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 term, the primary instructors need to be certified before they teach online.

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 term, the primary instructors need to be certified before they teach online.

New faculty/instructors will be given a one-semester grace period to become certified or recertified if they are assigned to teach an online class during their first semester as a faculty member/instructor and if they do not meet the certification requirements. To review the certification requirement and determine what certification route, if any, you should take, please complete our reflective self-assessment.

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.

The Academic Council and the Online Faculty Advisory Committee were charged with providing recommendations to the Oversight Committee regarding what fulfills the existing, UM System-wide requirement that instructors teaching online courses be certified to do so prior to teaching online. The Higher Learning Commission accredits our universities and requires this for accreditation (see specifically C-RAC Guideline 6).

Recertification will occur every five years, from the date of the last certification.

• Faculty/instructors may sign up for/take the recertification sooner than that, and then the clock will start over at that point.
• The recertification will be a shorter course, focused on updated tools and technologies.