Although these practices may seem extensive, setting up support structures for individuals, teams, and processes is key to ensuring that your programs excel.
Program Planning and Management
Courses should have specific learning outcomes and goals that directly support the outcomes and goals of the program. In addition, institutions should have uniform standards for course quality and academic honesty to encourage a culture of academic integrity among faculty members and students. As institutions develop each program, consider the following:
- Create a unified program map and sequence for all course offerings that aligns program- and course-level outcomes.
- Regularly involve deans and department chairs in the development of online curriculum.
- Determine and address all programmatic requirements and expectations prior to online course development.
- Create and enforce program standards for all online offerings during course design and facilitation.
- Use data to evaluate program effectiveness and inform improvements.
- Track key metrics, such as retention rates and student satisfaction, to align goals with outcomes.
Committing to course and program quality is critical to the success of any online program. Following the suggestions above will help ensure that students receive a fair, high-quality experience from course to course.
Conclusion
Administrators have the ability to create and support a foundation committed to academic excellence and critical improvement in an online program. By instilling and supporting a culture of institutional learning, ownership, and planning and managing the online programs, these individuals will be able to set the stage for an effective online program.
For more information on how academic administrators can positively impact the online classroom experience, explore the other articles available in this series:
