The Virtual Faculty Academy (VFA) is a three-week experience that prepares you to design and teach your first online course at Seton Hill University — and it does so using the same standards SHU online courses are measured by.

You will participate in the VFA as both a student and an instructor. As a student, you move through the Canvas course, completing activities and building skills. At the same time, as an instructor, you build a real Canvas sandbox version of a course you teach or plan to teach online.

The VFA is fully aligned with the Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric, 7th Edition, and structured around the HIDOC model (High-Impact Design for Online Courses, Simunich, Gregg & Ralston-Berg, 2024). By the end of the three weeks, your sandbox course will be evaluated using the QM HE Rubric standards in a Final Tour peer review.

Why QM and HIDOC?

QM certification is a nationally recognized benchmark for online course quality. By building your sandbox course to QM standards from the start, you are not just completing a professional development requirement — you are creating a course that is already structured for peer review and potential QM certification.

HIDOC provides the step-by-step design process that makes QM standards actionable. Rather than evaluating a course after the fact, HIDOC helps you design quality in from the beginning.

Required for SHU Online Faculty

Satisfactory completion of the VFA is required to teach an online course at Seton Hill University. This requirement applies to both adjunct and full-time faculty teaching in an online or hybrid format.

All activities must be completed within the scheduled three-week session. If you cannot fully participate during this timeframe, please do not register — contact the VFA facilitator to discuss options.

Learning Outcomes

Each learning outcome is aligned to one or more QM General Standards indicated in parentheses. After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:

• LO1: Apply QM 7th Edition standards to evaluate and design an online course in Canvas, demonstrating alignment between outcomes, assessments, and instructional materials. (GS2, GS3, GS4)

• LO2: Construct measurable module-level learning objectives using Bloom's Taxonomy action verbs, aligned to course-level outcomes. (GS2)

• LO3: Design a QM-aligned course syllabus that includes all GS1 required elements. (GS1, GS3)

• LO4: Build at least three assessment types in Canvas (discussion, assignment, rubric) explicitly aligned to stated objectives. (GS3 Essential, GS5)

• LO5: Organize instructional materials in Canvas using scaffolding principles that support diverse learners, including UDL and accessibility. (GS4, GS8 Essential)

• LO6: Demonstrate instructor presence strategies across at least two of Moore's three interaction types using Canvas tools. (GS5 Essential)

• LO7: Evaluate the ethical implications of AI-generated content and apply SHU's academic integrity policies to course design. (GS3.6, GS6)

Academic Integrity & AI

All work in the VFA must be your own. If you use AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) to assist in drafting any deliverable, you must disclose this and demonstrate your own critical thinking in the final submission.

Module 6 directly addresses QM GS3.6 — the new 7th Edition standard on academic integrity and AI — and guides you through building this policy into your own course.

Time Commitment

A time commitment of at least 6 hours per week is required to achieve the learning objectives. Some participants report spending at least 10 hours per week. 

Workshop Registration Information

The Virtual Faculty Academy will be hosted within Canvas on the following dates:

• January 3 - 23, 2027 | Registration deadline is Friday, December 18, 2026

• June 6 - 26, 2027 | Registration deadline is Friday, May 28, 2027

 
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the Virtual Faculty Academy, please contact Quinto Martin by email at qmartin@setonhill.edu or by phone at 724-830-1179.  

Participation is limited to 15 individuals. Participants should register by completing the Registration Form - Virtual Faculty Academy on this page.