FAQ

textbookstack1. When does course maintenance happen?

Course Maintenance occurs…

  • When the need for updates is communicated to Curriculum Services by
    • an Associate Dean or Program Coordinator
    • an OLFM
    • an Open Learning department such as Program Delivery, or Exams
  •  When Curriculum Services anticipates that an essential resource, such as the core textbook, will become unavailable and will have to be replaced by something new
  • Approximately every 3 to 5 years as Curriculum Services manages the OL course portfolio cycle

2. Who does course maintenance?

Open Learning Faculty members are central to the Course Maintenance process. As front-line educators interacting with students in the course, OLFMs are well positioned to be aware of opportunities for improvements to the course. The OLFM responsible for updating the course partners with Curriculum Services staff to provide updated content. As the updated materials are prepared for publication by the Curriculum Services, the OLFM responsible for the updates will likely work closely with an editor, a copyright representative, and an E-Learning support technician.

3. Who coordinates course maintenance?

The Associate Director of Curriculum Services, Naomi Cloutier, and the Portfolio Coordinator, Andrea Crane, coordinate and plan Course Maintenance by working with the OLFMs, Associate Deans and Program Coordinators. The staff of Curriculum Services—the Curriculum Assistants and Open Learning Resource Coordinator, and the Editing and Copyright teams—work together with the Production, and Media teams and the OLFM responsible for Course Maintenance to prepare the course for re-issue.

calendar image4. How long does course maintenance take?

The time required for Course Maintenance depends on the following:

  • availability of an OLFM to do the updates
  • timely provision of deliverables to Curriculum Services
  • Curriculum Services staff workload
  • response time of publishers and rights holders regarding third party material used in the course
  • urgency of the updates
  • availability and predicted depletion date of textbook and resource stock on hand

5. When is the updated course available to students?

The Curriculum Development Unit is monitoring throughput timelines in a continuous effort to achieve efficient and timely handling of course materials publishing for the benefit of Open Learning students and Faculty Members.

The course is made available for students at the earliest reasonable time. Certain factors are considered to determine this date:

  • the availability and predicted depletion date of textbook and resource stock on hand
  • the significance and urgency of the updates made

6. What is the difference between course maintenance and course issues directed to FixMyCourse?

Course maintenance is larger in scope than FixMyCourse.

FixMyCourse is designed to address small, specific or technical fixes that the OLFM encounters as the course is being offered. Typically, these little fixes can be done within a few minutes by the Production team and the turnaround time is usually within a couple of days.

The FixMyCourse email address is for OLFM use only, and not to be shared with students.