Section 55206 - Curriculum: Separate Course Approval

Separate course approval is required if “any portion of the instruction of a course is designed to be regularly provided through distance education.” This section clarifies the so-called “51% rule,” namely, that only those courses with 51% or more DE are reported as DE, but that ANY class with contact hours offered through DE must undergo a separate approval process. For SDCCD, this would include partially online and hybrid courses.

A graphic that emphasizes the different course approval requirements for fully Distance Education vs Partially Online/ Hybrid courses.

Section 55208 - Faculty Selection and Workload

DE instructors should be selected by the same procedures used to determine all instructional assignments. The number of students assigned to any one DE section should be consistent with other district procedures.

Section 55210 - Ongoing Responsibility of Districts

All classes reported as DE classes need to maintain records and report data on the number of students and faculty participating in them through the Chancellor’s Office Management Information System (MIS) by August 31 of each year.

Section 58003.1 - Fiscal Support

The calculation for DE Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES) for credit DE courses can be calculated in one of four ways:

Weekly Student Contact (Weekly Census--DE courses that are regularly scheduled)
Daily Student Contact Hours (Daily Census)
Actual Hours of Attendance (Positive Attendance)
Alternative Attendance (Alternative)

For more information on attendance accounting, please refer to the CCC Attendance Accounting Manual and the full California Community Colleges Distance Education Guidelines, 2008 Omnibus Version.