UNK Self Study Chapter 1, Contours of the Post-KSC Leadership Challenge

College of Education

Strategic Plan: Date of Plan: 1995-2005

Key Objectives: Four areas were identified for the College of Education that reflected the NCATE standards. Objectives reflected several decisions that impacted the College in the early 1990's: accreditation visits by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) and National Council for the Accreditation for Teacher Accreditation (NCATE) in 1993, the UNK North Central Accreditation (NCA) visit in 1994, and the College decision in 1994-95 to join the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER). NNER is driven by a philosophy of simultaneous renewal of teacher education at the university and K-12 schools, with implications for tripartite collaboration (Arts & Sciences, K-12 and teacher educators) in the preparation of teachers.

Curriculum: Establish four centers of pedagogy: Education for a Democratic Society (EDS), Human Enhancement Center (HEC), Center for Instructional Technology (CIT), and Diversity Center (DC). Rationale: The four centers were developed to focus attention on four major areas of curriculum development as a part of the college's involvement in the National Network for Educational Renewal.
Students: Improve service to students and graduates seeking assistance with advising and certification by establishing a Center for Assistance to Students in Education (CASE)". Rationale: This goal was developed in response to informal feedback from students and observations by personnel involved in serving education students.
Faculty: Ensure the continued development of faculty members as scholarly teachers "who are qualified for their assignments and actively engaged in the professional community." Rationale: The need for continuing professional development of all faculty members reflects NCATE and NDE accreditation standards. The focus on scholarly teaching is reflected in both of the mission statements of UNK and the College of Education.
Governance and Resources: To implement the College's constitution and bylaws while developing strategic approaches to resource allocation. Rationale: Since UNK had entered the Nebraska University system only 4 years earlier, the governance system within the college was still developing. Thus, it became evident that the College needed to monitor the implementation and development of these documents.

Outcomes in the College of Education since 1994:

The COE Strategic Plan has provided a valuable focus for the College during the past nine years in how resources were allocated and program content and processes were changed. The intent of the plan to a great extent has been developed, although the forms that evolved as a result of faculty member efforts varied somewhat from the plan. In addition, the College has added assessment as a fifth objective within the Curriculum area as a result of accreditation expectations, even thought the Strategic Plan does not suggest such an objective.

Curriculum Outcomes:

