46
Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study

Howard Community Collegeand

Cornell University

Page 2: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Presenters

• Bernadette Sandruck,Howard Community College– Professor and Chair of Mathematics

• Alan Mathios, Cornell University– Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan

Dean of the College of Human Ecology

Page 3: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Session Outline

• Share our campuses’ experiences during the self-study process

• Describe the challenges of planning for a successful Self Study–Model Selection– Structure and Steering Committee– Organizing the Self Study– Communication, Logistics, Support

Page 4: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

• Public, open-enrollment college opened in 1970

• Situated in an urban/suburban area between Baltimore & Washington

• Currently 14,000 credit students and 16,000 continuing education students

• Additional locations at Laurel College Center and Gateway Business Center

Page 5: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Howard Community College

Since the last Self-Study, HCC has grown at a frantic pace:• 49% Growth in credit FTE (2001–2008)• Increase in fulltime faculty & staff• Continuous construction: Four new

buildings and a parking garage• Added study abroad and service learning

opportunities.• Expanded opportunities for honor

students

Page 6: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

“Cornell is complex”

• Private, Ivy League… but also a public, land-grant institution

• 7 undergraduate colleges• 3 professional schools (Law, Business, Vet

Med) in Ithaca• Medical college in NYC (225 miles from

main campus) and abroad• Programs in Singapore and

other places

Page 7: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Key questions when starting

• What do you want your institution to gain from the self-study process?

• How can you use the Self Study to strengthen your institution?

• What makes your institution unique?

Page 8: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University
Page 9: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Selecting the model

Page 10: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Use your goals to select your model

• Are you interested in a broad review

—or —• Do you want to examine critical operations

or areas of your institution in depth?

Three Major Models:

• comprehensive• selected topics• collaborative

Page 11: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Model Selection: Comprehensive

At the time we started our planning (late fall 2008):– Brand new provost– President in only his 3rd year– Beginning of financial crisis

Clear desire to examine the entirety of the institution from top-to-bottom– Also started strategic planning

exercise at the same time!

Page 12: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Comprehensive with special emphasis

“I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any

study.”– Ezra Cornell

“Any Person, Any Study” Within One University

Assess the balance between centralization and independence, efficiency and latitude, and control and creativity…

Page 13: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Model Selected: Comprehensive

with Rapid Growth identified as a major theme

Page 14: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Goals for Self-Study

• Demonstrate that MSCHE standards are met

• Provide an opportunity for new employees to learn about the history, culture, policies, practices and strategic future of the college

• Self reflect to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement

• Suggest new directions for future strategic planning

• Recognize & acknowledge the contributions of all to the overall college mission

Page 15: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Organizing for the work

Timeline and Committees

Page 16: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Development of Timeline

• Began working with a time line before the entire Steering Committee even appointed

• Started with Figure 3, page 9 of red book: “A Self-Study Timetable”

• Fleshed out, edited, revised, revisited…

• At every stage, it was reassuring to find that we had followed the plan

• From November SSI in 2008 to spring visit in 2011 was 2.5 years; essential to keep long term plan in mind

Page 17: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Timeline essentials (3 years)

Spring/Summer 2008 – recruited co-chairs & work group volunteers, selected model and number of work groups, selected work team leaders

Fall 2008 - work teams develop & finalize research questions, self-study design drafted & completed

Spring & Fall 2009 – work teams conduct interviews, start draft reports and list documents needed, new research arranged and conducted

Spring & Fall 2010 – assimilate, edit, review, invite feedback, repeat the process….., submit Self-Study

Winter & early Spring 2011 – prepare for site visit

Page 18: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Committees and Structure

• Purpose• Constituencies Represented • Size• Relationships Between the Steering

Committee and Working Groups

Page 19: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Steering Committee

• Co-chairs– particular helpful given unexpected departure

– Two academic administrators: dean of a college, dean of students

• Strong administrative support– Institutional Research & Planning: director and

another staff member provided key project management

• Involved students (looked for sophomores)

• Six working group chairs all served on Steering Committee

Page 20: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Six Working GroupsSteering Committee

Institutional Stewardship

(Standards: 1, 2, 3 and 7)

Integrity, Governance & Administration

(Standards: 4, 5, and 6)

The Faculty(Standard: 10)

Student Admissions & Supports(Standards: 8 and 9)

Educational Offerings(Standards: 11, 12, 13)

Assessment of Student Learning(Standard: 14)

Page 21: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Mission, Planning, Resource Allocation(Standards: 1, 2, and 3 )

Integrity, Governance, Administration & Faculty

(Standards: 4, 5, 6, and 10)

Student Admissions & Supports(Standards: 8 and 9)

Educational Offerings(Standards: 11, 12, 13)

Assessment(Standards: 7 & 14)

Page 22: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University
Page 23: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University
Page 24: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

The Design Document

Page 25: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Preparing the Design Document

• Exercise of drafting questions for the working groups ensured that the Steering Committee became well-versed in the meaning of each standard and how it relates to Cornell

• Like a dissertation proposal, the design document should be carefully considered and well thought out… but not a contract that must be executed– Better approaches will develop!

