RVCC 2019 NECHE Self-Study

mode of delivery when there is a need. Students are informed about the online learning
environment on the RVCC website. River Valley has steadily increased its online learning
opportunities over the past five years and now offers approximately 32-34 courses each
fall semester in a completely online format.
As previously described, faculty performance in both the face to face and online classroom
is assessed on a standard schedule as outlined in the CBA. When areas of concern arise
related to the quality of teaching and learning, it is the responsibility of the Department
Chair to develop a plan, in conjunction with the individual faculty member, to remediate
the issue. For many years there has been a set monthly meeting dedicated to Teaching &
Learning for faculty. This had been organized by a full-time faculty member and open to
full and adjunct faculty as well as any staff or administrators who wished to join. Topics
covered in the past three years included subjects such as: Guided Pathways, Rethinking
Student Instruction, Social Learning Theory & Bloom’s Taxonomy, Mentoring Students and
Developing their Motivation to Persist and Do Well, Connections Between Academic
programs and Developmental courses, Developing Rubrics, and Problem Based Learning.
Professional Development
Each year, RVCC participates in the CCSNH Symposium during which various workshops
are available for faculty. The workshops vary in topic based on faculty and staff input
across the system, but a number of workshops each year relate to topics that may be
utilized to enhance quality in the classroom. Topics in recent years have included The
Flipped Classroom, Mindfulness in Education, and Podcasting lectures.
Faculty also have access to on-line professional development courses through the library
on such topics as Evaluating Sources and Open Educational Resources. In Spring of 2018,
all advisors, and interested staff and faculty were trained in NOABO/Veera Bridge (which
allows access to programmatic enrollment data.) As RVCC and CCSNH prepared to
transition to Canvas in Summer of 2018, there were also a number of formal trainings on
the Learning Management System at the department and college level lead by members of
the faculty who had prior experience using Canvas.
Faculty and staff are provided the additional benefit of taking courses at any System
institution for free through an employee waiver program. All employees must have
permission of their supervisors to do this.
Exposure of Students to Various Instructors
At RVCC, all associate degree programs have a required Liberal Arts component as
outlined by the Board of Trustees Academic Policy and as described in Standard 4. These
requirements ensure that any student in an associate degree program taking Liberal Arts
courses as part of their program of study are taught by faculty with educational experience
or expertise in their field. Technical courses in each program are taught by faculty with
educational experience, expertise, licensure, or certification in the specific field of study.
Course outlines are a college-wide document, approved by the Curriculum Committee,
which specify the description, objectives, outcomes, and teaching methods for a particular
course. This document ensures that multiple sections of a course that are taught,
regardless of instructional mode (face to face, hybrid, or online) are consistent for all
sections of the same course. The course outline also includes grading scales to ensure
equity in grading. When multiple faculty teach the lecture or lab sections of a course, the
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