About the Workshop
Most of us were trained to practice, or to run a lab, or to do the science. Few of us were trained to design a course. That rarely shows in a classroom, where you can read the room and adjust on the spot. It shows quickly online, where the design has to do that work without you.
Applying the Quality Matters Rubric is where you learn to do that work deliberately. It works the way peer review works in your own field, with trained colleagues applying a shared research-based standard, though here the goal is improving the work rather than judging it. The rubric’s central question is alignment. Do your assessments measure what your objectives promised, and does anything in the course actually teach it?
You leave with a QM certificate of completion, a shared vocabulary with every instructional designer at UAMS, and a way of looking at a course you will not be able to unsee. The practical return arrives later, in the questions your students stop needing to ask.
Faculty from the Colleges of Nursing, Health Professions, and Public Health have completed the workshop at UAMS.
At a Glance
- Four sessions, two hours each, on four consecutive weeks
- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Central, synchronously by Zoom
- No cost to UAMS faculty who teach online or hybrid courses
- A QM certificate of completion, which is the prerequisite for the QM Peer Reviewer Course, the required course for becoming a certified QM Peer Reviewer
New to Quality Matters? Start with Why QM? and The QM Rubric.
What It Asks of You
Eight hours in total, and we are deliberate about the format. Spreading the workshop across four weeks rather than compressing it into a single day gives you room between sessions to notice your own course in light of what you have just learned, which is where most of the real change happens.
- Attendance at all four sessions in full is required to receive the QM certificate. Partial attendance does not meet the requirement, so please confirm the full schedule works before registering.
- You do not need to bring your own course. A practice course is provided and we work from it together.
- There is nothing to submit and no test. The work happens in the room, with your workbook open in front of you.
- What you need: a computer with a working camera and microphone, a reliable internet connection, and Zoom. Much of each session runs in small breakout groups, so a phone is not a good substitute.
- Each cohort is capped at 30 participants, a limit set by Quality Matters.
What You Will Be Able to Do
By the end of the four sessions, you will be able to:
- Recognize the foundational concepts of Quality Matters
- Identify the critical elements of the QM quality assurance program, including the QM Rubric, materials, processes, and administrative components
- Apply the QM Rubric to review online courses
- Make decisions on whether the demo course meets selected QM Rubric Standards
- Apply the concept of alignment
- Draft helpful recommendations for course improvement by citing annotations from the QM Rubric and evidence from the course
These are Quality Matters’ own objectives for the workshop, and they are what the certificate attests to.
The rubric was updated in March 2026 to include guidance on the use of artificial intelligence in course design and instruction, offered as examples and considerations rather than as requirement or policy. This workshop covers it.
Register
All sessions meet by Zoom, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Central.
| Term | Cohort | Session Dates |
| Fall 2026 | Tuesday | Sept 15, 22, 29 and Oct 6 |
| Fall 2026 | Thursday | Sept 17, 24 and Oct 1, 8 |
| Spring 2027 | Tuesday | Feb 2, 9, 16, 23 |
| Spring 2027 | Thursday | Feb 4, 11, 18, 25 |
Registration deadline for both Fall 2026 cohorts: Friday, September 11, 2026.
Registration is handled through Quality Matters. You will need a free MyQM account, since the Zoom link is sent to the email address on that account.
- Create a free MyQM account if you do not already have one.
Create Your MyQM Account - Log in and enroll in your cohort. Select University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as your affiliation, then find your cohort under Dedicated Training by course code. Register Through MyQM
| Cohort | Course Code |
| Fall 2026 Tuesday | 091526_INDAPPQMR_2773_Univers-33152 |
| Fall 2026 Thursday | 091726_INDAPPQMR_2773_Univers-33153 |
Both appear as Independent Applying the QM Rubric (APPQMR): (Statewide Systems).
Two things worth knowing before you enroll:
- Check the institution field carefully. Several University of Arkansas entries exist in the QM database, including University of Arkansas Global Campus. If you select the wrong one, nothing visibly breaks, but your enrollment will not appear on the UAMS roster. Type a short search term such as Arkansas Medical, then select University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
- Two labels in the QM system are misleading. The course name begins with Independent and the format is listed as F2F. Neither describes this workshop. It is not self-paced and it is not in person. All four sessions meet live on Zoom at the scheduled times.
Quality Matters requires a minimum of five participants for a session to run. If a cohort has not reached five by the deadline, everyone registered will hear from the Office of Educational Development within one business day and an alternative will be arranged. Participants choose a cohort around their own schedules, so no one is moved to the other day without being asked first. Registering early is the surest way to keep the day you chose.
Spring 2027 registration opens later in the fall, and those course codes will be posted here once Quality Matters issues them.
Before Your First Session
Every participant works from a printed copy of the QM Higher Education Rubric Workbook, Seventh Edition, and we follow along in it during all four sessions.
On the Little Rock campus, pick up your workbook at the Office of Educational Development, Winston K. Shorey Building, 8th Floor, Office S8/13, during regular business hours any time up to the day before your first session.
Off campus or at a regional site, email sawright@uams.edu by Tuesday, September 1, 2026 and we will mail one to you.
Full directions, MyQM screenshots, and troubleshooting are in the registration guide: APPQMR: How to Register.
Accommodations
If there is something that would make these sessions work better for you, email Dr. Scott Wright before the workshop begins. You do not need to use the word accommodation, explain why you are asking, or have anything formally on file.
Some arrangements take time. Sign language interpretation and CART captioning in particular need roughly two weeks’ notice. Ask as early as you can, and ask anyway if it is already late.
Only what is needed to make the arrangement will be shared, and nothing about why.
Working on Your Own Course
The workshop uses a practice course, so you do not need to bring your own. When you are ready to apply what you have learned to a course you actually teach, that is a separate conversation and one we are glad to have.
Instructional design consultation is part of what the Office of Educational Development does, at no cost to you. You do not need to have taken the workshop first, and you do not need to arrive with a plan. Request assistance or email Dr. Scott Wright directly.
Questions
For questions about the workshop, registration, MyQM accounts, or workbooks, please contact:
Dr. Scott Wright
UAMS Quality Matters Coordinator
Office of Educational Development
sawright@uams.edu | (501) 686-5719