Geneseo Online Programs and Courses

Geneseo offers MS in Accounting and MS Ed in Reading and Literacy programs entirely online. In addition, we offer a number of online courses, undergraduate and graduate, during the special sessions (summer sessions and winter intersession) and a limited number during fall and spring. These courses are taught in an asynchronous and exclusively online format making them an easy option for students who are unable to be on campus.

We offer a number of online courses during the special sessions (summer sessions and winter intersession) and a limited number during fall and spring. These courses are taught in an asynchronous and exclusively online format making them a good option for students who are unable to be on campus. A few courses on campus are taught in hybrid mode, meaning there are some regular classroom meetings and some work done online, generally asynchronously.

To see what classes are being offered online, please visit myGeneseo, click on Registration, and select Browse Classes option. To determine what will be offered online, use the “Instructional Method” drop down menu. You may also search for hybrid classes using “Instructional Method.”

Open SUNY definitions of instructional modes

Geneseo’s digital learning environment is Brightspace, as of summer 2023.

• Email: brightspace@geneseo,edu for help with our digital learning environment.
• Call the Help Desk (585-245-5588) for technical help
• Find your course at brightspace.geneseo.edu, or use the tile on your my.geneseo.edu dashboard.
• Use self-help guides or to put in a ticket for help from CIT staff

Distance education at Geneseo must meet a standard for “regular and substantive interaction” in order to be eligible for Title IV financial aid for our students. All courses taught asynchronously or synchronously online should meet the following local guidelines for regular and substantive interaction, which comply with SUNY, MSCHE (Middle States Commission on Higher Education), and federal government guidelines. This document provides brief guidance on the meaning of the standard. It enables Geneseo to have a shared understanding of the standard in anticipation of a more fully developed set of policies to be approved, in the future, through shared governance. The characteristics of “regular” and “substantive” interaction detailed below are not exhaustive. Their purpose is to clarify how the terms in question are used by SUNY and Middle States and should be understood on our campus. They contain words and phrases — “reasonable,” “as appropriate” — that may be interpreted with some degree of flexibility.

Briefly, interaction is regular when
● Faculty explain clearly to their students, on the syllabus and elsewhere as appropriate, how and how often they will communicate important information about activities in the course such as assignments and assessments.
● Faculty communications are systematic and predictable, and students are able to find them easily.
● Students understand where and how to seek out their instructor for information and assistance, for example in online office hours or through scheduled appointments.

Briefly, interaction is substantive when
● Faculty themselves provide instruction, whether in synchronous meetings or by delivering original content asynchronously.
● Faculty grade or provide meaningful feedback on student work following a reasonable timetable and clear procedures communicated at the outset of the semester and periodically thereafter as appropriate. (See “What is ‘regular’ interaction?” above.)
● Faculty respond to student questions or concerns about course procedures, expectations, or content following a reasonable timetable and clear procedures communicated at the outset of the semester and periodically thereafter as appropriate. (See “What is ‘regular’ interaction?” above.)
— Endorsed by the Senate Executive Committee, January 2021

SUNY OSQR definitions of regular and substantive interaction, as of July 2021

Faculty developing online courses or revising courses for online delivery should meet Geneseo’s Course Readiness Checklist. It is expected for faculty to meet Geneseo’s current online teaching certification and to work with instructional designers to have courses reviewed to ensure they meet the Checklist.

Resources for online learning, Geneseo policies for online learning, and list of faculty who have completed the Online Teaching Institute. Current expectations for faculty who want to teach online are to complete the “SUNY DLE Brightspace Fundamentals Asynchronous Modules,” found in Geneseo’s Brightspace interface under “CPD Pilot Semester,” and to work with an instructional designer the first time you teach a course online to ensure it meets Geneseo’s Course Readiness Checklist.

Online program development is supported and governed by a committee including all deans, the Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiative, Director of Educational Technology, Director of the Center for Digital Learning, the Director of the Teaching and Learning Center, and an instructional designer. For faculty interested in developing fully online programs, the process may be found here.

Students should first attempt to resolve complaints through Geneseo’s internal campus processes and procedures in person or online: first address the problem directly with the faculty member, then if unsatisfied with the chair of the department. There are three processes if a problem needs to be elevated further, one for grade appeals, one for accessibility related problems, and one for discrimination and bias complaints. If the complaint is not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, it is the right of a New York State resident to file a complaint with the New York State Education Department’s Office of College and University Evaluation. Students may also contact the College’s accrediting agency, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Out of state students may find their state-specific contacts the State Higher Education Executive Officers.

Student Complaints under SARA

SUNY Geneseo is a member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) and follows the complaint resolution policies and procedures outlined within the SARA Policy Manual and summarized on their SARA Student Complaints page. Consumer protection complaints resulting from distance education courses, activities, and operations, that cannot be resolved using the processes above, may be submitted to the Chair of the Online Program Development  Committee at Geneseo, who will bring it to the Online Program Committee for investigation and resolution. If a student is dissatisfied with the campus-based resolution, a concern may be submitted to System Administration of the State University of New York as outlined at Student Concerns.  And, if still not satisfied, a complaint may be submitted, within two years of the incident about which the complaint is made, to the New York State Education Department as outlined on their SARA-Student Complaint Process webpage.  Effective July 1, 2026, a student may submit a complaint to the SARA State Portal Entity of the state in which the student is located and this entity will provide to the student the contact information of the SARA office at the New York State Education Department.

Please note, this process is only for consumer protection issues (for examples, see section 4 of the SARA Policy Manual) and this does not include complaints related to grades or student conduct violations, both of which are to be addressed via non-SARA processes (see general student complaints, in the first paragraph under “Online Student Complaints”). Additionally, this process is only for distance education students located in another SARA-participating state (as of January 1, 2026, this includes all states except California), whereas other distance education students, including those located in New York State, should follow non-SARA processes (see the first paragraph under “Online Student Complaints”).