Online Course Development Program

The 2023 Online Course Development Program (OCDP) provides a funding opportunity for faculty Principle Investigators (PI's) to develop robust, engaging and student centered, online and hybrid undergraduate courses. Through this opportunity, faculty can receive funding for summer salary + graduate student assistance to create course content.

Courses developed through this program carry the requirement to offer the course three times in three years. Summer offerings are allowed but do not count toward the offering requirement. Instructors who receive OCDP Awards are required to conduct assessment and continuous improvement related to the effectiveness of the delivery environment. For proposals awarded during the Spring 2023 RFP, courses must be offered for the first time no later than the Fall 2024 semester.

PI's may submit as an individual or a team, a department chair, or a department’s undergraduate curriculum chair. The 2023 OCDP funding is available for courses that have already been approved by UGC for the teaching modality in Summer or Fall 2023 or which have been submitted for consideration for these delivery modalities for Spring or Fall 2024.

Proposals for course development funds will be accepted for the following types of requests:

• Design and development of fully online courses as defined by UGC (0% of course contact hours are delivered in person and 100% are delivered online or via other distance education technologies. There are no in-person meetings.).

  • Transforming a face‐to‐face course to a fully online course
  • Developing an entirely new fully online course

• Design and development of hybrid courses as defined by UGC (Fewer than 70%, but more than 0%, of course contact hours are delivered in person with the outstanding percentage of contact hours (30% or more, but less than 100%) delivered online or via other distance education technologies. This delivery modality should reflect a reduction in the need for in-person class meetings by blending online and face-to-face delivery.).

  • Transforming a face‐to‐face course to a hybrid course
  • Developing an entirely new hybrid course

UGC definitions of online and hybrid delivery modalities can be found on page 4 of this policy. PROCEDURES AND POLICIES FOR APPROVAL OF NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSES AND UNDERGRADUATE COURSE CHANGES Revised September 2, 2022 – Policy effective September 2, 2022
(Approval of the hybrid or online course modality by UGC is required before any funds are distributed.

Submission Prioritization

Proposals for new GE courses, high enrollment and/or gateway courses will receive prioritized consideration. Additionally, proposals representing collaboration among PI's and departments and intended to serve students in multiple departments are strongly encouraged.

Important Dates and Deadlines

The timeline below shows the important dates for the OCDP Award RFP.

Submission Requirements

A course syllabus, letter of departmental support and supplemental questionnaire must be submitted with the initial proposal. As part of the approval process, a detailed budget will be required. Approval of the hybrid or online course modality by UGC is required before any funds are distributed.

Download the Departmental Support Agreement 2023

The submission form can be found at: https://ucmerced.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b7Mw5rVZMIFU5T0

What Funding is Available?

Funding amounts are limited to the equivalent of 1 summer 9^th + funds for graduate student assistance to develop course content. A small amount of funding is available for the purchase of a laptop or tablet if necessary for course development work. If a proposal is selected for funding, budgets will be refined in consultation with PIs and OCDP administrators. This program is funded by UCOP’s ILTI initiative.