Developing a Culture of Continuous Improvement in Academic Affairs

1. Developing a Culture of Continuous Improvement in Academic Affairs Fayetteville State University Bronco Kick-Off August 15, 2013

2. Welcome to returning and new faculty and staff • Thank you

3. Congratulations!

4. Congratulations! • The following faculty members have been awarded tenure, effective August 2013: • Miriam Chitiga • Eric Dent • Noran Moffett • Timothy Moore • Steven Phelan • Dinesh Sharma

5. Congratulations: FSU’s Newest Professors Timothy Ajani Cevdet Akbay Eugenie Almeida Jonathan Chestnut Todd Frobish Richard Hall • Phoebe Hall • Shubo Han • Druann Heckert • Maurice Mongkuo • Frank Nani • Gurcharan Rahi

6. 5 Points of Pride: 2012-13 • 1,119 graduates; 934 undergraduates; 178 master’s degrees, and 7 doctorates; 634 Pell Grant recipients (67.8% of undergraduates); 208 military affiliated (active duty, veterans, dependents) (18.5%) • Revision of University College Core Curriculum • Average rating of 4.26 (on scale of 1 – 5!) (33,821 responses) on item #40 on Student Evaluations • Publications, Presentations, Performances and Exhibits: 620, up from 551 in 2011-12 • Grants and Contracts: 53 funded with value of $11.4 million, up from 36 funded with value of $11 million in 2011-12.

7. Overview • For the upcoming year and next five years: • Planning must be based on a realistic appraisal of our budget situation, past and future. • Instead of acting in “crisis mode,” we must implement effective planning and assessment - a culture of continuous improvement - to guide our budget decision making.

8. For the next five years… • FSU and UNC System – Funding will depend upon our ability to demonstrate that we add value to this region and the state through • presenting evidence of student learning • increasing the number of graduates • providing educational support that promotes student success • making important contributions in research, creative activities, and community engagement • increasing fiscal efficiency

9. For the next five years • Relationship of your unit/department and FSU is similar to that of FSU and UNC system. • Just as FSU must show that we add value to the region and state, so too your unit/department must show that you add value to FSU. • A culture of continuous improvement enables us to demonstrate how we add value.

10. AA Budget Overview: 2008 - 2013 *Operations includes temporary employees, supplies, equipment, service agreements, travel, printing, etc.

11. Despite these reductions.. …We have made tremendous progress: • Achieved SACS reaffirmation • Implemented tougher admissions and progression standards • Achieved specialized accreditations in more programs • Increased global experiences for students and faculty • Secured more external grant funding • Improved retention (especially with young men) • Produced more graduates • Revised the core curriculum • We have received positive credit ratings from Fitch and Standard and Poors

12. Increased efficiency UNC Board of Governors looking closely at various efficiency metrics • SCHs per FTE: (fall 2012): FSU had second highest average in UNC system: • Classes enrollment < 10 (fall 2011): FSU had lowest percentage of classes in UNC system: 25.16%. • Undergraduate degree efficiency – # of degrees per 100 undergraduate FTEs – increased every year since 2006 • Education and Related expenses (E&R) per degree; 6th lowest in UNC system; reduced by 22% since 2007-08 Note: I will make the full reports available on the AA website.

13. Challenges for 2013-14 • 100% of reductions from operations (previously 15% to 32%) • Reduce salary requirements to increase funds for operations • Freeze or abolish vacant positions • Reduce reliance on part-time adjunct faculty • Increase student SCHs – Remember: total SCHs – not headcount – determine budget. Between now and August 28 (last day of late registration) we need to add @ 12,000 SCHs. • If you have majors in good academic standing who have not yet enrolled, reach out to them • Advise students who can enroll in more than 12 hours to do so. • If at all possible, permit students to enroll in your classes over the enrollment limit – this increases their term SCHs. (Consider if 100 faculty were to permit 3 more students in their classes, that would generate 900 SCHs toward the 12,000!)

