Summer Online Course Development

SMU Intersessions is working with partners in the Center for Teaching Excellence, OIT, and SMU GO to develop online undergraduate courses to be offered in upcoming summer sessions.  This project aims to enhance access to courses during months when students balance course needs with internships, the desire to return home, and other factors that make an online modality desirable.  Development of a select number of courses will begin this fall so that courses can be delivered by a Summer 2023 timeline.

The window to submit course proposals closed Friday, 26 August 2022.  Proposals for Summer 2024 will be announced in 2023.

Faculty FAQ:

Who can submit a proposal?

  • Full-time, part-time and adjunct faculty from the undergraduate schools and college.

How does payment work?

  • Faculty selected to develop a course for online offering will receive compensation based on 10% of base salary to a cap of $10,000, and not less than $7,000.  This is dependent on completion of the course within 12 months, paid upon completion.

Tell me more course details.

  • Courses proposed should appeal to a wide range of students, and be pedagogically appropriate for offer in a combination of synchronous/asynchronous online components.
  • Cross-listed courses and those that fulfill Common Curriculum requirements generally have wider appeal. 
  • Courses will be offered primarily within Summer 1 and 2, month-long sessions which loosely correspond to the months of June and July.
  • Online courses will be expected to have a minimum capacity of 20 seats for the first session they are offered.  In subsequent offerings, capacity may be raised to higher levels.
  • Online courses will be developed for delivery to students in Canvas.

How long will the development process take?

  • The typical online development process takes approximately 9 months. 
  • Development is done on an off-load basis, in addition to one’s normal teaching load for fall and spring semesters.

What does my commitment look like?

  • If your course is accepted for development, you commit to deliver the course in the first summer after completion and will have right of first refusal for offering it in the two summers following. 
  • Academic programs offering these new courses should add an outcome to their Academic Program Reporting.

Are there additional certifications needed?

  • Certification for online teaching, provided by SMU GO, is required to be a developer.  (It will be provided to selected candidates if they do not already have it.)

What happens after I submit a proposal?

  • After the August 26 deadline, proposals will be reviewed by the Provost’s Office. 
  • Selected courses will be routed for approval to Department Chairs and Deans’ offices before candidates are notified of their proposal acceptance.
  • A limited number of courses will be selected for development, so those faculty whose courses are not selected for 2023 may be encouraged to resubmit courses in future cycles.

As a final note, there is a possibility that online courses could be offered in future Jan Term online sessions (mid-December to mid-January).

To view our faculty Q&A session hosted on August 11, 2022, please click the below link:

https://smu.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=985a2e0a-1004-45bc-8a8c-aeef00f0de80

If you have additional questions, please contact Intersessions at intersessions@smu.edu or 214.768.1009.