Add Distance Education Format to a New or Existing Program

NYSED requirement: Colleges and universities located in or operating in New York State that offer degree or certificate programs in which a major portion (i.e., 50% or more) of the requirements can be completed through study delivered by distance education must have these programs registered in the distance education format.

Follow these steps to add a distance education (online) format to a new or currently registered degree or certificate program:

• Review guidance from NYSED regarding how to determine time on task in online education. The total time spent on tasks to complete the work of the online courses should be roughly equal to that spent on comparable tasks in classroom-based courses.
• Review guidance regarding online and hybrid courses in RIT’s Assignment of Credit Hours policy document, which complies with established MSCHE, federal and state requirements.
• Complete one of the following NYSED applications:
  • Teacher Preparation Programs: Use the NYSED Application to Add the Distance Education Format to a Registered Teacher or Educational Leader Preparation Program
    • Part A (Institution-wide Issues) can be left blank
    • Part B (Program-Specific Issues) Section III (Learning Design): Sample responses for you to consider can be found here
  • All other types of programs: Use the NYSED Application to Add the Distance Education Format to a New or Currently Registered Program
    • Part A (Institution-wide Issues) can be left blank
    • Part B (Program-Specific Issues): Sample responses for you to consider be found here
    • Note: The NYSED CEO/Designee Approval Form (that is referenced in the application instructions) will be completed by the Office of the Vice Provost.

• New Programs: If the Distance Education format is being added to a NEW program, include the applicable NYSED Distance Education application in the new program proposal as it goes through RIT Governance reviews/approvals and NYSED submission.
• Existing Programs: If the Distance Education format is being added to an existing, NYSED-approved program, approval is required from the Department and College Curriculum Committees, and the applicable Dean.
  • After the above approvals have been secured, the Dean will forward the application to the Office of the Vice Provost.
  • The Office of the Vice Provost will review the proposal and request approval from the Provost and NYSED.

Once the proposed Distance Education application has been approved by NYSED, the following actions will occur:

• The Office of the Vice Provost will work with the college and Enrollment Management to determine a first admit term for the Distance Education format.
• The Office of the Vice Provost will send an official campus notification to the applicable campus departments and the applicable Dean/Associate Dean.
• The new format will be added to the undergraduate or graduate bulletin and RIT Programs of Study website during the annual bulletin process.
• The Office of the Vice Provost will submit the required notification to MSCHE (Change in Existing Program’s Method of Delivery) within 30 days of the start date of the new modality.

The proposed Distance Education modality MAY NOT be advertised or admit students until a formal approval has been received. Refer to the following document for instructions regarding promotion of the new modality: Marketing, Recruitment and Communication Guidelines for RIT’s New or Changed Academic Programs.

The United States Federal Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requires colleges and universities to have processes in place to ensure that the student registered for a credit-bearing course is the student participating the course, completing the course, and receiving academic credit for the course. To ensure compliance with this federal requirement, RIT developed an administrative policy which applies to all fully online (distance learning) credit-bearing courses or programs. View the policy to learn more about student and faculty responsibilities. View additional resources and answers to frequently asked questions regarding student identity verification in distance education.