A P RACTICAL G UIDE FOR F IRST T IME C HAIRS OF D ECENNIAL R EVIEWS Charles Caramello Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School University of Maryland December 9, 2010

OVERVIEW 1. Accepting the Assignment 2. Planning the Review 3. Preliminary and Team Visits 4. Leading a Successful Team 5. The Team Review Report 6. A Final Note

1. A CCEPTING THE A SSIGNMENT

PRINCIPLES The chair and team must take a comprehensive view, addressing all aspects of institutional performance in both breadth and depth. The chair and team must honor the mission of the reviewed institution, not substitute the missions of their home institutions. The chair and team must base their finding on evidence that, again, is interpreted in the context of the institution’s mission. Finally, and most important, the chair and team members are colleagues conducting peer review, not bureaucrats policing regulations.

COMMITMENT Respect for institutional effort and belief in value of peer review Engagement in complex, lengthy, and challenging process and product Substantial investment of time, personal attention, and resources KEY ELEMENTS Learning and understanding MSCHE standards and decennial review process Reviewing and critiquing institution’s self-study design Leading team: ensuring that members understand roles and fulfill responsibilities Working closely with institution on coordination of duties, visits, and event logistics Organizing, editing, and presenting team report and chair’s confidential brief RESPONSIBILITIES Dedicated staff support critical for success of project Staff coordinates with institution, review team, MSCHE Staff manages communications, responsibilities and tasks, scheduling and logistics STAFF SUPPORT

TIMELINE LATE SUMMER Chair (C) appointed. Team (TM) assembled. Institution (INST) creates self- study design, compiles review documents. Dates determined. FALL C/TM attend training workshops. C reviews self-study design. C/INST prepare for preliminary visit. C makes preliminary visit (C/INST). WINTER C/INST prepare for team visit. INST sends Self-Study Report and materials to C. C/TM review all INST and MSCHE materials. EARLY SPRING C assigns review tasks to TM and prepares TM for visit. TM draft report sections, formulate questions. C/INST finalize visit logistics, create detailed schedule. SPRING TM visits INST. C/TM complete report. C presents report to INST. C/TM finalize report for INST and MSCHE. INST responds to report. SUMMER C submits evaluations of TM. C submits Confidential Brief. C makes presentation to MSCHE in Philadelphia. MSCHE reports to INST.

RELATIONSHIPS THE INSTITUTION THE TEAM GOAL: Advancing the Institution THE COMMISSION

2. P LANNING THE R EVIEW

ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS Chair Ensures that self-study, review, and report cover all MSCHE standards. Leads collaborative team review with consensus on recommendations. Works with institution and MSCHE on all aspects of review process. Institution Works with chair on initial stages of self-study report Arranges and hosts preliminary and team visits Accommodates requests for interview and other meetings Engages with chair and MSCHE on post-visit review matters. Team Members Read whole self-study report, write parts of review report, collaborate on final report. Develop questions to help shape meetings, discussions, and report. Shape team dynamic, working together intensively during team visit and often improvising. Establishing professional and collegial relationships is critical to success.

KEY PLAYERS IN PLANNING CHAIR Chair Coordinating with INST and MSCHE. Coordinating with TM. Staff Support Scheduling with INST and C/TM. Organizing and forwarding materials from INST to C to TM. Working with INST to refine visit schedule. Assembling final dossiers for TM visit. INSTITUTION Point of Contact Compiling, organizing, and forwarding all INST materials. Responding to requests from C. Organizing visits Attendees Meeting spaces Communications Documents and IT/AV. Travel, lodging, meals, etc. COMMISSION MSCHE VP Liaison Providing expert counsel on all aspects of review. Coordinating with INST and C on team selection, visits, etc. Helping to resolve any complications or conflicts. Staff Handling all technical logistics. Managing electronic documents.

FLOW OF COMMUNICATION InstitutionCommission Team Members Chair

3. P RELIMINARY AND T EAM V ISITS

CHAIR’S PRELIMINARY VISIT Before the Visit Chair reviews institution’s self-study design. Team Members are selected. Chairs/Team attend orientation. Chair receives and reviews draft self-study report. Chair and Institution prepare preliminary visit agenda and schedule. During the Visit Chair meets with key administrators and self-study steering committee. Chair tours meeting facilities and hotel. Chair provides feedback on draft self-study report.

