Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO) Definitions and Overall Processes

Operational Standard/Purpose

What is ILCCO?

Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO) is a membership organization available to all Illinois community college districts for the purpose of promoting quality online learning and providing additional online learning opportunities for students through course sharing. ILCCO is 

• A collaborative framework for colleges to work together to address a variety of needs including regulatory issues, grant opportunities, investigating new technologies, and project development.
• A platform for course & program sharing between member colleges. Students can work with their local colleges to assess their online learning needs and the colleges can find the student needed courses at member colleges. The students are able to work with one college, instead of many, to meet their educational needs.
• Professional development opportunities. ILCCO offers an online conference for faculty and distance learning and education technology staff called Growing Online Learning. ILCCO co-sponsors a face-to-face Learning Innovations conference with NILRC for distance learning and learning resource center staff. Faculty development webinars and distance learning roundtables are held. ILCCO offers an online book study for distance learning and education technology staff.

Membership

Illinois Central College is a member of ILCCO. ILCCO membership is $500 annually and is budgeted out of the Teaching and Learning Excellence (TLE) budget.

Per the Bylaws of Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO) Section 2. Membership B. Membership Responsibilities and Dues 2: The payment period for the membership fee is the last month of the fiscal year and the first month of the next fiscal year (June 1 – July 31). Members are expected to submit payment during that period.

See the Appendix for the ILCCO's member colleges.

Each member college district assigns a Steering Committee Member to represent them in ILCCO. The Steering Committee Member from ICC shall be a current ILCCO Champion designee. The ILCCO Champion designee for the Steering Committee will be the Dean of Curriculum and Scheduling. Member college districts may also designate one Alternate Member to represent the college district. Alternate Members may attend the Steering Committee meetings with the Steering Committee Member, but each member college district has one vote. ICC’s designated Alternate Member will also be an ILCCO Champion at ICC. ICC’s Alternate Member for the Steering Committee and additional ILCCO Champion will be the Manager of Teaching and Learning Excellence.

Scope/Applicability 

This SOP applies to Academic Affairs (Academic Departments- Faculty, Administrative Assistants, Deans/Associate Deans, Teaching and Learning Excellence, Curriculum and Scheduling), Student Success (Advising, Student Financials, Financial Aid, Enrollment Services), and the Bookstore.

Since ICC has elected to be a Requesting (Sending) Institution (sending students to other institutions to take coursework) processes are described within the Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO) Process: Requesting (Sending) Institution SOP.

Since ICC has elected to be a Teaching (Receiving) Institution (receiving students from other institutions to take coursework) processes are described within the Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO) Process: Teaching (Receiving) Institution SOP.

Procedure(s)

Glossary

ILCCO- Illinois Community Colleges Online 

OCE- Online Course Exchange- is an internet database system that any institution belonging to ILCCO can use to facilitate the sharing of online courses using a seats exchange concept. The database is designed for use by college personnel only and is not intended to be viewed by students. 

OASIS – Online Assessment System for Internet Students- a study skills survey available for students to help determine if a student is a good match for online learning. A customized report is generated following the completion of each survey. 

Roles for the OCE and the designated staff/faculty for those roles at ICC:

• Champions- are the “go to” people at the colleges for course sharing, serving as a local resource for the colleges, Champions communicate within the OCE course sharing system and are also connected through the ILCCO Champion listserv, ilcochampions@iccb.state.il.us. Enters student information and enrolls students in OCE courses. Enters courses into OCE. 
  • Dean of Curriculum and Scheduling
  • Manager of Teaching and Learning Excellence
• Advisors- can view shared sections and OCE college information.
  • Role will not be used; Champions will do this task.
• Faculty- enters 10- day, midterm, final grades and notes for imported students at the Teaching (Receiving) Institution. Complete Professional Development as needed by ILCCO.
  • Full- time Faculty assigned a course in the OCE
  • Adjunct Faculty assigned a course in the OCE
• Course Manager- Enters courses into OCE.
  • Role will not be used; Champions will do this task.
• Enrollment Manager- Enters student information and enrolls students in OCE courses. ICC will use this role to retrieve the Teaching (Receiving) Institution’s student data to enter into the SIS system.
  • College Registrar
  • College Assistant Registrar
• Guests- Any user can access the OCE site and can view the listing of available courses.
  • Advising Department- will use a generic user name logon and password shared by the Advisement Department (User Name: advising@icc.edu; Password: set up and maintained by Director of Advisement)
    • All Lead Student Success Advisor; Student Success Advisors; Director of Advisement
  • Academic Affairs Deans/Associate Deans

