Frequently Asked Questions – for USQ OCW

The University of Southern Queensland’s OpenCourseWare (USQ OCW) provides access to free and open educational resources for faculty members, students, and self-learners throughout the world. These OCW resources are in most ways identical to courses currently being taught to full-time and part- time students at USQ. However, USQ OCW does not grant credits or degrees, and does not provide access to faculty members.

The mission of USQ is to develop, enrich and serve its local and global communities. One of the key aims of USQ is to develop a knowledgeable and cultured society enriched through learning, scholarship, research, intellectual engagement and social equity. We are committed to supporting research and development that contributes to new knowledge and a better quality of life. As part of its mission, USQ has become part of the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, which has as its central tenet the simple and powerful idea that the world’s knowledge is a public good and that technology, especially the Internet, provides an exceptional opportunity to increase access to knowledge and to share it, use it and reuse it. In demonstrating our commitment to the principles of OER, USQ has become the first Australian university to become a member of the OpenCourseWare Consortium.

That is our committed intention.

No. USQ wishes to make accessing its OCW courseware as easy and simple as possible, free of charge, to learners from any background, anywhere in the world.

To find what courses are available at this time, view Available Courses from the USQ OpenCourseWare home page.

USQ OCW can be considered a web-based publication of a sample of the course materials that support a USQ education. Educators are encouraged to utilise the materials for curriculum development, students can augment their current learning by making use of the materials offered, and self-learners are encouraged to draw upon the USQ OCW for self-study or supplementary use. Course materials offered on the USQ OCW web site may be used within the licence associated with the content, course or overall USQ OCW site as applicable.

Because USQ OCW is not a degree-granting initiative, there is no registration process required for users to view course materials. There are also no prerequisites for users who utilise USQ OCW course materials in their own learning. However, each course site indicates under the ‘USQ Course Specification’ the prerequisites that are required of USQ students.

No, USQ OCW has no relationship with, grants no special permission to, and does not approve, endorse, or certify any organisations, teachers, tutors, or other service providers who use educational materials available on the USQ OCW web site in connection with their services. Except for students admitted to USQ, USQ OCW does not authorise the granting of any kind of degree, certificate, or other recognition for participation in or completion of any course of study based on or using published USQ OCW course materials.

To reference USQ OCW you must comply with the terms of the licence associated with USQ OCW and/or the specific course materials. Typically you must give credit to USQ OCW and the faculty author of the course materials anytime you use USQ OCW materials. However, any reference to USQ OCW (including the USQ OCW name in any of its forms or USQ OCW seals or logos) that deliberately or inadvertently claims, suggests, or in USQ OCW's sole judgment gives the appearance or impression of a relationship with or endorsement by USQ OCW, is prohibited.

In some cases, solutions to homework assignments, quizzes, and exams are only discussed and presented in the classroom or in password protected online systems, and not made available in print or electronic format to the USQ OCW learners. In other cases, the instructors plan to re-use the assignments, quizzes, and exams, and so they do not wish to widely publish their solutions.

Prior to making any course materials publicly available, the USQ OCW team has reviewed all material extensively to determine the correct ownership of the material and obtain the appropriate licences to make the material openly available on the Web. We will promptly remove any material that is determined to be infringing on the rights of others [See also FAQ 14 below).
The intellectual property policies created for USQ OCW are clear and consistent with other policies for scholarly materials used in education. The University of Southern Queensland retains ownership of most materials prepared for USQ OCW.

To reuse or repost materials from USQ OCW, confirm that the licence allows for the use you intend. If the licence permits reuse, you must give proper attribution to the original USQ OCW faculty author(s).
For your convenience, at the bottom of each page, we provide a citation in APA format, a copyright statement and a licence for that page.
Or you may choose to cite the resource in the following manner: ‘This material was created by or adapted from material created by USQ faculty member, (Name), (Title), (Year). Copyright © (Year), (Faculty Member's Name).’
If you want to use the course materials on your web site, and the materials are licensed using a Creative Commons licence, you must also include a copy of the Creative Commons licence, or clear and reasonable link to its URL (for example, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au/ ), with every copy of the materials or the derivative work(s) you create from it.

Because it would be difficult for USQ OCW to guarantee the accuracy and originality of materials we received from outside sources, we are not able to accept material prepared outside USQ for USQ OCW publication.

