Distance education must and will improve to become more immersive and engaging for faculty and students alike; C-suite executives should not allow any pushback against last spring’s COVID-induced emergency remote teaching to stall this strategic imperative.

Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), accreditor of distance education institutions, and Higher Digital, digital strategic advisor to higher education, announced the launch of the (SEA)RESULTS® Distance Education Effectiveness Assessment, which couples trusted accreditation standards with innovative software to provide colleges and universities insight on their online programs and a plan for improvement.

The novel coronavirus and the resulting disease COVID-19 have disrupted everything and everyone, both across the U.S. and around the world. The campuses of most higher education institutions have been closed, forcing them to move classes online, requiring crash courses for faculty in emergency online teaching. (Updated and expanded, June 12, 2020.)

Higher Digital today announced a strategic partnership with the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) to co-develop the (SEA)RESULTS^® Distance Education Accreditation Assessment, providing DEAC members and Higher Digital clients with affordable access to expertise on establishing and maintaining high quality distance education programs in the face of constant technology innovation and change.