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Regular and Substantive Interaction

All Distance Education courses must include "Regular and Substantive Interaction" (RSI). 

What is RSI?

RSI refers to DE standards for regular and substantive interaction, as defined in regulations and policies at the federal, state, and local levels.

Essentially, RSI requires that online courses be taught by a qualified human instructor who consistently supports students through learning the course material, just as the instructor would when teaching an on-campus course. It's meant to ensure that students have an equitable learning experience across modalities.

What are the requirements?

Most critically, instruction must be:

Substantive - defined as engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment, consistent with the content under discussion, and includes at least two of the following:

    1. Providing direct instruction;
    2. Assessing or providing feedback on a student's coursework;
    3. Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency;
    4. Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency.

Regular - including both:

    1. Providing the opportunity for substantive interactions with the student on a predictable and scheduled basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course or competency; and 
    2. Monitoring the student's academic engagement and success and ensuring that an instructor is responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student when needed on the basis of such monitoring, or upon request by the student.

Below, you can explore RSI in relevant regulations and policies:

RSI is outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations: Title 34: §600.2.

Distance Education means:

  1. Education that uses one or more of the technologies listed in paragraphs 2(a) through (d) to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor(s) and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor(s), either synchronously or asynchronously.
  2. The technologies may include:
    1. the internet;
    2. one-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices;
    3. audioconferencing; or
    4. other media used in a course in conjunction with any of the technologies listed in paragraphs (a) through (c).
  3. For purposes of this definition, an instructor is an individual responsible for delivering course content and who meets the qualifications for instruction established by an institution's accrediting
  4. For purposes of this definition, substantive interaction is engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment, consistent with the content under discussion, and also includes at least two of the following:
    1. Providing direct instruction;
    2. Assessing or providing feedback on a student's coursework;
    3. Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency;
    4. Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency; or
    5. Other instructional activities approved by the institution's or program's accrediting agency.
  5. An institution ensures regular interaction between a student and an instructor or instructors by, prior to the student's completion of a course or competency—
    1. Providing the opportunity for substantive interactions with the student on a predictable and regular basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course or competency; and
    2. Monitoring the student's academic engagement and success and ensuring that an instructor is responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student when needed on the basis of such monitoring, or upon request by the student.

The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) covers RSI in the Policy on Distance Education and Correspondence Education.

RSI is covered in the California Code of Regulations: Title 5 § 55204.

In addition to the requirements of section 55002 and any locally established requirements applicable to all courses, district governing boards shall ensure that:

  1. Any portion of a course conducted through distance education includes regular and substantive interaction between the instructor(s) and students, (and among students, if described in the course outline of record or distance education addendum), either synchronously or asynchronously, through group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental seminar or study sessions, field trips, library workshops, telephone contact, voice mail, e-mail, or other activities.
  2. “Substantive interaction” means engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment, consistent with the content under discussion, and also includes at least two of the following:
    1. Providing direct instruction;
    2. Assessing or providing feedback on a student's coursework;
    3. Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency;
    4. Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency; or
    5. Other instructional activities approved by the institution's or program's accrediting agency.
  3. Regular interaction between a student and instructor(s) is ensured by, prior to the student's completion of a course or competency:
    1. Providing the opportunity for substantive interactions with the student on a predictable and scheduled basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course or competency; and 
    2. Monitoring the student's academic engagement and success and ensuring that an instructor is responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student when needed on the basis of such monitoring, or upon request by the student.
  4. Regular and substantive interaction is an academic and professional matter pursuant to sections 53200 et seq.
  5. For purposes of calculating instructional time in the context of asynchronous distance education, a week of instructional time is any week in which:
    1. The institution makes available the instructional materials, other resources, and instructor support necessary for academic engagement and completion of course objectives; and
    2. The institution expects enrolled students to perform educational activities demonstrating academic engagement during the week.

District policies related to RSI include:

Each course's DE Addendum outlines specific ways RSI will occur.

How is RSI evaluated?

Instructors are individually evaluated to ensure RSI during DE course evaluations, and our college is institutionally evaluated to ensure RSI in our DE courses through accreditation. 

Learn more about each process:

Instructors teaching online are evaluated to ensure RSI is present during the faculty evaluation cycle, outlined in Article 19F of the Faculty Contract, including through:

  • Course tour with evaluator to show examples/evidence of RSI ​
  • Online evaluation form (evaluator completes while in your online course)​
  • Student evaluations

During our accreditation site visits, our college is evaluated to ensure we meet RSI standards. Peer Review teams review LPC's DE courses and:

If accreditors find too many DE courses without sufficient evidence of RSI, they could classify those as correspondence courses, which might jeopardize federal financial aid flowing to the college. Students in Distance Ed courses are eligible for financial aid, but students in correspondence courses are not.

RSI Resources

Instructors can help ensure they meet RSI standards by:

Student Resources

Faculty Resources