Student Policies and Procedures
There are policies that pertain to all of DAU, and there are policies that pertain to specific regions. Click Here to access information about student policies.
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Regions/Locations
Click Here to access information about regions and campuses.
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Course Catalog
The DAU Interactive Catalog (iCatalog) provides the most up-to-date information regarding the university’s classroom and online learning assets, various acquisition career field certification and developmental guides, and alternate means to meet training requirements through various programs or partnerships.
DAU’s printed catalog is published annually on 1 October. The printed catalog contains information accurate as of the date it was published. If you would like to receive a printed catalog, please e-mail your request and mailing address to scheduling@dau.mil.
The most recent edition, including past issues dating back to 2000, is available online in PDF format. Click Here to view, print or download current/previous DAU catalog issues. Please keep in mind that updates and changes after publication are captured in our iCatalog.
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Accessing an Online Course
If you are interested in taking an online course for credit, you must first apply for the course through your Service/agency’s registration system; Click Here for instructions. Once your application has been approved and processed, you will receive an Enrollment Notification e-mail to inform you that your enrollment is active. At that time, you may access your enrollment by logging into the DAU Virtual Campus. Please note: It may take up to 48 hours for an approved application to activate in your Virtual Campus profile.
Upon accessing the Virtual Campus, you will be presented with a DoD Warning Banner. After reading the disclosure, please click “OK” and choose a login method on the right side of the page. Once you access your profile you will be presented with an “acknowledgement” window containing policy information that applies to your new enrollment(s); click on “Acknowledge” to continue to your course list. After acknowledging your enrollment, you may click on the “Launch” button to access your course-specific materials.
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Course Acknowledgement Policy
In order to avoid wait lists for Web-based enrollments, the Services’ Acquisition Training Offices have instituted a policy that requires you to formally acknowledge an enrollment within the first 21 calendar days of activation. This policy only pertains to Distance Learning (DL) courses that are part of the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) curricula; not DAU Continuous Learning Modules (CLMs).
Per DAU Directive 704, “Once a student has been notified of enrollment, the course has commenced and the student has 21 days to acknowledge enrollment. If a student has not commenced work (i.e., clicked the acknowledgement button) within 21 days of the date of the e-mail enrollment message, the student will be dropped automatically from the course as a ‘No Show.’ It is the student’s responsibility to ensure their e-mail address is accurate and current within the registration system (when applying for the course).”
To formally acknowledge an enrollment, please access to the DAU Virtual Campus at https://learn.dau.mil/. Once you login, you will be presented with an “acknowledgement” window. If this screen does not appear, it is recommended that you “Launch” your course and open a lesson at least once within the first 21 days to ensure the enrollment is marked as “acknowledged” or “in progress.”
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Navigating Through an Online Course
Once you “Launch” an online enrollment from the DAU Virtual Campus, a new browser window will appear, keeping your course list window open in the background. Once the course window opens, simply follow any directions contained in the course Welcome page, and proceed through the lessons located in the Table of Contents (TOC), which is located on the left side of the page.
Please choose from the following options for course demonstration:
When you’re done working in an online course, simply choose the “Exit” tab at the top; your list of Enrolled Courses should still be open in another window.
If you need to re-launch a course (or switch between courses), it is recommended that you first refresh the page. The refresh button will appear to the right of your Enrolled Courses list and resembles two blue circular arrows.
When you are done working in the DAU Virtual Campus, we strongly recommend that you choose the “Logout” link at the very top-right of the webpage to close your session; this will help prevent login issues and other related errors from occurring in future login sessions.
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Managing Your Studies
You can ensure that you are successful with your online learning experience by:
When you’re done working in an online course, simply choose the “Exit” tab at the top; your list of Enrolled Courses should still be open in another window.
If you need to re-launch a course (or switch between courses), it is recommended that you first refresh the page. The refresh button will appear to the right of your Enrolled Courses list and resembles two blue circular arrows.
When you are done working in the DAU Virtual Campus, we strongly recommend that you choose the “Logout” link at the very top-right of the webpage to close your session; this will help prevent login issues and other related errors from occurring in future login sessions.
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Printing/Saving Course Materials
Most online courses allow you to choose a “Print” button in the upper-right corner of the page. This option allows you to print out each lesson and, if you have Adobe Acrobat (PDF) or Microsoft XPS Document Writer, you may “print” this content into an electronic file on your computer. Some courses may also contain a link to obtain the “printer-friendly version” of the materials on the very first page of each lesson. If either of these options are not available within the course you’re taking, you may print the material page by page by simultaneously holding down “CTRL” and “P” from your keyboard.
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Accessing Pre-Course Assignments for a Classroom Course
Many courses that are delivered in residence require pre-course assignment(s) to be completed prior to entrance into the classroom. The delivery of pre-course assignments may vary between courses and will be referenced in an e-mail delivered by your Instructor.
To support DAU’s “going green” initiative, the majority of pre-course assignments and classroom reference materials are now delivered through DAU Blackboard. Students may access their Blackboard course the same way they access any Web-based training; by “Launching” their course from the DAU Virtual Campus.
Students will not have the capability of “Launching” their course materials prior to the Pre-coursework Start Date (if applicable) as listed in the “Enrolled Courses” list. A reminder email with the subject “Access Precourse Materials” will be delivered to all enrolled students on the day they may begin these assignments.
The Enrolled Course list contained within the DAU Virtual Campus will also include the instructor contact information for any resident/classroom courses. If you have any questions pertaining to your pre-course assignments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Instructor(s) for appropriate guidance.
