Email: info@collegeofathens.edu Phone: +1-706-769-1472
Distance Education Policies
College of Athens recognizes the value of online education in advancing its mission “to be a biblically-grounded, Holy Spirit-empowered, accredited Christian college that prepares men and women who will teach, reach, lead, and minister to others out of their identity in Christ through relational, hands-on training for life and leadership in the church, in the marketplace, and across the globe.” As such, the College is committed to providing high quality online education to a diverse population of learners with a wide range of needs.
The Online Education Policy applies to all faculty and staff engaged in the delivery of online education courses or programs, and students registering for, enrolled in, and receiving credit for online education courses or programs. The responsibility and authority for adherence to this policy resides with the Chief Academic Officer, who shares that responsibility with department chairs and faculty, as appropriate.
Strategic Vision
The Strategic Vision for Online Education aligns with the CoA mission to prepare men and women to teach, reach, lead, and minister across the globe. CoA will deliver an online educational experience that tailors coursework to meet individual needs and maintains the quality of the CoA experience for diverse student populations in a variety of geographic locations. As part of its mission, CoA is committed to provide adequate funding for faculty, staff, services, and technological infrastructure to support the distance education program.
Student Verification in Online Learning
The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requires institutions that offer credit bearing online learning courses verify that the student who registers for an online learning course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives academic credit. According to the HEOA, one or more of the following methods must be used:
Each CoA student is assigned a unique student identification number and password to log in to Populi and CoA email systems. Accounts are for individual use only and are not transferable or to be used by any other individual. Students will also be required to provide government-approved photo identification upon enrollment.
Student Enrollment Agreement
With the exception of CoA Public Health Policies, all policies contained within the CoA Student Enrollment Agreement apply to all students regardless of the enrollment modality (e.g., in-person, online, or blended courses).
State Authorization for Online Learning
The U.S. Department of Education requires higher education institutions to be authorized to provide post-secondary educational instruction in their states. Many of these state laws and regulations also apply to online, distance, and correspondence educational instruction offered in that state.
College of Athens abides by all requirements of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). SARA is an agreement among member states, districts, and territories of the United States. It establishes national standards for the interstate offering of distance education courses and programs. It simplifies the process of taking online classes at an institution of higher education based in another state. CoA cannot offer online courses and programs in states that do not have SARA approval, unless CoA has received separate approval from that state. The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is one of four regional education compacts and is the compact that administers SARA for institutions located in Georgia. A national council (NC-SARA) oversees SARA and the regional compacts. College of Athens was approved by the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission (GNPEC) to participate in SARA and became a SARA institution in September 2020.
Complaints
In keeping with the NC-SARA Student Complaint Policy, students participating in Distance Education may make an appeal through the Georgia SARA portal agency. The SARA portal agency in the student’s state of residence will be notified of any complaint filed with the Georgia portal agency. The student’s home state may assist the Georgia portal agency as needed. The complaint resolution by the Georgia portal agency is final and cannot be appealed to another state or federal agency or to NC-SARA.
Click here to begin the process of filing a Distance Education complaint.
Professional Licensure
Students who graduate with a degree from the College of Athens will be well prepared as Christian leaders in their respective majors. CoA programs are not designed to meet specific professional licensure requirements in any state. Students who wish to meet a specific professional licensure (e.g., divinity ordination, teaching certificate) should contact the particular licensing agencies and subsequently communicate with their Academic Advisor to help tailor their coursework to satisfy any requirements beyond the completion of their CoA degree.
Accessibility
The official learning management system (LMS) at CoA is Microsoft 365. Students who need accommodations because of a verifiable disability, and need assistance in obtaining accommodations, should notify the College Administration office of such need. College of Athens will provide accommodations and/or services as is both reasonable and required by federal and/or state law.
