Online Course Development Stipend Guidelines and Requirements
Course development is an exciting and creative process. Quality course design and development takes careful planning, consistent communication, and time management with instructors and instructional developers (IDs) working together. Online Education & Individual Studies (OEIS) provides full course development support to instructors, including:
- 1:1 course design consultation with an ID
- A targeted plan for the ID to develop an effective, engaging online course in Blackboard Ultra
- Aligning courses with national quality assurance standards for online learning
- Exploring strategies to enhance learner engagement
$1000 per unit Stipend
The Online Education team offers course development stipends for faculty and staff interested in obtaining funds to assist with the initial development of a credit course using the University’s Learning Management System (i.e., Blackboard Learn Ultra) and Quality Matters (QM) standards.
The stipend amount for UNI faculty/staff developing a new online course is $1000 per unit of credit. Payment of this stipend will be processed upon completion of a fully developed online course and a review by QM-certified instructional development staff from the Online Education team. Faculty and staff need to complete QM's foundation online professional development workshops (Applying the QM Rubric and Designing Your Online Course) to be eligible for the course development stipend.
Additionally, OEIS will pay a stipend for select course revisions. If you'd like for your course to be considered, please indicate this in your proposal.
Please note: all stipends are subject to the availability of funds.
- Priority will be given to the development of courses that fill gaps in current offerings, increase access to educational opportunities for adult learners, enhance existing distance education programs or are part of the new UNIFI course offerings.
- Evidence of demand for the proposed course will be considered.
- Collaborative proposals that include the coordinated development of courses applicable to online endorsements, certificates or degree programs are encouraged.
- OEIS will pay for the development of a course only once to an approved faculty or staff member. If multiple faculty members are interested in developing the same course, the department head will determine which application should be considered by OEIS.
- Faculty and staff may apply for one additional new course development stipend as long as the course has not already been developed via the course development stipend process.
- All course development applications must be approved by the faculty/staff member’s department head and dean.
- Faculty and staff must complete QM’s foundational online professional development workshops (Applying the QM Rubric and Designing Your Online Course) to be eligible for the course development stipend.
- Instructors will design the course using the standards and alignments laid out in the QM Rubric and submit their content by the agreed-upon deadline.
- Courses must be taught through the UNI Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard Ultra.
- Online Education Instructional Development Specialists (IDs) will fully develop the course in Blackboard Ultra.
- Courses will meet the academic standards and requirements of the sponsoring department and the UNI Faculty Handbook.
- All courses will align unit-level learning objectives to course learning objectives (CLOs), extant program learning outcomes (PLOs), and UNI university-wide student learning outcomes (SLOs). Instructors will submit a completed Course Objective Mapping Form to document learning objectives and alignment.
- Course level objectives and actual student achievement in an online course must be equivalent to those for the same course taught face-to-face.
- The aggregation of time on tasks, assignments, and interactions in an online course must reflect rigor and expectations equivalent to the federal definition of the credit hour—15 hours of direct faculty instruction and a minimum of 30 hours of out-of-class student work for each credit hour awarded.
- Each time your course runs, and for any subsequent online courses taught through Online Education, you are expected to work directly in partnership with an Online Education ID and to follow QM standards.
- Faculty and staff who receive the stipend will be expected to continue to develop any future online courses using the QM process and standards.
- Courses that receive the course development stipend must be offered during the first semester after development and at least one additional time during the next two years.
Timeline for Course Development
For faculty and staff wishing to offer the course during the Spring 2026 term, the application deadline is September 17, 2025. All materials must be submitted to Online Education ID by October 27, 2025.
For faculty and staff wishing to offer the course during the Summer 2026 term, the application deadline is February 4, 2026. All materials must be submitted to the Online Education ID by April 1, 2026.
For faculty and staff wishing to offer the course during the Fall 2026 term, the application deadline is May 6, 2026. All materials must be submitted to Online Education ID by July 1, 2026.
Intellectual Property Rights
All online courses are subject to the University of Northern Iowa Policy on Distributed Learning and Intellectual Property Rights. See www.uni.edu/policies/1008 to review these guidelines.
For questions regarding this application, please contact Caran Howard at caran.howard@uni.edu or 319-273-7639