UNM Online Handbook
Accelerated Online Programs
- Introduction
- Program Characteristics
- Funding
- Students
- Faculty
- Courses
- Instructional Delivery Types
- Propose an AOP
- Launch an AOP
Introduction
Accelerated Online Programs are baccalaureate degree-completion and fully online graduate programs attracting non-traditional working adults looking for a flexible path to higher education. The goals of an AOP are to attract new student populations to the Albuquerque Campus* and generate self-sustaining enrollment* levels.
Accelerated online courses and programs are denoted with a lightning bolt icon.
AOPs are an opportunity for colleges/schools to grow though rewarding partnerships with Academic Affairs, UNM Online, the Center for Teaching and Learning, Canvas Support, IT – Academic Technologies, and Enrollment Management.
This handbook serves as a guide to Accelerated Online Programs and is a preparation tool for embarking on an AOP.
Program Characteristics
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
Sixteen-week course cycles are considered though they require thoughtful placement in course sequencing.
Generally, Accelerated Online Programs are comprised of 30-36 credit hours that are available to students on a predictable course cycle. A typical AOP student focuses on one course, sometimes two, at a time, completing 6-12 credit hours over a traditional 16-week semester. For an baccalaureate degree-completion program, the courses required to fulfill the major are designed to AOP standards – those are often 300-400 level courses* above the general education requirements – while all courses in a graduate program are prepared to AOP standards. With a limited inventory of general education courses in the AOP format, baccalaureate AOPs are best suited for students (often transfer students*) with an associate’s degree or 45-60 earned credit hours.
AOP tuition is assessed at a residency-free rate, opening educational paths to new markets. New Mexico residents in commuting distance to the Albuquerque Campus turn to AOPs often due to constraining circumstances that hinder 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. This is especially appealing to residents of rural New Mexico and those living outside the state.
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). UNM Online maintains an active social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and a blog. Staff are committed building employer and community partnerships, strengthening ties with UNM branch campuses and strengthening support for current and prospective students.
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.
Recruitment and Student Support
UNM Online supports current and prospective online students, including AOP majors. Trained as integrated advisors, staff 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 staff maintain communication with current students through welcome and mid-course email campaigns, along with weekly virtual advising hours.
The support team can be contacted during the University’s business hours by phone at 505-277-9000 or email at online@unm.edu.
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. Report's purpose is 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 analytics generated by UNM Online and for guidance on the online performance metrics required for Academic Program Review, email UNMOanalytics@unm.edu.
Academic Program Review
As of Fall 2024, online education is incorporated into academic program reviews. Following the APR master schedule, UNM Online and the APR Office collaborate to compile online curriculum performance data to share with the college/school. The college/school is responsible for supplying analytics, including justification of AOP financial viability, at both the Mid-Cycle Check-In and Site Visit stages of an APR, as outlined in the Online Education Data Requirements document.
Funding
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”, (MOPS), the name was changed to “Accelerated Online Programs” or AOPs in January 2020 to better support digital marketing efforts.
Visit online.unm.edu/analytics for an overview of recent metrics.
Impact to Existing Offerings
Because Accelerated Online Programs are intended to create new access to UNM by serving net new student populations, AOPs are expected to be self-supporting, that is successful without cross-listing, within its first three years. Tuition sharing agreements and UNM Online marketing and retention efforts are designed to support this additive offering. 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/or 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.
Support Loan
Funds to start up or ortherwise support an AOP are available as a loan and repaid with AOP revenue. Repayment is managed by the Assistant Vice President of Academic Resource Management within Academic Affairs. Funding is dependent on meeting deliverables on formally established timelines. Should the college/school choose to accept support funding, the agreed-to sum and deliverables are itemized in a Consent Form.
Support funding is a loan. It is to be recouped annually over the first three years of establishing an AOP through a transfer between the department and Academic Affairs. Departments may negotiate an extension to the payback period by request.
Stipend
An AOP course, once certified, is eligible for a $500 stipend. As a grant it is separate from a support loan and awarded upon successful course design and review.
Tuition Share
After AOP deliverables are met and Academic Affairs has recouped support funding, the AOP tuition sharing agreement will route total net tuition as follows:
- 65% to the college/school,
- 17.5% to the central tuition pool, and
- 7.5% to the Provost’s Office
- 5% to UNM Online,
- 5% to Digital Learning at the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Academic Affairs reserves the right to change the tuition share structure, in consultation with involved parties, to address the evolving economics associated with online program offerings in the national higher education environment or internal UNM financial considerations. This right is reserved by Academic Affairs in the same way that budgets and tuition for other programs are reviewed annually.
Revenue Distribution
Tuition revenue distribution to the college/school will occur at the end of each Fall, Spring, and Summer semester in which the revenue is earned.
