Eastern organizations will take a look at the delivery methods of online courses in order to ensure consistency in content taught between the online and classroom versions of the courses.

The Council on Academic Affairs and the Council on Graduate Studies will meet at 2 p.m. March 19 in the Arcola-Tuscola Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union to discuss what information would be requested to help evaluate the quality of an online course.

Eastern has been establishing online courses over the last three to four years in order to “create higher quality learning for students,” Bob Augustine, graduate school dean, said.

“Having courses online also makes classes available to students who are unable to be on campus,” he said.

Last fall, Eastern had 12 courses on the internet, Augustine said, and next year there will be 38 courses available – 26 undergraduate courses and 12 graduate courses.

Among the departments that have been “leaders” in establishing online courses is the family and consumer sciences department and the technology department, Augustine said.

Augustine also said there are no set standards for what classes may be taught over the internet.

“I believe those decisions should be made by the faculty and the departments because thinking varies from each discipline,” he said.

Blair Lord, vice president for academic affairs, said “(Eastern is) committed to becoming part of the brave new world of technology. It is an important tool in the delivery of higher education so we must seek appropriate ways to deliver these courses.”

After CAA receives feedback from a questionnaire from instructors of online courses at Eastern, it will be able to establish a better set of guidelines for new online courses to follow when future proposals are made for taking a course online.

Julie Dietz, chair of the subcommittee established by CAA to investigate the delivery of online courses, said there are no problems with the current online courses, but “we want to ensure that the integrity of the course is preserved.”

Lord said, “One of the hallmarks of Eastern’s initiatives is assuring quality and Eastern’s standards of quality are very high. We can be really proud.”