UCM, through our membership in the Kansas City Regional Access Consortium for Higher Education (KC Reache), is a subscriber to Quality Matters, a voluntary inter institutional peer-review process designed to help faculty members ensure the quality of their online courses. The QM course review process and scoring rubric, which includes 41 standards, were developed by the Maryland Online Consortium under a FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) grant. The standards require the alignment of critical course components including learning objectives, learner interactions and activities, resources, materials, technology, and assessment.

     This review process at UCM began as Quality Reache through which eight UCM faculty earned the “Rodin” award for Excellence in Online Education. In fall of 2008 when KC Reache became a statewide subscriber to QM, the door was opened for our faculty to become nationally recognized for excellence in online education. Our own Dr. Odin Jurkowski puts it this way,

“The Quality Matters Rubric provides faculty with the structure for setting up and organizing classes. Based upon research and the expertise of faculty from across the world the rubric offers not only best practices but includes the reasons behind them. Going through this process ensures students a better educational experience. "

     The QM program is funded through the School of Graduate and Extended Studies in cooperation with CentralNet and Technology Enhanced Instructional Design. If you would like to learn more about QM and how we can prepare you to submit your online course for review, contact the Distance Learning Office, 660-543-8926, or email bcarder@ucmo.edu.