Quality Matters - Process

Participating faculty and teaching staff are expected to be working on the foundations of online teaching and learning and complete the following steps. 

Application Steps: 

1. Course representative takes the QM APPQMR course
2. Course representative completes a course readiness self-review.
3. Course representative works with Coastal Online on instructional design and course development over a series of meetings. 
4. The course undergoes an internal quality assurance review by the instructional design team, via QM standards, to ensure that it should meet QM standards if advanced forward and submitted for an official QM review.  
5. A Coastal Online administrator looks over the course review and either suggests further improvements or approves that it has met quality assurance standards at 85% or above. At this point, if the course is internally approved, part one of the stipend is dispersed in the amount of $2,500.  At this point, course representatives may elect to complete an application for another course.  
6. If/when the submitted course has been taught online by the course representative for two semesters, the course representative and Coastal Online team may submit their course for an official QM Review. (Under special circumstances, a newly developed course can be submitted for official QM review after being taught once with approval by Coastal Online team.)  
7. When the submitted course receives an official Quality Matters Certification, the second stipend will be disbursed in the amount of $1,000. Participating faculty and teaching staff will receive a certificate and letter commending their commitment to online quality excellence from the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies that may be added to their promotion and tenure files. This will also be sent via email to the respective Dean and Chair. When a faculty or staff members’ course is officially QM certified, Coastal Online/Continuing Studies will promote the accomplishment via social media, press releases, newsletters, and other mediums. Annually, some who get their courses certified will be selected by Coastal Online to attend and present at a national or regional QM or online learning conference.  

*QM Course Certification is active for 5 years unless more than 20% of the course changes. In this case, the QM Review Process would need to be completed again. QM Recertification is active for an additional 3 years if obtained after the initial 5 years.* 

Steps to Register: Participating faculty will first complete Applying the QM Rubric (APPQMR).using the link to the CCU Online Registration. When you have registered, you will then need to also create Quality Matters Account if you do not have one already. Once you are logged in to MyQM, you will see a list of Professional Development options: please select Register next to the correct date for the Independent Applying the QM Rubric (APPQMR) in which you have chosen to attend. If you have questions or need any assistance, please email our instructional designer, Ashley Hughes. 

After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:  

• Identify the origin and scope of Quality Matters.  
• Identify the critical elements of the QM quality assurance program, including the QM Rubric, materials, processes, and administrative components.  
• Apply the QM Higher Education Rubric to review online courses.  
• Make decisions on whether the demo course meets selected QM Rubric Specific Review Standards.  
• Apply the concept of alignment.  
• Draft helpful recommendations for course improvement by citing Annotations from the QM Rubric and evidence from the course.  

During this training, participants will learn the basics of the QM Process along with the fundamentals of how the Higher Education QM Rubric Standards are implemented in online course design. This training will help participants to emphasize the concept of alignment and draft helpful recommendations for course improvement through a sample course. The APPQMR is the prerequisite for the Peer Reviewer Course, which is the required course for those that may wish to become a QM-Certified Peer Reviewer.  Completion of this APPQMR course earns faculty an internationally recognized micro-credential that signifies their commitment to online quality assurance. 

For more information, visit the Quality Matters Applying the QM Rubric page. 

After completing the QM Bootcamp (APPQMR course), participating course representatives will conduct a Course Readiness Self-Review. This is part of the reflective practitioner model and plays an important role toward the next step in the process in the QM course certification process. Quality Matters offers an Online/Hybrid (Blended) Course Readiness Self-Review Tool that allows faculty to informally evaluate their own course against the QM Rubric. This self-review can take 1-2 days to complete. As course representatives are completing the self-review, they may choose to make modifications to their course to bring it into adherence with certain specific review standards. After completing the self-review, the course representative will be asked to email their final report to an instructional designer who will use the information for the preparatory review and instructional design consultation later in this process. Some may choose to save this self-review to use in the promotion and tenure file to show documentation of reflection and growth.  