The Center for Education for a Democratic Society was to be established to foster modeling democratic processes within the community of scholar/learners. No formal Center has been created; however, significant changes reflecting faculty input have been made in meeting the intent of the objective.
1. The College was reorganized to form a Teacher Education Department that included the former Departments of Elementary/Early Childhood Education and Professional Teacher Education, and the Special Education program from the Special Education/Communication Disorders Department. This reorganization grew out of a commitment to the philosophy of NNER which emphasized practicing and teaching the concepts of democracy in public education, as well as from a belief by faculty members in the three departments that working together would provide a more effective curriculum for students.
2. A significant change related to this objective has been the renewal of the UNK teacher education program, which began in 1999 and will not be completed until 2005. The program renewal effort was enhanced by the increased communication among elementary, early childhood, special education and professional teacher education faculty who worked as one in a new department. Data from K-12, University Arts & Sciences faculty and teacher educators as well students were used in redesigning the program. A significant philosophical foundation in the program had been an emphasis on the implementation and practice of democratic principles in public education.
3. The Teacher Education faculty applied the concept of inclusion in a democratic society by expanding the definition of who should be involved in teacher education program renewal. This included students, K-12 teachers and Arts and Sciences educators. This tripartite approach to Teacher Education is consistent with the NNER philosophy and NCATE/NDE standards and is explained in the Governance and Resources section. The result was that K-12 and Arts & Sciences educators were involved in all phases of the teacher education program renewal. Faculty members from the Health/Physical Education/Recreation/ Leisure Studies and Communication Departments in the College of Education worked closely with the Teacher Education Department during the renewal process.
4. Multicultural education/diversity, technology, and the four moral dimensions of education (NNER philosophy) are themes found throughout the renewed curriculum. Diversity and technology are themes that NCATE and NDE stress, and they are areas that are important in K-12 schools in Nebraska. Graduate follow-up surveys indicated a need to strengthen infusion of technology. While the 1994 NCATE review identified technology as a weakness, the 1999 NCATE review identified technology as a strength. Attention to diversity issues was also a strength identified by the1999 NCATE team.
5. Assessment of student performance has been addressed with an Evaluation Plan for Student Assessment. According to this plan, all teacher education students serve as the core for making decisions about teacher education programs. Programs can develop complementary evaluations focused on demonstration of competence in specific content areas. Assessment is also being infused into the curriculum as a theme so that teacher education students develop skills for assessment their students. These efforts are developed to meet the new NCATE standards and Nebraska assessment efforts in K-12 schools, and reflect our need to model performance assessment for future teachers in preparing them for the assessment realities in K-12 schools.
6. The Curriculum and Instruction MA program has been renewed to reflect the NCATE, NDE standards and NNER philosophy. This graduate program is delivered off-campus in a cohort format every 2-½ years. This delivery model was developed in 1999 in response to the needs expressed by local school districts and is consistent with the philosophy of NNER in making education accessible to all.
7. All graduate programs were reviewed and nine were combined into four to strengthen offerings to K-12 educators.
8. The Instructional Technology MA program, which includes the Educational Media endorsement program as a component, is delivered entirely via distance education. This is done to model the use of technology in teaching and learning, as well as to make these programs more accessible to educators.
The Human Enhancement Center (HEC) was to be established to develop, coordinate, promote and assess field-based, collaborative professional human services preparation programs. This will involve increased cooperation among the practitioner programs and with practicing professionals. It will also involve providing appropriate direct services to the public. The vision of the HEC was to bring together the professional education and non-education for collaborative efforts. The education professional programs reside in the Counseling and School Psychology, Communication Disorders and Educational Administration Departments. The non-education professional programs reside in Counseling and School Psychology and HPERLS Departments.
1. No formal Center has been established, however, the intent of the objective has been met by collaboration among faculty who utilize the new College of Education Clinic. The clinic is an important addition that has been facilitated by relocation of these departments to a new building where the Clinic is located. A COE Clinic Committee, composed of members from these departments, to coordinates current procedures and plan for future use of the Clinic.
2. An Interdisciplinary course for school psychology, communication disorders and special education students has been developed to prepare future professional to work together as a team. This effort reflects the needs of the schools and NASP standards.
3. The Communications Disorders, School Psychology, and Counseling (School and community) faculty members have renewed their programs and assessment processes during the past four years to comply with accreditation standards and to incorporate student and faculty input. The Communications Disorders program was reviewed for ASHA Accreditation Spring 2003. The School Psychology program will be reviewed for continuing accreditation by NASP Fall 2003. The Community Counseling program was accredited by CACREP for the first time in 2000. The School Counseling, School Psychology, Communication Disorders, and Educational Administration Programs are accredited by the NDE and NCATE.
4. The Exercise Science, Recreation and Sports Management faculty members have renewed their programs during the past four years. Data from national accreditation agencies as well as student and faculty input were used in the redesign of these programs.
5. All of the HEC programs have a field-based component, and College faculty work closely with practitioners in monitoring student progress. In addition, several programs have on-site clinical experiences where students are closely observed and assessed by faculty members.
6. Faculty in the HEC programs increasingly emphasize research by undergraduate and graduate students.
The Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) was to be developed to coordinate, develop, implement, nurture and assess efforts in the College of Education related to technology in collaboration with the EDS and HEC Centers. Instructional technology is a rapidly evolving field and the CIT must identify and adapt to changing needs and opportunities.
1. An Instructional Technology Task Force was established in 1994 and has existed in various forms since that time. The Governance Section in the College of Education Constitution more specifically addresses this topic. Technology was an area of weakness identified by the 1994 NCATE team, and significant College resources were devoted to the improvement of technology infrastructure, labs, classrooms and workstations since then. Evidence of the effectiveness of our efforts can be found in the NCATE 1999 team report that indicated that technology had become a strength in the College. Informal data indicates that the College has changed from lagging behind to leading K-12 schools in the use of technology to support teaching and learning.
2. Numerous changes have taken place in the resources available to faculty, students and staff since 1994. A COE inventory lists the resources available in 2003. One example serves to illustrate the immense changes that have taken place in this area. In 1994, a small COE computer laboratory was located in a locked room on the third floor of Copeland Hall. Access was limited to faculty and students escorted by faculty, with the lab key available from the Office of the Dean. By 2003, the College of Education Building has two computer labs, each with 30 stations, offering both Mac and PC platforms. The laboratories are supervised by a COE Director of Computer Labs and supported by this individual and numerous student workers. A small laboratory that is not monitored by staff is available on the second floor near classrooms.
3. The COE Instructional Task Force developed a Technology Strategic Plan that has provided guidance for College planning. Reports have been prepared periodically identifying progress made toward plans.
The Diversity Center was to be established to gather information and make recommendations regarding how to prepare students for a global society. The Diversity Center was intended to work cooperatively with the Multicultural Resource Center in the library and with schools. Students in K-12 classrooms in Nebraska and the nation are changing rapidly to create a more diverse society. The College of Education has responded by developing ESL programs and modifying the existing programs in response to the changing student demographics as well as to respond to the various standards of accrediting agencies such as NCATE, NDE, and ASHA which require that a diversity focus be infused into programs.
1. The Diversity Center was formed in 1994 as an ad-hoc committee with volunteer representation from the College faculty and students as well as faculty outside the College
2. A Diversity Strategic Plan was developed and has guided the College in its efforts to enhance curriculum as well as professional development, faculty selection, student recruitment, and governance procedures.
3. The Diversity Center assessed progress towards goals annually and reported them to the College faculty. Those reports are available in the document room.
4. Diversity is a theme in the renewed UNK Teacher Education program, and is a component of all professional education and non-education programs.

