6101 Regular and Substantive Interaction Procedure

Procedure

Policy Name: Regular and Substantive Interaction   

Policy Number: 6101 

Applicable Code/Law: Title 34 C.F.R. § 600.2 (amended April 3rd, 2024)   

Shoreline College values its ability to serve our diverse student population by offering them the flexibility of a variety of course delivery modes while still providing them with rich and interactive learning experiences. An essential component of these learning experiences is Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI). RSI is required to be incorporated in all classes with online instructional elements. This includes all modes of course instruction that require online submissions: including, but not limited to, Online, Hybrid, FLEX, and Web Enhanced. This work aligns with our Values including Diversity and Inclusion, Student-Centered, Quality Education and Accessibility and Affordability. It also aligns with requirements of both the U.S. Department of Education and our accrediting body, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities as follows:    

  • The U.S. Department of Education requires that all online courses offered by institutions in which students can receive Title IV funds (federal financial aid) must display evidence of “regular and substantive interaction between students and instructors.” Title 34 C.F.R. § 600.2 (amended April 3rd, 2024)   
  • The Northwest Commission on College and Universities (NWCCU) requires academic policies and procedures for instructors to implement requirements for regular and substantive interaction in their policy: Distance Education and Correspondence Education.  

What is RSI?  

Shoreline defines Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) as instructor-to-student communication, feedback, and engagement in courses; that interaction must be regular, responsive, subject-specific, and an integral part of the instructional plan. Shoreline requires at least two forms of RSI to be present in every course.  

For communication and feedback to be considered RSI, they must be:   

  • Instructor-initiated: For communication, feedback, and engagement to be considered RSI, they must be delivered by the instructor as part of their instructional plan.   
  • Regular and responsive: RSI should be timely and relevant to a student’s progress in the course. Students should have a clear expectation of when they will receive feedback and be able to apply it before the next assessment.   
  • Subject-specific: RSI must be related to the topics in the course, specifically tied to the course learning outcomes (CLOs).   

Instructor-Initiated  

For communication and feedback to meet the standards of RSI, they must be proactive and include:  

  • Feedback and communication are triggered by the instructor, not as a response to student requests.   
  • Feedback and communication must come directly from the instructor, not from publisher-generated content or artificial intelligence (AI) tools.   
  • Feedback and communication are part of the instructional plan, not ad-hoc.    

Regular and Responsive   

The second major stipulation of RSI is that communication and feedback are regular and responsive.   

  • Communication and feedback should be predictable and scheduled, meaning that students should have a clear expectation of how often they hear from their instructor.   
  • For communication, this means students should expect regular communication from the instructor. For instance, for a 10-week, 5-credit course, students should expect communication weekly.   
  • For feedback, this means students should expect to receive personalized feedback on assignments within a reasonable and documented time frame. For example, the course syllabus outlines that assignment feedback will be given within 3 days of the due date.    
  • Communication and feedback should proactively engage students with course content and reflect their progress in a course.   
  • For communication, this means messaging should reflect a student’s current progress, not a topic that was covered several weeks earlier.   
  • For feedback, this means feedback should be provided with enough time to apply feedback on the next major assessment.   

Subject-Specific   

For feedback to be substantive, it must be directly tied to the course content and learning outcomes.  

  • Feedback should be direct and personalized to the individual student and directly tied to how well they mastered the content or achieved the learning outcome. This should be provided to every student, regardless of how well they are performing in the class or if they requested feedback.    
  • This feedback provides critique, comment, and/or evaluation for work submitted by students or groups, referring to additional sources for supplementary information where appropriate, and outlines a process for growth.   
  • When using a rubric, personalized feedback should be included in addition to the language used in the rubric to meet the requirements of RSI.    
  • Substantive feedback can also be provided through course-wide communication channels if it benefits the entire class.   

While multiple forms of communication combine to make a successful online course, communication/feedback must meet these criteria to be classified as RSI.     

Available Tools  

Multiple tools in the Shoreline’s learning management system (LMS), currently Canvas, can be used to implement and administer RSI. These tools can also be used as artifacts to prove RSI is present in an online course:   

  • SpeedGrader Comments   
  • Discussion Board replies   
  • Announcements   
  • "Message Student Who” Gradebook Tool   
  • Comments in Quizzes   
  • Comments on Assignments   
  • Comments in Rubrics   
  • Video feedback   

For more information about implementing RSI in your online courses, please reach out to eLearning at elearning@shoreline.edu. Instructional Designers can assist you in implementing RSI to meet federal and accreditation requirements.   

Training and Assessment  

During the first year of a new faculty’s time at Shoreline, they are required to complete an in-depth online asynchronous training course and develop an RSI Project Plan (estimated completion time of three hours). This Plan includes the application of the concepts they learned in the course and an outline of how they implement and maintain RSI that meets Federal standards. Project Plans are reviewed by eLearning Services and feedback and support is provided.  

In their second year and beyond, faculty are required to participate in additional annual RSI Refreshers to meet federal and accreditation requirements in the form of one or more of the following:  

  • Review Training Sessions  
  • RSI Charette Workshops  
  • Rubric and Policy feedback sessions  
  • RSI Course Audit process  

In addition to training requirements, the NWCCU - Distance Education and Correspondence Education Policy requires that "The institution has established a system for monitoring or periodically evaluating its distance education programs to ensure that its instructors continue to observe such policies for regular and substantive interaction in courses/programs delivered via distance education." To satisfy this requirement, college governing bodies have approved an RSI rubric to evaluate RSI in distance education courses. Faculty will be randomly and periodically selected to work with an eLearning team member to evaluate RSI in their courses.  

Information about annual requirements will be shared broadly via multiple communication channels.  

Approvals

Reviewed and Approved by Executive Team: 07/14/2026