Tolhurst said his fear is there won't be a quality-control mechanism in place. Carnahan said this does not allow for someone to produce a modular course. Orem thought some fears are that a professor who is philosophically against online teaching will be forced to teach online, although others will take to online teaching gladly. He thinks there was this same type of fear when courses were first taken off campus. Zar said it was appropriate to be cautious but, at the same time, not to handcuff people.
Assessment can be part of the quality control.
Melnick agreed and said that abuses and shortcomings of a system of teaching will be revealed in assessment. The motion was approved. The Committee commends the Task Force on Academic Standards for Online Instruction for its dedicated work during the spring and summer and for the excellent recommendations presented for consideration. Alfini commented that as online instruction moves ahead, equal access becomes a subject of concern. Tolhurst would like confirmation that student evaluations of instructors would be anonymous.