Policy: Alternative Course Mode

ACADEMIC POLICY
Date Revised: May 2026 
Date Effective: May 12, 2026
Responsible University Official(s): Provost
Policy Owner: Faculty Senate
Policy Contact: Faculty Senate

POLICY STATEMENT

Delivery of education has expanded to provide learning experiences across a variety of delivery modes.  Student populations include not only traditional-aged, on-campus students but also time- and place- bound populations.  As we seek ways to meet the needs of all students, a high-quality educational experience, regardless of mode, should always be offered.

Definitions have been created herein to assist instructors and chairs with the development of course delivery options beyond the traditional face-to-face classroom.  These definitions are based on standard terms used across academia and common terminology used on UW-Platteville's campuses.

This policy defines four instructional modes and establishes practices for administering courses offered in no-traditional settings and timeframes.  Hybrid, streaming, and online courses are expected to meet the same learning outcomes as traditional face-to-face courses.  Prior training is required for delivery of hybrid, streaming, online or compressed (less than 14 weeks in length) courses.  Three years after the initial training for alternative or compressed courses-and at subsequent three-year intervals-instructors must complete an abbreviated supplemental training about relevant topics to be determined by Academic Affairs and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).

Once the syllabus is provided to students, the modality and class meeting expectations of a course should not be changed.

Guiding principles which govern this policy include:

1. Exploring novel teaching methods is an important tradition in higher education.  Online technologies provide enhanced opportunities for communication among instructors and students, and instructors have been using them for over a quarter century.  However, using them to replace traditional classroom instruction is relatively new.
2. Academic freedom is an important right that is affirmed by both campus policies and the Board of Regents.  However, the faculty as a whole has both the right and responsibility to oversee curriculum.  Such oversight is consistent with established definitions of academic freedom as expressed by the American Association of University professors and the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
3. The Federal Government has mandated that institutions clearly label courses that involve a significant amount of online content in place of traditional classroom instruction.
4. Additionally the federal government as defined the academic unit of the credit hour as: "an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that reasonably approximates not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time." (34 CFR 600.2).

INSTRUCTIONAL MODES, DEFINITIONS, PROTOCOLS, AND STANDARDS

STREAMING

1. Definition
   1. Streaming courses are synchronous courses delivered point to point with two-way, audio-video interaction between instructor and students.  For some students, instruction is delivered face-to-face at a physical location while other students receive instruction synchronously delivered via conferencing tools.
2. Protocol
   1. Departmental approval will be given contingent upon completion of a streaming training course/module offered through CETL.
   2. Instructor must complete training for streaming delivery and, if applicable, hybrid mode.
   3. Chairs must select the "Streaming" mode for streaming courses when completing the Class Schedule Form spreadsheet provided by the Registrar's Office.
   4. Course may utilize hybrid format; if so, hybrid course requirements must be followed.
   5. Coordination of classroom availability is the responsibility of the department chair in conjunction with the Registrar's Office.
   6. Factors such as test proctoring arrangements, availability of streaming capable classroom, and site assistants, if used, must be approved by department chair prior to scheduling a streaming class.
3. Standard
   1. Streaming courses must meet the same learning outcomes a equivalent face-to-face courses.

HYBRID

1. Definition
   1. A hybrid course delivers at least 25% of its instructional activities face-to-face in a physical location, with the remainder of course activity and content disseminated through online methods.  "Instructional activities" includes lectures, office hours, discussions, and exams.  The minimum number of required face-to-face meetings for various term lengths is summarized in Table 1 at the end of this document.
   2. By definition, hybrid courses have a planned reduction in seat time compared to face-to-face courses.
   3. Hybrid courses are also referred to at other universities as blended courses or mixed face-to-face courses.
2. Protocol
   1. Departmental approval is required for delivery of hybrid courses.
   2. Departmental approval will be given contingent upon completion of a hybrid training course/module offered through CETL.
   3. Chairs must select the "Hybrid" mode for hybrid courses when completing the Class Schedule Form spreadsheet provided by the Registrar's Office.
   4. Coordination of classroom availability is the responsibility of the department chair in conjunction with the Registrar's Office.
   5. Scheduled meeting times and location(s) are to be clearly stated in PASS and in the syllabus.
3. Standard
   1. Hybrid courses must meet the same earning outcomes as equivalent face-to-face courses.
   2. Face-to-face portions of hybrid courses must be synchronous with the instructor and student in the same physical location, unless also a streaming course.
   3. Online portions of hybrid courses must follow applicable requirements for online courses.

ONLINE ASYNCHRONOUS

1. Definition
   1. An online asynchronous course delivers all, or nearly all, of the required instructional activities, content, student support, and instructional infrastructure electronically.
   2. There are not required physical face-to-face meetings or exams.
   3. On occasion, faculty members may require online synchronous one-on-one or group meetings with students.  Such meeting times must be scheduled after consultation with the student, to ensure that the meeting is held at a time that the student is available to meet.
2. Protocol
   1. Departmental approval is required.
   2. Departmental approval will be given contingent upon completion of an online training course/module offered through CETL.
   3. Chairs must select the "Online-async" mode for online asynchronous courses when completing the Class Schedule Form spreadsheet provided by the Registrar's Office.
   4. If the course requires synchronous online meetings, this information must be stated clearly in PASS and in the course syllabus.
3. Standard
   1. Online courses must meet the same learning outcomes as equivalent face-to-face courses.
   2. The instructional design of all online courses shall comply with course design principles developed by CETL and adopted by Faculty Senate.

ONLINE SYNCHRONOUS

1. Definition
   1. An online synchronous course delivers all, or nearly all, of the required instructional activities, content, student support, and instructional infrastructure electronically.
   2. There are no required physical face-to-face meetings or exams.  The entire class may be required to meet synchronously online for every class period.  The course must include at least one required synchronous time at which the entire class will meet.  Synchronous meeting date(s)/time(s) are noted in PASS.
2. Protocol
   1. Departmental approval is required for delivery of online courses.
   2. Departmental approval will be given contingent upon completion of an online training course/module offered through CETL.
   3. Chairs must select the "Online-sync" mode for online synchronous courses when completing the Class Schedule Form spreadsheet provided by the Registrar's Office.
3. Standard
   1. Online courses must meet the same learning outcomes as equivalent face-to-face courses.
   2. The instructional design of all online courses shall comply with course design principles developed by CETL and adopted by Faculty Senate.

Disclaimer
Not every course offered at UW-Platteville will fall "neatly" into one of these categories, and some courses may bridge more than one category.  Furthermore, quantifying the percentage of instructional activities is ambiguous.  It is also recognized that some courses may have some face-to-face activities, but less than the 25% threshold required of the Hybrid mode.  Given the tremendous diversity in which courses at UW-Platteville are offered, category descriptions cannot be readily created for every possible course mode.  For courses that do not meet the definitions exactly, faculty and chairs will need to make a decision on which category is most appropriate.

*The original "Course Instructional Mode Policy" passed by Faculty Senate on April 12, 2016, the Alternative Course Mode Delivery form and a table for hybrid courses are supporting documents attached to this policy.  An updated policy was passed by Faculty Senate in November 2018.

**All compressed courses, including streaming, hybrid, and online, that are offered for less than a 14-week timeframe, including Winterim and Summer school, require departmental approval and Teaching and Technology Center training¹.

Table 1: Required Number of Face-To-Face (F2F) Meetings for Hybrid Mode
 

CONTACTS

Those designated to receive questions and feedback on the policy

History