Certificate in Online Teaching Excellence (COTE)

Online Teaching

The next iteration of the COTE will start on Monday, March 18th 2024 for six weeks.  This program is fully asynchronous and explores the fundamentals of online teaching and learning. By the end of the program, participants will have designed and developed content for an online course of their choosing. In addition, participants will earn a digital badge and will have the opportunity of becoming online course peer reviewers and apply for our Quality Assurance Review Stipend. To register for this certificate, please use this form.

Renewing and maintaining this certification upon expiration is a very easy process. Once you complete the certificate, you do not have to retake the course again to maintain certification. All you have to do is: 

  1. Complete 18 hours of professional development related to online teaching and learning before the expiration date.
  2. Submit the Creditable Activity Form to document your hours. You can submit one form with all 18 hours before your expiration date, once a year, or once after each activity. Please use the frequency that best works for you. 
  3. From these 18 hours, at least 12 must be earned through webinars and sessions offered by the Office of Online Learning. Sessions offered by our partners such as the Teaching and Learning Center and the Accessibility Resource Center can count towards this requirement if the topic of the session is related to online teaching and learning. 
  4. You also have the option of completing six (6) out of these 18 hours by attending external events or conferences related to online teaching and learning. 
  5. If you attend a conference, only those sessions related to -online- teaching and learning count toward your COTE recertification
  6. One (1) hour of professional development represents 60 minutes of online or face-to-face attendance. You can submit in the form fractions of time (e.g. 0.5 hours, 1 hour and 15 minutes) and we will calculate the total for you. 
  7. If you have any questions about this process or the types of activities that you can attend to maintain certification, please contact us at online@uncp.edu
  8. If you have any questions about hours to complete or records, please contact Valarie Deese, Administrative Support Associate.