Departments interested in developing an online program (e.g. a major, a baccalaureate completion program, a certificate and/or a graduate degree or certificate) may apply for support. The applications are reviewed by the Office of the Provost, which establishes priorities for online program offerings. Learn more about program development support.
Course Timeline Expectations
Online course development is a time intensive process and requires 4-6 months to produce a quality course. For this reason course applications must be submitted by November 1 for consideration for a course to be offered in the following summer/fall sessions; and March 1 for a course to be offered in the following spring semester. If the application is prioritized by the Office of the Provost, the development team, including the faculty, will adhere to an agreed-upon development schedule.
Contact Jason Rhode, associate vice provost for Teaching, Learning, and Digital Education, at jrhode@niu.edu for information about submitting an online program application.
Development Services for Accepted Courses
On average, an online course requires approximately 200 hours of instructional design support, although this varies based on the complexity of the course and the multimedia. Support services include instructional design, multimedia development, audio and video encoding, audio transcription, illustration and graphic design, and quality assurance testing. Online courses developed with instructional design support are expected to adhere to Quality MattersTM standards.
Once we are notified by the Office of the Provost that an online program application has been accepted, we will meet with your faculty to discuss the services we will provide to develop, train, and promote your program.