Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College (Eastern) was awarded a $2.25 million Title III grant in 2021 from the United States Department of Education. One of the main objectives of the grant is to improve admission, retention, and graduation rates. Eastern realizes an important component of advancing the institution is continuous improvement in course design and program offerings. To meet this need, select faculty members are revising and implementing a new curriculum structure for 36 online gateway courses over four years of the grant.
The process of course revision is based on the Quality Matters standards. Quality Matters is the gold standard for certifying the quality of online courses and programs. Many higher education institutions across the nation adhere to these standards. The process involves faculty aligning their courses to meet the standards outlined in an in-depth rubric covering items such as ease of navigation, alignment of course materials, activities, and assessments with course objectives, and accessibility for all types of learners. Once a course is ready, it is then peer-reviewed to ensure it meets these strict standards.
Dedicated Eastern faculty have embraced this imperative work to improve the quality of online offerings to expand a quality education to students at a distance, as well as offer a different modality for the Potomac Highland learners. Congratulations to the following Eastern faculty members who have successfully completed course reviews: Nikki Chandler; Curtis Hakala; Heather Hernandez; Leslie Laschinger; Debi Layton; Teresa Lomasney; Seyed Mirkhani; Lacy Miller; Shirley Murphy; Jess Rinker; and Nathan Van Vranken.