Policy Issues 2Policy Issues in Distance EducationInstitutions providing distance education face unique policy issues which impactstudents, instructors, and the institution. This report assesses six issues that are of particular importance to distance educators, including 1) student copyright and privacy protections, 2)tuition and fee structures, 3) library resources and services, 4) copyright and ownership of course material, 5) instructor compensation and support, and 6) Internet access and connectionsupport. This assessment highlights examples of how various institutions address these issueswithin their formal policy statements and provides an analysis of each policy issue.Issue 1: Students Copyright and Privacy Protections
Policy Issue and Examples
There are numerous reasons why an instructor would want to share a student’s work with other current or future students or to capture and share a recording of students engaged in acourse sessions. The recorded sessions can be replayed for future classes and a student’s work can offer an exemplary example to other students. However, there are important copyright,confidentiality, and privacy implications associated with using a student’s work or image ineither distance or on-campus instruction. The following highlights examples of policiesestablished by the University of Michigan, the University of California system, Buffalo StateCollege, and Western Governors University to address these issues.
Student’s Copyright Protections:
Within its copyright policy, the University of Michigan outlines the copyright protections afforded to students and clarifies that a studentholds the copyright to the academic works he or she creates, including papers, projects, theses,and dissertations. Similarly, the University of California Policy on Copyright states that thecopyright to a student’s works resides with the student and clarifies that a “student’s work” is
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