Principal Investigator: Maria Brann, associate professor, Department of Communication Studies, IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI
Co-principal Investigators: Beth Goering, associate professor; Catherine Dobris, associate professor; and Kristine Karnick, associate professor, Department of Communication Studies, IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI
Project Title: Development of Five Graduate Communication Studies Courses for a New Online Certificate
Funding Level: $15,000
Abstract:
In 2015, the Higher Learning Commission, the accrediting body of colleges and universities in the Midwest and West, changed the credentialing requirements for teaching dual credit courses – courses for which high school students receive both high school and college credit for completing. The new regulations require teachers of dual credit classes to not only have a master’s degree but also 18 hours of master’s level courses in the subject matter of the courses taught, which is problematic for many teachers because their master’s degrees are often in general education and not in content-specific areas. To assist educators who need to acquire 18 graduate level hours in content-specific areas, IU’s Office of the Executive Vice President for University Academic Affairs and the Office of Online Education are creating an online certificate program. Given that the greatest number of dual credit courses being offered is communication-based, the Department of Communication Studies at IUPUI is committed to participating in the development of this certificate, and we are taking the first step by developing online courses for the certificate. The team presenting this proposal is an experienced group of educators who plan to develop the five online graduate courses in various areas of Communication Studies to be offered beginning in Summer 2017. Our strong record of developing and teaching online undergraduate courses is a strong indication that our efforts to develop online graduate level coursework will be successful.