Stephen F. Austin State University

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Intellectual Property Rights for Distance Education (D-20A)

Original Implementation: April 22, 2003
Last Revision: October 30, 2007

Guiding Principles

1. The university strongly supports and encourages the development of intellectual property from faculty, staff and students. It also recognizes the importance of such property in fulfilling the mission of the university and in providing strength and vitality within the academic programs.
2. The university recognizes that faculty and students have exclusive ownership of copyrightable materials they create in the normal course of academic teaching or enrollment in classes, including, but not limited to syllabi, class notes and outlines, exams, handouts, web enhancements, etc. This policy applies only to classes in which 50% or more of the content is delivered electronically and for which the university has a compelling interest because of its obligation to deliver advertised curricular programs and courses. The compelling interest of the university is to be negotiated via the procedure outlined in the "Introduction to Categories" section.
3. The university supports the concept that ownership of intellectual property rights in distance education classes does not have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. The university believes that clarification of rights supports mutual interests of both the university and the developers of electronically delivered classes.
4. Strategic judgments about distance course development or the development of whole degree programs offered via distance education media are to be driven by curricular needs identified and approved by appropriate faculty, chairs, and deans of the colleges involved and in consultation with the director of OIT. Expansion of distance education course offerings should be the result of careful strategic planning to maximize student enrollment and to meet the needs of students. In this process the university should promote programmatic and faculty strengths while seeking a distinctive niche in the distance education marketplace.
5. Members of the academic faculty are expected to maintain currency in their professional activities and technological innovations to enhance courses they teach. This may range from simply placing course syllabi online to the development and delivery of complete distance education courses. While faculty should not be compelled against their wishes to create distance education classes as "works made for hire," the strategic mission of the university and the needs of the curricula may compel the university to seek and hire faculty and staff who possess these skills or are willing to complete the training necessary to acquire them. In extreme cases, when it is not possible to develop courses critical to the delivery of online programs with existing faculty and staff, the university may be compelled to develop them through "work for hire" contractual arrangements outside the university community.
6. This policy shall apply to all persons employed by Stephen F. Austin State University, to anyone using SFASU facilities or resources under the supervision of SFASU personnel, and to all SFASU students.
7. The intent of this policy is that the university-supported development of distance education courses will be the decision of faculty, academic chairs/directors within individual departments and college dean, based on programmatic needs. Further, the decision about the appropriate category for each specific course will be made by the faculty, academic chairs/directors and college dean prior to the development of the course.
8. Appeals regarding the application of this policy shall be referred first to the academic unit’s chair/director and the college dean. If the concern is not resolved at this level, it may be referred to an OIT Arbitration Committee appointed by the provost and vice president for academic affairs which is comprised of one representative from the faculty, administration, and the OIT.

 

Introduction to Categories

Courses in which 50% or more of the content is delivered through Stephen F. Austin State University via electronic means except as noted below are governed by one of three categories: 1) works totally faculty or staff generated; 2) works jointly generated by the individual and university; and 3) works for hire - university generated. Decisions about the appropriate assignment of course category should be made according to the unique role of the course in the program and through negotiations between the faculty member(s), their academic chair/director and college dean and the director of OIT. Faculty members must meet with their academic chair/director and director of OIT and receive approval from the college dean prior to creating electronically developed course materials for distributed learning in order to reach and sign a license agreement as to the appropriate category. It is understood that if circumstances change, a new license agreement will be issued to reflect the new categorization. It is also understood that courses in which the university does not have a "compelling interest" may not require any license agreement with the university and can be considered the sole property of the author(s). This determination must be made (in writing) before the course is developed. (An example of a "compelling interest" for the university might be a graduate course that is part of a complete online degree program that would be jeopardized if the faculty member left the university and the faculty replacement was either unskilled or unable to create a similar course in a timely fashion.)

 

Rights of the Individual Applied to All Three Categories

• To make derivative works that do not compete with academic interests of the university; (See policy E-35 - Outside Employment.)
• To be identified as the author of the work, including the right to decide whether to allow the author's name to be displayed in association with the work;
• To use the work for teaching, scholarship, and research by colleagues or students in one's own department on the SFA campus; and
• To borrow portions of the work for use in compilations or other composite works that do not compete with academic interests of the university.

Rights of the University Applied to All Three Categories

• To control whether the university's name or logo is displayed in association with the work;
• To be informed in advance of any uses, reproductions, distributions, and dispositions of the work by the author(s) that may be construed as a conflict of interest or in conflict with the university policy on outside employment.

 

Category 1 - Works Totally Faculty or Staff Generated

Works in this category result from an individual's efforts on his/her personal time without any direct support from or through the university and without any use of university resources beyond those normally provided by the university such as a standard office and laboratory space, library facilities, and ordinary access to computers, software and networks.

