OLC Institute Policies and Procedures

This document outlines the general policies for offerings delivered through the OLC Institute for Professional Development. Policies that apply only to specific Institute offerings are listed on the registration page for each individual offering.

Time Commitment

Learning takes time and effort! To meet the goals of these professional development offerings, participants should generally expect to spend 5-7 hours per week in 3-day and 7-day offerings and 7-10 hours per week in our certificate programs and 4-week workshops.

Registration

The OLC Institute for Professional Development typically publishes the workshop and program schedule in the late summer for the following calendar year. Interested participants can register for programs and workshops well in advance of the listed start date.

  • Registration closes the day of the start date of the program or workshop
  • Registrants will receive a confirmation email upon submitting payment for the program or workshop
  • To make sure our facilitators are fully prepared, we cannot accept late registrations
  • Contact OLC Customer Service if you have any questions or need assistance with registrations

Enrollment

Enrollment in OLC offerings is a two-step process. First, interested participants register for the workshop or program they are interested in; second, the participants receive via email enrollment information to the course in line with the following:

  • Registrants will receive an email five days before the program or workshop begins with instructions and enrollment information for that offering in the OLC Canvas site
  • Registrants should not share their enrollment information
  • For 3-day, 7-day, and synchronous workshops, registrants must use their enrollment information to access the OLC Canvas site by 11:59pm local time on the first day of the workshop
  • For all other offerings, registrants can use their enrollment information up to 7 days after the offering begins to access the OLC Canvas site
  • Participants will have access to the workshop or program site for one year after the workshop begins

Transfers

The OLC Institute for Professional Development aims to provide the best possible learning experience for program and workshop participants. This can be challenging when registrants request to transfer to another program or workshop just before or during an offering. There are situations where transfers are necessary, but to help us meet the high level of interaction and engagement we strive for in our offerings, please request a transfer only when it is unavoidable. For all programs and workshops, no refunds can be provided after registration.

If the program or workshop has not yet started AND if the registrant has not yet used their enrollment key to access the course in Canvas, the following policies apply:

  • The first transfer request will be granted at no additional cost
  • The second transfer request will incur a $50 administrative fee
  • No more than two transfers can be provided

If the program or workshop has started OR if the registrant has used their enrollment key to access the course in Canvas, the following policies apply:

  • For 1-day, 3-day, 7-day, and self-paced workshops, no transfers will be granted 
  • For 4-week workshops (including ID Certificate program workshops), participants may request a transfer before the end of week 1. After the end of week 1, transfer requests will be charged an administrative fee of $350. This request cannot be made more than once.
  • For all other programs, participants may request to transfer to a later cohort before the end of week 4. After the end of week 4, transfer requests will be charged an administrative fee of $350. This request cannot be made more than once.

Cancellations

OLC strives to deliver all offerings as scheduled. Sometimes, however, we must cancel a program or workshop due to unforeseen circumstances or low registration. In the event of a cancellation, OLC will provide as much advance notice as possible. Registrants will be given the opportunity to select another offering within one calendar year of the canceled offering, and their registration payment will be applied to that offering. No refunds will be given.

Accessibility

The Online Learning Consortium is committed to providing an inclusive learning environment and reasonable accommodations for all workshop participants. If you have any kind of disability, whether apparent or non-apparent, learning, emotional, physical, or cognitive, and you need some accommodations or alternatives to the learning materials, please contact us at workshop@onlinelearning-c.org to discuss your needs. It is never too late to request accommodations—our bodies and circumstances are continuously changing.

Intellectual Property and Copyright

Unless stated otherwise, the Online Learning Consortium and/or facilitators retain copyright on all program and workshop materials. Please do not copy materials or distribute them to anyone without prior written approval from the copyright owner. Content created by participants as part of an OLC offering remains the property of the participant. 

Grading Policies

The OLC Institute for Professional Development uses online discussions and assignments to engage participants in our offerings. 

  • Assignments will be due by the end of the day (participant time zone) on the assigned due date listed in Canvas. The acceptance of late assignments is at the discretion of the course facilitator provided that you inform them in a timely manner.
  • For the Online Teaching Certificate, Advanced Online Teaching Certificate, Instructional Designer Certificate, and Mastery Series programs, all requirements must be completed between the course start and end dates. No requests for extensions will be accepted after the course has ended. If you do not complete the course during the scheduled time and would like to continue the program, you must pay the course fee again to move to the next cohort.

Late and Incomplete Work

While participants have access to workshop materials for up to one year, assignments must be submitted within the dates indicated on the registration process to receive credit for completing the workshop. The due dates in a workshop are meant as guidance to help the participant succeed. Especially in longer workshops, avoid “bulk uploading” (uploading several assignments at once). Scaffolding and incorporating feedback is a key part of the learning process. No assignments will be accepted after the last day of the workshop. Participants should contact the facilitator before the workshop ends if extenuating circumstances were to arise.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism, or the passing off of others’ words, ideas, research, or other intellectual or artistic work as your own (intentional or unintentional), is not acceptable in any of the OLC offerings and may result in removal from the program. Participants are required to follow proper citation conventions when using outside resources.

Award of Completion and Badges

Once you have successfully completed a program or workshop, please make sure to download a copy of your award/certificate of completion from the workshop site in Canvas. Please note that once your access to the course expires, you will not be able to download your award of completion, and we will be unable to grant requests for certificate copies, transcripts, and course completion records.

In addition, participants who successfully complete the Online Teaching Certificate, Advanced Online Teaching Certificate, Instructional Designer Certificate (entire series), and the Mastery Series programs will receive a digital badge of completion via Credly. Participants will be sent instructions on how to access their badges once issued. Badges will not be issued for programs completed prior to 2018.

Technical Requirements

The OLC Institute for Professional Development uses online learning technologies to facilitate Institute offerings. The requirements for each type are listed below. 

Programs and Workshops

OLC uses Canvas as its Digital Learning Environment (DLE) for programs and workshops, which requires a modern, updated web browser; listed below are the system requirements:

In addition, the Institute leverages other learning technologies to engage participants and encourage meaningful interaction; these tools are embedded within Canvas and do not require additional downloads or resources.

Webinars and Live Sessions

OLC uses Zoom as its platform for webinars and other synchronous online meetings. Zoom requires an internet connection and can be accessed via a web browser, the desktop client, or the mobile app. Listed below are the system requirements: