Program Request « Faculty « Home

Request for Proposals to Develop New Academic Programs

Open, 2008

Note: First review of proposals for new academic degrees and graduate certificates will take place on February 26th. Proposals will continue to be accepted and evaluated for funding in an ongoing manner, as funds remain available.

The OSU Extended Campus provides institutional leadership for the development and delivery of Oregon State University’s extended learning opportunities for non-residential, non-traditional students and serves as the connection between the instructional resources of OSU and the needs of diverse learners statewide, nationwide, and worldwide. In support of this mission, Ecampus has initiated a Program Development Grant to encourage the development of high quality extended programs. This funding effort supports comprehensive programs versus specific, single courses.

To be considered for funding, programs must have OSU curricular approval and be composed of courses taken for academic credit: graduate certificate programs, baccalaureate degree completion programs, or undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Such proposals involve developing a group or series of defined courses that either complete or establish an OSU academic program not yet offered through Extended Campus.

All OSU departments and colleges are eligible to apply. The principal applicant(s) may be department chairs or program leaders. Authorization by department chair(s) and the college dean is required to verify college endorsement of the rigor and scope of the program to be developed and the developer’s abilities to complete the project, as affirmed by their signatures on the final agreement for funding.

Process

Contact Alfonso Bradoch to set up a meeting between program leaders and the Ecampus Intake Team (541-737-2790). During this meeting, please provide information about the program goals, intended audience and anticipated enrollment, courses making up the program, personnel and content experts available to participate, plans for long term sustainability, and preliminary ideas about program design, project time line, and projected budget.

After the program is thoroughly evaluated for potential based on the criteria below, a decision about funding will be made by OSU Extended Campus leadership. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be drawn up between Ecampus and the College/Departments to delineate time line, funding, responsibilities, and expectations.

Criteria

Proposals will be considered for funding for new undergraduate and graduate degree programs, and graduate certificates that:

• Expand students’ access to OSU academic programs through alternative delivery methods: online; evening and/or weekend face-to-face (off-campus); or a combination of these methods;

• Contribute to specific OSU educational goals, as defined in the OSU Strategic Plan for the 21st Century;

• Have OSU and OUS curricular approval. (OSU Extended Campus offers assistance in market analysis and program definition for departments wishing to apply for future funding opportunities, if the program to be proposed does not currently meet this requirement.)

Preference will be given to proposals that:

• Maximize the ability for non-residential, non-traditional students to access the program through deliberate and intentional program design;
• Capitalize on existing infrastructure (e.g. Blackboard);
• Involve collaboration between departments, colleges;
• Include a needs assessment and cost/benefit analysis showing the potential for the program to become self-sustaining;
• Directly align with the OSU Strategic Plan and support achievement of its goals and key initiatives; and
• Have potential for sustained program enrollment and program longevity.

Course Design and Development

All courses making up the new program will be focused on outcome-based learning and aligned with the accrediting standards for “Learning Outcomes” established by the OSU Office of Academic Programs. All courses in the proposed program will be developed using the best practices framework for instructional design and aligned with OSU and national standards for courses and programs. Courses may be reviewed by a panel from the department and Ecampus upon completion.

Courses that make up the extended program(s) will be collaboratively planned and developed by OSU Extended Campus and the department faculty or their representatives. Ecampus will provide (at no project cost) basic course development and production including: instructional design with best practices covering accessibility and copyright; project management; media development; Blackboard course development, training, marketing, and on-going support.

Departments receiving the grants will assign a primary faculty member to work collaboratively with the Ecampus Project Development and Training (PDT) team, and to act as department mentor/coach for other department faculty/instructors who will be developing courses for the extended program.

Nature of Support

OSU Ecampus will fund up to $150,000 distributed over two years for each accepted proposal/program. The actual amount of funding will be commensurate with the type of program, the number of new courses, and the estimated amount of development resources needed. Full degree programs and graduate programs will be funded at higher levels than certificates.

Proposals can request support in the following areas:

• Faculty release time for course and/or program planning and development;
• Faculty stipends;
• Student production assistants’ compensation;
• Special faculty or staff training, including registration and minimal travel associated with that training;
• Expenditures for travel within program projects that involve collaboration with other OSU outreach and/or research facilities such as the Hatfield Marine Science Center, or Oregon private or government sector partnerships related to planning and oversight meetings;
• Necessary equipment, software, and supplies.

Funds may not be used for:

• Overhead.
• Program planning only. The intention of the grant is to develop and deliver new extended programs composed of OSU credit courses.
• Non-essential expenditures for travel, hardware, networking or communication resources.
• Complete authoring, teaching, learning, and course management software packages such as those currently provided by OSU Central Computing, Media Services, Central Web, Community Network, and Ecampus.

Funding

Funding availability is based on a proposed completion timeline of 24 months or less depending on the project, and budget will be transferred as program components (“deliverables”) are completed. After award of a Program Development Request for Funding, Ecampus will meet with the Department(s) involved to delineate reasonable deliverables for each year of program development. Upon acceptance of the award, an MOU will be drafted and finalized with the Department for program production, use of course and materials, control and credit, distribution of supporting funds, and course delivery.

For successful proposals, budget will be transferred as follows:

• 25% upon acceptance and approval of (1) Proposal and (2) Development Plan to include delineation of detailed schedule for course design, development, delivery, and assignment of instructors/course developers as needed to each course. Year-by-year deliverables must be defined during this step.
• Remaining funds are disbursed prior to the end of each fiscal year, directly proportional to the completed deliverables (e.g., half of the program components complete would yield 50% of the funds).
• The last payment (25%) will be transferred upon completion of the project and acceptance of the final report.

Memorandum of Understanding

This MOU template exemplifies the arrangements stipulated in the development plan for programs that have been accepted for funding.