UNM Online Handbook

Introduction

The UNM Online Handbook serves as a comprehensive guide for understanding and implementing Accelerated Online Programs (AOPs) at the University of New Mexico. Designed to support adult learners, AOPs offer flexible, fully online pathways to complete certificate programs, baccalaureate and graduate degrees. These programs are predominantly structured in 8-week course formats, allowing multiple entry points throughout the academic year and enabling students to progress at a manageable pace. The handbook outlines essential program characteristics, administrative processes, and collaborative strategies that ensure quality, sustainability, and student success. It is an essential resource for faculty, advisors, and administrators involved in the development and delivery of online education at UNM.

The primary goals of AOPs are to attract new student populations to the Albuquerque campus and to establish self-sustaining enrollment levels. They also present a strategic opportunity for colleges and schools to grow through collaborative partnerships with Academic Affairs, UNM Online, the Center for Teaching and Learning, Canvas Support, IT – Academic Technologies, and Enrollment Management.

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History

UNM’s Accelerated Online Programs (AOPs) began in Fall 2016 as an experiment to attract and better serve students who were working adults with time and place constraints that prevented them from pursuing their degrees in traditional formats. Students admitted into an AOP receive a specialized tuition rate for the AOP classes they take. Originally marketed as “Managed Online Programs,” or MOPS, the name was changed to “Accelerated Online Programs” or AOPs in January 2020 to better support digital marketing efforts.

Before committing to the development of an Accelerated Online Program, it is important to consider UNM’s commitment to ensuring that AOPs do not negatively impact existing degree offerings.

Impact to Existing Offerings

Because Accelerated Online Programs are intended to create new access to UNM and serve net new student populations, colleges and schools should plan on their AOPs developing into self-supporting and stand-alone course offerings over time. Most importantly, the launch of an Accelerated Online Program should not diminish on-the-ground and general online options available to students.

Online courses, and particularly those that are offered at a rapid pace, have been disproportionately difficult for freshmen and sophomores. Launch and continuation of an AOP must not decrease a department’s ability to offer its usual line-up of on-the-ground and 16-week format classes. Departments should consider their available instructional resources before initiating an AOP, and must ensure there are no negative consequences for existing curricula.

Target Market

AOPs are designed to meet the needs of adult learners seeking flexible, high-quality access to higher education. These programs offer the convenience of online learning, allowing students to balance their studies with work, family and other life commitments.

Tuition

AOP tuition is assessed at a residency-free rate with limited fees, opening educational paths to new markets. New Mexico residents in commuting distance to the Albuquerque Campus turn to AOPs often because of constraining circumstances that prevent in-person attendance, such as full-time employment, care-taking responsibilities, transportation limitations, military service, or personal health considerations.

A degree-seeking experience that is flexible about when and where learning takes place has strong appeal to time-strapped students. For many, access to the University is possible only through an online learning option. Residents of rural New Mexico and those living outside the state are attracted to AOPs for the same reasons.

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Course Format

AOP courses are designed in an 8-week format and quality reviewed. With the 8-week formula, a program has up to 5 entry points a year, as listed below:

Fall – First Half Term
Fall – Second Half Term
Spring – First Half Term
Spring – Second Half Term
Summer – Full Term 

In certain cases, a 16-week course may be incorporated into an AOP particularly when fulfilling service learning, internship or clinical requirements.

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Program Formats

The University of New Mexico offers several structured online program formats through a formal Memorandum of Understanding. These include:

  • Accelerated Online Program for general education courses, certificate programs, bachelor’s degrees and graduate programs
  • Accelerated Online Minor Program
  • Online + Classroom Program is a hybrid format combining online and in-person instruction

Online offerings outside of these formal formats are also welcome and may not require an MOU.

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General Education

UNM offers a limited selection of general education courses in the AOP format. These courses are:

  • Not required to be affiliated with any specific Accelerated Online Program
  • Exclusively available to AOP students
  • Designed to fulfill core requirements

Why Offer AOP General Education Courses?

  • High Demand: Many students enter AOPs without having completed their general education requirements.
  • Revenue Opportunity: Offering these courses can help colleges and schools capture additional tuition revenue while supporting student progress.

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Enrollment Expectations

To ensure financial sustainability, online courses are generally expected to generate sufficient enrollment to cover the cost of instruction. While exceptions may be made, funding for under-enrolled courses requires approval from the unit’s dean.

The following recommended enrollment minimums typically support cost recovery:

  • 100/1000- and 200/2000-level courses: Minimum enrollment of 13
  • 300/400-level courses: Minimum enrollment of 10
  • Graduate-level courses: Minimum enrollment of 5

For cross-listed courses that include both upper- and lower-division students, a combined enrollment of 13 is recommended.

Note: These benchmarks are subject to change. Please consult the UNM Scheduling Office for the most current enrollment minimums.