Successes and Concerns Since 1994

Successes:

Quality of program: All teacher education programs are accredited by the Nebraska Department of Education and NCATE. The UNK Teacher Education program reflects the NNER philosophy, and is receiving recognition within the Network. Follow-up survey data of graduates after the first year, and of their immediate supervisors, indicate a steady increase in average evaluations of the UNK teacher education program from 1999-2003.
Involvement of K-12 and Arts & Sciences educators: More than 200 educators from 36 partner schools in the UNK/K-12 Partner School Network have been involved in program renewal efforts. Faculty from each of the secondary and K-12 education programs outside the College of Education have been involved in the renewal process.
Quality of faculty: Faculty members have quality experience teaching in K-12 schools and work well with K-12 educators in the Partner School Network. They have expertise needed for the specific program content.
Quality of teaching: Student evaluations of faculty and of programs are positive.
Several state and federal grants provided support for technology, diversity and program renewal efforts between 1999-2003.
Faculty members have been stable in these programs, and qualified individuals have been hired when there were faculty openings.
New clinic facilities will enhance the preparation of students in many of these programs.
Upgraded equipment and facilities in Cushing Coliseum have supported research and teaching in Exercise Science.
Program curricula are strong, meeting or exceeding state and national accreditation standards.
Technology is ubiquitous in the College of Education Building. Two labs, a high tech clinic, smart classrooms, and a "technology look" send a message to students and faculty that technology is an important tool.
Most faculty members use Blackboard to support their teaching. In addition, nearly 30 courses are taught via web-only delivery.

Concerns:

Assessment: We are still in the early stages of implementing a comprehensive teacher education assessment plan. LiveText software has been selected to support the data collection efforts, but in its present form it is less than satisfactory. This is hampering efforts to broaden use of the software and may hinder effective analysis. Efforts are being made to have the LiveText publisher modify the software to meet our needs.
Maintaining the momentum for change and shifting to an assessment based focus in the future. Although the renewed program will be fully implemented in 2005, there will be need for continuous revision based on program assessment and assessment of student performance. Tremendous energy has been expended during the past four years, and the potential for faculty burnout is a real concern. Inclusion of Arts & Sciences faculty in the UNK teacher education program in meaningful ways continues to be a challenge.
Emphasis on scholarship: During this intense time of program renewal, some scholarly studies have been conducted to assess the renewal work. However, faculty time for scholarship has been reduced by involvement in renewal. Most faculty members have a 21-hour teaching load; new faculty members have an 18-hour teaching load their first year or two.
Cushing Coliseum is an older building that is being retrofit for technology. All classrooms, however, should become "smart" classrooms by the end of 2003-04.
A challenge will be to continuously allocate resources to upgrade and enhance existing technology hardware and software.