Sustainability
Within its first three years, an Accelerated Online Program should have sufficient enrollment to be offered as stand-alone course offerings. In cases where the department has a pedagogical outcome or student demand that justifies co-teaching a section of AOP students with a section of regular online students, the college/school may cross-list an AOP course section with a non-AOP online section. At an APR's Mid-Cycle Check-In and Site Visit stages, the unit's dean and/or Academic Affairs may require revisions to the Accelerated Online Program, the Memorandum of Understanding, and planned department actions.
Students
Major Codes
An 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 Authorization Role. At myreports.unm.edu, major code information is 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 Banner Authorization Roles, staff and faculty may use their UNM credentials to log into bar.unm.edu.
Dual Majors
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.
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.
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 any 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.
Faculty
Support
UNM Online and Digital Learning at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) are readily available to support faculty in designing and teaching AOP courses.
An instructor preparing to teach an AOP course is assigned a CTL instructional designer to assist with the pedagogical and technological considerations of teaching online. CTL also offers a range of workshops on UNM’s Learning Management System (Canvas) along with Open Lab sessions open to all faculty and covering an array of topics.
UNM Online hosts Faculty Support guidance for teaching online. Questions may be directed to aop@unm.edu.
Training, Course Review and AOP Certification
AOP faculty complete trainings on regular and substantive interaction, (RASI) in Learning Central and Evidence-Based Practices for Teaching Online, (EBPTO) offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning. Academic Affairs outlined the RASI requirement in a memo to faculty. With instructional designer support, a course build aligns with the Foundational Design Elements of the Online Learning Excellence Framework, followed by review and AOP certification.
To aid in managing expectations and tracking milestones, there is a deliverables checklist.
An AOP instructor of record completes a Course Information Form for each section they teach online. It is a guided form used to collect and make public necessary student disclosures. There is a legal compliance component to online learning that the University is required to honor. Through faculty trainings, course build, review and student disclosures, AOP courses meet distance education requirements.
Courses
General Education
UNM offers a limited inventory of General Education courses in the AOP format. They are not associated with any particular Accelerated Online Program and are available only to AOP students. Offerings include courses satisfying the US & Global Diversity and Inclusion undergraduate degree requirement. AOP gen ed courses are listed on the UNM Online website and are found in the schedule of current online course offerings.
With a growing number of students entering AOPs without the necessary general education credits, there is strong demand for such courses. Offering them is also an opportunity to capture additional tuition revenue. A college/school may contact aop@unm.edu to propose one or more courses.
Minimum Enrollment
An online course is expected to generate enough enrollment to cover the cost of instruction. The decision to fund an under-enrolled course is possible with approval from the unit's dean. The enrollment minimums below are recommended benchmarks that typically generate enough revenue to cover instructional costs. Check with the UNM Scheduling Office for enrollment minimum updates.
Fall and Spring Semesters:
- 100/1000 and 200/2000-level class: minimum is 13
- 300/400-level class: minimum is 10
- Graduate-level class: minimum is 5
- A combination of upper and lower division* cross-listed offerings are recommended to meet a minimum of 13.
Instructional Delivery Types
Definitions, Business Processes and Regulatory Considerations
Refer to this link for details on the following instructional delivery types:
Propose an AOP
Contact UNM Online by emailing aop@unm.edu with a general inquiry. An online course proposal (OCP) form is not used to propose an online program.
The inquiry initiates an assurance check. UNM Online verifies the program’s curriculum according to the most current UNM Catalog and the following is determined:
- History of offerings via the online delivery type,
- The stage of a course's development in the learning management system (Canvas),
- Whether there exists distinguished recognition for design quality,
- The readiness of the instructor assigned to building the course, and
- The readiness of the instructor assigned to teach.
Next, UNM Online opens a dialog with the college/school to discuss:
- Whether the proposed AOP is appropriate for the unit’s and institution’s goals.
- The net new student population(s) the program will attract.
- The expectations and costs of committing to an AOP.
- The timing and elements of the program’s launch.
With approval to proceed from Academic Affairs, the college/school agrees to the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding via a Consent Form.
Launch an AOP
This resource describes the elements of an AOP launch. Topics include:
- Initial Documentation
- Orientation
- Promotion and Outreach
- Faculty Training
- Course Development
- Course Review and AOP Certification
- Schedule an AOP Section
- Identify an AOP Section
- Section Grouping
- Course Information Disclosures
- Student Support
- Analytics and Reporting
| Refer to Data Dictionary Term | For a Description of Handbook's Term |
|---|---|
| Campus | Albuquerque Campus |
| Enrolled vs. Registered | Enrollment |
| Upper vs. Lower Undergraduate Courses | 300-400 Level Courses |
| Transfer Student | Transfer Students |
| Ethnicity | Race and Ethnicity |
| IPEDS | IPEDS |
| Student Classification | Student Classification |
| Upper vs. Lower Undergraduate Courses | Upper and Lower Division |
Handbook Updated 12/18/2024