Tuition Share

After all AOP deliverables are met and support funding has been repaid, tuition revenue is distributed according to the following sharing agreement:

  • 65% to the college or school
  • 17.5% to the central tuition pool
  • 7.5% to the Provost’s Office
  • 5% to UNM Online
  • 5% to Digital Learning at the Center for Teaching and Learning

Tuition revenue earned by the college or school is distributed at the end of each Fall, Spring, and Summer semester in which the revenue is generated.

Academic Affairs reserves the right to revise this tuition share structure, in consultation with the college’s or school’s leadership, to reflect changes in the online education landscape or internal financial considerations. This review process aligns with how budgets and tuition are evaluated for other academic programs.

Program Sustainability and Oversight

Within its first three years, an AOP is expected to achieve sufficient enrollment to support stand-alone course offerings. In cases where there is a clear pedagogical rationale or demonstrated student demand, the college or school may request to cross-list an AOP course section with a non-AOP online section. This approach allows for co-teaching while maintaining the integrity of both course formats.

During the Academic Program Review (APR) process—specifically at the Mid-Cycle Check-In and Site Visit stages—the unit’s dean and/or Academic Affairs may require revisions to the AOP, its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), or the department’s planned actions to ensure alignment with institutional goals and sustainability expectations.

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Support Loan

Funds to initiate or support an Accelerated Online Program (AOP) are available as a loan, to be repaid using AOP-generated revenue. Repayment is managed by the Assistant Vice President of Academic Resource Management within Academic Affairs and is contingent upon meeting deliverables outlined in formally established timelines. If a college or school chooses to accept support funding, the agreed-upon amount and deliverables are detailed in a Consent Form.

Support funding is recouped annually over the first three years of the AOP’s operation through internal transfers between the department and Academic Affairs. Departments may request an extension to the repayment period if needed.

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Stipend

Once an AOP course is certified, it becomes eligible for a $500 stipend. This stipend is awarded as a grant—separate from the support loan—and is issued upon successful course design and review.

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Promotion and Outreach

UNM Online supports promotion of the UNM brand and AOP offerings through digital advertising on social media platforms and search engine optimization (SEO) marketing managed by UNM Online and University Communications and Marketing (UCAM). In most cases, lead nurturing is managed by UNM Online in close collaboration with colleges and schools. UNM Online also maintains an active social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and a blog. UNM Online is committed building employer and community partnerships, strengthening ties with UNM branch campuses and bolstering support for current and prospective students.

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Collaboration with Academic Advising

Academic advisors who work with AOP students are encouraged to join the Supporting Online Students (SOS) team. Facilitated by UNM Online staff, the group meets monthly to share insights, discuss trends, and troubleshoot issues impacting student success. It includes access to a discussion channel in Teams that members use to post questions to the community.

Requests to join are sent to online@unm.edu or by calling 505-277-9000. Though the focus of the group is academic advising support, UNM staff and faculty are welcome to join.

Student Support

UNM Online supports current and prospective online learners. Trained as integrated advisors, as opposed to academic advisors, UNM Online specialists use the term “wayfinding” to describe their role in serving online students. They find the resources needed at various points in an online learner's academic journey. They interact via phone, email, chatbot, social media, and virtual office hours and are comfortable performing “triage” for issues unique to AOP majors. For technical issues related to Canvas or other UNM-related technologies, students are directed to Canvas Support or IT – Academic Technologies.

In collaboration with Enrollment Management, the support team assists prospective students in navigating the admissions application and enrollment process. Once admitted to the University, AOP students connect with their program’s academic advisor for guidance on course selection and registration. UNM Online's specialists maintain communication with current students through welcome, mid-course, graduation and other email campaigns, along with weekly virtual advising hours.

All are welcome to attend our virtual advising hours, held via Zoom every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Mountain Time). Join us using Meeting ID: 967 7118 3893.

For additional support, the UNM Online team is available during regular business hours by phone at 505-277-9000 or by email at online@unm.edu.

Need quick answers? Meet LoboBot, our helpful chatbot available 24/7 to assist with common questions and guide you to the right resources.

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Faculty Support

UNM Online and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) are committed to supporting faculty in the design and delivery of AOP courses.

Each instructor assigned to build an AOP course is paired with a CTL instructional designer. This partnership provides guidance on both pedagogical strategies and technological tools essential for effective online teaching. CTL also offers a variety of workshops focused on UNM’s learning management system (Canvas), as well as Open Lab sessions that cover a wide range of instructional topics and are open to all faculty.

UNM Online maintains a comprehensive Faculty Resources hub for online teaching. For additional assistance, faculty are encouraged to contact aop@unm.edu.

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Training, Course Review, and AOP Certification

Faculty building AOP courses are required to complete the following trainings:

  • Regular and Substantive Interaction (RASI) – available through Learning Central
  • Evidence-Based Practices for Teaching Online (EBPTO) – offered by CTL

The RASI requirement is outlined in a memo from Academic Affairs. With the support of an instructional designer, each AOP course is developed in alignment with the Foundational Design Elements of the Online Learning Excellence Framework. Upon completion, the course undergoes a Foundational Course Design Review.

To support planning and accountability, faculty are provided with a deliverables checklist to track key milestones throughout the course development process.

