Quality Scorecard Handbook: Criteria for Excellence in the Administration of Online Programs

2015

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Proving that quality exists within in online education programs can be a daunting and complex task. Nevertheless, we as educators must continue the quest to achieve the ideal learning environment and share effective practices for advancing quality for our students. as they are the leaders of tomorrow. At the same time, we need to demonstrate to all stakeholders that online education works, and works well, if guidelines and standards are followed like the Online Learning Consortium’s Quality Scorecard (QSC).

This handbook was developed for online program administrators who want to apply the quality metrics to their own online programs. The writers explain each of the 75 quality indicators in the Quality Scorecard 2014: Criteria for Excellence in the Administration of Online Programs, make recommendations and provide best practices for implementing them. We want to thank the 43 seasoned online administrators who participated in the original Delphi study that led to the Quality Scorecard. When we reached out for help, every administrator we spoke with acknowledged there was a great need for this tool. Thanks also to Janet Moore for many hours of edits and rewrites and sleepless nights, and to those who assisted with writing this guide in 2010 and now, 2014. Our associate editors, Karen Pedersen and Lisa Holstrom, have been indispensable; they have willingly volunteered many hours to help forward the work of the QSC and the newly developed rubric. We are so grateful!

Everyone who helped on this project is a testament to the need for this collaborative effort to advance our emerging field. In fact, we have had large response to the use of the QSC and the formal review process the Online Learning Consortium provides in order for programs to earn a quality seal. In the 14 years since the Institute for Higher Education Policy published its seminal work Benchmarks for Success in Internet-Based Distance Education by Jamie P. Merisotis and Ronald A. Phipps, online education has certainly moved into the mainstream of higher education. With it comes innovations in design and delivery that offers us a world of any time, any place, access to quality learning.

Kaye Shelton | George Saltsman