Page 26: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Preparing the Design Document

• Using the standards, the Core Team drafted a preliminary set of questions

• Work Teams reviewed, refined and added to the sets of questions

• Entire group discussed and suggested edits to the entire set of questions

• Steering Team decided on logistics

• Editor drafted the design document

• Steering Team reviewed and suggested edits

Page 27: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Communication, Logistics and Support

Page 28: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

First year planning is critical

• Create realistic timelinesConsider the cycle of the academic year

• Create a repository for documents and data at the beginning

• Communication is critical• Keep all constituencies involved in the

process• Provided updates at college-wide meetings

in August, January and May• Used President’s weekly e-letter

Page 29: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Assessment

Building, nurturing a culture of assessment

Page 30: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Assessment: Measuring Attainment of Goals

• Standard 7: Institutional Assessment “The institution evaluates its overall effectiveness in

achieving its mission and goals”

• Standard 14: Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes “Assessment of student learning demonstrates that

students have knowledge, skills, and competencies consistent with institutional goals”

• Other standards also have assessment component

Page 31: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

A Call to the [new] Provost

We ask you to consider the following:

1. An assessment initiative should come from the provost

2. The deans and the faculty need to be informed and educated about assessment

3. The Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education—in concert with the college associate deans for academic programs—should be charged to develop processes to establish learning goals for all academic programs and to develop plans to assess student learning

4. A new position should be established immediately to support the assessment of student learning throughout the university

Page 32: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Institutionalizing assessment

• Core Assessment Committee formed in Fall 2009– Laura Brown, VPUE, Chair

– Associate Deans from undergraduate colleges and the Graduate School

– Representation from Institutional Research

– Representation from Center for Teaching Excellence

• Appointment of “Assessment Project Manager” (50% time)

Page 33: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Assessment is a cultural standard at HCC

Our message – don’t be complacent.

• We have completed institutional self-assessments such as Baldrige

• Faculty complete a teaching improvement project each year

• A Learning Outcomes Assessment Office was established 10 years ago

• All areas of the college have core work benchmarks

Page 34: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Assessment: Measuring Attainment of Goals

The challenges:

• How do we organize all of the information we have?

• What additional information do we need and how do we gather it?

• Are we closing the loop?

OFI:

Measuring the attainment of gen. ed. goals and establishment of academic program goals.

Page 35: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Writing

Preliminary planning and arriving at a coherent document

Page 36: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Working group reports

• We provided a rough outline to working groups, but we did not insist on a rigid structure

• Result: working group reports were quite different

• Subset of Steering Committee worked with rough drafts, one at a time, to align structure and voice

• As this process unfolded, chapters still in the queue migrated towards emerging norm

Page 37: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Final draft

• In the final stage, we hired a writer to ensure consistent, even-handed treatment across chapters

• Bringing in a writer at the end meant “fresh eyes”

• With a document two years in the preparation, lots of updating (numbers, web links, etc.) needs to go into final draft

Page 38: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Work Group reports

• HCC had learned from our process 10 years ago that pulling together divergent styles is painful. We recruited an editor at the beginning.

• The guidelines for structure and style were developed during the first year while the interviews were being conducted by the work groups.

• The Core Team provided edits based on content concerns and the editor worked on style and voice.

Page 39: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Preparing the Report

• Gather the information to tell your story

• And the “body of evidence”

• Link the standards to the data

• Balancing process and product– Include the editor early in the process

– Create a system for tracking and reporting exhibits

Page 40: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

The Visiting Team

Finding the right group and supporting them

Page 41: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Selection of the team

• Take seriously the opportunity to guide selection of evaluation team

• We sought a team that had some experience with:– Major research universities– Large and complex institutions with

multiple, diverse colleges– The land grant mission– Both public and private universities – Medical colleges– Residential living-learning

environments

Page 42: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Selection of the team

• Take seriously the opportunity to guide selection of evaluation team

• We sought a team that had some experience with:–Mid-size community colleges –With similar demographics

Page 43: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Preliminary visit

• Chair visits campus alone a few months before final Self Study is due

• In our case, chair provided very helpful written comments at that visit

• Seize the opportunity to respond to those early comments– If you can, develop timeline so chair

of evaluation team has sufficient time to respond to a first draft

Page 44: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Supporting the visiting team

• Creation of virtual “document room”:– allowed the team early, secure access to documentation

– allowed us to provide additions as needed

• Buddy System – Each member of the evaluation team was assigned a

Cornell “buddy”—someone with a similar rank and area of expertise—for the visit

– Buddies took responsibility for introductions at the welcoming dinner

– Buddy touched base with team member 2-3 times a day

– Buddy managed questions as they came up

– Buddies met at the end of each day of the visit to debrief about any issues

Page 45: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

The End of the Journey:

Be sure to celebrate your great accomplishment!

Page 46: Planning and Preparing for the Self-Study Howard Community College and Cornell University

Contact information

• Bernadette Sandruck,Howard Community College– [email protected]

• Alan Mathios, Cornell University– [email protected]