Welcome to Arkansas State University!

TIME ZONE

Arkansas State University currently enrolls students from across the United States in various times zones. As a result, this can cause confusion for students when assignments are actually due. For instance, if an assignment is due at 5 pm here and the student is based in California the time the student will need to submit their assignment at 3:00 pm as they are Pacific time and we are Central Standard Time. Instructors are hereby to specify either in the syllabus, directly in each assignment, or in the Syllabus and Schedule that all assignments within the course set with the due date and time in Central Standard Time for all A-State Online Courses.

LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 

To ensure the best quality learning experience for students enrolled in any A-State Online Program the course must be offered through the institutional Learning Management System which is currently Blackboard.

MODULE RELEASE DATES AND COURSE AVAILABILITY 

A-State Online Services courses are to have module release dates set to the first day of the course and later. This is a requirement from federal regulations that financial aid money will be released to students when content is available before the start date of the semester.  

Modules are to be released throughout the semester for the course not to be considered a correspondence course. Courses can be made available to students for Early Release 7 days before the first day of class.

MAKING COURSE AVAILABLE

Courses are to be made available manually using the Properties and Set Availability.  Make Course Available is to be set to Yes for Early Release. The Set Course Duration is to be left on Continuous.  


  • Adjunct and Overload Pay for A-State Online Programs

    The following policies will go into effect in Fall 2015 for A-State online programs

    FULL-TIME FACULTY

    • Full-time faculty who teach an overload in A-State online programs will be paid $3,500 during fall and spring semester. Due to HLC overload concerns, full-time faculty can only teach 1 overload class during a given semester.
    • Full-time faculty who teach in A-State online programs in the summer will be paid 6.944% per 3 credit hours. Not to exceed 6 credit hours per term (12 credit hours maximum in the summer semester). 
    • Overloads are not encouraged during summer terms but if needed, will be paid at the standard adjunct rates.

    STANDARD ADJUNCT RATES

    • Instructor - $2,000 per 3 credit hour
    • Assistant & Associate Professor or higher - $3,500 per 3 credit hour
  • COURSE PREPARATION-ESTABLISHED COURSES

    COURSE PREPARATION-ESTABLISHED COURSES

    To ensure the best possible learning experience for A-State Online Students, all established courses should be updated and ready for students seven days prior to the pre-release date for the term. The A-State Online Faculty Support Specialist will contact you approximately 6 weeks prior to the start of the term to begin preparing your course.

  • OER IMPLEMENTATION POLICY

    OER IMPLEMENTATION POLICY

    When a faculty member wishes to rely solely on Open Educational Resources with no required textbook in a new or revised course, the following conditions must be met:

     

    1. The intention to utilize OER in the new or revised course must be indicated on the completed Course Build Form signed by the course builder(s) and department chair.
    2. All OER must have proper citations to the sources which will be verified by an A-State Online Instructional Designer.
    3. The revised course will be reviewed against the Quality Matters Review Rubric PRIOR TO THE START OF THE COURSE. If the course receives a minimum score of 85 out of 100 through the internal Quality Matters Review and has met all of the essential standards (3 point standards on the Quality Matters Review Rubric) the OER stipend will be processed by A-State Online at a rate of $500 per credit hour in addition to the course build or rebuild stipend.
  • NEW BUILD COURSE STIPEND PAYMENT

    NEW BUILD COURSE STIPEND PAYMENT

    When a faculty member is contracted to develop a new course, the following conditions must be met:

    1. A-State Online receives written approval in the form of a completed Course Build Form signed by the course builder(s) and department chair.
    2. The new course will be reviewed against Quality Matters Review Rubric PRIOR TO THE START OF THE COURSE. If the course receives a minimum score of 85 out of 100 and has met all of the essential standards (3 point standards on the Quality Matters Review Rubric). The course build stipend will be processed by A-State online at a rate of $500 per credit hour.
  • COURSE REBUILD STIPEND PAYMENT

    COURSE REBUILD STIPEND PAYMENT

    When a faculty member is contracted to revise an established course, the following conditions must be met:

    1. A-State Online receives written approval in the form of a completed Course Build Form signed by the course builder(s) and department chair.
    2. Upon completion of the course revision, the revising faculty member will submit a narrative regarding the updates made based on the original version of the course with a justification of the changes based on best practices in online education, course evaluations of the previous course, or changes in the field. The narrative must include references to support the justification of changes.
    3. Revised courses will be compared to the established course by the Faculty Support Specialist to ensure that substantial changes (at least 70% different) have been made to improve the overall quality of the design and delivery of the course.
    4. The revised course will be reviewed against the Quality Matters Review Rubric PRIOR TO THE START OF THE COURSE. If the course receives a minimum score of 85 out of 100 and has met all of the essential standards (3 point standards on the Quality Matters Review Rubric), the course revision stipend will be processed by A-State Online at a rate of $500 per credit hour.

    * Please note, courses are generally eligible for a course rebuild stipend every two years.