Declaring that "educational quality, not financial gain, should guide where, when and how distance education is employed," the AFT on Jan. 17 released a set of quality standards for college-based distance education programs and issued a challenge to those in Congress who are proposing sweeping changes in the rules and regulations that affect online learning. Distance Education Guidelines for Good Practice is based on a survey of AFT members who teach distance learning classes, previous studies by the union and a resolution adopted at the AFT convention last summer (and also was the subject of AFT On Campus's October 2000 cover story). The guidelines call for, among other things, clear standards for content support, technical support and counseling for students, and protection of intellectual property rights and proper training for faculty. The guidelines also state that "full undergraduate degree programs should include same-time same-place coursework."

"Clearly the growing popularity of distance education calls for a close look at its application and an emphasis on developing and maintaining high standards," says AFT president Sandra Feldman. "While online and distance learning are in general good options for taking a particular course or a set of courses, this does not automatically mean that it is acceptable for an entire undergraduate degree program to have no in-class component." The report is posted in the AFT Higher Education section of our Web site.