Student Outcomes:

The Center for Assistance to Students in Education (KASE) was to be developed to implement the Education Student Services Plan. This plan was to include sections on recruitment, admissions, scholarships, retention, advising, placement, follow-up, and certification assistance. Specific changes as a result of the development of a Center include:

The KASE (Knowledge and Assistance to Students in Education) Office was established in 1995 to assist all students seeking initial or continuing certification.
KASE personnel maintain a database of information about all UNK undergraduate teacher education students that is used for making decisions about acceptance into teacher education, acceptance into student teaching, and recommendation for certification. Data are compiled and used for accreditation and other reports. Data are used by the Office of the Dean and departments for scheduling, planning, and resource allocation purposes.
The Director of KASE works with TE, HPERLS and CDIS departments to coordinate recruitment activities for all undergraduate programs. This responsibility began in the Fall semester of 1998. A database of prospective students is used to analyze the effectiveness of recruiting efforts each year.
The Director of Field Experiences and a secretary are located in the KASE Office and handle placement of student teachers. Prior to establishing the KASE Office, the Student Teaching Coordinator was located in the Professional Teacher Education Department with limited secretarial assistance.
The Director of Field Experiences conducts the exit program evaluation of all student teachers. Data from these surveys are used by departments and the College to make changes.
The Director of KASE is also the UNK Certification Officer. She works with faculty members in all UNK endorsement programs to ensure that all programs are meeting NDE standards. In this capacity, she also advises secondary and K-12 teacher education majors as needed.

Successes:

The KASE Center provides excellent service to students, faculty and K-12 schools. Staff members in the KASE Office are knowledgeable and service oriented. Stability in staffing has resulted in improved relations with schools.
Communication and coordination among UNK individuals working with education students has improved with the establishment of the KASE Office.
UNK faculty and staff have come to recognize that the KASE Office can be the first point of contact with questions about UNK teacher education and certification.

Concerns:

The KASE Office will begin working with a new database that tracks performance assessments of all UNK teacher education students. This will be a major challenge to coordinate data and share with appropriate personnel.
The demands of recruiting, admitting, monitoring student progress during and at completion of their programs, advising and placement are great. With increased demands for data on student performance assessment, staff burnout is possible.
Processes for coordinating use of the databases in KASE with the UNK Teacher Education LiveText "common assessment" database will need to be developed for effective use of data.

Faculty Outcomes:

Faculty are scholarly teachers who are qualified for their assignments and actively engaged in the professional community. Continuing professional development must be an integral part of each faculty member's experience.

Faculty hired since 1994 have been highly qualified in their respective discipline, and the majority had earned a terminal degree.
Scholarship has increased since 1996 when faculty members were given the option to be reassigned from teaching to scholarship responsibilities for 3 or 6 credit hours/year.
Since 1994, numerous faculty members have retired and many new faculty have been hired. New faculty members have become leaders in college curriculum renewal efforts and, despite the many changes, departments continue to deliver high quality programming.
A "grow your own" hire has resulted in filling the Elementary Math Education position.
A College of Education Professional Development Program was implemented 1997-2002. This program was taught by faculty in the College with expertise in the three strategic themes: diversity, technology, and the moral dimensions of education. All faculty members participated with a cohort of approximately 25 colleagues in 30+ hours of staff development on each theme during the 5-year period.
Funding for off-campus professional development opportunities is allocated to departments, with supplemental funding from the Office of the Dean. College support has increased to $700 per faculty member. Several external grants have supported faculty attendance at conferences related to the strategic themes such as NAME, NNER, and technology.

Strengths:

Faculty teaching evaluations by students are positive.
The ability of the College to meet the needs of students has improved with the opportunity to reallocate resources to hire faculty in needed areas.
Faculty and students are increasingly working together on scholarly projects. The level of faculty scholarship is increasing, especially for those faculty members with reassigned time for research.

Concerns:

Searches continue to be a challenge because of small candidate pools.
Energies of faculty members have been directed towards renewal for 2-4 years, which has taken time from scholarly efforts for some.

Governance and Resources Outcomes:

The College of Education implemented its constitution's governance practices while at the same time it was forced to develop strategic approaches to resource allocation reductions.