Adding Faculty and Staff to the OCE Website

Roles: Champion

1. Click Users in the menu.
2. Click Add User.
3. On the next page fill out the form. Be sure to select the desired role. Click Add. This process should send the person an email with login information to the email address that was entered when the person was added. Follow-up with faculty/staff member to make sure they have received the email. Please note you can only add one faculty name to each section, so if there are more than one, you can add the additional names in the Info box or create a generic faculty member that all course instructors can use as the login for OCE. A real email address will have to be included, however. 

IAI- Illinois Articulation Initiative- is a statewide transfer agreement, which is transferable among more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois. IAI works best for students who know they are going to transfer but are undecided on the college or university that will grant their baccalaureate degree.

Requesting (Sending) Institution- receive normal tuition, fees and state funds for their (ICC) students place in teaching college courses. See Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO) Requesting (Sending) Institution SOP.

• Example: ICC student takes a course online at Heartland Community College.
• Benefits: ICC retains the student enrollment while providing the student with the opportunity to take a class that may not be offered. Keeps students local (requesting college retain the enrollment). Meet needs of students who are unable to come to campus. Meet needs of person with disabilities. Get courses online that are unable to locally generate.

Teaching (Receiving) Institution - receive funds for teaching the students through the ILCCO Course Exchange Rate, a per credit hour rate the home colleges pay. The home college also pays a per credit hour fee in addition for student’s place in teaching college courses to offset the cost of operating the course sharing system. See Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO) Teaching (Receiving) Institution SOP.

• Example: Heartland CC student takes a course online at ICC.
• Benefits: ICC provides non-ICC students with opportunities to complete their coursework online. ICC fills seats in courses with extra seat capacity (note- do not count the enrollment for record-keeping/state reporting)

Course Exchange Rate- Per credit hour; set annually for next fiscal year’s rate; formula of statewide average tuition plus half the statewide average apportionment. The Course Exchange Rate is set each year by the ILCCO Steering Committee. Typically set each September meeting.

• Example: 2024 to 2025 Rate: $160 per credit hour; 2025 to 2026 Rate: $165 per credit hour

ILCCO Policies

ICC does not have a course equivalent to a course we wish to offer through ILCCO

This process occurs outside of OCE. Form Course 11OL (ILCCO Course Addition) is required and processed must be completed before offering the course. This is now an online form to be completed by the Coordinator of Curriculum within the ICCB Course and Curriculum website. Contact ILCCO Director Jeff Newell for more information. 

Prerequisites for a course

Pre-requisite requirements of the student’s Home Institution apply. The IAI number in OCE can be used to map the course to a corresponding course at the student’s institution. It is in the best interest of the Teaching Institution to inquire about prerequisites on the course equivalent. 

Placement exams

Placement testing requirements of the student’s Home Institution apply. It is in the best interest of the Teaching Institution to inquire about placement requirements on the course equivalent. 

Students purchasing their textbooks

Students can purchase textbooks at their Home Institution. Textbook information is verified in the OCE system by the Teaching Institution so that the student’s Home Institution can stock the required textbooks. Students may also purchase textbooks from the offering Teaching Institution’s bookstore or online. 

Student needs access to the library resources at the Teaching Institution

If logins are not automatically provided, please provide students with a generic login and control access via a protected password. 

