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The MiraCosta Distance Education Class Authentication Compliance and Start-of-Term Availability Procedures document describes in detail the process used at MiraCosta to ensure that DE classes are in compliance with AP 4105's requirement for student authentication. The basic expectation is that "MiraCosta distance education course sections (classes) should be available in Canvas by 12 pm on the first instructional day of the week in which they start (regardless of the class’s official start date in SURF)."

As the document notes, "Because the vast majority of MiraCosta DE classes comply with AP 4105 by being situated in a MiraCosta course management system, the most straightforward way to review DE classes for compliance is to check whether DE classes have been made available (have been published) in ... Canvas."

In brief:

On the first day of any week in which classes are scheduled to begin, the Online Education department begins checking all DE classes to see if they have been made available in Canvas. If a class is not yet available, there is a further check to see if the class schedule indicates that the class includes proctored exams, which is an alternate way to fulfill the authentication requirement.
If neither of these are the case, then the Online Education department will attempt to send an informal communication to the class instructor reminding them of the authentication requirement.
If the class remains out of compliance by 3 pm, a formal notification email will be sent to the faculty member with copies to the department chair, dean, and Student Help Desk, since they are often contacted by confused students in this situation.
By 4 pm on the second day of the term, a report on DE class availability will be provided to the Vice President of Instruction, who is ultimately responsible for compliance with the DE authentication requirement.

The MiraCosta Distance Education Class Authentication Compliance and Start-of-Term Availability Procedures document notes that some instructors of hybrid classes may wish to hold off on making their course available until their first in-person meeting, and for this situation provides the following procedure:

If you have a scheduled meeting with your DE class and prefer to “reveal” the class to students during that first meeting, you may keep most components of the class unpublished until then, but the class itself should be published along with basic information such as a syllabus and/or class home page.

Finally, you are also encouraged to review the MiraCosta Distance Education Class Authentication Compliance and Start-of-Term Availability Procedures document for suggestions on how to effectively communicate with DE students at the beginning of a class.

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