Copyright Compliance and Intellectual Property
It is the policy of College of Athens to acknowledge and abide by all applicable intellectual property laws. The College expects that all staff, faculty, and students using the facilities or resources of the College shall do the same. The ownership of all distance education materials, software, and course content resides with the College. Materials created by faculty or students directly related to or for the purpose of course instruction may not be used or sold without written permission from the owner of the materials.
Instruction & Curriculum
The faculty maintains primary responsibility for and exercises oversight of CoA’s distance education program to ensure the quality of instruction and alignment with CoA’s program objectives. Appropriately credentialed faculty are responsible for the design, development, implementation, and revision of all online courses/programs.
Ownership of Materials
The ownership of all distance education materials, software, and content resides with the College.
Institutional Effectiveness
All academic programs, regardless of delivery mode, engage in institutional assessment efforts, including annual reports, annual continuous improvement reports, and academic program reviews or accreditation reviews, as appropriate.
Library and Learning Resources
Distance education students have access to comparable library and learning resources as campus-based students through the use of an electronic collection from Logos Bible Software as well as access to the GALILEO Online Library Resource sponsored by the University System of Georgia with over 100 databases of scholarly work. Faculty and students may access Populi, Office 365, and Galileo databases from their own devices at any time and from any location. Faculty and Students may also contact the CoA Library Specialist at library@collegeofathens.edu at any time for assistance in identifying resources suitable for research and coursework.
Student Services
Students enrolled in online education courses/programs have access to services comparable to those provided for students in campus-based courses/programs. All new students are required to attend New Student Orientation where they will be made familiar with the services available to them. Further, Distance Education students full have access to information on library/learning resources, financial aid, course registration, academic calendar, etc. via: collegeofathens.edu, Populi, and/or Microsoft 365 online. All Distance Education students are assigned an Academic Advisor for the duration of their programs.
Faculty Handbook
Faculty are responsible for the integrity of all content used in online course materials, including accuracy, currency, and compliance with laws regarding copyright. They are expected to follow all aspects of the Copyright Policy.
Prior to teaching an online or course, faculty members are required to demonstrate the requisite skills and knowledge needed to effectively deliver the curriculum. Requisite skills can be demonstrated in 3 ways:
Catastrophic Event Policies
Overview
College of Athens is committed to maintaining educational continuity and protecting students when a disaster, emergency, technology failure, cyberattack, facility disruption, institutional closure, or other catastrophic event substantially interferes with normal institutional operations or the delivery of online instruction.
This policy is intended to support the Institution’s compliance with applicable federal and state requirements, accreditation standards, and the requirements of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA).
NC-SARA requires participating institutions to have well-documented policies and practices for catastrophic events and requires that impacted students receive the services for which they have paid or reasonable financial compensation for services not received.
This policy applies whenever a catastrophic event materially affects the Institution’s ability to conduct normal academic or administrative operations, including distance education and other forms of online learning. When the Institution cannot fully deliver the instruction for which a student has contracted, the Institution shall provide a reasonable alternative method of delivering the instruction or reasonable financial compensation for the education the student did not receive, consistent with applicable law, accreditation requirements, institutional policy, and NC-SARA requirements.
Catastrophic events may include, but are not limited to:
A catastrophic event may affect the Institution’s physical operations, online operations, or both.
Continuation of Courses
When the primary LMS or other instructional technology is unavailable, the Institution shall make reasonable efforts to maintain instruction through alternative systems which may include:
Depending upon the circumstances, alternative methods may include:
The alternative method shall preserve, to the extent reasonably possible, the course’s learning objectives, academic standards, faculty oversight, assessment requirements, and student access to instructional materials.
If a technology disruption continues beyond 72 hours, the Chief Academic Officer or designee shall determine whether additional continuity measures are required. These measures may include:
No student shall be academically penalized solely because the Institution’s technology failure prevented the student from accessing required instructional materials, submitting coursework, or completing an assessment within the original deadline.
