WCET Recognizes UofL Online’s Excellence with SANsational AWARD 2023

WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies and the State Authorization Network (SAN) division have announced the recipients of the 2023 State Authorization Network SANsational awards, and the University of Louisville’s Jennifer Hurwitz, Distance Education Compliance Manager, is the winner of the “Compliance Innovations” category.A critical aspect of distance education compliance is raising awareness about the existing regulations and coordinating compliance solutions, and that is exactly what Delphi’s Distance Education Compliance Manager, Jennifer Hurwitz, strives to do. She was recognized for her innovative approach to a compliance challenge that many struggle with – a multitude of conflicting priorities and calendars that are overbooked. Instead of scheduling another meeting, Jennifer identified where key stakeholders already were and leveraged two existing university leadership meetings to build trust and maintain awareness of academic compliance issues, essentially carving out space for academic compliance awareness to spread throughout the campus community.

At first glance, academic compliance may seem purely administrative in nature, but Jennifer’s role and her commitment to distance education compliance touch faculty as well, especially those teaching online. Faculty who are new to teaching online courses may not be aware that regular and substantive interactions between faculty and students are required by federal regulation in order to differentiate distance education from correspondence courses. Consequently, University of Louisville faculty teaching online courses are required to submit the Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) attestation form once every academic year; this process was established in an effort to document our compliance.

Of course, seasoned faculty teaching online courses understand the importance of engaging with students on a regular basis and how these interactions enhance the online learning experience. It is not news to them that effective teaching in the online environment requires a different approach than the “sage on the stage” method that used to be the norm in face-to-face courses. However, faculty teaching online courses may not fully understand the importance of completing their RSI attestation every academic year, which is why Jennifer continues to highlight academic compliance issues and meet members of our campus community where they already are.

Congratulations to Jennifer for the national recognition and outstanding strategic compliance work that helps our teaching community excel!

About WCET
The WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) is the leader in the practice, policy, and advocacy of technology-enhanced higher education. WCET’s State Authorization Network (SAN) assists each member institution, system, or consortium through access to experts and networking among others seeking to comply with state regulations.

Future UofL students who live outside of the state of Kentucky can look up the state authorization for the program of their choice on the Online Learning website at http://louisville.edu/online/About-Us/state-authorization-regulations. For more information, contact Kristen Brown, kristen.brown@louisville.edu, 502.852.8565.

To view all online programs at UofL visit http://louisville.edu/online/programs