THE TEAM VISIT DAY ONE Arrival of Team Welcome from Steering Committee (Team Meeting: Draft Section Reports) Get Acquainted Program Team Meeting: Preparation for Day Two DAY TWO Chair Meets with President Full Day of Meetings Team Dinner: Review of Day Individual TM Meetings with Chair DAY THREE Chair meets with President Half Day of Meetings Afternoon Writing Session Team Dinner: Discussion and Recommendations Revised Section Reports Due to Chair DAY FOUR Final Section Reports Due to Chair Chair Prepares Oral Summary of Report Team Lunch: Oral Summary Chair Presents Oral Summary Team Departs Campus Chair Begins Final Editing of Report THE TEAM VISIT

4. L EADING A S UCCESSFUL T EAM

BEFORE TEAM VISIT Attend workshop and orientation Read all MSCHE booklets Read all institution documents Team Members Prepare Chair sends welcome memo with instructions and provisional assignments for review and report Chair holds introductory conference call on overall review Chair contacts team members individually to discuss assignments Chair Works with Team Chair sends guidelines for draft sections of preliminary report Members send draft sections (3-5 pages per standard) and interview questions to chair Chair sends full preliminary report and all questions to team The Report Institution sends team transportation information Chair sends team information regarding hotel, meals, attire, IT, final schedule, etc. Logistics

DURING TEAM VISIT Team members should conduct individual interviews and group meetings on their assigned standards and attend open meetings on matters of interest to the institutional community. Team members should use questions developed before the visit to guide interviews and meetings and should developadditional questions as the visit progresses. The chair and full team should should conduct two large group meetings, dedicated to Standards 7 and 14, with key institutional leaders. The chair and team should meet in closed session at least once daily. The chair should be available to meet with individual team members to discuss any challenges or concerns. The daily schedule should incorporate minute breaks so team members can communicate with their home offices. The oral presentation to the institution warrants full team attendance.

AFTER TEAM VISIT CHAIR Completes editing of Team Report Shares final Report with Team Consults with institution to correct any factual errors Submits final Team Report to institution and MSCHE Submits team member evaluations Writes and submits Confidential Brief Presentation at MSCHE meeting in Philadelphia TEAM MEMBERS Submit evaluation of Team Chair Answer any questions from Chair requiring clarification for Report

5. T HE T EAM R EVIEW R EPORT

ASSIGNING SECTIONS OF THE REPORT Make assignments by distributing MSCHE standards. Review each team member’s administrative expertise and experience and assign standards appropriately. Take care to assign Standards 2 and 3 (resources and resource allocation) to a member with significant budgetary experience. Pay particular attention to Institutional Effectiveness Assessment and Student Learning Assessment, and assign Standards 7 and 14 to an experienced team member only.

DRAFTING THE REPORT Review the entire Self-Study Report and supplementary materials, with particular focus on assigned standards. Read Characteristics of Excellence, with focus on assigned standards, for clear and specific evaluation criteria. Draft preliminary report sections on assigned standards (3-5 pages per standard). Prepare two lists of questions: one set on Self-Study Report as a whole, and one set on assigned standards. Team Members Specify conceptual, stylistic, and technical guidelines for preliminary drafts. Set pre-visit deadline for drafts and pre-visit turnaround date. Urge TMs to review the full team draft report prior to visit. Moderate discussion of full draft team report and submitted questions at team meeting on first day of visit. Chair Collate individual draft reports into one document and send to team several days in advance of team visit. FedEx a package to each TM in advance of visit, including collated full team draft report and questions (hard copies and thumb-drives), institutional and team contact information, blank interview sign-in sheets, etc. Chair’s Staff Support

EDITING THE REPORT Team should arrive at visit with a full and carefully drafted preliminary team report. Team members also should be prepared to do extensive rewriting on site. Chairs should be prepared to do substantial additional rewriting and editing on site. Why should Chair and Team come prepared? A fully prepared chair and team, with fully drafted preliminary report, make for a more successful, productive, and pleasant visit. Why should team members rewrite extensively on site? Questions will be answered, ambiguities will be clarified, and new information will emerge. Documentary materials and interviews are fresh in everyone’s mind. All parties, including Institutional Steering Committee, are present for consultation. A preliminary draft is rough; a penultimate draft is polished. At the conclusion of the site visit, the team member’s responsibilities end. Why should chair do more rewriting and editing? Extensively and individually written draft sections must become a concise document. Team members have different “voices” and writing styles that must be made to cohere. This draft of report will be the basis for the oral presentation. The more work completed on site, the less work to be completed at home.

PRESENTING THE ORAL REPORT Respect the institution’s seriousness of purpose, its achievements, and its concerns. Treat the occasion with appropriate circumstance: it is both substantive and ceremonial. Be clear and concise, but neither simple nor terse. Speak from a prepared script, not off the cuff; resist embellishment or improvisation. Reveal all that MSCHE allows and nothing that it proscribes.

ATTENDING THE MSCHE MEETING Consult with the vice-president assigned to your review before the meeting, and heed his or her counsel during the meeting. Prepare a thorough but concise oral presentation for the committee; do not summarize the entire report or otherwise ramble. Participate fully in discussions of other institutions being reviewed in the same session. Be rigorous in assessments and candid in comments.

6. A F INAL N OTE

OPPORTUNITIES Individual Impact: Opportunity for individual professional development and networking. Campus Impact: Opportunity for learning MSCHE review processes and improving home institution’s self study. Regional Impact: Opportunity for engaging in serious peer review designed to improve individual institutions and regional higher education.