Self-Study Plan
The institutional Self-Study is designed to critically examine institutional effectiveness by evaluating Jacksonville State University’s compliance with the Criteria for Accreditation (hereafter referred to as Criteria) established by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges. The Self-Study is a multi-year, institution wide, comprehensive assessment and evaluation of institutional quality. From this examination, recommendations for future improvements in programs, policies, processes, services, facilities, and personnel shall be formulated.
|
1. |
To engage representatives from all components of the University in the Self-Study process to ensure that all members of the University community are informed of the institution’s responsibilities related to public accountability and educational quality. |
|
2. |
To examine and evaluate all aspects of the University to determine areas of strength and areas needing improvement, as well as to formulate strategies to enhance institutional effectiveness. |
|
3. |
To develop an accurate, analytical report providing a comprehensive overview of the institution to be used in self-improvement and as the foundational document to evaluate institutional compliance with the Criteria by the reaffirmation team. |
The President appointed the Director of the Self-Study in July 2000; the Co-Director was appointed in August 2000. The Director and Co-Director have been charged with guiding the Self-Study process and regularly reporting progress to the President. In addition, activities shall be communicated to the University community through electronic newsletters posted on JSU’s SACS Webpage.
The SACS Steering Committee was appointed in August/September 2000. The Self-Study Director and Co-Director will serve as Chair and Co-Chair of the Steering Committee. Members of the Steering Committee were identified by the Chair and Co-Chair of the Committee, with input from the President and other University officials.
The Steering Committee consists of 10 members plus one student representative, with five members serving as chairs of principal committees (See Appendix A – SACS Organizational Structure). The Steering Committee is responsible for ensuring that the institution conducts a broad-based, comprehensive, and analytical study. The five principal committees and 15 subcommittees are responsible for specific sections and subsections of the report as defined by the Criteria. Approximately 120 faculty, staff, administrators, and other campus constituencies are represented on the committees (See Appendix B – Committee Roster).
Nominations for sub-committee appointments were received from various University leaders including the current president and immediate past president of the Faculty Senate, the Vice-President of Administrative and Business Affairs, the Athletic Director, the Manager of Applications and Support of Data Systems Management Division, individual faculty, and the President of the Student Government Association. A roster of potential members for the Steering Committee was formulated in August/September/October 2000. Characteristics considered important in the selection of members included, but was not limited to, accountability, responsibility, integrity, analytical ability, credibility, dedication, and being respected by colleagues. Students, recommended by the President of the JSU Student Government Association and College of Graduate Studies have been appointed to each sub-committee and the Steering Committee.
The committee structure is as follows:
Dr. Martha G. Lavender, Dean - College of Nursing and Health Sciences – Chair
Dr. Louise J. Clark, Associate Dean - College of Commerce and Business Administration – Co-Chair
Principal
Committee on Principles and Philosophy of Accreditation
Dr. Harvey Jackson, Department Head of History and Foreign Languages – Chair
Principal
Committee on Institutional Purpose and Institutional Effectiveness
Dr. Alice Cusimano, Associate Vice-President of Academic and Student Affairs – Chair
Principal
Committee on Educational Programs
Dr. Franklin King, Professor, Acting Director of Distance Education – Chair
Principal
Committee on Educational Support Services
Ms. Connie Edge, Director of Alumni Affairs – Chair
Principal
Committee on Administrative Processes
Dr. Bill Scroggins, Professor, Department Head of Finance, Economics, and Accounting – Chair
Resource
Members of the Steering Committee
Mr. Tim Smith, Manager of Applications Support, DSMD
Dr. T. Allen Smith, Professor, Office of Assessment
Mr. Joe Whitmore, Institutional Research and Analysis
Student
Representative
Stacy Cross, Sophomore in Nursing
Dr. Carmine DiBiase, Associate Professor of English
Committee appointments extend through the spring of 2003. If members resign during the Self-Study process, the principal committee chair will notify the Steering Committee Chair or Co-Chair as soon as possible. The principal committee chair and the Steering Committee Chair or Co-Chair will determine whether a replacement member should be appointed to fill the vacancy.
Colleges, departments, and unit offices will be responsible for selecting and appointing committees to conduct the unit Self-Study and to prepare the unit Self-Study report in conjunction with the overall plan for completion of the process.
