Campus Forum on Institutional Accreditation HLC Team December 3, 2013

Agenda  New Process for Accreditation from HLC  Assurance Argument  Evidence File  Quality Initiative  Next Steps  What Campus Community Can Do

New Process, New Criteria Criterion 1: Mission Criterion 2: Integrity: Ethical and Responsible Conduct Criterion 3:Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources, and Support Criterion 4:Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement Criterion 5:Resources, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness

How the New Criteria Work Criterion 2: Integrity 2.E. The institution ensures that faculty, students, and staff acquire, discover, and apply knowledge responsibly.  1. The institution provides effective oversight and support services to ensure the integrity of research and scholarly practice conducted by its faculty, staff, and students.  2. Students are offered guidance in the ethical use of information resources.  3. The institution has and enforces policies on academic honesty and integrity. Criterion Core Component Sub-Components

How to Find Out More  HLC Web Site:  HLC Criteria: Institutions/criteria-and-core- components.html Institutions/criteria-and-core- components.html  UIS Accreditation Web Site:

Continuous Improvement  No longer a “self-study”  No longer a gearing up process 2 years before the site visit  Now – continual updating of evidence and analysis through a web-based system

Pathways to Accreditation  Open Pathway vs. Standard Pathway  Open Pathway –For stable institutions –For institutions that have not undergone major changes –For institutions in good standing with the HLC –For institutions seeking improvement

Obligations of Open Pathway  10-year Cycle –Mini-review in year 4 (electronic submission; no site visit) –Major review with site visit in year 10 –Project (Quality Initiative) in years 5-9 of each 10-year cycle

Open Pathway Elements  Assurance Argument  Evidence File  Quality Initiative

Assurance Argument  Word limit – 35,000 (half the size of our 2007 report)  Strictly organized by Criteria and Core Components  Specific clear examples and analysis

Evidence File  No longer a physical resource room  Very limited links to our campus web sites (e.g., catalog, schedule, personnel policies)  PDF documents – even web sites!  Good, relevant pieces of information

Campus Participation  HLC Team needs –Specific, relevant examples of good practices related to the HLC Criteria for the Assurance Argument –Documentation of good practices for the Evidence File Formal documents Informal descriptions or examples

Questionnaires – Spring 2014  Unit Questionnaire  Academic Departments and Programs Questionnaire  Employee Questionnaire To be released after the January 29 Campus Forum

HLC Team Subcommittees  Governance and Diversity - Villegas  Academic Programs and Student Support – M. Thibodeaux-Thompson  Planning, Operations, and Management of Resources - Shures  Outreach and Scholarship - Wrighton  Integrity and Assessment - McCaughan

Quality Initiative  Takes place between Years 5 and 9 of the 10- year cycle  Timeline for UIS: Fall 2013 to Spring 2017 (shortened timeline with transition)  A for Effort – we have to try  Focus for QI – Assessment of GE, especially ECCE  HLC Assessment Academy

Why This Quality Initiative?  2007 Site Team Report: multiple references to our new GE curriculum, to our “plans and efforts to improve assessment of general education,” and to our institutional mission of civic engagement  Interest from campus governance (GECo, CASL, & UGC)  Cuts across many departments, including graduate departments  Cuts across Student Affairs and Academic Affairs

HLC Assessment Academy  Provides targeted support for our project: Workshops, training, and consultants  Roundtable in October: very positive feedback on proposal  Focus on faculty participation in scholarship of teaching and learning  QI Organizers: Pardie, Moranski, Cornell, Burton, Bapat, Villegas, Wrighton, Wassenberg

Next Steps  Questionnaires – Spring 2014  Subcommittee work on Evidence File and Assurance Argument  Discussions about QI with governance committees and faculty  Development of Web Site  Youtube videos

How You Can Help?  Immediate Future: –Make note best practices, on-going processes, special projects –Respond to spring questionnaires and Subcommittee requests for information –Visit the web site: –Learn about the Criteria –Keep informed and us with ideas or thoughts to

How Can You Help?  Plan ahead –Focus on projects about student learning –Make program review, unit assessment reports, and CASL reports meaningful –Document your processes and special projects –Talk with students and encourage their participation in institutional surveys (NSSE, SSI, alumni surveys)