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Course Information and Compliance

For each online section taught, the instructor of record must complete a Course Information Form. This guided form collects and publicly shares essential student disclosures, ensuring transparency and compliance with federal and institutional regulations. CIFs are to be completed once an online course is scheduled and before student registration opens. Once submitted, the disclosures are published within a few minutes to UNM Online’s Schedule of Online Courses. To access the form, instructors of record would log into cif.unm.edu.

Through comprehensive training, intentional course design, structured review, and clear student communication, AOP courses at UNM address distance education requirements.

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Analytics and Reporting

UNM Online collects data and generates reports on online and AOP-specific metrics. They include:

  • Enrollment counts per AOP section, examined by semester and part of term. The data is used to track AOP section counts and enrollments.
  • Enrollment counts of AOP sections cross listed with Online Max (non-AOP) sections to monitor fill rates and support decisions to add sections.
  • Monitoring whether non-AOP majors are inappropriately registered for AOP sections. Non-AOP majors are prohibited from registering for AOP sections. The AOP tuition rate is different from in-state tuition and is intended only for AOP majors.
  • Down funnel tracking of prospective AOP students who are admitted to, and attending, the University.
  • End of semester summaries, by program, of enrollment and student credit hour production.
  • End of semester student profile summaries per AOP. They are an aggregate count of student major, gender, race and ethnicity as defined by IPEDS, student classification (sophomore, junior, etc.), and geo-location.

To access UNM Online analytics and for guidance on the online performance metrics required for Academic Program Review, email UNMOanalytics@unm.edu.

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Major Codes

A student is identified in Banner by an AOP major code. Easy to spot, the code starts with the letter “X”. An AOP in psychology is coded as “XPSY” while an AOP in music is “XMUS”.

Major codes for currently registered students are accessible through MyReports, a curriculum data source available to staff and faculty with the appropriate Banner role. At myreports.unm.edu, major code are accessed by following this path: Student/Student_Reports/Class_List_Guided_Adhoc. MyReports data is updated every 24 hours. Changes are visible following an overnight refresh. For more about requesting a Banner role, staff and faculty may use their UNM credentials to log into bar.unm.edu.

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Double Major

First majors are tracked in Banner. A student pursuing a dual degree, where the second degree is an AOP, is noted in Banner only by their first degree. UNM Online has no sure way to confirm whether a student has a second degree in an AOP. The college/school is strongly encouraged to update UNM Online about AOP second majors by emailing aop@unm.edu.

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Who May Register

AOP courses are for AOP majors who are billed at AOP tuition rates. AOP tuition is different from in-state tuition. AOP students are welcome to enroll in non-AOP courses, although they will be billed at UNM’s residential tuition rates. Non-AOP majors may not register for, or receive an override into, an AOP section.

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Registration Restrictions

UNM Online works with the Scheduling Office to assign program restrictions to each AOP section. The restrictions allow only AOP majors to register for AOP courses.

If an AOP section is cross-listed with a twin, non-AOP online section, the traditional online section prevents an AOP major from registering. This is to ensure the AOP major registers for the AOP version.

Overriding a non-AOP major into an AOP section is prohibited. A program restriction error code results when a student with a non-AOP major attempts to register for an AOP section. To enroll in an online course, a non-AOP major may either register for a non-AOP section or change to an AOP major.

Conversely, a program restriction error code may sometimes result when an AOP major attempts to register for a section of a non-AOP delivery type (online max, hybrid, in-person, etc.). The solution is for the AOP major to register for an AOP section.

To verify the program restrictions applied to an online section, whether or not it is an AOP, contact Online Scheduling.

UNM Online regularly tracks registrations to identify non-AOP majors enrolled in AOP sections, and shares the information with colleges/schools who are strongly encouraged to ensure students are enrolled in the appropriate online sections.

The Working with AOP Registration Program Errors document is a guideline for advisors, available below in Resource Links.

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Proposing an AOP

To initiate a proposal for an Accelerated Online Program, follow the steps below:

  1. Initial Inquiry: Begin by contacting UNM Online at aop@unm.edu with a general inquiry. The Online Course Proposal (OCP) form is not used for proposing accelerated online courses or programs.

This inquiry triggers an assurance check by UNM Online, which includes reviewing the program’s curriculum against the current UNM Catalog and determining:

  • The history of online offerings for the program
  • The development status of courses in Canvas
  • Whether any courses have recognized design quality
  • The readiness of the instructor building the course
  • The readiness of the instructor assigned to teach
  1. Program Readiness Discussion: UNM Online will then engage the college or school in a dialogue to explore:
  • Alignment of the proposed AOP with unit and institutional goals
  • The new student populations the program is expected to attract
  • Expectations and costs associated with launching and sustaining an AOP
  • Timeline and key elements of the program launch
  1. Approval and Agreement

With approval from Academic Affairs, the college or school proceeds by:

  • Agreeing to the terms outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
  • Signing a Consent Form to formalize the agreement

This process is the same for proposing other online program formats such as for an Accelerated Online Minor Program and the Online + Classroom Program, including consent to an MOU.

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