Faculty Support
During a catastrophic event, the Institution shall provide reasonable assistance to faculty responsible for online instruction. Support may include:
Faculty shall communicate with students as soon as reasonably possible regarding changes to course delivery, assignments, examinations, deadlines, and expectations.
Student Support
The Institution shall provide reasonable support to students affected by a disruption in online education. Support may include:
Students shall be given reasonable opportunities to complete coursework that was interrupted by a catastrophic event.
Financial Protection
The Institution recognizes that students enroll and pay tuition and fees with the expectation that the Institution will provide the educational services described in its catalog, enrollment agreement, course schedule, and other applicable institutional materials.
The Institution shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that students receive those services notwithstanding a catastrophic event. In the unlikely event that the institution is unable to provide an alternate means of delivering courses in progress, enrolled students will be entitled to a tuition refund for the unearned credits.
The Institution shall maintain appropriate financial arrangements and resources to address student obligations arising from catastrophic events, consistent with applicable SARA, state, federal, and accrediting requirements.
Student Options When Coursework Is Interrupted
If a catastrophic event interrupts a course, affected students may, as appropriate:
The Institution shall communicate available options and any applicable deadlines to affected students. The alternative shall take into consideration the student’s academic progress, course requirements, applicable accreditation standards, and the student’s ability to complete the program.
Institutional Closure and Teach-out Plan
In the unlikely event that the Institution determines that a course, program, or institutional operation cannot reasonably continue, it shall develop and implement an appropriate teach-out or alternative completion plan. The President, Board of Trustees, or other legally authorized governing authority shall initiate the Institutional Closure Procedures.
The Institution shall promptly assess:
The plan may include:
Any teach-out plan or agreement required to be submitted to an accrediting agency, governmental authority, or U.S. Department of Education shall also be provided to the applicable SARA State Portal Entity as required by current NC-SARA policy.
Student Complaint and Appeal Rights
A catastrophic event shall not eliminate a student’s right to use the Institution’s established complaint, grievance, appeal, refund, or consumer-protection procedures.
The Institution shall provide affected students with:
College of Athens shall maintain student complaint resolution policies and make them available to students.
Protection of Student Records
The Institution shall maintain appropriate backup procedures for protecting and preserving critical student and academic records, including:
If normal institutional systems are unavailable, the Institution shall use reasonable alternative procedures to maintain access to student records needed for:
If electronic systems are unavailable, the Institution may use secure alternate systems, offline backups, paper records, third-party custodians, or other appropriate methods.
Cybersecurity
The Institution shall employ reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect student records from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, destruction, or loss.
In the event of a suspected or confirmed cyberattack, the Institution shall activate applicable incident-response procedures and take reasonable measures to:
Records Custodianship in the Event of Closure
If the Institution ceases operations, it shall take reasonable steps to ensure that permanent academic records remain available to students and authorized third parties.
The Institution shall:
Regulatory Notification
The Institution shall provide required catastrophic-event, teach-out, closure, and records documentation to the applicable SARA State Portal Entity when required. When required, the Institution shall notify appropriate:
Student Notification
Students shall be notified as soon as reasonably practicable when closure is anticipated or determined. Notification shall explain, as applicable:
Emergency Communication
The Institution shall maintain multiple communication methods so that the failure of one communication system does not prevent the Institution from communicating with students.
Communication methods may include:
During a catastrophic event, communications shall prioritize:
The Institution shall provide updates at reasonable intervals during an extended disruption.
If no new information is available, the Institution shall provide periodic confirmation that the disruption remains under review and identify where the most current information can be found.
Testing and Review
The Institution shall periodically test and evaluate its disaster recovery and educational continuity procedures.
Testing may include:
Following a significant disruption or exercise, the Institution shall evaluate the effectiveness of its response and revise this policy or related procedures as appropriate.
Responsibility for Implementation
The President or designee has overall responsibility for implementation of this policy.
The Chief Academic Officer is responsible for coordinating continuity of academic instruction.
