Online Learning Policy Template

Why an online learning policy is required

Institutions delivering online or blended theological programmes must publish a clear online learning policy that defines institutional governance, roles and responsibilities, student support, assessment and academic integrity, accessibility, data protection, and third‑party platform governance. A formal policy supports consistent course design, protects students, clarifies legal responsibilities, and enables external quality assurance reviews. Institutions remain responsible for complying with all applicable national, state/provincial and local laws when delivering online learning; ITAA accreditation does not replace governmental recognition or local regulatory requirements. Core obligations include maintaining accurate public information, ensuring lawful issuance of awards, and keeping policies current.

Policy template (concise — items to include)

Use the headings below as the institutional online learning policy skeleton. Each heading should be accompanied by specific institutional procedures and responsible office(s).

1. Scope and purpose — programmes covered, delivery modes (fully online, blended, HyFlex), and policy objectives.
2. Governance and responsibility — institutional ownership, academic oversight (academic director/board), IT governance, vendor/third‑party management and periodic review schedule.
3. Course design and quality — adoption of a recognised design rubric, learning‑outcome alignment, instructional design support and periodic peer review.
4. Student admission, enrolment and consumer information — entry requirements, orientation, published fee and refund rules, and truthful public statements about accreditation and awards.
5. Assessment and academic integrity — methods, authentication, reasonable adjustments, cheating and sanctions, and appeals procedures.
6. Student support — learning resources, library access, technical helpdesk, counselling and progression support.
7. Accessibility and inclusion — compliance with accessibility standards and support for learners with disability.
8. Data protection and privacy — lawful processing, storage, retention and cross‑border transfer arrangements for learner data.
9. Intellectual property — ownership and licensing of course materials and student work.
10. Continuity and contingency — business continuity, emergency delivery plans and communication protocols.
11. Monitoring and reporting — QA indicators, student feedback, learning analytics governance and external reporting.

Under each item provide named responsible officer(s), review dates, and links to related procedures (e.g., assessment policy, accessibility statement, data‑protection policy).

Practical implementation notes

Practical steps to implement the policy:

• Adopt or map course design to a validated rubric (for example, Quality Matters) to ensure consistent course structure, transparency of course policies and alignment of learning outcomes, activities and assessments.
• Assign clear governance: an academic owner, an IT owner and a QA owner for online provision.
• Provide mandatory student orientation to the LMS, assessment procedures and academic integrity expectations.
• Document relationships with third‑party platforms (LMS, video conferencing, proctoring) and carry out risk assessments and data‑processing agreements.
• Schedule regular internal reviews and collect learner feedback and completion metrics to guide improvement.

Minimum policy examples (short text that can be copied)

The institution may use the following brief statements in its student handbook or course pages and link to fuller procedures:

• Course policies: "Course and institutional policies with which learners are expected to comply are clearly stated in each course site or via a direct link to current policies."
• Academic integrity: "Assessment must demonstrate authenticated learner work; instances of academic misconduct are subject to the published academic conduct procedure."
• Accessibility: "Reasonable adjustments and accessibility support are available—request via the student services office."

Replace placeholders with institutional contact points and review dates.

Risk and legal checkpoints

Before publishing a policy, institutions must verify:

• Compliance with local laws on awarding qualifications and consumer protection.
• That staff and contractors are trained and contracts set out data, IP and service levels.
• That published accreditation statements are accurate and do not imply governmental recognition where none exists.

ITAA requires institutions to keep public information accurate and understands that accreditation does not confer statutory degree‑awarding powers.

Checklist for publication

Before publishing the online learning policy, confirm the following:

1. Responsible officers named and contact routes provided (email/forms).
2. Links to assessment, complaints, accessibility and data‑protection procedures are live.
3. Policy review date and version number are visible.
4. Student‑facing summary and detailed procedures are both published.
5. Internal training for faculty and administrators is scheduled.