Equivalency (18)
Contracts with this term type generally required that distance education courses be the equivalent of a traditional course. This term was included in 18 contracts.
Examples
Observations. The AAUP recommends that, whenever possible, institutions make distance education courses equivalent to traditional courses. This is an important part of fully integrating distance education into the mainstream of higher education. While some institutions mention this equity of treatment, others do not. If distance education and traditional courses are treated the same, then many institutions feel that distance education need not be specifically addressed in the contract. This may be one reason why many institutions that engage in distance education do not mention it in their contracts.
Equivalency is also an evolving goal. The early years of distance education focused on getting special recognition for distance education. Special terms were needed to motivate faculty to transition to distance education. Today, 92% of community colleges offer distance education courses (AACC, 2008 b) and using technology in teaching or teaching in distance modalities is increasingly an expectation of employment. As institutions reflect on policies and re-negotiate contracts, an updated, equivalency-based understanding of distance education may lead to more formal equivalency terms or fewer special terms for distance education.