Rights, responsibilities and agreements while individual is employed by the university:

• The individual has exclusive right to allow or disallow the use of their intellectual property in part or in whole by others;
• The individual has the exclusive right to market the course outside the university in a manner that does not compete with the mission or market of the university;
• The individual agrees to revise the course as necessary to meet or exceed the Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Delivered Courses as required by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB);
• The individual agrees to a review of the course by appropriate academic program leaders and OIT staff to verify that the course meets or exceeds the Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Delivered Courses;
• The individual is solely responsible for keeping the course current;
• The individual agrees to teach sections of the course as often as requested by his/her academic chair/director;
• The individual agrees to abide by all applicable university, state and federal laws. Before any use is made of intellectual property materials, the author or producer shall warrant that he or she is the sole owner of the author's contribution to the work and that the contribution does not infringe on any copyright, violate any property rights or contain any libelous unlawful material.

Portability:

Upon the individual's departure from employment by the university, the university forfeits all rights to use the course or any components of intellectual property of the individual unless permission is otherwise granted in writing by the individual.

 

Category 2 - Works Jointly Generated by the Individual and University

Works in this category result from the individual's effort in part or entirely on university time and/or with access to and use of specialized staff, facilities and equipment beyond that normally provided and/or compensation in the form of direct grants, additional compensation, or release time for course development.

Rights, responsibilities and agreements while individual is employed by the university:

• The individual has the exclusive right to market the course outside the university in a manner that does not compete with the mission or market of the university;
• The individual has the right to be informed in advance of any uses, reproductions, distributions, and dispositions of the work by the university;
• The individual agrees to an initial and periodic review of the course by appropriate academic program leaders and OIT staff to verify that the course meets or exceeds the Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Delivered Courses as required by the THECB;
• The individual agrees to revise the course as necessary to meet or exceed the Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Delivered Courses and understands that any compensation for development of the course is contingent upon adherence to Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Delivered Courses. If the individual refuses to revise the course according to the recommendations of the review process, the university retains the right to assign revision and teaching tasks to another faculty member of the university's choosing;
• The individual agrees to teach sections of the course as often as requested by his academic chair/director;
• The individual is solely responsible for keeping the course current;
• The individual agrees to abide by all applicable university, state and federal laws. Before any use is made of intellectual property materials, the author or producer shall warrant that he or she is the sole owner of the author's contribution to the work and that the contribution does not infringe any copyright, violate any property rights or contain any libelous unlawful material;
• The university has the right to use the intellectual property of the individual in a course as part of SFASU course delivery for both credit and noncredit purposes;
• The university has the right to borrow portions of the work for use in compilations or other composite works;
• The university has the right to make derivative works if the author or authors assign copyright ownership to a third party; and
• The university may not assign the use of the individual's intellectual property in the course or course components to another instructor without first allowing the Individual the options to teach the section(s) of the course being offered up to and including what is normally considered an overload for the individual.

Portability:

Rights of the individual following the individual's departure from the university:

• Non-exclusive right to use the course as part of course delivery for both credit and noncredit purposes provided the university's name or image (logo) is not used in connection with the course;
• Exclusive right to market course provided the university's name or image is not used in connection with the course.

Rights of the university following the individual's departure from the university:

• Non-exclusive right to use the course or course components as part of the SFASU course delivery for both credit and noncredit purposes without Individual consent.

 

Category 3 - Works for Hire - University Generated

Works in this category result from an individual's effort under a formal contractual arrangement with the university for the development and/or revision of courses or as a result of the terms of the individual's job description or hiring agreement.

Rights and agreements while individual is employed by the university:

• The individual agrees to develop the course to meet or exceed the Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Delivered Courses and understands that any compensation for development and/or revision of the course is contingent upon adherence to Principles of Good Practice as required by the THECB;
• The individual agrees to a review of the course by the appropriate academic program leaders and OIT Staff to verify that the course meets or exceeds the Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Delivered Courses and the appropriate standards and contractual specifications;
• The individual agrees to teach sections of the course as often as requested by their department chair;
• The university has exclusive right to use the materials generated under the terms of the contract;
• The university has the right to borrow portions of the work for use in compilations or other composite works;
• The university has exclusive right to market the course outside the university.

Portability:

Upon the departure of the individual from employment at the university, the individual forfeits all rights to use or market the course or any components of the intellectual property unless permission is otherwise granted in writing by the university. The university retains exclusive right to use and revise the course as part of the SFASU course delivery for both credit and noncredit purposes. The university has the exclusive right to market the course outside the university.

 

Cross Reference: University Policies, Intellectual Property D-20, Conflict of Interest in Sponsored Activities A-11.5, Instructor-Generated Materials A-22.1, Copyrighted Works Reproduction A-12, Distance/Distributed Education Faculty Compensation A-58, Outside Employment E-35.

Responsible for Implementation: President; Vice President for Academic Affairs

Contact for Revision: President

Forms: License Agreement for Works Totally Faculty or Staff Generated; License Agreement for Works Jointly Generated by the Individual and University; License Agreement for Works for Hire - University Generated; Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Delivered Courses.