The College of Education Constitution was revised in 2002 to eliminate three standing committees and add flexibility for Strategic Mission Committees to be established. As a result, the Diversity Center has become the Diversity Strategic Mission Committee. The Instructional Technology Task Force has become the Technology Strategic Mission Committee. These committees report to the faculty annually, and advise the dean.
The UNK/K-12 Partner School Network was established in 2000 to support UNK teacher education. A Summer Institute has been conducted annually since 2001 to bring partner school educators and UNK teacher education faculty members together to discuss the renewed UNK teacher education program. This Network builds upon the UNK/Kearney Public School Partnership that existed from 1995-2000.
Additional Graduate Assistants have been allocated to COE Departments by the Office of Graduate Studies and Research.
The new College of Education Building is a significant new resource that is enhancing teaching, faculty collaboration on program renewal and research, and improved clinical experiences.
A UNK/K-12 Steering Committee has been established to advise the UNK teacher education program. It is chaired by the Teacher Education Department Chair with representation from UNK and partner school educators. A UNK/K-12 Advisory Committee will be established to advise the Dean and the College of Education related to policy issues and collaboration between UNK and Partner Schools. The Dean of the College of Education will chair the committee, with membership including three undergraduate deans and administrators from partner schools. These governance groups replace the former UNK/KPS Advisory Council.
All departments have an Advisory Committee consisting of professionals in fields related to department programs. These Committees meet at least annually to learn about renewal efforts and provide input for future decisions.
State funding for the College of Education remains adequate, despite more than four years of budget cuts.
External grant funds, totaling $500,000 or more for several years, have enabled the College to purchase technology equipment, supplement faculty professional development, recruit minority students and support program renewal.

Strengths:

The ability of the College to allocate resources to meet the needs of the College and programs during the past 9 years.
K-12 Partner Schools are supportive and active in the UNK Teacher Education renewal process and the development of the assessment plan.
The College of Education Constitution has been revised to reflect the needs of the College.
Numerous grants have provided valuable resources to support program renewal and change efforts related to the College's strategic themes. A list will be in the Documents Room.

Concerns:

Finding ways to continue to upgrade technology, diversity and democracy/moral dimensions materials and equipment will be a challenge. We must continue to seek external funding in the face of a reduced UNK budget.
With centralization of faculty lines and salary monies to the SVCAA office in Fall 2003 authority for allocation/reallocation of resources will be removed from the College Dean. It may become more difficult to replace or add faculty in areas of need.
Renovation of Cushing Coliseum is needed. Some progress has been made in infrastructure, but much remains to be done.

Future Planning Opportunities:

Potential exists for greater visibility of the KASE Office on the UNK campus. As more individuals recognize the role of the KASE Office, increased student referrals can result in greater service to students.
The KASE Office is poised to be the primary office for information about students. To the extent that performance assessments by the UNK Teacher education program can be coordinated with KASE data, the effectiveness of our program evaluation can be improved.
Applied scholarship is appropriate for College of Education faculty. As more is conducted, knowledge about the effectiveness of our work and the work of the schools and agencies with whom faculty collaborate will inform future decisions.
External funding options are available, and faculty skills in writing grant proposals are increasing.
The revised COE Constitution is addressing the current needs of the College and has enough flexibility to continue to meet our needs in the future.

Analysis:

An analysis of the goals and outcomes of the College of Education indicates that the planning process focuses upon the accreditation requirements of NCATE, the Nebraska Department of Education, various specialized accreditation agencies, as well as the tenets of the Goodlad Model for Renewal of Teacher Education Programs. A striking aspect of the changes in the College is reflected in the themes expressed for the Centers. They reflect the influence of the adoption of the Goodlad Model for Renewal of Teacher Education programs. Since the last NCA report (1994), UNK has become a founding member of a consortium of Nebraska institutions of higher education (NNER) that are members of the national Goodlad Network. Many of the goals and outcomes also happen to be congruent with the UNK Mission and recommendations made by the NCA Self Study in 1994. Thus, there is a clear linkage of the College's Role and Mission to provide educators for Nebraska schools and the stated role and mission of UNK as a whole to enhance life in Nebraska and to provide academic majors for students attending UNK. Changes in the departments also reflect a coherent effort to both meet individual program needs and also link with the mission of the College as a whole. Specific examples of outcomes resulting from strategic planning in departments are presented below.

Departmental Outcomes

Department of Communication Disorders:

Both the undergraduate and graduate curriculums have been revised and approved to reflect current best practices and CAA standards.
The program completed a successful reaccredidation site visit by the CAA, indicating that the program is in compliance will all standards and is making appropriate progress for implementing the new standards that will go into effect in 2005.

Department of Counseling and Psychology:

School Counseling: The School Counseling Program curriculum revisions (increasing the required hours to 43) were approved in the spring semester of 2003. The revisions were necessary to maintain the approval of the School Counseling endorsement by the State Department of Education.
Community Counseling: The Community Counseling program was reviewed during the spring of 2000 by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Program (CACREP), which approved the Community Counseling program, with conditions, through June 30, 2002. The program was reviewed again in the spring of 2002 and approved without conditions through June 30, 2007.
School Psychology - The Department was reviewed by the National Association of School Psychologists in the spring of 2003 and the School Psychology program was awarded Full Approval.

