Training & certifications

• Only the primary instructor of an online course. Guest lecturers, TAs, graders, class managers/coordinators do not need to be certified.
• This applies to all primary instructors, including adjunct instructors and graduate students.

• The Higher Learning Commission, which accredits our universities, states that an online course is any course where 75% or more of the content is delivered at a distance.
  • At MU, this includes classes listed as OL or eL for modality. Please note that self-paced classes are, by definition, not online classes (they are correspondence courses), so this policy does not apply to instructors teaching self-paced classes.

At MU and Missouri S&T, starting the first day of the Fall 2021 term, the primary instructors need to be certified before they teach online.

• If I am teaching an online course in the Fall 2020 (or Spring 2021 or Summer 2021) term, do I need to be certified before that class starts?
  • No, the requirement does not go into effect until the first day of the Fall 2021 term.
• If I am teaching an online course in the Fall 2021, do I need to be certified before that class starts?
  • Yes.
• What if I only teach online in the spring or summer terms? When do I have to be certified?
  • The requirement goes into effect Fall 2021, and remains in effect thereafter. So, if you teach online every spring, you would need to be certified before the Spring of 2022.
• MU: Your chair will mark you after the Fall of 2021, what happens if I teach online and am not certified? Your chair will mark an “unsatisfactory” in myVita in the Teaching category.

At UMKC, this is an existing requirement. Online classes will be canceled if the instructor is not certified.

At UMSL, starting the first day of the Spring 2022 term, the primary instructors need to be certified before they teach online.

Because the Higher Learning Commission, which accredits our universities as a whole, requires this for accreditation (see specifically C-RAC Guideline 6).

Yes. The Higher Learning Commission requires it of the entire university. We are responsible both to our discipline-specific accreditation bodies and the Higher Learning Commission.

If you are not already certified, the Online Teaching Certification Seminar course takes about 36 hours over 6 weeks to complete.

A new seminar starts every 6–8 weeks. Check here for start dates and to enroll/register.

Select here to enroll/register.

Five years from the date of your last certification.

No, you will need to take the Online Teaching Recertification Seminar, which is a short course designed to familiarize you with the latest technologies and best practices.

To help navigate the certification options based on your prior experiences, we recommend reviewing either the "Credit Given Towards Certification" image in the section above or this flowchart.