The CIC Online Course Sharing Consortium (CIC-OCSC) allows member institutions to support student success, expand curriculum, drive enrollment, and generate new revenue by sharing courses with trusted partners online. The Consortium is powered by Acadeum, whose Course Share™ technology facilitates cross-registration and minimizes the administrative and support burdens of online course sharing.
Highlights of the CIC-OCSC:
- Institutions can enroll their students in courses offered by other member institutions and can open their courses to enrollment from across the Consortium. Members can choose to do either or both.
- Course development and faculty approval processes mirror typical campus policies and practices to ensure that shared courses fully meet institutional standards.
- Transfer of credit and financial aid is easily handled through CIC’s consortial agreement and Acadeum technology, easing the burden for both students and administrative staff.
- An easy-to-use dashboard and cloud-based services reduce support demands on campus IT staff.
- Revenue sharing between institutions benefits both financially.
Hundreds of Members, Thousands of Courses
Hundreds of CIC member colleges and universities currently share thousands of courses through the OCSC.
Next Steps
To begin a conversation about CIC’s Online Course Sharing Consortium, please contact CIC’s Matt Trainum, vice president, at mtrainum@cic.edu, or Sherita Ashmon, director of State Council programs and network support, at sashmon@cic.edu. They’ll be glad to discuss your institution’s needs in more detail and, if you would like, connect the right people on your campus with Acadeum team members. Acadeum Institutional Success advisors can explain how the system works and how specific institutional circumstances can be addressed.
FAQs
How does the Home Institution monitor enrollments and the volume of courses selected and used by students?
Students may enroll in an OCSC course only if their Home Institution has pre-approved the course and approves the individual enrollment. In the catalog, students only see online courses that have been pre-approved by their institution.
How do participating institutions assess the quality of instruction in shared courses?
Home Institutions have access to course descriptions, syllabi, faculty credentials, and accreditation-related materials for each Consortium course, all of which Home Institutions can review and approve.
How do the finances work?
The Home Institution sets its own rate for an OCSC course and bills the student accordingly. The Home Institution pays the institution offering the OCSC course the rate set by the Teaching Institution. In this way, both institutions can share in the revenue that a course generates.
Because the new enrollment represents use of an empty “seat,” the Teaching Institution can charge less than its full tuition charge for enrollments in OCSC courses. The Home Institution retains the difference between its institutional fee and the fee charged by the Teaching Institution.
All payments are automatically transferred through the Acadeum platform and do not require additional institutional billing. The Teaching Institution receives 75 percent of the course enrollment fee it charges, and Acadeum receives 25 percent to support the platform. CIC receives a modest partnership support fee from Acadeum.
What are the annual costs?
(as of March 2022)
| Undergraduate FTE* | Platform Access Fee | Course Hosting Fee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 500 | $750 | $1,500 | $2,250 |
| 501 to 1,500 | $2,000 | $3,500 | $5,500 |
| 1,501 to 3,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| 3,001 to 5,000 | $5,000 | $8,000 | $13,000 |
| 5,001+ | $7,000 | $11,000 | $18,000 |
*Annual fees are based on the CIC Institutional Member’s undergraduate full-time equivalent enrollment (FTE), calculated at the commencement of each billing cycle.
Currently participating institutions with renewal dates after May 22, 2022, will be charged at these rates when they renew. Institutions joining OCSC for the first time after March 22, 2022, will be charged at these rates.
How does the technology work and does it require a significant amount of IT staff support?
The Acadeum Course Share app allows students to request, obtain approval, be billed, and be cross-enrolled for courses taken at another OCSC institution, without requiring direct integration by the local IT department. Data is moved securely via CSV files imported and exported by institutions, minimizing security risk.
Online Course Sharing Webinars
Improving Financial Predictability with Course Sharing: Stem the Retention Loss
In this webinar, Christine Lynn, director of online programming, Catawba College, explains how Catawba tracks its direct and stacked tuition, uncovering $1.3 million in saved tuition dollars. Megan Hicks, registrar, Cornell College and fellow, Acadeum Center for Excellence, provides an example of the dashboard she uses to proactively track student progress for early interventions.
View a recording.
Download the presentation slides.
Financing the Graduation Guarantee with Heidelberg University
Heidelberg University’s Bryan Smith, interim provost, and Stephen Svoboda, director of curriculum innovation and professor of theater, share how Heidelberg utilizes revenue gained as a Teaching Institution to make summer courses more affordable for students.
View a recording.
Download the presentation slides.
Supporting Transfer Students with OCSC
Millikin University’s Jeff Aper, provost, and Rachel Bicicchi, director of online learning, share how Millikin University leverages the power of the OCSC to support transfer student progress.
View a recording.
Download the presentation slides.
Retain More Students and Optimize the Curriculum
Bob Atkins, CEO of Gray Associates, provides an overview of course size optimization and how campuses can utilize this concept in conversations around financial sustainability and student success.
View a recording.
Download the presentation slides.
Download the Acadeum case study featuring Catawba College.
Download the Gray Associates program economics and curricular efficiency overview.
Improve Student Progress, Success Initiatives, and Outcomes
Mary Ann Coughlin, senior associate vice president for academic affairs, and Leigh-Ann Gomes, Director of Advising, share Springfield College’s strategy for leveraging the CIC Online Course Sharing Consortium to extend its existing student success initiatives and positively impact student outcomes.
View a recording.
Download the presentation slides.
Using Summer Enrollments to Retain Students
This webinar provides an overview of the CIC Online Course Sharing Consortium, the benefits to institutions, and how to participate, as well as examples of successful strategies for student retention and success. Presenters include Jamel Wright, president of Eureka College.
View a recording.
Download the webinar slides.
Online Course Sharing Case Studies
Armed with the ability to strategically flex their course offerings to give students more options, members of the CIC Online Course Sharing Consortium are pioneering new ways to overcome barriers to student success and develop structural solutions.
Learn how Eureka College rethought student support.
Learn how Catawba College expanded course offerings.
Learn how the University of Mount Union increased summer term flexibility.