Procedures for Preserving and Protecting Student Coursework, Testing, and Records
Preserving and protecting student coursework is essential for maintaining academic integrity, ensuring fair evaluation, and safeguarding students' intellectual property.
Procedures are in place to ensure that student’s records are secured by:
- User Authentication – students have their individual login credentials provisioned by the IT department through OKTA, a secure identity cloud that links all student’s apps and logins into a unified digital fabric, upon enrollment enabling them to access their own individual accounts in D2L Brightspace, MCC’s Learning Management System (LMS).
- Access Controls –
- Instructor Access
Only faculty members assigned to the course have authorization to access and make essential modifications. These modifications include managing daily announcements, quizzes, discussion boards, grade entries, and other relevant class functions.
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- Students Access
Students possess limited access to the courses for which they are officially enrolled. Their ability to view course content is restricted to what the instructor permits. Furthermore, students can only access courses that are currently active.
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- Past courses – Students are permitted to view a completed course only and cannot submit any additional course activities unless an extension is approved by the Program Director.
- Future courses – Students are limited to viewing only the title of a future course. The course becomes officially open and accessible when it becomes active.
- Submission Platform Security – In certain courses, students are required to submit homework or class activities for evaluation and grading by the instructor. Each student's submission is stored within the D2L Brightspace platform.
- Grading – Each course has a corresponding gradebook that aligns with the enrolled students in class and matches the syllabus. In D2L Brightspace, External Learning Tools can be activated to integrate course activities and quizzes directly from the publisher into the gradebook. However, certain activities like Discussion Boards require manual grading using a predetermined rubric. Additionally, embedded Quizzes/Midterm/Final exams in D2L Brightspace are typically concealed and revealed at the scheduled exam time. The customization of conditions below can be adjusted based on their relevance to the specific course.
- Security Audits and Assessments – The Online Learning Technology Manager/Program Director conducts periodic audits of active courses. These audits aim to ensure that activities and supporting book resources are appropriately deployed and synchronized with the gradebook.
