Chairs of academic departments that have an interest in delivering distance education programs will oversee and manage the academic process by which the programs are initiated, and, in the case of online programs, the courses are developed. They may do so by appointing a coordinator or assistant dean to carry out these responsibilities. They are also responsible for reviewing and approving the authorization and approval documents. The following is a guide to the general responsibilities associated with this role:

• Identify to the Director of Distance Education any programs that the department and its faculty have determined they would like to offer at an off-campus location or online.
• Determine whether any Academic Policy and Procedures action is required before requesting that Distance Education initiate the required authorization and approval paperwork (General Administration Appendices E, F and G and the SACS Prospectus). Initiate any action required in order to make possible the proposed program within the Campus, General Administration, and SACS authorization and approval time frames.
• Identify and secure faculty and financial resources needed to support the proposed program.
• Insure that all faculty hired to teach in each program have submitted to the required criminal background check (conducted through Human Resources) prior to completing all of the other required hiring documents. Faculty who have not worked at Appalachian in the previous 12 months must undergo an up-to-date criminal background check prior to their rehire.
• Insure that all paperwork and procedures for new hires is submitted to the college dean's office (i.e., adjunct appointment forms, vitas, etc.) before the semester begins. Hiring paperwork for new instructors (full-time or adjuncts) whose only teaching assignments are distance education (however the instruction is delivered) courses must complete their paperwork through the Office of Extension and Distance Education. Information about and instructions for completing the required paperwork is provided to faculty in the Faculty Handbook for Extension and Distance Education Teaching.
• Lead the faculty to a decision regarding the primary instructional delivery method (i.e., site-based, online, hybrid, or 2-way-interactive TV).
• Identify, for site-based programs, the preferred site and roll-out semester for the first cohort.
• Work with the assigned Distance Education Program Manager to prepare the academic/curriculum portions of the General Administration's authorization documents (Appendix E or F to announce the intent to plan and the Appendix G) and SACS Prospectus to request permission to offer an distance education program.
• Insure that faculty members understand university, college, and department policy on intellectual property that has been developed using university resources and the need of the department to offer the course in the event of a faculty departure or unavailability.
• Initiate and manage the cooperative action with other departments that is required to offer courses that are outside the primary department or college. In cases where courses are from other colleges, the department chair may seek the assistance of the Dean and/or Provost to facilitate the process and help determine how resources will be managed. Agreement by all contributing departments and colleges to offer required courses should be in place before General Administration approval and SACS authorization are sought and the agreement should be described in the Appendix G.
• Identify an academic program coordinator who will manage the overall academic program, course, and faculty assignment procedures, and take responsibility for notifying Distance Education, via the web form or by email, of any changes that occur.
• Prepare faculty for the unique circumstances regarding off-campus delivery of instruction by encouraging them to thoroughly review the Faculty Handbook for Distance Education Teaching.
• Have a process in place for informing the Dean of Student Affairs of any actions deemed necessary with regard to distance education student behavior. Guide faculty through the steps that should be taken; develop and manage any unusual procedures that need to be introduced to the situation (e.g., giving a final exam in the absence of the professor, returning graded work). A process should be in place prior to any occurrence, so that the dept and faculty are not “reacting” but are instead following a carefully thought-out procedure to minimize difficulties.
• Insure that all faculty members who will be teaching graduate level coursework have been approved through the Cratis D. Williams Graduate School Graduate Faculty process in advance of the contract and payroll authorization process. Should the Graduate School contact the department with the news that a faculty member has not been approved, the department chair should resolve this discrepancy as soon as possible. In no circumstance should this matter remain unresolved beyond the second week of classes each semester.
• Insure that the faculty contract, initiated by the Office of Extension and Distance Education, is processed before or within the first week of classes each semester and is promptly returned to the Distance Education Office.
• Monitor online coursework development to insure that it is on schedule for completion in order to be available to students before the semester of delivery, and that the quality is consistent with what the university and the department find acceptable.
• Insure that an adequate orientation to the academic program requirements and procedures is prepared and delivered by the academic department personnel, to new students in the most appropriate way.
• Insure that the departmental course evaluation process is carried out, in the same way or one comparable to the on-campus process for each distance education course. The process should assure anonymity for the students and protect the faculty member’s rights. In the case of site-based courses, completed evaluations should not be returned by students to the faculty member for delivery to the departmental office, so a process should be in place to insure that this does not happen. In the case of online courses, a process should be in place to insure that each student receives a course evaluation and is able to return it directly to the designated individual within the departmental office.