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Ask a Professor
All Distance Learning (DL) courses are assigned faculty members to assist students with content-related inquiries. If you have any questions, please submit your request to the Help Desk and our friendly staff will help you locate an instructor that’s certified in the particular DL offering that you are taking.
Another Helpful resource is the Defense Acquisition Portal (DAP) which contains an “Ask a Professor” forum. This is a Department of Defense resources for asking "Acquisition and Logistics" questions concerning policies and practices.In this forum you can review previously asked questions and/or answers. If you're unable to find your answer and you have a question related to "Acquisition and Logistics" policies and practices, you can select the "Ask A Question" link to ensure that your inquiry is addressed by the appropriate parties. Answers typically come back directly to you between 2 to 5 business days, depending on the nature and complexity of the question.
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Requesting an Extension for an Online Course
If you need more time to complete an online enrollment, the DAU Help Desk may provide a one-time 14-day extension, as long as your course has not already expired. When requesting an extension, please be prepared to provide us with your course and section number which may be located in your Enrolled Course list from the DAU Virtual Campus.
If a 14 day extension does not provide you with sufficient time to complete your online enrollment, DAU policy outlines the following options:
- You may request that the DAU Help Desk withdraw you from the course before the expiration date. There will be no negative impact to your training records in making the request. You would then be able to register for the course again when you have enough time to complete it. While you would have to repeat any work that you have completed thus far, you would have a full 60 days to complete the course.
- You may contact your Instructor(s) to request a secondary extension. Secondary extensions can be approved by the instructor and should be given only when the student has demonstrated considerable progress (at least 50 percent of the course requirements) in the course and has come upon unusual circumstances.
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Cancelling an Enrollment
Resident/Classroom Courses:
If you are not able to attend your class, you must officially cancel your reservation through the agency-specific site you used to apply. DAU has no user rights to cancel your seat in a class. If you don’t cancel your application, your status will be marked as “no show” and you will incur any academic penalty mandated by the Services’ Acquisition Training Offices.
Online Courses:
If you would like to cancel your enrollment in an online web-based course, please login to your Virtual Campus account and select the "Withdraw" button next to the enrollment you wish to cancel. A confirmation window will appear asking if you are sure you want to withdraw from the course. Selecting "Yes" will cancel your enrollment. No penalty will be applied for dropping an online course.
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Taking an Online Exam
The following policies apply:
Distance Learning Exam Policy:
Per DAU Directive 704, “mastery is scoring 100 percent on each online assessment. The student will have three (3) opportunities for achieving 100 percent on each assessment. Students are strongly encouraged to seek assistance from the assigned faculty prior to making a third attempt. Students failing the third test attempt will be dropped from the course as a failure.”
No-Reset Policy:
Student exams will only be reset if one of the following two conditions exists:
- DAU Systems Failure – Evaluation of technical malfunctions is handled exclusively by the DAU Help Desk. Students should provide a detailed description of any technical-related issues to the Help Desk by phone or email immediately.
- Approved Content Challenge – If a student fails an exam, but develops rationale that the test question presented was bad, or demonstrates that the course material does not support the test question, the student may initiate a content challenge with their assigned instructor(s).
Please view the full policy, Attachment 11, in the DAU Directive on Student Academic and Administrative Policies and Procedures for more information.
Please Click Here to obtain a list of best practices when taking an online exam.
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Viewing Your Online Gradebook
When you are enrolled in a Web-based course, you can view your status information from your Virtual Campus profile by selecting the gradebook feature.
The gradebook displays your current status of a lesson, the number of attempts you have taken on a particular exam, and also the complete exam results of each attempt. This information will only be visible for an active enrollment.
To access your gradebook, click on the apple icon that appears next to the course in your Enrolled Courses list.
Please Click Here to view a sample gradebook.
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Providing Feedback/Course Surveys
Students participating in a DAU course, regardless of the course delivery method, are always provided with an end-of-course (EOC) survey. These surveys are a course requirement and are used to measure and improve our learning assets to ensure we meet workforce demands.
To assist us with the surveying process, DAU contracts with an organization known as Knowledge Advisors, Inc. who specializes in learning analytic services. These services are delivered through Knowledge Advisors’ web-based system, Metrics that Matter (MTM). For distance learning courses, the “survey,” located in the courses’ table of contents, links directly to the MTM system. However, for courses conducted in residence, students will be provided with a link to MTM by their instructor; this link is commonly distributed via DAU Blackboard.
When completing an EOC survey, students will be advised that they will be contacted in the future with a follow-up survey. At this time, MTM will ask the student to provide an email address for both themselves and their supervisor. Both the “Follow-Up Survey,” sent to students 60 days after course completion, and the “Manager Survey,” sent to supervisors 120 days after course completion, is designed to collect important data to determine whether students have transferred the skills and knowledge they acquired from DAU training to their job.
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DAU Accreditation
The Defense Acquisition University is accredited by the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education. Please Click Here for more information.
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Receiving College Credit for DAU Courses
DAU has a “strategic partnership” with many schools where college credit may be awarded for DAU training when you enroll in a program at their school. Please review the DAU Strategic Partnership Program to determine if your school of interest is a participant.
Even if your college/university does not have a strategic partnership with DAU, you may still be able to earn College Credit for DAU courses. This is dependent upon the review of a DAU course by the American Council on Education (ACE), as well as your schools evaluation of your DAU transcript.
Please Click Here to determine if a course you’ve completed has been recommended for College Credit by ACE. Note: You must have completed the course within the specified Start and End Dates in order to receive the credit recommendation.
In order to receive the ACE credit recommendation, you may need to request your Official DAU Transcript so that your school may apply the credit hours to their transcript program.
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