Distance Education (Online Learning)
(Policy 2.29)
Blue Mountain College delivers educational programs and services in a variety of ways, including distance education. Online instruction at the College is designed to allow students to learn without time and/or place restriction. In the development of online instruction, the College is guided by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges document, “Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs.”
For the online schedule, please see the “Student Resources>Academics” on the BMC Web site at www.bmc.edu.
Technical Requirements for Online Instruction. Students should satisfy the technical proficiencies required for the online course. If the online course has a required real-time interactive component, students must have access to a computer and the internet at the times required and must participate in real-time interactions at the times indicated in the syllabus
Students must have access to personal computers other than those owned by the College. These personal computers must have a web cam, which is necessary for video proctoring.
Registered students are given a BMC email account, which stays active as long as a student is enrolled at the institution. Online students and professors are required to use their BMC email accounts throughout coursework, not personal accounts. All correspondence regarding online instruction will be emailed to the student’s BMC email account.
Registration and Enrollment of New Students. Students not previously enrolled at the College should consult the online schedule for application registration deadlines. All students must be registered at the College in order to participate in a class and receive credit.
Registration and Enrollment of Traditional, On-ground Students. Policies concerning course registration, withdrawal, satisfactory progress, grading, and other academic matters apply to online courses. Traditional, on-ground students must obtain approval from their academic advisor before registering for an online course. Traditional, on-ground students may take no more than one (1) three-credit-hour online course per semester unless approved by the Department Chair and the Provost, and then only under extenuating circumstances.
Registration for an online course by currently enrolled students is the same as for classroom-based courses.
Transfer of Credit for Non-BMC Students. If a student intends to transfer credit from the online course to another institution, it is the student’s responsibility to obtain approval from the institution (if the institution to which the credit is to be transferred requires prior approval) and to request transfer of the credit after the course has been completed.
Financial Aid. Financial assistance is available for degree-seeking, eligible students enrolled in online courses. Students must meet federal eligibility requirements and be enrolled for a minimum of six (6) credit hours. For more information, students should contact the Office of Financial Aid.
Tuition and Fees. Online tuition and fees are posted in the “Finances” section of this Undergraduate Catalog.
Withdrawal from Online Courses by Traditional, On-ground Students. A student may receive a refund for course tuition if the course is dropped prior to the fifth day after the student receives access to course content. After the student receives access to course content and after four days of access, the course tuition is non-refundable. Students who officially drop an online course after the refund deadline and during the first week of the online term will receive a W grade in the class. Students who drop an online course after the first week will receive a WP or WF. Students may not drop an online course after the fourth week of the online term.
Online Class Attendance. The College requires class attendance for online courses. According to Policy 2.10: Class Attendance, students who miss 12.5% of the time will receive an automatic FA in the course. Each online professor will include an attendance requirement in the syllabus. Since each of the online courses meets eight weeks, one week of non-attendance, which is 12.5% of the time in the course, will result in an automatic FA. Seventy-five percent of the assignments for the week must be completed within the week to receive full attendance.
Verification of the Identity of Students Enrolled in Distance Education. The College verifies the identity of the student enrolled in distance education courses or programs by one or more of the following means:
- Secure login and pass code
- Video proctored examinations
- Required photo ID
Protection of Student Privacy. The College protects the privacy of students enrolled in distance education courses and programs in the following ways:
- The learning management system (Canvas) stores limited personal information and access is limited to the individual student by a unique user name and password.
- The student information system (CAMS) which contains information such as grades, ledger, transcript, demographic information, class schedules, and other similar information can only be accessed through a student portal via a secure login and unique password. The portal is managed by Information Technology Services. Students may choose to change their passwords at any time.
- Access to student information is protected from unauthorized external access by a firewall between the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the College network.
Additional Projected Student Charges for Identity Verification. All students who enroll in distance learning courses are required to have a web cam and to pay for video proctoring of exams. A faculty member must require a video proctored final exam. If the student’s computer is not already equipped with a web cam, one can be purchased for less than $10. Students will be charged a course fee (which will be added to the student’s account) for video proctoring of the final examination.