Online Course Review & Quality Standards
To ensure the quality of online courses at SLCC, eLearning has adopted the Bruin Benchmark, a user-friendly adaptation of the openly licensed Course Quality Review Rubric by State University of New York Online (SUNY Online). The Bruin Benchmark also includes practices recommended specifically by SLCC’s Provost’s Office, the Office of Learning Advancement, and Accessibility and Disability Services.
The evaluation rubric includes specific criteria in the following areas:
- Course Welcome
- Course Community
- Course Alignment
- Course Assessments and Activities
- Course Learning Materials
- Course Usability
- Course Accessibility
Structure
The Bruin Benchmark is composed of two sets of standards. The first set of standards is the minimum quality standard a course should implement to increase student retention and success. These standards are found in the Meets Bruin Benchmark Standards Set.
The second set of standards are additional standards that further help with student retention and success. By implementing standards in this second set, the course exceeds the minimum requirements for student retention and success. These standards are found in the Exceeds Bruin Benchmark Standards Set. The Exceeds Standards are divided into two groups: gold and blue. The gold standards are those that are shown to have a greater impact on student success than the blue standards. This set of standards is “open”; other standards may be added to this set as they are shown to be effective.
Timeline
The Bruin Benchmark became the standard on November 1, 2025. After an internal pilot of the standard in eLearning, the Bruin Benchmark will be shared broadly in early 2026.
For questions regarding the course review process and quality standards, please contact:
Bob Lindsay
bob.lindsay@slcc.edu
801-957-3989