Faculty Handbook

BPH Online is designed for working professionals to complete a MPH degree remotely in just over two years.  Coursework is delivered primarily online, with two on-campus periods of face-to-face instruction during summer on the Berkeley campus. Students take 14 courses (42 units) to meet degree requirements at a pace of two courses per semester for seven semesters. Courses are offered in the summer sessions (our summer semester), so students enrolled continuously will graduate in 27 months. The program admits twice a year, with cohorts starting in spring and fall.

The core curriculum requirements of the BPH Online program are identical to those of the on-campus degree program including 3 required breadth courses, epidemiologic methods and biostatistics. The other courses in the program are online versions of well-established on-campus courses and many are taught by the same faculty. The MPH degree earned by graduates of the BPH Online program is identical to the MPH degree earned by on-campus students and includes both a public health practicum and a culminating comprehensive exam.

In 2015, The BPH Online program offered all 18 of its approved courses for the first time with 23 faculty teaching online including 5 team taught courses.  BPH Online now offers four concentration areas, with three course sequences per semester, including two eight week and one fifteen week session: https://onlinemph.berkeley.edu/academic-planning/program-options/

BPH Online does not allow on-campus students to transfer into our program. This is due to our designation as a Self-Supporting Graduate Degree Programs (SSGDP)  which means we cannot deplete any SPH resources or its students, and our efforts to maintain our cohesive student community.  Exceptions can be granted only if the Assistant Dean of Students petitions for transfers on behalf of those on-campus students. If BPH Online students request to be transferred to residential SPH programs, it is up to the other SPH program to decide whether BPH Online students will be granted their requests.

Many lists have been written (and can easily be found online) detailing differences between online and on-campus (also called face-to-face) teaching. All these lists boil down to the consequences of one fundamental difference: in online courses, students and instructors do not gather together in the same physical place for learning.

Just as on-campus teaching can vary dramatically in the methodologies used and the quality of the learning experience, there are many different approaches and levels of quality in online education.  Online courses that include regular synchronous events, where all students gather online or virtually at the same time, are often structured more similarly to on-campus courses. This contrasts with fully asynchronous courses, which provide students with more flexibility around how and when they engage in learning.

The more flexibility an online course provides students, the more advanced planning and preparation it takes to get ready, and the less instructor flexibility is possible during delivery.  In asynchronous online courses, students generally expect that the materials they need to understand and complete course learning activities will be ready and clear to them when they choose to engage with it.  As a result, course preparation naturally becomes temporally disjoined from course delivery. While not impossible, attempting to develop an online course during  delivery is an intense and stressful endeavor.  Ideally, course preparations start around 6 months ahead of the course start date, particularly the first time a course is taught online.

No one is suggesting that an online course should be like an egg that contains everything to support student development with little interaction from the outside. There are strategies and tools that enable instructors to be dynamic during delivery of a well-prepared online course.  Later sections of this handbook will outline processes, steps and timelines to guide and manage course planning and preparation.

Online discussion forums are a backbone of many online courses and lend themselves to greater participation by more students than often occurs in on-campus discussions.  Because students have 24/7 access to online discussions, they allow for more thoughtful student reflection and composition.  Thoughtfully crafted discussions can stimulate incredible student engagement that makes the advanced planning well worth it. During the course, discussions can always be adjusted to the needs and interests of the current students.

Project-based learning works well in online environments and provides another avenue for both students to customize learning around their interests and for instructors to meet the goals and individual learning needs of students.  There are a variety of different technologies available to facilitate student collaboration if group projects are desirable.

Without scheduled “class time” set aside for information transmission, online delivery of content can be chunked into bite-sized resources that are bundled within learning activities.  The instructional model where the instructor lectures for 1-2 hours and then students leave and study is a constraint of on-campus scheduling.  Designing and producing student resources including videos should always follow assessment and activity planning rather than being the central focus of course design (see Section V: Recommendations for Course Design).

