Program development

  1. Senior faculty will decide to initiate the development of new programs. This may be based on gaps in existing programs or on reports from ministry fields that have identified a need.
  2. The head of each department oversees development of the department's programs.

Program proposal

  1. A proposal for a new program will normally comprise:
    1. A degree title
    2. A degree purpose, which must be a solely religious purpose1
    3. An application in Christian non-profit organizations, such as churches, missions, Christian schools, Christian universities, Christian community ministries, and chaplaincy.1
    4. A set of overarching objectives
    5. A proposed target population
    6. A list of units with purposes and semester hour ratings2
    7. Any specific regulations for the degree.
    8. Proposed delivery, with at least 51% distance education.3

1 Cf. Arizona statute § 32-3022.   |   2 See the defintion of semester hour in the Catalog.   |   3 Required for DEAC accreditation.

Role of objectives

  1. All WU units are defined using objectives. An objective is a course requirement that is expressed as something the student must be able to do. Each objective has a number of elements and criteria to determine how well the objective must be performed. For example, when a task is assessed, assessors have criteria to differentiate between performance that is satisfactory and that is not.
  2. At the beginning of a unit or a degree program, students are provided a with a full description of all the units with their elements and criteria. This makes it possible for the student to work towards meeting all the requirements of each unit.
  3. See the Guide to assessing WU qualifications for more detail.

Consultation

  1. WU will identify stakeholders and consult with them to gather information on local needs and opportunities.
  2. The senior faculty will collate and consider the feedback, and modify the units accordingly.
  3. In the case of major changes, a second round of consultation may be necessary.
  4. Based on consultation results, the senior faculty decide on the form of the qualification.

Study guide procedure

  1. This procedure will not apply while a unit is offered only by Alternative Assessment of Competence.
  2. One or more writers are assigned to draft a set of materials for the program:
    1. Study guides should cover all the units required for instruction and the elements and criteria of each unit.
    2. Teaching and assessment should directly relate to the elements and criteria of every unit.
    3. They should follow a clear sequence and contain a schedule of activities for students.
    4. They should disstinguaish between learning activities ans assessment activities.
    5. Study guides should contain all necessary instructions for students and should be clear in terms of language, culture, layout, examples, etc.
    6. In many cases, instructions may refer to websites, webpages and particular textbooks for detailed explanations of what to do.
  3. The faculty group discusses the draft, checks that it meets the DEAC requirement of at least 51% distance delivery, and suggests any necessary changes.
  4. The presentation (proofreading, layout, file format) are finalized.

Semester hour ratings

  1. Semester hour ratings are calculated and reviewed in the stages below:
    1. Before the unit is first offered, the faculty member estimates the number of semester hours for a unit. Estimates can be based on, for example, how long it has taken for students to master the competencies when taught as a non-credit course or a comparison with unit descriptions of comparable units in other institutions.
    2. During the delivery of the unit, the faculty member keeps a record of how time is used.
    3. After the unit, the faculty member will compare time usage with the semester hour rating, and revise the unit contents and/or semester hour rating so that they are synchronized.
    4. Later on, the faculty will review semester hour ratings when reviewing the unit and curriculum.

Pilot programs

  1. Faculty members should be closely involved in teaching the pilot program.
  2. Faculty members should prevent negative effects on students, and remediated any particular weaknesses or shortcomings in the materials. They must refer any programmatic difficulties back to the course developers for revision and correction.