The Registrar is responsible for student-record preservation and access.
The Chief Information Officer or designee is responsible for technology continuity, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity response.
The Chief Financial Officer and appropriate student financial-services personnel are responsible for financial remedies and refunds.
The designated SARA compliance official is responsible for coordinating required SARA notifications and documentation.
College of Athens’ personnel may be contacted at 706-769-1472 or through individual CoA email accounts.
Online Attendance Policy
Regular attendance is an important contributor to student success in online courses. Student attendance in Distance Education courses is defined as active participation in the course as described in the course syllabus. For online classes, attendance will be monitored by timely submission of assignments, assessments/exams, discussion board entries, and so forth. A student is expected to complete such assignments by the appropriate due date. Failure to complete such assignments by the due date will be recorded as an absence.
Further, all CoA courses require a minimum of 2 hours of synchronous virtual course meetings for each credit hour. The in-person virtual course meeting times will be published online prior to registration. Students who register for a Distance Education that offers the minimum number of synchronous course meeting hours must ensure that they can attend 100% of the scheduled synchronous virtual meetings prior to course enrollment.
Courses taught virtually via a 100% synchronous class meeting schedule are subject to CoA’s attendance requirement. Missing more than 25% of the scheduled class meetings will result in an automatic failure of the class.
Students on financial aid programs are responsible for knowing attendance requirements of their programs. Failure to attend may impact a student’s ability to qualify for financial aid. If students find that they cannot meet the class’s minimum activity requirements due to any circumstance, they are asked to contact their course instructor(s) as soon as possible.
Frequent Site Visitation
Students should log into the course page on a regular basis to keep informed of all course related announcements, activities, and so forth. Each course page will indicate the required frequency for logging into the course page. The course page will indicate deadlines for submitting student work. Students are encouraged to turn on notifications for updated course materials and information.
Virus-Free Submissions
Students are responsible for submitting files free of corruption and computer viruses. Any file that does not pass the school’s virus-check software will not be opened and will be returned to the student. Corrupted files will not count as an assignment submission, and it is incumbent upon students to resubmit a new file by the assignment due date.
E-Mail Policies
Excessive emails (e.g., more than 2 or 3 in a 24-hour period) make unreasonable time demands on both sender and recipient. Students must ensure they have a legitimate need before they write.
Appropriate subjects for emails to instructor:
Your instructor will not answer emails which:
Your instructor will answer emails within 24 hours of a normal workday, Monday through Friday.
Disclosure Policy
Distance Education students are never required to post photographs and other personal information on a course site, such as in getting-to-know-each-other activities. Any activities of this sort are strictly voluntary. Also, references to personal traits such as race, ethnicity, disabilities, age, and gender may only be made public only if a student initiates the actions to do so.
Technology Requirements
Distance Education Students are responsible for ensuring that they have sufficient technology to accomplish their academic program well. The Technology Requirements are as follows:
Hardware Requirements
Computer or Tablet with:
Software Requirements
Internet Connectivity Requirements
A Broadband Internet Connection (10 Mbs or faster) is required
Technical Support Policy
Appropriate Online Behavior
Each student is expected to demonstrate behavior in accordance with the CoA Expectations for Christian Conduct when working online on Discussion Board posts, virtual assignments, and any other digital interaction. The student is expected to interact with other students in a fashion that will promote learning and respect for the opinions of others in the course. A spirit of Christian charity will be expected at all times in the online environment.
Student and instructor responses in online discussion posts must comply with the CoA Expectations for Christian Conduct.
Disclaimer
Students are expected to become familiar with and to abide by all course policies set forth in the syllabus and/or through the course site. Ignorance of course policies published on the course page or in the course syllabus is not a viable excuse for violating one of those policies. Students are responsible for reading and following all published course policies. Exceptions to the above-stated course policies may be made in special cases at the instructor’s sole discretion.