The replacement of on-campus physical presence with online interaction changes the social dynamics of the course.  On campus, students and instructors share a wide range of cues about the pace and quality of the learning that is occurring.  As instructors scan their audience, they are supplied with feedback on student learning through non-verbal cues. Similarly, as students observe their instructors and classmates, they can gauge their own progress.  These formative assessments by both students and instructors occur so naturally in on-campus class meetings that they are easily taken for granted.  In online courses, instructors must intentionally design course elements, apply available technology to capture snapshots of student progress along the way, and provide opportunities to self-evaluate progress and seek help.

A well-designed online course creates an environment for both independent student exploration and instructor facilitation of learning. Creating a quality online environment has many similarities to creating a playground: advanced planning selects equipment for a range and balance of different kinds of activities; learning occurs best when the environment is a safe place to try new things (and fail safely); and the potential of the space is only realized with the presence of people.  In an online course, all the effort of planning and production creates a framework for interaction, whether between students or with instructors, that ultimately turns digital content into a shared learning experience.

BPH Online recognizes that developing and delivering a quality online course is a lot of work.  This handbook has grown out of lessons learned in the first 10+ years of online education in the School of Public Health.  It is a work in progress and an evidence based approach to structured pedagogy. We invite your feedback.

When you begin teaching online, you will likely find yourself rethinking your teaching practices, and at first it may be hard to prepare for this. This has certainly been the case for the faculty who have already taught in BPH Online.  To provide faculty with a safe environment to rethink their teaching, BPH Online supports faculty development in 4 areas: (1) course planning and pedagogy, (2) design and production of online course materials, (3) course delivery and communication strategies for the online environment and (4) course review and planning for course improvement.

The following table lists the different kinds of support BPH Staff provide to online instructors

BPH Online students are mid-career professionals who are continuing their full-time careers while earning an MPH.  Students in recent cohorts ranged in age from 23 – 64 with a median age of 34.  The demographics of BPH Online students are not dramatically different from students in the on-campus programs.

Most BPH Online students work full time while enrolled and/or have dependents other than a spouse or partner.  While work and family commitments create sometimes challenging time constraints for BPH Online students that instructors may have to help manage, the professional backgrounds and ongoing work applications of BPH Online students bring a richness to the program.  Just over half of the BPH Online student body already have a graduate level degree (27% MD, 9% Ph.D., 7% Masters degree, 4% DDS/DMD, 3% PharmD, 2% other doctoral degrees).

Background information including degrees and professional employment are available from the BPH Online Program Manager team at the start of each semester. BPH Online also provides opportunities to interact with your students while they are in your course and in the program, including opportunities when they are on campus in the first and second summers to take groups of students to lunch.  Becoming familiar with BPH Online students can be invaluable when planning online courses. While you plan a course for theoretical students, you will be teaching real people.

Figure 1. Geographical distribution of BPH Online Students.  Almost ⅔ of BPH Online students live in California.  The remaining students are distributed throughout different time zones in the United States and Internationally.

Figure 2: Typical BPH Online class profile based on Fall 2022. One-third of BPH Online students come from underrepresented minority backgrounds, while nearly 1/2 of all BPH Online students are first generation college students.

Student feedback has been critical to the design of the BPH Online program (and each of its courses) to provide a quality learning environment that is manageable for working professionals to complete in 27 months.  The following key lessons come from student feedback.

Course Pace, Distribution and Timing of Due Dates Really Matter

• Consistent pace and even distribution of workload across the different weeks of the course help students manage their time and juggle their responsibilities. Having a course pace that is too fast threatens retention and mastery of concepts.
• Students like standard, consistent due dates within and across courses.  Students complete more course work on weekends than during the week and many find multiple mid-week due dates difficult to manage. Monday or Tuesday due dates are preferred for major assignments so students have weekends to complete, but can balance work with weekend commitments.

Course Organization and Course Site Layout are Important for Student Time Management

• Well organized courses are crucial for working professionals. Students like a consistent course format each week with minimal clutter on the course site.  It is helpful to standardize (across courses) where things are found, how to best ask a question, deadlines, etc.
• Students like having material posted ahead of time in order to plan their schedules as well as knowing the “big picture” of the course, which helps bring everything together.
• Students aren’t always able to be online such as when they are traveling for work.  It is helpful for course resources to be downloadable in one document.

