2.2 AP 4105: College of the Desert DE Essentials

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AP 4105 Background

AP 4105 is the closest thing College of the Desert has to its own "regulations" about distance education. As a part of Title V of the California Education Code, all California Community Colleges must have an AP 4105, and they share many commonalities. But don't take for granted that if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all - the details vary a lot from college to college.

At College of the Desert, AP 4105 is approved by the Board of Trustees upon recommendation from the College Planning Council. Prior to going to the College Planning Council, Academic Senate provides updates and recommendations from the DE SubCommittee ( Local POCR) via Educational Technologies and Educational Policies committees.

The major external references that inform AP 4105 are federal, state, and accreditor standards for distance education, which are all reviewed in more detail in the next module. AP 4105's revision history:

2013, original creation
2013, to ensure compliance with accreditor expectations for distance education
2020, to align with Title 5 changes made in spring 2019
2020-21, to align with federal DE regulatory changes
Spring 2022, to align with Title 5 DE regulation updates which were made to harmonize with the updated federal DE regulations.
Spring 2024, to add information regarding accessibility and correspondence education.

Why Should You Care About AP 4105?

When a course is approved for offering via distance education at College of the Desert, the department proposing the course agrees that all online and hybrid sections of that course will be taught in accordance with this AP. There are other places where we provide interpretive guidance to faculty regarding compliance with AP 4105, including the DE Certification Course, but there's really no substitute for familiarity with the original, and the detailed requirements that it provides.

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