Higher Education Institutions are scrambling to make quality course offerings available online in attempts to meet the needs of students as well as grow enrollments. However, at many institutions the support infrastructure (both technical and pedagogical) does not exist or is not specifically targeted toward online course development. This can lead to faculty frustration as well as the development of poor quality courses. Thus, the surge in demand for quality online courses and the lack of support infrastructure for faculty in how to develop quality online courses has led to the critical need for faculty support specifically targeted toward the creation of quality online courses. To meet this need a training program was developed at the researcher's institution and was piloted with faculty from various disciplines and levels of teaching experience. The intent of the program was to educate and assist faculty in the appropriate design and development of online course materials. The program took faculty members through a prescribed five month training and support program with the completion of a high-quality online course t as the anticipated end result. This research investigated and evaluated the effectiveness of this pilot training program by: 1) analyzing faculty perceptions of the process (both during and at the conclusion of the program) via one-on-one interviews; and 2) examining the quality of the final online courses as measured via a quality rubric and expert review. Descriptions of the training program, interview findings, and results of the quality review will be discussed and suggestions/implications for future training programs will be provided.
