Fourteen UMBC Courses Now Meet Quality Matters Certification

Tue, 16 May 2023 10:53:51 -0400
biro, hawken, online-hybrid, online-learning, pivot, qm-certification, qmi, quality-matters, quality-matters-impact

Two additional faculty have earned Quality Matters (QM) certification of their online or hybrid courses during the Spring 2023 semester following peer reviews as part of the Quality Matters Impact (QMI) program. This brings to 14 the total number of certified courses at UMBC.

Faculty participants received feedback from certified QM subject matter experts and peer reviewers as part of a formal course review. They also earned a digital credential for completing the Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) online workshop in preparation to take a course through the peer review process. The most recently certified courses are:

PSYC 100 - Introduction to Psychology

Laura Rose

Date certified: 01.03.2023

IS 607 - Introduction to Information Systems

Augusto Casas

Date certified: 03.06.2023

These faculty join others who have earned QM Certification since 2021:

AGNG 355 - The Experience of Dementia (Louise Murray)

CHEM 101 - Principles of Chemistry 1 (Sarah Bass)

EDUC 667 - Structure of English for TESOL (Mary Tabaa)

ENCH 300 - Chemical Process Thermodynamics (Mariajose Castellanos)

PBHL 100 - Survey of the US Healthcare System (Katie Birger)

GWST 210: Intro to Critical Sexuality Studies (Kate Drabinski)

SOCY 351: Health, Illness, and Medicine (John Schumacher)

EHS 115: Medical Terminology (Gary Williams)

CMSC 104: Problem Solving & Computer Programming (Chris Marron)

SPAN 102: Elementary Spanish (Maria Manni)

POLI 210: Political Thought (Lisa Vetter)

PSYC 317: Cognitive Psychology (Diane Alonso)

In partnership with the Provost's Office, the QMI pilot launched in FA2021 as an extension of the award-winning PIVOT program to recognize exemplary course design. A QM Official review provides independent validation of quality, learner-focused course design.

As of April 2023, all of the QM certified courses in the University System of Maryland are from UMBC. QM certifications are valid for five years. A course achieves QM Certification when it meets QM Rubric Standards at the 85% threshold or better and meets all Essential Standards. The newly certified courses are eligible to display the QM Certification Mark, an internationally recognized symbol of online and blended course design quality, on the syllabus or within the course. The QM Certification Mark represents these instructors' ongoing commitment to creating learning environments that provide students with a clear pathway to success.

DoIT's Instructional Technology team manages the formal review process and facilitates the fully online, asynchronous Applying the Quality Matters Rubric workshop designed to help instructors prepare for a formal course review.

For more information about the Quality Matters Impact program, please contact the QM coordinators for UMBC:

Dr. Mariann Hawken

Director, Instructional Technology