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Distance Education Program Effectiveness

Distance Education programs (i.e., those in which the majority of instruction occurs when students and instructors are not in the same place and thus through distance education technology) must provide evidence that they engage in a systematic review of the effectiveness of the programs given their unique mode of delivery.

Evidence of DE program effectiveness is documented annually in AEFIS. Every spring semester, programs identify the sources of data that will be used to investigate program effectiveness during the upcoming academic year. During the fall semester following that academic year, programs report the findings and implications from their review of that data.
 

NOTICE: We recommend exporting your assessment form(s) periodically as you are working in them. This will help ensure no data is lost as changes are made in AEFIS to reflect the organizational changes occurring across campus.
 

DE Program Effectiveness - Workflows & Deadlines


The bolded maroon text below indicates the current steps in the active cycles
(i.e., where the forms should currently be).
Workflow Step AY21-22
Submit to next step by...		 AY22-23
Submit to next step by...
1. Program Coordinator submits Description & Sources of Data Apr 30, 2021 Apr 29, 2022
2. OIE&E provides feedback May 21, 2021 May 20, 2022
3. Program Coordinator submits Findings & Implications Dec 16, 2022 Dec 8, 2023
4. OIE&E provides final comments Feb 3, 2023 Feb 2, 2024
5. Program Coordinator acknowledges comments Feb 10, 2023 Feb 9, 2024
 
 

Resources
DE Reporting Guidelines A guide the covers each prompt DE programs must respond to in the Distance Education Program Effectiveness form in AEFIS. Includes examples.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of DE Programs  A PowerPoint slide deck that explains the purpose and process of the DE form in AEFIS, and provides examples of appropriate sources of data to be used in this report (same information included in the written Guidelines above). 
Example DE Reports *NEW*

Engineering Graduate Program   |   Graduate Certificate Program   |   Example Using SCE Items
21-22 Workflow & Deadlines Graphic
22-23 Workflow & Deadlines Graphic		 Visual representations of the DE Program Effectiveness workflows and deadlines in AEFIS for active cycles. 
SACSCOC Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education (On-Line Learning) Refer to this 5-page document for information regarding general expectations of DE program evaluation. See Section 5, specifically.
Need AEFIS access? Click HERE to fill out the AEFIS Access Request form.