Farmingdale State College’s (FSC) Office of Distance Learning was recently honored with the 2026 State University of New York (SUNY) OSCQR Institutional Excellence Award at this year’s SUNY Online Summit. 

This prestigious, national recognition annually celebrates institutions that have leveraged the SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR) in large-scale, impactful ways leading to significant improvements in online course design, faculty engagement, and learner outcomes. Adopted as a national standard by the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), the OSCQR rubric is the industry standard for evaluating excellence in online course design and continuous improvement.  

FSC received the award for using the OSCQR rubric in faculty training and as the chief evaluative tool for four-year course renewals, a process that began in fall of 2025. The College’s Department of Distance Learning staff has also made OSCQR a key part of its professional development and Instructional Designer Nicole Garret, PhD, has earned the distinction of being the first New York State campus employee to be certified by SUNY as an OSCQR Trainer. 

“Your contributions demonstrate a deep commitment to learner-centered course design and sustained instructional improvement ... and supporting systematic, institution-wide online course quality improvement,” the awards committee remarked of Garret.

“Ask anyone who teaches online at FSC, and they will tell you that the renewal and approval process is rigorous, and that the course templates include a wealth of design details tailored to student success,” said Director of Distance Learning Brandi So, PhD, who proudly nominated FSC for the award. “We are thrilled to have received this recognition for our shared work. Our instructional designers, our chairs and deans, and most especially our faculty are at the heart of this success. And the Office of Distance Learning is indebted to the College’s faculty and academic administration for their incredible partnership, support, and commitment,” she added.

In 2025, FSC’s Department of Distance Learning earned third place in the SUNY Effective Online Practices Award Program.

Additionally, FSC Professor of Computer Security Department Emre Tokgoz, PhD, and Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology Lecturer Dan Parks were recognized as SUNY Online Teaching Ambassadors. Exemplary online educators who are enthusiastic and effective in online teaching, ambassadors have the opportunity to be online teaching advocates and to share their expertise in a variety of ways with the SUNY Online communities of practice.  

“Online teaching requires a well-developed and comprehensive platform development with a need for minimal-to-no error for the audience to follow the content and participate in the learning environment seamlessly,’ said Tokgoz, who utilizes engaging discussion platforms, his own concept-related professional experiences in real-life, and short instructor lecture videos in his detailed approach. “I always go back to my years of learning while preparing the teaching materials so that students have a well-structured understanding of the concepts.”

“I build every online course with a simple standard: Would this course have a positive impact on those students who are taking an online course for the first time?” said Parks, who utilizes his background in engineering to build courses with visual roadmaps, custom modules, interactive activities, and detailed annotation guides. “What keeps me invested is the access online teaching provides. Many of my students are balancing work, families, and full course loads. A well-designed online course doesn’t lower the bar, it removes unnecessary barriers so students can meet it.”

As the role of online education in serving students from Long Island and abroad continues to expand, the Office of Distance Learning intends to prioritize course renewal and continuous improvement, and will soon begin offering credentials to faculty and administrators who may wish to become OSCQR certified.  

For more information, please visit the Office of Distance Learning webpage. 

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