Responsibilities of Self-Study Directors, Steering Committee, Principal Committee Chairs, Sub-Committee Chairs, Committee Members, and Self-Study Editor
The Director/Co-Director shall provide leadership and overall coordination of the Self-Study process, and will serve as Chair/Co-Chair of the Steering Committee. In addition to being familiar with the COC publications, policies, and procedures, the Director/Co-Director shall work with the Self-Study secretary, members of the University community, and principal/sub-committee members in fulfilling all responsibilities related to the Self-Study. The Director/Co-Director shall be responsible for drafting the Self-Study Plan and Manual, ensuring adherence to the timeline, conducting initial orientation meetings with the principal committees, planning and conducting all Steering Committee meetings, reporting Self-Study progress to the President, serving as resource members of the sub-committees, directing the activities of the Self-Study editor, and finalizing arrangements and logistics for the reaffirmation team.
The Director shall be responsible for serving as the liaison to the COC and the SACS representative assigned to JSU. The Co-Director shall be responsible for the development of the accreditation newsletter.
The Steering Committee has responsibility for the strategic direction, oversight, design, and planning of the Self-Study process. Policies and procedures guiding the assessment, evaluation process, and report development shall be under the purview of this committee. Once developed by the Chair/Co-Chair, the committee will be responsible for finalizing and adopting the Self-Study Plan/Manual. Members of the Steering Committee will serve as ambassadors to the accreditation process, sharing information and progress with the University community.
Drafts of the Self-Study report will be reviewed and revised by the Steering Committee following review by the principal committees and sub-committees. Once the committee has prepared a final draft of the Self-Study, it shall be distributed for University-wide review in fall 2002. The commentary received from the University community will be evaluated and incorporated into the Self-Study Report. A revised final draft will be presented to the Self-Study editor. The edited document along with the addendum shall be presented to the University President.
The Committee will be responsible for establishing the agenda for the reaffirmation team, mailing appropriate documents to the team members, coordinating campus activities, and composing a response to the recommendations made by the visiting team.
Principal committee chairs will serve as liaisons to the sub-committees, communicating Steering Committee activities and Self-Study progress to all sub-committee members. Duties will include providing leadership and guidance to principal committee, serving to facilitate the work of the principal committees, ensuring compliance with all policies and procedures established by the Steering Committee, adhering to the deadlines on the Self-Study timeline, reviewing and critiquing all principal committee reports prior to submission to the Steering Committee, and working with the Steering Committee to finalize all principal committee reports.
Responsibilities of the
Sub-committee Chairs
The sub-committee chairs will be responsible for providing leadership and guidance for the assigned sections/sub-sections of the Criteria, planning and conducting the committee meetings to ensure completion of the report, adhering to policies and procedures established by the Steering Committee, scheduling meeting times, locations, and agendas, assigning responsibilities to committee members in a fair and equitable manner, working with the principal committee chair to ensure completion of the report in accordance with the deadline, and submitting the report to the principal committee for review and revision.
As a member of the principal committee, sub-committee chairs will be actively involved in reviewing and revising all section/sub-section reports under the purview of the principal committee. Principal committee members will be responsible for formulating recommendations and suggestions for improvement.
Committee members will be responsible for attending and actively participating in all scheduled meetings and, perform all assigned tasks related to completion of the Self-Study process, writing of the report, and adhering to stylistic guidelines established by the Steering Committee. Members shall maintain a high degree of accountability, integrity, and dedication to ensure completion of the committee tasks. Members are responsible for reviewing all SACS documents and becoming familiar with the accreditation process as well as serving as ambassadors to inform the other members of the University community about the Self-Study process.
The Self-Study editor shall provide editorial review of the final draft of the Self-Study report as submitted by the Steering Committee. The editor shall be responsible for ensuring logical flow, coherence, and stylistic consistency within all components of the Self-Study report and addendum.
Each principal committee and section sub-committee shall conduct a thorough review of all pertinent data and other necessary materials and develop the Self-Study Report for the area of assigned responsibility. The report shall be
· comprehensive, examining all relevant materials and functions;
· analytical, identifying relevant strengths and weaknesses;
· evaluative, focusing on institutional effectiveness.
All principal committees/sub-committees shall comply with all policies, procedures, and deadlines established by the Steering Committee. Documentation shall be offered to support all information included in the report. Evaluation and documentation of the extent to which the University meets the requirements of the Criteria in the assigned section/sub-section will be included. Finally, recommendations and suggestions to strengthen the University’s effectiveness, to address areas of concern, and to improve compliance with the requirements of the Criteria will be offered.
Jacksonville State University has committed sufficient institutional resources to initiate the Self-Study process for FY2001. The budget includes travel funds to enable members of the Steering Committee to attend the annual SACS meeting and conduct site visits to other regional institutions along with operational funds necessitated by the start-up process. In addition to the budget, a Self-Study office has been designated in Room 121 of Wallace Hall. The Self-Study Director and Co-Director have been designated as budget managers to administer the Self-Study budget and authorize expenditures. A secretary within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences has been appointed to work with the Steering Committee. Office supplies, equipment, and meeting space are adequate to meet the needs of the committee.