QM Course Certification Process: The QM course certification process takes on average 3-4 months of preparation, course development, and revisions, with the official QM review lasting anywhere from 4 weeks to 4 months depending upon the speed of the review team, course depth and breadth, and if revisions/amendments are required. Reviews that meet standards generally only last 4-6 weeks. In this stage, the course undergoes a QM Preparatory Review by Coastal Online  where an instructional designer, internal QM Certified Peer, Master Reviewer, QM Fellow, or QM Ambassador. who has substantial knowledge and experience in the QM certification process, will review and ensure that the course is ready for official QM certification review. The preparatory review process typically takes up to 4 weeks for the reviewer to complete and will result in consultations, continued conversations, and detailed feedback for improvement of the course during said period (this could be much sooner, depending on caseload). The Course Representative will then have a period to make edits based on the feedback report. A good preparatory review ensures success in the official review stage and ultimately saves the university time and money, hopefully preventing most reviews from entering the amendment phase or being marked as “not met” post-amendments and thus triggering the need for a new review in the future.  

In this stage, the course undergoes an official QM review for the nationally recognized official certification. Once the review is processed through QM and assigned to a review team, the review is typically completed within 4-6 weeks (but could last up to 4 months if the review goes into the revisions/amendments stage). Once complete, the course will either be officially QM certified, at which point the process moves to the publication stage, or it will require some revisions/amendments.

If revisions are needed, the review team will provide specific details about what is needed to meet the specific review standard in question. If amendments are made, this additional process of changes and approvals typically takes up to 2-3 weeks to complete. Review teams are groups of 3, consisting of: a review chair, a subject matter expert, and a peer-reviewer.  

Course Representatives whose courses have been certified are encouraged to share and disseminate this achievement with others in their department, college, or across the university. Coastal Online in Continuing Studies will work to publicize this on related CCU web pages. The achievements will also periodically be sent out via email to faculty and staff. Social media posts will be made and QM provided press releases will also be utilized, as appropriate.  

After taking the Applying the QM Rubric (APPQMR) course, faculty or teaching stuff may enroll in Higher Ed Peer Reviewer Course (PRC) ($220 value; 3-week course; online facilitated). The $220 cost will be covered by Coastal Online. Successful completion of this course would allow the faculty or teaching staff member to apply to QM for the national QM Peer Reviewer role.   

Some faculty or teaching staff may want to be a QM Peer Reviewer, as the certification holds great value professionally and shows their commitment to online quality assurance. The Higher Ed. Peer Reviewer Course is designed to prepare experienced online course representatives and instructional designers to serve as QM-Certified Peer Reviewers. It includes a review of the foundational principles of Quality Matters and the QM Rubric. In addition, over the three-week period, participants apply Specific Review Standards to an online course (locate evidence, make decisions based on the evidence, and write helpful recommendations). 

For more information, visit: Higher Ed Peer Reviewer Course (PRC)

An internal QM Mentor, Ambassadorship, and Fellowship program will be implemented to promote the QM quality assurance process, establish and grow support of the QM initiative, as well as build an internal pool of experts and mentors in the QM process who could help conduct Official QM Subscriber-Managed Reviews, thus reducing the overall costs of reviews. 

After taking Applying the QM Rubric (APPQMR) Course, Higher Ed Peer Reviewer Course (PRC), and successfully serving as a peer-reviewer on a minimum of two official QM reviews, faculty and teaching staff may enroll in the Master Reviewer Certification (MRC) Course ($330 value; 3-week course; ~25-30 hours; online facilitated). The $330 cost will be covered by Coastal Online. Successful completion of this course would allow the faculty or staff member to submit an application for the role of QM Master Reviewer.  

The role of the QM Master Reviewer is integral to ensuring the rigor and consistency of the peer-review process. Peer Reviewers will learn the role of Master Reviewers including management of the entire review process and coaching peers to ensure helpful recommendations are provided for course improvements. Master Reviewer Certification is a requirement for Team Chairs on all official course reviews, both QM-Managed and Subscriber-Managed. Prerequisite requirements include successful completion of the Applying the QM Rubric workshop and the Peer Reviewer Course, recent online teaching or design experience, and service on two official Higher Education QM course review teams.