1. Middle States Conference December 3, 2014
Self-Study Workshop
Middle States Conference
December 3, 2014

2. First Draft Bullets: Don’t worry about prose
Structurally/visually map out the following: 1) data sets, 2) analysis, 3) summations of findings, and 4) suggestions/recommendations (if appropriate).
Summation: Where we are and what we need to move forward – issues of institutional improvement – what’s going on now?
Ensure that all topics relate back to the enhancement of the student learning experience and support the overall student experience.
All institutional planning and governance support students!

3. Research Questions To be continually revised/reformulated.
As work groups conduct research and engage with community, new research directions will open.
Additionally, if the work group identifies things needing change, then address them NOW. It may be possible to make changes and implement tactics NOW, rather than writing it as a recommendation and needing to report on it in the Periodic Review Report.

4. Narrative Tone Informative, not evaluative
Description for a novice audience
User-friendly
Simply presented tables and charts
No footnotes – use hotlinks (hotlinks as .pdf)
There will be redundancies!
Glossary for institutional acronyms
Organizational chart
List of planning units and the responsibilities of each.

5. Tenses Reflection/Present/Future
Discuss the past (history) only to provide a brief summary context; this is not a history book!
This self-study is NOT a follow-up on the previous PRR and earlier recommendations. References to earlier documents are only for reference/context for a larger discussion of institutional improvement (e.g. evolution of assessment plans).

6. MSCHE Helpful Hints
1. An effective self-study report is designed and written so that it speaks to both the institution’s unique reality and the institution’s compliance with the Standards, therefore…
First, the working groups and then the steering committee should review drafts to ensure that evidence and analysis are provided with regard to all of the Standards being addressed in the report.

7. Helpful Hints 2. In the end, the self-study report should…
Be readable, coherent not too short, not too long.
Capture the unique reality of the institution.
Focus on the present and future more than the past.
Be more analytical than descriptive – evidentiary rather than descriptive.
Provide evidence for any assertions.
Provide each member of the visiting team with the information they need to confirm that the institution meets the Standards.
Provide recommendations for improvement.

8. Helpful Hints 3. Evidence should be…
Included in the text of the report if 1) it is absolutely vital to understanding the self-study and 2) it is brief.
Attached to the report as an appendix if 1) it would help readers the understand the self-study, 2) all team members should see it before the visit, and 3) it is too long to include in the text but not too bulky to send to each team member.
Made available electronically if 1) it provides support for the self-study but is not essential to understanding it, 2) it is not likely to be of immediate interest to all team members, and 3) it is lengthy.

9. Helpful Hints Evidence should be…
Directly related to the analysis in the self-study report’s narrative.
DO NOT overwhelm your team with too much unrelated information.
DO NOT expect team members to dig through reams of data and endless appendices to find what they need.
More is not always better!

10. Suggestions vs Recommendations
What are the issues and what are you going to do about it? Suggestions: Lower level concerns; “you may want to consider this or that”, collegial advice to follow or forget Recommendations: Higher level concerns; you will be bound to address in the next PRR Suggestions and Recommendations should be inserted after each Standard.

11. Feedback Points – Continual Revisions
Campus community
Team chair
In the end, a good self-study provides the visiting team with the information and analysis it needs to 1) understand and appreciate the institution, and 2) evaluate it in light of the Commission’s Standards.
In the end, a good self-study answers questions worth asking and provides recommendations worth following in a living document that will be helpful to the institution after the team leaves.

12. Then??
Use the self-study and team reports to advance the institution and inform the strategic planning process on campus.
Suggestions and recommendations will become the actions priorities within FSU’s next iterations of the Institutional Strategic Plan so we can chart how we address those concerns and implement relevant tactics.