Students Value Clarity and Purpose 

• Students generally want succinct lectures (though lectures that lack sufficient detail are not useful).   There are no rules about how long videos should be, but rather consider that it is easier to get distracted during online videos than during in person lectures. Develop activities to intersperse with video content to reinforce your explanations with opportunities for students to explore and practice.  The instructional design team can provide guidance on developing lectures and supporting activities.
• Students want clear objectives, expectations, and instructions on how to do assignments.  Because each course may emphasize different course components, use your course introduction video to communicate where students should focus efforts and recommendations for time management.
• Adult learning theory recommends including the purpose behind the required course readings and integrate course readings into course activities and assignments.   Students don’t thrive on busy/redundant work, and they benefit from an awareness of intention behind assigned work. .
• Students enjoy group projects, as long as work is evenly distributed and they have the tools to interact with each other.  High value is placed on projects that develop skills that they can directly apply at work. These projects also have the potential to initiate students into the expectations of a globally workplace, collaborating with teams across time zones.

Interaction with Instructors is Why Students Chose Berkeley

• Learning theory and adult pedagogy both stress the importance of  frequent interactions between instructors and students.
• Timely responses to students inquiries are critical. BPH Online policy dictates no more than a 48 hour turnaround on responding to messages by email, discussion thread, or Q & A forum. Faculty should arrange a response schedule with GSIs for coverage throughout the week, including weekends. Though no one person is required to work weekends, every instructional team should have a strategy for weekend coverage.
• Students want timely and clear feedback on assignments from instructors. While peer feedback can be helpful, it does not replace instructor feedback.
• Some students want more synchronous interactions (optional and recorded).  This is a good approach for addressing student needs that you may not have anticipated.
• Students appreciate when faculty prepare weekly summaries at the end of each week.  They appreciate when instructors streamline communications and announcements.
• Quizzes or low stakes “knowledge checks” are helpful for keeping students on track and focusing on learning key concepts.  Quizzes should include model answers in the programmed feedback responses.
• Summary sheets and other resources that outline basic/key concepts are helpful.

Quality Online Discussions are Key 

• Students value online discussion that promotes critical thinking about course concepts. Students highly value feedback from instructors in discussion.
• Focus discussions around their intended outcomes. Creating a discussion just to have one creates busywork.  Intentionally incorporate course resource materials into online discussions.
• Consider different options for the size of discussions and dividing students up into multiple discussion sections.  Assigned discussions where students are expected to respond to classmates should have 12 – 20 students per section; too large a group of students and the discussion becomes unwieldy and loses its effectiveness.

Office Hours are Really Important to Students Even if they Don’t Use Them

• Try incorporating activities where students can self-check their understanding as a way to help them formulate questions.  It is helpful when the office hour topics are announced and office hours are recorded for students who cannot attend.
• If students are not attending office hours, check in with them. Students may not be attending because they feel so lost in material they don’t know what to ask.  We’ve heard that when students aren’t attending office hours, it’s because they’re struggling to the point of not knowing how to phrase their questions. In this situation, we recommend identifying the areas of concern and offering supplementary/value added content during synchronous sessions to encourage attendance and elicit questions from students. Additionally, practice quizzes and activities can help students who are struggling to formulate questions.  Office hours can also be planned with supplementary content, giving students an opportunity to attend without predetermined questions.
• With students dispersed across global time zones, there is no perfect time for office hours. Spread office hours over different times to accommodate as many schedules and time zones as possible. It can be difficult for students to attend office hours during working hours and commuting hours, though some students like having daytime office hours. Consider offering individual appointments for students who cannot make office hours.

UC Berkeley is on the traditional two-semester academic year – Fall and Spring with a 3 month summer break. Meanwhile, the BPH Online summer session contains two subsequent 7-week terms.Technically, our academic sessions could be called Trimesters, but as tradition has it, we have opted to stick with the term ‘semester’. This was a conscious choice to keep our vocabulary consistent with the rest of the campus, to avoid confusion about course credit units and to help ease communication with non-BPH Online students and Faculty on campus. Within fall and spring semesters, courses run on three schedules, two subsequent 8-week terms (known as “summer/fall-1 or2”) and 15 week full term courses. You an get a feel for these options using the BPH Online Curriculum Planner.

