Quality Matters Impact

Quality Matters Course Reviews are designed for mature courses that have been taught previously and/or for courses that are fully developed online (including blended formats) such that reviewers can see all evaluated components. The following checklist can help you determine if a course is ready to be submitted for review:

• The Course Representative (e.g., you, the instructor) had time to review the Quality Matters Rubric and make modifications before the review. Faculty who are prepared for a Quality Matters review have better outcomes and get more out of the review process. The Self-Review tool also allows you to conduct a review of your own course prior to the formal review.
• The measurable course-level objectives are specified and there are measurable unit-level objectives for each of the course modules/units. The lack of course-level objectives and unit-level objectives is among the most frequently missed Specific Review Standards.
• All discussion board questions or topics are posted for review. Note: The review team does not review any student-student or student-instructor interaction. The course should only contain content, not student data.
• If the course uses email in any part of the instruction, this information has been made available to the review team. Examples of such email exchanges should be provided to the review team during its review of the course.
• All course activities, including all audio-visual components, are available to the review team. If Publisher material is used in a course, reviewers will also need login access for that content. All assignments will need to be available to the review team, not restricted to date availability.
• All assessment tools are available for review by the team. The review team will need to be able to access quizzes, exams, and tests, and it would be beneficial to the review team to also have access to the grade book as it is set-up for the “student view.”
• The review team can see and experience the course as a student would.

Your course’s QM certification will last up to 5 years. You may recertify your course and extend its original QM certification for up to 3 additional years.

You must initiate your recertification before your original certification expires and the recertification must be completed within three months of initiation. Please contact the QM Coordinator to initiative your recertification review. Note: A recertification review may be conducted only one time. After recertification expires, you must obtain a new QM certification.

There may be times when your course must be recertified before reaching the five year expiration date:

If more than 20 percent of ANY alignment standards:

• Course-level objectives (2.1) and/or Unit-level objectives (2.2)
• Course assessments (3.1)
• Instructional materials (4.1)
• Learning activities including assignments (5.1)
• Course tools (6.1)

If more than 20 percent of the course as a whole has been changed, or if any of the conditions below leads to more than 20% changes to the course:

• Change what learning management system you are using.
• Textbook changes AND the course design is constructed around the textbook.
• Any of the alignment standards are changed due to a textbook update or a new textbook.
• Redesign of a course due to increasing or decreasing credit hours.
• If the course has recently gone through a review process by a curriculum committee as a result of a regular course review cycle.

You may display the QM certification mark on your syllabus or in your Blackboard course site. You must include the following text: “This certification mark recognizes that this course met Quality Matters Review Standards.” You may not diverge from this approved language unless QM approves first. You may only use the approved graphic provided by Quality Matters for course certification, which is registered and trademarked. You may not modify the graphic in any way including color, shape, font, etc. You may not add text to the graphic to rebrand or create a logo. Please review these guidelines for additional information.

No. The graphic may only be used with the specific course that met standards — this means the title of the course AND the course representative (e.g., YOU) are the only approved to use the certification mark in that specific combination. The QM certification mark is non-transferable. You cannot apply the mark to another course, take the QM certification to another institution, or give it to another instructor who will take over the course.

Prospective faculty peer reviewers must first complete the Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) workshop before completing the Peer Reviewer Certification (PRC). Peer reviewers must have experience teaching online within the last 18 months. You must also affiliate your QM account with UMBC and maintain your peer reviewer role with QM.