Riverside Community College Logo
Hero Image
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.

Use these quick links to review the information below or read the full text of the Online Teaching Certification requirements.

 

​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.

  • Option #1: RCCD Course Design Camp -- This self-paced, 4-module course focuses on incorporating equity considerations into course development, design, and facilitation. This self-enroll course has no course start/end dates or assignment due dates, allowing for the completion of online teaching requirements at the learner's own pace. Once they earn a "Complete" on five (5) Camp assessment, faculty will be awarded Online Teaching Certification. Sixteen (16) hours of ​FLEX credit is available upon completion.
  • Option #2: ​Local Peer Online Course Review (POCR) -- The POCR process involves aligning a full course to the CVC Course Design Rubric. This process is lead by the DE Committees for each College. Currently, MVC's POCR Team is not accepting applications at this time. RCC's POCR Team and NC's POCR Team are in the pilot and planning stages. NOTE: This information will be updated with the POCR Teams begin accepting applicants.
  • Option #3: Equivalency Review -- Faculty who have earned @ONE certificates and badges or who have completed DE training courses in other districts can submit equivelancy completion evidence for equivalency review. If the training's learning outcomes and deliverable match the competencies of RCCD Design Camp, faculty will be awarded Online Teaching Certification. Faculty with small gaps in their submitted training can earn partial equivalency and complete specific learning modules to complete their Online Teaching Certification requirements.

​

Certification Timeline and Notification

  • ​New Faculty -- Newly hired part-time and full-time faculty who wish to teaching 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 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 hybird 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 Certified Faculty -- Current faculty who are certified under the previous certification requirements (Online Canvas Academy) who wish to teach online and hybird courses will have three (3) years to complete one (1) of the certification options. For mostly faculty, this deadline will be June 30, 2025. However, the Colleges' VPAAs will send an email notification to faculty confirming your one year due date to complete the certification requirements

 

Recertification Requirement

  • Requirement: After completing one (1) of the District's Online Teaching Certification options, 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 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.

​

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.