You can find the most recent program calendar on the BPH Online Student Gateway.

Course descriptions can be found on the BPH Online Web site.

Your instructional team includes the Instructor of Record,  Course Facilitators who can be GSIs or lecturers, and the instructional designer(s) assigned to the course. Each week of the instruction period, instructors should receive updates from the instructional team on student progress and concerns. The instructional team should brief the IOR about any students that are exceeding expectations or having difficulty meeting course expectations. Both groups of students should be identified as early as possible and given appropriate feedback throughout the remainder of the course. In most cases, the ID team will attend these meetings as well to consult on pedagogical questions, BPH Online policies, and student matters. While most instructional teams only interact with BPH Online students in 1-2 courses per year, the ID team works closely with students year round, providing IDs with a unique insight into student performance and program trends. Experience has shown that separating the ID aspect of the course from daily pedagogical maintenance can lead to a disconnect that results in inconsistent student experiences.

Please see Section VII: Course Delivery for additional suggestions and expectations for instructor involvement in online courses during the Instruction Period.

Per UC policy, all intellectual property resides with faculty. The IP on videos remains with faculty members. Should the founding course faculty member decide to no longer teach the course, OOMPH, because it pays faculty to develop the work, is granted permission to use course materials for a short period (no more than 2-3 years – until next rebuild) with attribution to the outgoing faculty member as contributing faculty.

Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) and for non-student support instructors is Lecturer.  The hiring process for each is described below.

GSIs are hired at 25% and lecturers at 33% for 3 months during fall and spring semesters (please consult with the Operations Director for summer appointment details).  GSIs appointed at 25% are expected to work on average 10 hours per week of their appointment.  Instructors are expected to manage teaching team duties and prioritize work activities for GSIs to not exceed 10 hours per week.

Requests for additional GSI support due to course design such as on-campus visits should be directed to the BPH Online Director (e.g. request to have more than four GSIs at 25% or hire GSIs for more than 25%). If your course has an on-campus component or is highly quantitative, you may ask for preapproval by the Program Director to appoint GSIs up to 40%.

BPH Online GSIs receive fee remission based upon the union contract negotiated and signed in 2023. Contact the Operations Director for details.

Instructors should identify GSIs to be hired two to three months prior to the course launch date to allow sufficient time to process student appointments.  For advertising and recruiting needs, contact the Operations Director for assistance.

If a candidate GSI will have combined GSI-GSR appointments within the same semester of 50% or more, an Exception Form must be prepared and signed off by the Graduate Head Advisor.  If this is the case, BPH Online will forfeit our Fee Fellowship, and will be automatically charged 50% of the GSI’s fee remissions.

A copy of the Graduate Student Appointment worksheet to be filled out by the identified candidate is included at the end of this section.  The Operations Director will oversee the appointment process.   Instructors should monitor this process to ensure GSI appointments are processed in a timely fashion.  Direct any questions about GSI hiring to the BPH Online Operations Director .

Hiring of Non Graduate Student Course Facilitators

If you identify a qualified Course Facilitator that is not a current UCB student, direct them to apply to the SPH Lectures pool () making sure to select “lecturer Pool” under the Academic heading.

Non-student Course Facilitators are appointed as Lecturers and are governed by the Contract for the Lecturers Unit (IX) between the University of California and the American Federation of Teachers.

Course Facilitator Training: Options and Requirements

Course Facilitators are trained in the basics of online pedagogy as well as how to use bCourses features.  Course Facilitators should be comfortable conducting web conferences, uploading and linking to course files, creating and sharing tutorial videos, using communication tools to create a stronger online community and using grading features to provide feedback on assignments.

Aspects of communication such as tone are just as important in an online setting as a face-to-face one, and Course Facilitators need to be trained on tools and techniques to model these important attributes in their online communications.

Make arrangements for your GSIs to attend a training session with the ID team every term they teach. These sessions will provide general training on the latest in course features, updates on BPH Online processes and policies, and guidelines on communication standards. BPH Online recognizes that the primary role of the GSIs is to support the instructor with grading, but we also want this to be a positive growth experience for the GSIs, many of whom will be involved in instruction or training in their careers. The ID team is a great resource for future educators and trainers.