Accessibility Policy

This policy outlines the processes involved in making OCE courses available to students with disabilities at ILCCO member colleges. Accessibility is important because students with disabilities should have equal opportunity to enroll in any online course offered through the Online Course Exchange (OCE). The teaching college will be responsible for making its materials accessible to any student with a documented disability purchasing a seat through OCE. Reasonable accommodations to make course materials accessible will be provided to meet the specific needs of the student. Responsibilities of the student, home college, and teaching college are as follows:

Student Responsibilities

The student must have provided appropriate documentation of a disability with their Home College's office of disability services to be eligible for OCE accessibility services. It is the student’s responsibility to follow their Home College’s procedures for requesting accommodations in any online course, including the ones in which he will be requesting seats through OCE. It will be helpful to the Teaching College to know what assistive technologies, if any, the student uses when accessing online resources. It will be required that the student sign a release of information statement in order for the home college disability services staff to share information with the professional staff at the teaching college.

Home College Responsibilities

The department of disability services at the Home College will contact its ILCCO Champion to verify appropriate documentation has been received and inform them about accessibility and accommodation needs. The Home College OCE Champion will provide the Teaching College OCE Champion with the course the student would like to take online and the accommodation needed at the time the seat is requested or as soon as possible as a pre-approved seat is filled with a student with a disability. In addition, they will provide the contact information of the Home College's disability services staff familiar with the student's particular needs. The Home College disability services staff is responsible for providing appropriate local services, such as special test administration.

Teaching College Responsibilities

If the seat request is granted by the Teaching College, the Teaching College will work with its own disability services staff and the instructor to determine and implement the accommodations needed to make all of the course materials accessible. The instructor is responsible for following the policies of the Teaching College in addressing the student's needs. The Teaching College will make every effort to complete accessibility and accommodation strategies in place at the beginning of the class or, if not possible, inform the student of plans to establish them. If additional information is needed or problems arise, the Teaching College will consult with the Home College's office of disability services.

Faculty Qualifications

It is the responsibility of the Teaching College to hire only qualified faculty. Online Course was developed using a quality review process Institutions are encouraged to enter this information in the course description in the OCE system. Contact the teaching institution’s ILCCO Champion if that information is not present.

College and Student Dispute

When the home college and the teaching college procedures are inconsistent, the home college’s procedures take precedence.

A student must work with the home college’s ILCCO Champion to resolve a course-related dispute such as a grade or conflict with a faculty member. The home college ILCCO Champion will make every effort to resolve the dispute locally. If the Champion is unable to resolve the issue, the Champions of the home and teaching colleges will work together to negotiate resolution of the dispute. If a grade dispute cannot be resolved between the home college ILCCO Champion and teaching college faculty, the teaching college's policies and procedures for contesting a grade will be followed.

The home college is responsible for withdrawing students in a timely manner to allow the teaching college to fill the seat locally when possible. If the home college does not remove a student by the OCE midterm cut-off date for a shared course then the home college will be responsible for paying the teaching college for the seat in the course.'

Process Regarding Billing and Receiving Payment

• ICC Champion ensures that adds and drops of students to the Online Course Exchange system (OCE) should be handled immediately each semester but must be completed before midterm.
• ICC Champion each mid-March will review and ensure correct student data (adds and/or drops) for the spring data before mid-term in preparation for billing.
• The Illinois Community College Board-ILCCO Fiscal Agent will generate and email Preview Statements for review on April 1.

Billing to ICC- Course Requesting (Sending) Institution

• Billing Statements are emailed on April 15.
• Payment is due to the Illinois Community College Board- ILCCO Fiscal Agent by May 31.
• ICC will use the 599000-01-8060-8060 account to pay the Illinois Community College Board - ILCCO Fiscal Agent invoice.

Payments to ICC- Course Teaching (Receiving) Institution

• If ICC is to receive a payment for Course Teaching (Sharing) those payments must be sent by June 30.
• Recorded in 441099-01-0000-0000 funds.

Additional Provisions/Information

Appendix