USQ OCW, prior to making any USQ OCW materials publicly available, has reviewed all material extensively to determine the correct ownership of the material and obtain the appropriate licences to make the material available on USQ OCW. USQ OCW will promptly remove any material that is determined to be infringing on the rights of others. If you believe that a portion of USQ OCW material infringes on your copyright, please contact us using the feedback page.
To file the notification, you must be either the copyright owner of the work or an individual authorised to act on behalf of the copyright owner. Your notification must include:

1. Identification of the copyrighted work, or, in the case of multiple works at the same location, a representative list of such works at that site.
2. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity. You must include sufficient information, such as a specific URL or other specific identification, for us to locate the material.
3. Information for us to be able to contact the claimant (e.g., email address, phone number).
4. A statement that the claimant believes that the use of the material has not been authorized by the copyright owner or an authorized agent.
5. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and that the claimant is, or is authorised to act on behalf of, the copyright owner.

If you do not include an electronic signature with your claim, you may be asked to send or fax a follow-up copy with a signature.

Participation of USQ faculty members in USQ OCW is completely voluntary.

USQ OCW is intended as a publication of USQ OCW course materials on the web, and not as an interactive experience with USQ faculty members. It provides the content of, but is not a substitute for, a USQ education. The most fundamental cornerstone of the learning process at USQ is the interaction between faculty members and students. USQ OCW does not offer visitors to the web site the opportunity for direct contact with USQ faculty members, though individual course faculty members may choose to list their contact information. Academic inquiries related to specific course materials may be made by utilising the Academic Volunteers International (AVI) Help Tool button which will be found in most courses.

You may translate course materials in USQ OCW if permitted by the licence of the course materials you wish to translate. USQ asks that any USQ OCW materials translated into other languages from the original language must be accompanied by the proper attribution of the original materials and include the following disclaimer:
These USQ OpenCourseWare course materials have been translated into [YOUR LANGUAGE] by [YOUR INSTITUTION] and USQ makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the materials, express or implied, including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or the absence of errors, whether or not discoverable. USQ bears no responsibility for any inaccuracies in translation. Any inaccuracies or other defects contained in this material, due to inaccuracies in language translation, are the sole responsibility of [YOUR INSTITUTION] and not USQ.

The information we learn from visitors helps us improve the USQ OCW site, and assists our foundation sponsors in evaluation of usage, access, and impact of USQ OCW on the worldwide educational community. USQ OCW collects the following information from visitors:

1. Information You Provide: We receive and store any information you enter on our web site or give us in any other way. You provide most such information when you submit feedback on the site, contact us by email, or agree to participate in a visitor survey. This information may include your name and email address, your academic status, your institution, your geographic region, how you are using USQ OCW, and what you think of USQ OCW. In all cases, any information you provide is strictly optional and voluntary and you may choose to use the USQ OCW site without ever providing this information. If you voluntarily provide your email address or other contact information, we will not share personal information with anyone without first requesting your explicit permission to do so.
2. Automatic Information: We receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with the USQ OCW Web site. Examples of the information we collect and analyse include the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the USQ OCW site; computer and connection information such as browser type and version, operating system, and platform, and; content you viewed or searched for during your visit to USQ OCW. During some visits we may use software tools to measure and collect session information, including page response times, download errors, and length of visits to certain pages. However, none of this information is personally identifiable or linked back to you individually.

Information about our site visitors is an important part of understanding and extending the impact of USQ OCW in the worldwide academic community. Individual personally identifiable information about users (name, email address, etc) will not be made available to third parties except as outlined below, nor will it ever be used for commercial purposes. We share user information only as described below.

1. Agents: We employ companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include compiling and categorising user feedback, analysing survey data or data about your use of the site, and providing customer support. These agents have access to user information needed to perform their functions, for example, but may not use this information for any other purposes. These agents are bound by non-disclosure agreements.
2. USQ OCW Sponsors: We work closely with philanthropic organisations that provide the funding that makes USQ OCW possible. These sponsors are interested in evaluating access, use, and impact of the USQ OCW Web site in order to determine if USQ OCW is achieving its objectives. We will provide information on a regular basis to these sponsors for evaluation purposes. We will not share any personally identifiable information such as name or email address unless you have given us explicit permission to do so.
3. Institutions interested in the ‘opencourseware movement’: Part of USQ’s OCW mission as an organization is to encourage other educational institutions to openly share their course materials with the world, as USQ OCW is doing. In order to accomplish this objective, we are committed to sharing what we learn in public forums, at educational conferences, and with other educational institutions. This may include aggregate data about usage of the site, feedback we have received, and the impact of USQ OCW on people throughout the world. However, in no case will we share any personally identifiable information, such as name or email address, unless you have given us explicit permission to do so.

USQ OCW is not a degree-granting or certificate-granting program. USQ OCW course materials are available for free on the web for the use of educators and self-learners. Those interested in applying to be full-time or part-time students at USQ and gain credit for their studies are encouraged to consult this page.