Intercampus course sharing

A teacher working with students, pointing to a student's laptop

The course sharing program enables faculty to reach students from any University within the UM System by allowing the students to enroll in a course using their regular home campus registration process.

Course sharing offers many benefits to faculty and students. For faculty it offers:

  1. The opportunity to collaborate with faculty from other universities within the UM System.
  2. Faculty development around course development and design.
  3. Enhancements to the well-being of the UM System, faculty, and students.

In order to participate, one faculty member will complete the proposal(s) for the course(s) they wish to share with other UM universities.

Shared courses should be communicated to the Registrar's Office when the schedule is being built for the term. Below is a helpful matrix to show what the optimal process looks like. 

Course sharing diagram

FAQs

  • Faculty members propose course sharing, and departments/ academic units make agreements across the University.
    • Agreements are made between academic departments, with the consent of the department chair from each campus.
    • Once agreements have been finalized, faculty submits a proposal vis the Course Sharing Application.
    • Depending on University policy, online courses may need to meet online delivery certification approval by the primary (host/teaching) University in order to be scheduled as an online course.
  • Course may be courses that two or more Universities teach, courses that only one University teaches, or new courses.
    • Courses may be shared across different disciplines/departments.
    • If there is not a "parallel" department, chairpersons contact the chair of the departments that most closely aligned and through which the course would be offered.
      • An example would be a University that does not have Journalism may contact the English or Communication departments.
      • These courses could then be offered and recorded as a Topics course.
  • Students do not initiate request for courses to be offered, generally. However — 
    • If they had a course that they wish to be considered for a course sharing agreement, students are directed to the chair of the academic department on their home University.
    • If the secondary (home) University wanted to initiate a new agreement, it would have then worked with a potential primary (host/teaching) University.
  • Secondary (Home/Non-Teaching) Institution: 

    • Academic departments for the student's home institution set up a section as they would normally set up a new course section.
    • The course may be the equivalent course, or a Topics course if it is not normally offered at the University.
    • The Topics title is then set up in a manner that allows the name of the course to show on the transcript and in the student information system.
    • Attributes: Sections on the student's home University would carry the course section attribute of "UM Shared Course-Secondary."
  • Primary (Host/Teaching) Institution:

    • Does not set up a separate section.
    • Students from the secondary (home/non-teaching) University are entered into the Learning Management System, but not entered by a feed from the PeopleSoft System.  
    • Attributes: These sections should carry the attribute of "UM Shared Course-Primary."
    • Grades must be transferred securely by the teaching faculty member to the "Instructor of Record" to the secondary University (student's home institution) for recording in the database and on the transcript.
  • Course Delivery:

    • Courses must be delivered to partner institutions in an electronic fashion of some type that does not require the student to travel to the primary (host/teaching) University (e.g., online, Tegrity, Video, etc.).
    • Delivery standards need to be discussed as part of the agreement between the two (or more) participating departments.
    • Students are not required to leave their home University.
    • If proctored exams are needed, the cooperating departments at the other University are responsible for working out the details.
  • Secondary (Home/Non-Teaching) Institution Faculty Member:

    • A responsible faculty member must be listed as the Instructor of Record at the secondary University (home of the student). This faculty member:
      • Must collect the grades and ensure that they are entered into the home institution's student information system for the participating students.
      • Is identified when the two departments agree to participate in the course sharing agreement.
      • Answers questions about enrollment and helps the student get connected with the faculty member of the primary (host/teaching) University.
  • Primary (Host/Teaching) Institution Faculty Member:

    • Teaches the course.
    • Grades the work.
    • Transfers the grades securely to the "Instructor of Record" to the secondary University (the student's home University) for recording in the database and on the transcript.
  • Reporting for Census and other reports related to faculty teaching loads and credit hour production will be based upon the regular census process with each campus reporting enrollments for their own students and faculty receiving teaching load credits for enrollments at his/her home campus.
  • myVITA (the faculty activity reporting system) will receive teaching load data from the student information system showing teacher workloads for the sections taught on his/her home campus. Credits for sections of shared courses taught on another campus will not be included.
  • Students enroll following all academic policies and procedures of their home University, as well as those agreed to as part of the course sharing agreement for the primary (host/teaching) institution.
  • If enrollment is to be limited or monitored by permission numbers, etc. that is coordinated and managed between or among the departments sharing the course so that the secondary (home/non-teaching) University and the primary (host/teaching) University enrollments are held to the same standards concerning prerequisites, academic level, major, etc.
  • Courses and grades are transcripted only at the secondary institution (i.e., student's home University).
  • Students receiving instruction from another University will be enrolled in a "shadow" class (e.g., Topics) on the secondary (student's home/non-teaching) University and be enrolled in the Learning Management System [e.g., Canvas] of the primary (host/teaching) University.
  • Degree Audit Exceptions may need to be made for students using shared courses to meet degree requirements.

Semester grades can now be reported online!

Grades for secondary students will be entered into Canvas just as grades are reported for students on the primary campus. The primary instructor will then notify the counterpart(s) at the secondary universities sharing the course to so that they can complete a step to pull the grades into their respective Student Information System. This method will ensure course sharing grade submission is FERPA compliant.

Please reference the processes outlined for each university in order to ensure a smooth transition for all.

Log in to the Intercampus Course Sharing WebApp

Resources

For more information

More information about the program is available by logging in to the Intercampus Course Sharing WebApp or contact Andrea Strong at 573-882-2808 or Ams37h@umsystem.edu.