Department of Educational Administration:

Promoted technology to enrich curriculum and instruction and become a leader in distance learning/online learning by converting nearly all courses to integrate Blackboard software technology and by offering nearly all Educational Specialist courses on-line. These changes were instituted as a result of NCATE, COE Center for Instructional Technology, enrollment demographics, and student input.
The department members have developed cohort groups for students seeking a degree in Educational Administration. The change occurred as a result of the 1994 Academic Program Review Self-Study.

Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Leisure Management

The department's four undergraduate majors (Physical Education, Fitness and Leisure Studies, Travel & Tourism, and Sports Administration) underwent significant restructuring and realignment. The Travel and Tourism comprehensive major was combined with degree options in Recreation and Park Management and retitled to become the Recreation and Park Management major. The Fitness and Leisure Studies major was retitled Exercise Science. The Therapeutic Recreation option within the Fitness and Leisure Studies major was discontinued. Currently the department's four undergraduate majors are: Physical Education, Exercise Science, Recreation & Park Management, and Sports Administration. The preceding changes occurred as a result of feedback from student assessment, five year Academic Review, enrollment demographics and CAAHEP accreditation standards.
The department's teaching endorsements (K-6 PE, 7-12 PE, 7-12 Health & K-12 Health and PE) were significantly altered and renewed. A variety of sources contributed to the understanding that the preceding program changes were necessary. The College of Education's establishment of four areas of pedagogy (Education for a Democratic Society, Human Enhancement Center, Center for Instructional Technology, and Diversity Center). NCATE, State of Nebraska Rule 24 changes, AAHE and NASPE standards and student assessment were also factors in these program alterations.
The Exercise Science major was significantly altered. The athletic training option was altered to meet new accreditation standards. Accreditation was granted for our athletic training education program (April 2002). The management option within the exercise science major was updated to include more rigorous requirements and a sports nutrition option was added. These alterations were the direct result of CAAHEP accreditation standards, student assessment, Department Academic Program Review and enrollment demographics.
The Recreation and Park Management major was significantly altered. Coursework within this major was altered to improve efficiency and to begin moving towards national accreditation standards. In addition, student assessment, enrollment demographics, the COE's Diversity Center, and Center for Instructional Technology each played a role in the alteration of this major.
The Sports Administration major was significantly altered to move towards national accreditation standards and to include areas of strength within the department. Student assessment, enrollment demographics and the COE's Diversity Center & Center for Instructional Technology influenced this alteration.
At the Graduate level, the Adapted Physical Education MAED was discontinued. The Master Teacher of Physical Education and the General Physical Education MAEDs were significantly altered, including the discontinuation of the specialization in Travel and Tourism. Enrollment demographics, State of Nebraska Rule 24 changes, and NCATE standards influenced these alterations.

Department of Teacher Education:

The merger of the separate departments of Elementary Education, Professional Teacher Education, and Special Education into one Department of Teacher Education has created opportunities for creating a new and more integrative community of learners and faculty.
An extensive curriculum renewal effort for majors and the professional sequence has been undertaken during the past four years.
A collaborative partnership has been utilized between the faculty in the College of Education, the College of Fine Arts and Humanities, the College of natural and Social Sciences, and K-12 schools (34 schools from 15 districts) within the region to construct and implement the curriculum renewal process.
All pre-service teaching candidates are required to construct an electronic portfolio to facilitate not only faculty assessment but also student self assessment toward meeting the major objectives of the program.

Summary

The changes implemented within the individual departments reflect a clear linkage to the overall plan and mission of the College. A primary factor influencing these changes is the necessity for meeting a combination of accreditation agency requirements and the College's membership in the national Goodlad Network for promoting educational renewal. This creates a planning and organizational method that requires more coordination at the College level than is needed in those Colleges that do not have a unit-wide accreditation process such as NCATE. Therefore, strategic planning emphasizes more of a top-down process than is evident in those Colleges without a Unit-wide accreditation and philosophical base. The assessment and evaluation process is more reliant on a unit-wide structure because of the influence of NCATE. The influence of this planning process is illustrated particularly in the program changes undertaken in those departments with undergraduate programs.

Other sections in this appendix: