Frequently Asked Questions

What is the OETA?

The Online Excellence Teaching Academy (OETA) is an initiative established by Bellevue College President Locke in 2022. The initiative supports faculty who teach online through professional development offered as a series of required courses.


FAQs

Faculty who wish to teach an online course must complete Phase One and Phase Two requirements.

  • Phase One – Complete within one (1) quarter of their start date.
  • Phase Two – Complete within one (1) year of their start date.

Phase One requirements

  • OETA – 1: Canvas Procedures and Guidelines
  • OETA – 2: Canvas 101 
  • OETA – 3: Essential Components of a Quality Online Course

Phase Two requirements

  • OETA – 4: Tech Skills for Online Teachers
  • OETA – 5: High 5 in the Online Classroom
  • OETA – 6: Copyright and OER Information for Instructors
  • OETA – 7: Accessibility Review with an Instructional Designer

Yes. Stipends are paid at the completion of Phase One and at the completion of Phase Two. eLearning will submit stipend requests at the end of each month for Phases completed in that month. The first request will occur at the end of Sept., 2022.

Payment is made at the completion of a Phase, not at the completion of a course/training.

eLearning will submit payment requests at the end of each month. Expect to see the stipend in your check within 2-4 weeks after that.

The stipend amount information was provided by Rob Viens in his email to the College on Aug. 8, 2022. If you did not receive this email or have any questions then please contact the OETA by email: oeta@bellevuecollege.edu  (link to LOA)

That’s great if you already completed some of the requirements. Previously completed requirements should be registered via a badge in the OETA pathway.

If you believe that you previously completed one of the requirements but don’t see a badge, please email oeta@bellevuecollege.edu.

If you were previously paid for that PD, your stipend amount for the OETA phase will be reduced accordingly.

That’s up to you. Since we have limited offerings every quarter, we recommend that you take the workshops when they are offered. This will be to your advantage, if you do get an online class assigned.

For new faculty to be eligible to be assigned an online course, training must be completed by the following timelines:

  • Phase One – Complete within one (1) quarter of their start date.
  • Phase Two – Complete within one (1) year of their start date.

There also may be more ease with scheduling this PD as the required courses/trainings will be offered with more frequency in the 22-23 academic year.

For new faculty to be eligible to be assigned an online course, training must be completed by the following timelines:

  • Phase One – Complete within one (1) quarter of their start date.
  • Phase Two – Complete within one (1) year of their start date.

All OETA requirement completions are being tracked through a badging system previously known as Badge (now Canvas Credentials).

As the requirements are met (either by course/task completion or by an allowable substitute), you will earn a badge. These badges are part of a pathway that automatically awards a Phase One and a Phase Two badge for completion of that phase. A final OETA Certified Instructor Badge will be awarded when you complete both Phase Two and Phase Two requirements.

Please email oeta@bellevuecollege.edu if you have questions about your payment.

Faculty who have been teaching online at Bellevue College for two or more years, or who have already completed the eLearning “Canvas 101” course, can elect to undergo a brief course review to reduce the training hours in Phase One to seven (7) hours. Faculty who elect this option will receive a stipend of $300 for completion of Phase One.

Should the College determine that a faculty member has completed part of the training in the past five (5) years through other means (e.g. an equivalent Faculty Commons course or completed the Quality Matters course) then the faculty member may elect not to retake the course and their Phase One or Phase Two stipend will be reduced by the amount they were paid when they completed the equivalent training.

Yes, this program is a requirement to teach an online class. You will need to complete Phase One and Phase Two requirements.

For new faculty to be eligible to be assigned an online course, training must be completed by the following timelines:

  • Phase One – Complete within one (1) quarter of their start date.
  • Phase Two – Complete within one (1) year of their start date.

As stated in Rob Vien’s email dated August 8, 2022:

 We have learned a lot during our two-year journey through the new world of remote learning. Among these lessons are: (1) online education is here to stay as a growing part of how we teach; (2) faculty want support to design and deliver top-notch online courses; and (3) there is significantly more competition in the online education landscape and we need to find ways to stand out when students choose where to enroll. 

TidyUP is a tool that is part of Cidi Labs, and it is used to easily delete and manage unused files, duplicate files, and unused pages in Canvas. This is an excellent tool for improving the course accessibility for your students. Directions for using TidyUP are provided within step 1 of OETA-07 course. Please contact the OETA at oeta@bellevuecollege.edu , if you have questions after reviewing the directions on the 07 class site.

Additional information is provided in this short video:

If you are a new faculty member scheduled to teach online, you will need to complete Phase 1 of the OETA in your first quarter at Bellevue College. You have up to one year from your hire date to complete Phase 2 if you want to continue teaching online.

In order to start the OETA training before the quarter in which you are teaching, you

  • must be officially an employee – your department needs to complete the official hiring paperwork, before enrolling for training. Check with your Dean.
  • need a NetID and a BC email
  • need to have a class assigned
  • payment will be via a stipend, even when the teaching contract hasn’t started
  • there will be no bonus stipend for early completion

For example, a new faculty for Fall 2023, can complete OETA Phase 1 in Fall and OETA Phase 2 in Winter.

Last Updated January 26, 2024