Additional resources shall be allocated annually based on the needs projected by the Self-Study Director and Co-Director. In FY 2002, a temporary secretary will be hired to enable a workload adjustment for the Self-Study secretary to serve the needs of the reaffirmation process on a full-time basis. Funds will be budgeted to complete the Self-Study through the first draft of the report. Travel, equipment, and miscellaneous operating funds shall be incorporated into the budget.
In FY 2003, sufficient funds will be requested to produce the final version of the Self-Study report, develop and print the addendum, finance the preliminary visit by the site visitation team, and fund the reaffirmation team’s visit to the campus. In addition, equipment and appropriate furnishings for the meeting room for the reaffirmation team (on-campus and at the hotel) will be included in the budget.
Guidelines for Data Collection Methods and Evaluation
Techniques
The Self-Study will be analytical. All committees will be looking for information, whether qualitative or quantitatve, which describes the current circumstances and University practices for each of the relevant criteria. Each committee’s goal will be to demonstrate, through presentation of data, documentation and thoughtful analysis, how the University, along with each of its units, complies with or does not comply with each must statement and applicable should statements. Limitations or weaknesses as well as strengths will be identified in a candid yet constructive manner. The Self-Study process will be conducted in an atmosphere of open, honest inquiry and professionalism. It will require the examination of University data and input of all offices. However, every effort will be made so as not to unduly burden personnel and administrative units with repetitive requests for information.
The primary source of information for the Committees’ assessment of how the University measures up relative to the SACS criteria will come from unit Self-Studies. These Self-Studies will be conducted and reports prepared by each unit of the University, and will be forwarded to the Steering Committee based on the established time line. The format for the unit Self-Studies will be developed by the Steering Committee with input from the Principal Committees. Additionally, committees will have available to them University personnel who will serve as Resource People. These will be individuals with expertise in the specific area in order to provide pertinent information as requested. Institutional research reports as well as other University documents such as undergraduate and graduate catalogues, the fact book, the faculty handbook, the personnel policy manual, the administrative policy manual, the student handbook, annual reports, assessment documents, etc. will provide data for committee review.
Committees will likely need to acquire information from surveys as well. All requests for data should be discussed with the principal committee chair. Principal committee chairs should inform the Steering Committee of data needs that involve a sampling of students, faculty, staff, etc. The Steering Committee will coordinate the development, administration, and analysis of all institutional surveys relating to the Self-Study via the use of an Ad Hoc Committee which is to be appointed. The Steering Committee will distribute results to Principal Committees, as appropriate, once surveys have been conducted and analyzed.
Once data and other documentation have been gathered, the committees will analyze their findings and provide an explanation of what the data mean for the University, indicating appropriate recommendations when the University is found to be out of compliance with the criteria. In evaluating relevant data, the committees will examine findings in relationship to the University’s mission, vision, and strategic directions and consider issues of institutional effectiveness.
A recommendation results when a finding is made that an institution fails to comply with a must statement in the Criteria. Recommendations can arise in Self-Study subcommittees, in principal committees, in the Steering Committee, or they can be issued by the SACS visiting committee at the time of the on-campus visit.
Recommendations identified by the University during the Self-Study process and included in the Self-Study Report shall be handled in the following manner:
1. Immediately upon identification of deficiencies, the Steering Committee shall communicate each recommendation by memorandum to the officer(s) or unit(s) identified as responsible for correction of the deficiency.
2. All recommendations shall be communicated via the Web to the University community.
3. All deficiencies identified by recommendations will be addressed and, if possible, corrected prior to the SACS visit. A format and deadline for responding back to the Steering Committee the action that was taken to correct the deficiency will be furnished as well.
4. An Addendum Report will be prepared indicating any corrections of the previously identified deficiencies and/or other major changes that have been made within the University since the Self-Study Report was completed.
Recommendations identified by the SACS visiting committee during their campus visit shall be handled in the following manner:
The University will be required to provide the Commission on Colleges of SACS with a written response to all recommendations contained in the Visiting Committee’s Report. The response is due in the Commission office five (5) months after the conclusion of the Committee’s visit. The response must address in a detailed and comprehensive manner the actions taken by the University to ensure compliance with the specific criteria. (Detailed guidelines are provided for the format of this report in Appendix T of the SACS Commission on Colleges publication, Handbook for Institutional Self-Study, as revised January 15,1999.)
Suggestions contained in the Self-Study Report shall be communicated to the University community in the same manner as the recommendations are communicated. The President shall determine the extent to which suggestions are implemented.