The UPR-RP has established distance education policies and guidelines to support and expand the quality of the educational experience (Certification No. 49 of the UPR-Rio Piedras Academic Senate, 2015-2016 Academic Year). This policy complies with the authentication and privacy standards established by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE – 34 CFR 602.17, section g). (http://senado.uprrp.edu/cert/cert2015-2016/CSA-49-2015-2016.pdf ).
Since 2019 the UPR-RP has been the first UPR System unit authorized by the MSCHE to offer academic programs in the distance education modality. Once an academic program is approved by the UPR-RP Academic Senate to be offered online, the Distance Education Unit (DEU), under the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies, offers expert support to faculty in the areas of instructional design, curricular design, graphic art, virtual learning artifacts, development of courses in the learning portal, quality evaluation, tutorials, among others. Once the program is authorized to begin, the DEU provides online services to students related to admissions, enrollment, financial aid, and tutorials for applications related to online learning (Moodle platform, Google Suite, Microsoft Office 365). https://enlinea.uprrp.edu/estudiantes/.
The institutional Learning Management System (LMS) Moodle© (https://online.uprrp.edu/) is the preferred electronic platform, although faculty may use other course management systems. The UPR-RP provides an institutional email and password that faculty and students can customize for access to Microsoft Office 365 and the LMS platform with. All official communications must be done via institutional email and LMS platform.
The Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics with Supervised Experiential Learning offers more than 50% of the curriculum in an online format. Only the 720 hours (8 credits) of supervised experiential learning will be provided in practice sites. Students must have basic to intermediate skills in computer use. Also, will need to have a personal computer that meets the following minimum technical requirements:
- Device and Operating System
- A laptop or desktop computer running Windows 10 or above or macOS 10.10 or above.
- Chromebooks (Chrome OS), Android devices and iPhones do not meet the minimum requirements for coursework at the University of Puerto Rico.
- Memory: 4 GB or higher (RAM)
- Processor: Recent generation Intel i3 (equivalent or higher)
2. Browser
- Any standards-compliant web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge.)
3. Hardware/Peripherals
- A built-in or external microphone and webcam.
- Some students have found it helpful to possess additional peripherals, such as a printer and headphones or a headset, although these are not required unless specified by your program.
4. Access (Frequency and Permissions)
- Students will need regular access to their machine and peripherals. Daily access is recommended.
- Students should have full administrative rights to these machines to install and download applications as required by their classes.
5. Internet Connection
- Must have consistent access to the internet.
- A high-speed broadband connection is recommended with at least 2 MB upload and download speed.
6. Recommended Software and Applications
- Microsoft Office Suite (Microsoft 365 access available to UPR-RP online students)
- Adobe Acrobat Reader (Adobe Creative access available to UPR-RP online students)
- Students will receive access to Google Apps for Education, which will include special access to additional storage and privacy by using your university credentials to login.
The UPR-RP has distance education policies that comply with the authentication and privacy standards established by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE – 34 CFR 602.17, section g). These are outlined in the Academic Senate Certification 49, 2015-2016 (http://senado.uprrp.edu/cert/cert2015-2016/CSA-49-2015-2016.pdf) and are summarized below.
- The Distance Education Platforms used will be those approved by the Campus Deanship of Academic Affairs (DAA).
- Secure access to the distance education platform is individualized with the username and a password. Each student is assigned a username and password through the platform. The platforms allow the student to change their password. This guarantees the privacy of the evaluation processes, complying with the federal law known as FERPA.
- Any official communication between instructor and students about official course matters will be made exclusively through institutional email, or through the authorized platform.
- The professor will verify the identification of the student with the mechanisms provided by the Institution.
- The professor will include the rules described here in the syllabus and discuss them with his/her students at the first meeting of the class.
- As far as partial or final grades are concerned, the institution will ensure that the platform used allows each student to see only their own grades.
- No instructor will use identity verification technologies that have not been previously authorized by the Dean of Academic Affairs and incorporated as an amendment to these regulations.
Since 2020, the UPR-RP installed in the Moodle platform Respondus Lock Down Browser/Respondus Monitor* tools as a verifier of academic honesty and deterrent to cheating. Updates to these policies occur periodically.
[*Monitor records of the entire testing session on the student’s webcam and uses software to detect possible cheating behaviors.]