Faculty

Online Teaching Certification & Resources

RCCD's Online Teaching Certification Requirements

RCCD's Academic Senate approved (May 2021) new requirements for previously certified and new faculty who wish to teach online and hybrid courses.

NOTES:

On Oct. 27, 2025, the District Academic Senate voted to expand the Online Teaching Certification Equivalency option. For faculty curious about the accepted list of @ONE courses to achieve DE Certification, please see the Equivalency Review Process page for more information.
The DE MOU (4/30/25) directs that new Online Teaching Certification training options will be developed in Fall 2025. Check back for updated information as it is approved through shared governance.
The current DE Certification due date (for most faculty) is June 30, 2026.

Overview of Certification Options

All faculty who wish to teach online and hybrid courses need to complete one (1) of the options below to earn Online Teaching Certification within our District. Certification is valid for three (3) years, after which faculty will need to earn Recertification every three (3) years.

Available Now:

Option #1: Expanded Equivalency Review -- Faculty who have earned @ONE certificates and badges, who have completed the local POCR process in another district, or who have completed DE certification training in other districts can submit equivalency completion evidence for Equivalency Review.
- New external DE trainings can be added to the pre-approved list if their learning outcomes and deliverables match the DE competencies (on the equivalency review page linked above).
  - Register for one of the @ONE pre-approved courses today. Spring course available now!
    - Just Getting Started?
      - Introduction to Teaching with Canvas (4 weeks, 40 hours, facilitated)
      - Online Teaching & Design (12 weeks, 120 hours, facilitated)
    - Looking to Expand Your Skills?
      - Assessment in Digital Learning (4 weeks, 40 hours, facilitated)
      - Creating Accessible Course Content (4 weeks, 40 hours, facilitated)
      - Equitable Grading Strategies (4 weeks, 40 hours, facilitated)
      - Equity & Culturally Responsive Online Teaching (4 weeks, 40 hours, facilitated)
      - Introduction to Course Design (4 weeks, 40 hours, facilitated)
      - 10*10*10: Communication that Matters (4 weeks, 40 hours, facilitated)

NOTE: Faculty with small competency gaps in their submitted external DE training can earn partial equivalency and complete specific learning modules to earn their Online Teaching Certification requirements.

Expected Availability Early 2026:

Option #2: Peer-to-Peer Review -- District Academic Senate approved the development and implementation of this option. This process is being finalized now with an expected 2026 launch date.

These Options Are Currently Paused:

Option #3: in-District DE Certification Training Course -- Previous training course closed 4/30/25. The next DE Certification training course will be developed in Fall 2025. Check back for updates.
Option #4: Local Peer Online Course Review (POCR) -- The POCR process involves aligning a full course to the CVC Course Design Rubric. This process is led by the DE Committees for each College. Check back for updates.

Certification Timeline and Notification

New Faculty -- Newly hired part-time and full-time faculty who wish to teach online and hybrid will have one year to complete one (1) of the certification options while simultaneously teaching online and hybrid courses. This one-year clock starts in their first semester of employment. New faculty should contact the District DE office during their first semester for further information.
Current, Uncertified Faculty -- Current faculty who are uncertified under the previous certification requirements (prior to 2021) who wish to teach online and hybrid courses will have one year to complete one (1) of the certification options. This one-year clock starts the semester they teach an online or hybrid course. The College's VPAAs will send an email notification confirming the one-year due date to complete the certification requirements.
Current OCA Certified Faculty -- Current faculty who are certified under the previous certification requirements (Online Canvas Academy) who wish to teach online and hybrid courses will have three (3) years to complete one (1) of the certification options.
- NOTE: Per the DE MOU (4/30/25), the new DE Certification deadline for all current RCCD faculty is June 30, 2026.

Recertification Requirement

Requirement: After completing one (1) of the District's Online Teaching Certification options above, faculty who wish to continue teaching online or hybrid courses will need to complete six (6) hours of training focused on distance education. Upon completion of all six (6) hours, faculty must upload evidence as proof of completion.
Timeline: To keep their certification current, faculty need to meet the recertification requirement every three (3) academic years.
Options: Faculty may choose district training courses and workshops and/or non-district DE training focused on distance education to meet the recertification requirement.
Notification: The College's VPAAs will send an email notification confirming the one-year due date to complete the certification requirements.
FLEX Credit: Faculty can also earn PD/FLEX credit for this DE training.

College Distance Education Committees

Each college has an Academic Senate sub-committee focused on Distance Education issues. Feel free to reach out to the DE Committee Chairs if you have any questions or would like to become more involved.

Riverside City College
- DE Committee Chair: James Rocillo
- Distance Education Committee Webpage
Moreno Valley College
- DE Committee Chair: Jim Lambert
- Distance Education Committee Webpage
Norco College
- DE Committee Chair: Sandra Popiden
- Distance Education Committee Webpage

RCCD Policies and Practices for Distance Education

Administrative Procedure (AP) 2105 Distance Education (as approved by District Senate on March 15, 2021) details the district practices for online courses. To help Faculty apply AP2105, Regular Substantive Interaction Guidelines (as approved by District Senate on May 24, 2021) have been developed and approved by the DE Committees and Academic Senates at all three colleges. Contact your college DE Committee Chair (see links above) if you have any questions. Faculty can also contact an Instructional Designer to discuss the requirements and guidelines.

ACCJC Documents Related to DE

The ACCJC provides a Checklist for Evaluating Compliance [DOCX] and also a Guide to Institutional Self-Evaluation Improvement and Peer Review (Appendix H) [PDF] that details requirements for equivalent quality, accountability, and focus on student outcomes.