All agendas and supporting documents can be found in BoardDocs.

Resources

• ACCJC Policy on Distance Education
• CVC-OEI Course Design Rubric
• NVC POCR Resource in Canvas
• NVC Clearance to Teach Online Courses
• Suggested Syllabus Statements regarding AI tools
• Minimum Standards for Classroom Technology
• POCR (Peer Online Course Review) AI Help Bot
• Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) Resources

Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)  Training and Resources

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What is RSI? 

The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) defines Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) as instructor-initiated, scheduled, and predictable engagement focused on course content to ensure active learning. It distinguishes online courses from correspondence courses by requiring qualified instructors to monitor engagement and provide proactive feedback, separating it from mere passive content consumption. 

What is not RSI? 

• Interaction is primarily student initiated.
• Online courses that rely solely on pre-recorded content without regular instructor engagement risk being reclassified as correspondence courses, potentially affecting financial aid eligibility.
• Using a publisher 3rd party website that only allows for automatically graded assignments should be supplemented with assignments in Canvas that allow individualized, thorough feedback. When possible, course activity and interaction should be kept in Canvas for documentation. Automatically graded assignments do not count as regular and substantive feedback according to the regulations 

Course Quality  

To ensure the delivery of high-quality online and hybrid courses, Napa Valley College is adopting the Peer Online Course Review (POCR) CVC-OEI Course Design Rubric and @One Standards for Quality Online Teaching.  The OEI Course Design Rubric was designed to establish standards relating to five areas:  

• Course design  
• Interaction and collaboration  
• Assessment  
• Learner support  
• Accessibility  

Download a current PDF version of the rubric: Course Design Rubric (2020)   

Best practices for Establishing RSI faculty-initiated contact:  

• Pre-course contact: a welcome email or video is emailed to students before the class begins to promote early engagement and sets the tone for the course
• First day or week of course Check-in assignment such as an icebreaker, selfintroduction, etc. (which also helps determine non-participation for 1st day and census reporting).
• Specify course policy in the syllabus regarding frequency and timeliness of all contact initiated by the professor.   
• Provide response time in the syllabus for student questions and assignment feedback (e.g. 24 - 48 hours)  
• Explain course policy regarding student-initiated contact (where to post questions, assignments, etc.) in the syllabus  
• Clarify important dates, such as assignment and assessment deadlines, not only in the beginning but also throughout the course  

Best Practices for Ensuring Ongoing RSI:  

• Individual contact with students via office hours, email, phone, or video (sign up for a free Google Voice phone number which masks your actual phone number and consider responding to student emails/messages in Canvas with an audio or video comment to personalize the response).
• Weekly announcements: Create written, audio, or video announcements that can be used to preview, summarize, or clarify course content. Post announcements with links to relevant articles or videos about course content
• Assign and monitor weekly assignments and projects that promote collaboration among students including peer review and groups
• Pose questions in the discussion boards that encourage critical thinking skills and promote interaction among all course participants  
• Participate regularly in discussion activities with students and ensure that discussions remain on topic  
• Monitor student engagement to ensure that students participate in depth  
• Include means for varied types of interaction in the course design  
• Maintain an active presence in discussion boards, chat rooms, and other interactive forums  
• Give frequent and substantive feedback throughout the course 

Additional examples of RSI in Practice 

The following are examples of how each category of substantive interaction (4a-4d) might be demonstrated regularly (as outlined in 5a-5b) in an online class. Faculty can also meet RSI requirements using other methods not listed here.  

Substantive Interaction Examples 

(4a) Providing direct instruction

• Use synchronous tools, such as Zoom lectures to deliver live instruction during scheduled meeting times, with opportunities for interactive activities or post-lecture discussions.  

(4b) Assessing or providing feedback on a student's coursework  

• Provide regular and timely feedback on student work that goes beyond brief comments such as "good job" or "great work." For example, explain why a student earned a particular grade and offer specific suggestions for improvement.
• Use descriptive rubrics for student grading and integrate meaningful and actionable feedback into rubric categories.  
• In your syllabus or communication plan, set expectations for instructor response time, grading turnaround time, and participation for both students and instructors.
• Incorporate alternative feedback methods—like video or audio—to deliver personalized and engaging responses to student work.  

(4c) Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency

• Post regular announcements that are academic in nature. These might address common mistakes, connect course content to current events, or highlight key insights from the past week.
• Provide overviews of upcoming modules and summaries of recently concluded modules.
• Share detailed instructions and expectations for assignments, including how and when they will be graded.
• Provide timely responses to student questions via email, Canvas messages, or Q&A discussion boards to clarify course material.  

(4d) Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency  

• Facilitate whole-class discussions by posting prompts and engaging student responses with critical questioning to deepen their analysis.
• Create assignments where students collaborate in small groups on course-related tasks, with the instructor providing oversight and guidance. 
• Interact with students through tools like annotation platforms, encouraging collaborative engagement with course readings or resources. 

Regular Interaction Examples 

(5a) Providing the opportunity for substantive interactions with the student on a predictable and regular basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course or competency.

• Share a communication plan with students at the start of the course, outlining how and when interactions will occur (e.g., announcements, emails, office hours).
• Hold regularly scheduled office hours and encourage students to attend.
• Provide timely responses to student questions via email, Canvas messages, or Q&A discussion boards to clarify course material.
• Make announcements, modules and assignments (including interactive assignments) available on a predictable basis throughout the semester.  

(5b) Monitoring the student's academic engagement and success and ensuring that an instructor is responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student when needed on the basis of such monitoring or upon request by the student.

• Use course analytics, early alert, and gradebook tools to track student engagement and progress and proactively reach out to students needing additional support.
• Follow up on opportunities for self-evaluation and reflection to provide feedback and guide student learning progress.
• Following exams and assessments, encourage students needing additional support to utilize office hours, tutoring services and other student support services offered by the college.  

The following are examples of activities that support student learning but do not satisfy the specific criteria for RSI.

• Recorded webinars and reading materials, either created by the instructor or curated from outside resources.
• Computer-generated feedback such as in a quiz or exam
• Humanizing interactions between faculty and students that are encouraging or about matters outside of course content.
• Discussion forums without instructor participation
• Discussions designed solely to facilitate student community and connections 

Federal and State Regulations on Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) 

State Regulations - Title 5. § 55204 Instructor Contact 

The only notable difference between the federal regulations and state Title 5 regulations is that Title 5 includes provisions for student-to-student interaction in distance education courses, but only if such interaction is explicitly described in the course outline of record (COR) or distance education addendum. This distinction appears in subsection (a) under Instructor Contact:  (a) Any portion of a course conducted through distance education includes regular and substantive  interaction between the instructor(s) and students (and among students if described in the course  outline of record or distance education addendum), either synchronously or asynchronously,  through group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental seminar or  study sessions, field trips, library workshops, telephone contact, voice mail, e-mail, or other  activities.