Online Program Development Process

Online Program Development Process

Contact the Ohio State Online team to learn about the steps required to develop an online program at Ohio State. 

Process Details

  1. Meet with the Ohio State Online team.
    You'll discuss your proposed program and enrollment goals, learn about Ohio State Online services available for online programs, review the approval and development process, and identify next steps. 

  2. Meet with your department and college curricular dean or chair and committee.
    You'll discuss expectations and deadlines for proposal review and course changes upon program approval. 

  3. Meet with the Ohio State Online Enrollment, Course Design, and State Authorization teams.
    You'll discuss enrollment goals, market analysis, program course design desires and examples, marketing and recruitment, and plans to expand the program beyond Ohio (if applicable). 

  4. Learn about the differential tuition approval process (if applicable). 

  5. Review Graduate School and/or Council on Academic Affairs (CAA) proposal guidelines and past proposals.

  1. Develop and submit your proposal for approval to the appropriate department and college curricular committees. 

  2. Complete the Ohio State Online Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

  3. Submit your proposal and your completed MOU for approval to the Graduate School and/or CAA

  1. Meet with the Ohio State Online instructional design team to begin course design.
    Your courses will be added to our course design schedule at this time. Courses are designed one to two semesters before the term of offer. 

  2. Schedule a follow-up meeting for instructors designing courses and the Ohio State Online team.
    You'll discuss course design, and instructors will get familiarized with resources and the course design process. 

  3. Submit applicable courses for online delivery and any course revisions to curriculm.osu.edu. 

  4. Meet with the State Authorization team to understand the requirements, service, and process for obtaining authorization.

  5. Meet with the Ohio State Online marketing team to begin the development of your program's customized marketing plan and Ohio State Online web page content.


Final Steps

  1. If applicable, obtain approval from the University Senate, Board of Trustees, and Ohio Department of Higher Education. (These approvals typically apply to Change of Delivery and New Program proposals.) 

  2. The Registrar assigns CIP, CPP, and ONL codes to your program. 

  3. Create an application in partnership with Undergraduate or Graduate Admissions. 

  4. Partner with the Ohio State Online marketing and recruitment teams to begin attracting and enrolling students in your program.


Program Administration 

  1. Prepare for application reviews, advising, student support, etc. 

  2. Admit and enroll students, labeling students in the student information system with the Distance Education (ONL) sub-plan. 

  3. Meet with the Ohio State Online team for regular check-ins. 

  4. Continue to work with the Ohio State Online marketing team to share data about prospective students, applications, and program goals and needs.