Instructional Design Stipend

UMOnline has created an Instructional Design Stipend Fund to help incentivize faculty members to design high-quality online courses. UMOnline will pay faculty members 5% of their base teaching salary for new online course designs and 2.5% of their base salary for re-designed online courses.

UMOnline is interested in funding the development of courses that meet one or more of the following criteria:

Upper Division General Education Courses (currently prioritizing upper division courses that do not require pre-requisites.)
Lower Division General Education Courses (currently prioritizing courses that fulfill the following attributes; natural science, natural science labs, historical studies, ethical and human values, democracy and citizenship, cultural and international diversity, literary and artistic studies, language requirements, writing - all levels, and mathematics.)
Upper Division General Education Courses that fulfill multiple attributes a.k.a. “Double Dippers”
Elective Courses that do not require prerequisites.
Exploratory Studies Program Courses
Courses with high volumes of enrollment
Courses required for a Degree or Major that is currently online or to become online

Instructional Design Stipend Request Process Overview

Step 1: Submit an Instructional Design Stipend Proposal Form

Instructional Design Proposal forms are reviewed each Wednesday by UMOnline’s Scale Up Committee. Proposal requests generally take 1-2 weeks to process.

Step 2: Collaboration Meeting

After submission of your proposal form, a member of our Instructional Design team will follow up with you and schedule a meeting to discuss the following:

Determine whether the course qualifies as a new design or re-design
Determine the project timeline
Discuss the expectations and standards required to earn a stipend; i.e., MUS Quality Standards, A.D.A. Compliance, etc.
Collect any additional information needed to process and implement your stipend request.

Step 3: MOU (Memorandum of Understanding)

After the collaboration meeting is complete, our Director of Finance and Personnel will prepare a Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U.) outlining the scope of the project, timeline for completion, expectations/standards, payment information, etc.

Development will begin once the MOU has been signed by all parties.

Step 4: The Work Begins!

After the MOU is signed, you will be assigned an Instructional Designer who will work closely with you to design your course with attention to best practices in online teaching and learning, MUS Quality Standards, A.D.A. compliance, etc.

Please note, working regularly with an Instructional Designer is a required stipulation for receiving the stipend.

Step 5: Revisions and Release

Once your course is completed it will be vetted, reviewed and approved for release by a Senior Instructional Designer.

Please note, your stipend will only be released once your course has been completely designed or re-designed, and approved for MUS Quality Standards and A.D.A. Compliance by a Senior Instructional Designer.

Begin the Process!

Begin the process for a single course by submitting an Instructional Design Stipend Proposal Form today!

If you have questions regarding the Instructional Design Stipend, please reach out to Eric Vorkoeper, Director of Distance Education at (406) 243-6464.