GSIs for online courses are required to complete campus-wide requirements for first-time GSIs if they have done so already.  Instructors are responsible for directing first time GSIs to “First-Time GSI Requirements” and how and when to sign up for “Pedagogy Course for First-Time GSIs” sections.  Details of these campus wide requirements are found at:

http://gsi.berkeley.edu/basics-for-gsis/first-time-requirements/

On-Campus/Online Professional MPH Degree Program

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ON-LINE COURSE INSTRUCTIONS:

GSIs are appointed at 25% basis (10 working hours per week).

[NOTE] Special considerations for increased GSI appointment percentages can be approved by the Program Director upon written requests with explanations for the needs for increased efforts by GSIs. Written requests must be submitted to the Program Director PRIOR to increases in GSI’s workload.

If you are a first-time GSI, you must enroll in a GSI Pedagogical Training Course. Visit http://gsi.berkeley.edu/basics-for-gsis/pedagogy-course/ for more information.

**please note GSI’s monthly payment is fixed and paid accordingly to appointment percentages.  Fall semester’s appointment periods for BPH Online are from [8/1 to 10/31],[10/1 to 12/31] and Spring semester’s appointment periods for BPH Online are from [1/1 to 3/31],[3/1 to 5/31].

Signatures:

TO BE COMPLETED BY STUDENT (Please print):

DURING PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT:

1. Will you be registered and enrolled in 12 or more units (except summer break)?   Yes ___    No ___

Beginning Fall 2007, the minimum units requirement to hold a GSI or GSR appointment is 12 units unless already advanced to doctoral candidacy.

If YES, how many units: _____________ If NO, on Filing Fee?   Yes ___   No ___

Beginning Fall 2002, students who are on Filing Fee status may not be appointed as GSIs or GSRs. Students may be appointed as Readers.

1. Will your appointment(s) exceed 50% time?    Yes ___    No ___

If YES, appointment(s) at 51%-75% time must be approved in advance by the student’s head graduate advisor.

Beginning Fall 2009, the authority to approve exceptions to this policy for appointments over 50% and up to 75% is delegated to the Head Graduate Advisor of the student’s academic department. Appointment(s) at over 75% time must still be submitted to the Appointments Unit of the Graduate Division for consideration as exceptions.  

1. Will you have outside health insurance & Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) waiver?  Yes ___   No ___
2. Will you have a fellowship or traineeship?   Ye s___    No ___

If YES, what kind:______________________

Award period: 10 months ___  12 months ___  Other _________

Award stipend:  $________     Fees:  $_________     Nonresident Tuition:  $_______

1. Do you have a GSR appointment at LBL (Lawrence Berkeley Lab)?    Yes _ _  No _ _
2. Your Current GPA: ________   (GPA of at least 3.0)

Beginning Spring 2010, GSR/GSI is now the same as Reader/Tutor, which is at least 3.0 GPA.

Do you have Incomplete grades?    Yes ___    No ___

If YES, how many: ________  (may not have more than two Incompletes in upper division or graduate level courses).

CONTINUING STUDENTS must provide:

1) A copy of their transcript with this check sheet and (2) a copy of their current semester enrollment.

NEW STUDENTS must provide a copy of their current semester enrollment.

School of Public Health Revised Spring 2010

Before a new course can be offered, including creating a new online version of an existing on-campus course, it has to be reviewed and approved by the SPH Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee (EPCC) and by the campus Committee on Curriculum and Instruction (COCI).  Both EPCC and COCI meet monthly.

Online courses are designated with a PHW ahead of the course number in the Course Catalog.  Courses taught both online and on campus can have the same number differentiated by the W in online course.  Course proposals for new online courses will include the (1) completed course approval form, (2) proposed course syllabus and (3) answers to Supplemental Questions for Online Course Approval Requests.  Major changes in course design (e.g., change of assessments methods), changes in answers to online submission questions, or change of instructor for an approved course have to be updated with COCI before the course can be offered again.

BPH Onine Curricular Planning Processes and Policies