I encourage all faculty to know the intellectual property policies at the University, which can be found at:
https://unc.policystat.com/policy/6197184/latest/
Faculty ownership of course materials under the Policy does not change in a distance or remote learning environment. The University would have a right to use lecture recordings independent of the faculty member, which is important for continuity of instruction. Much like the course syllabus, we need the ability to use them should a faculty member leave mid-term. And again much like the syllabus, it may or may not be appropriate to use some or all of those materials in future iterations of the course. Although materials could legally be re-used for future classes, it would be challenging to pull lectures from in-person or hyflex class recordings and create a quality educational experience separate from the context of course experience with that faculty member. If the department wanted to create a digital format of the same course, even with the same faculty as lead, we would not recommend considering such a practice. It would be more cost effective and yield higher quality outcomes to re-build the course for a digital format and to produce lectures and other activities expressly for that format. In addition, ample research literature documents that applying the same approach and materials for a different format results in lower learning outcomes, and I would hope both faculty and administrators would not find that acceptable for future courses and programs. So while it might be legally allowable, we in Digital and Lifelong Learning actively discourage considering such approaches when providing guidance for administrators considering digital and online formats.
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