14. Budget Challenges: Next Five Years • The North Carolina economy is improving, though slowly, but future funding in UNC remains uncertain. • 2013-14 budget: UNC system received higher percentage reductions than DPI and NCCCS. • By fall 2015, increased funding likely to be based more on performance on specified metrics than on enrollment growth.

15. The question we must focus on beginning today in your colleges/schools, departmental unit meetings and throughout this year is, “How will we respond to the budget challenges of the next five years, recognizing the likelihood of no increase in state appropriations?”

16. Continuous Improvement • Our best response to these budget challenges: a culture of continuous improvement, marked by • shared vision, mission, and goals that guide individual and collective actions; • effective assessment of progress in achieving our vision, mission, and goals; and • effective use of assessment results to guide further improvements.

17. Continuous Improvement • Our tool for implementing and documenting continuous improvement is the Operational Plan and Assessment Report (OPAR). • As you discuss your unit OPARs today and in coming weeks, I encourage you not to view this as bureaucratic busy work. • Clarify your mission and goals; agree upon assessment measures and targets; review results of last year to establish strategies for improvement this year. • Your OPAR is your tool for showing how your unit adds value to FSU and this region.

18. CI and Academic Affairs • The AA leadership team and I have worked this summer to clarify the vision, mission, and goals for the entire division since these are the necessary first step for continuous improvement. • We have incorporated information from the UNC Strategic Directions for 2013-18. (Note: no more references to UNC Tomorrow. The Strategic Directions document replaces it.) • You will receive a copy of the proposed vision, mission, and goals for Academic Affairs for your review and feedback. I have given you questions to ask about these statements. Please submit feedback by August 30.

19. As you develop your OPARs consider how you help fulfill the six revised goals for the entire Academic Affairs Division. • All that we do should contribute to one or more of these goals.

20. Goals and Sample Assessment Measures • Ensure Academic Quality (Student Learning) • Assessment matrix of Program SLOs • Assessment results from core courses • CLA results • Increase Degree Attainment • Retention, Persistence, and Graduation Rates • Degree Efficiency • Transfer Student persistence • Improve Educational Support • Advisement Survey results • Graduating Senior Survey

21. Assessments Used to Measure Progress • Increase Research and Creative Activities • Report on Intellectual Contributions (Digital Measures) • Report on External Funding (RAMASeS) • Increase Community Engagement • Report on Service (Digital Measures) • Reports from units on community engagement • Ensure Continuous Improvement (including fiscal efficiency) • OPAR ratings based on rubric • Continuous Improvement Report • Program Review Report • Report on budget/enrollment

22. Selected AA Strategies, 2013-14 • Implement Pilot Academic Program Review • Implement assessment plans in core curriculum classes • Offer program for faculty to become certified evaluators of program learning outcomes assessment plans. • Offer course redesign project for courses with consistently high DFW rates • Implement “Advisor(s) of the Year Program” • Implement “Bronco Best” Program • Act on recommendations from COACHE Advisory Committee

23. Selected AA Strategies, 2013-14 • Consider requiring Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+) as exit exam for your major. (Goal 1) • Requiring the CLA demonstrates our commitment to helping our students develop skills expected of all university graduates, i.e., analytical reasoning, critical thinking, writing, and decision-making skills • The CLA is crucial to the QEP and UNC performance funding metrics. We need as many participants as possible to develop a representative sample. • With the new CLA, we will receive results much sooner than in the past AND students will receive individual score reports that they can include on their resume or in portfolios. • If approved, you would embed the requirement into one of your 400-level required courses. • The CLA enables FSU and your program to show the value we add to students’ development of these skills. • Copies of proposal will be distributed as you leave.

24. Your Unit OPAR – Consider the following • Do your mission and goals really express what you do and aspire to achieve? • How will your unit contribute one or more of the AA divisional goals? • Do your learning experiences prepare students for success in their professions, communities, and personal lives? • Learning communities, engaging pedagogies, research experiences, internships and co-ops, global experiences, experiences that strengthen communication and evidence-based decision making skills (CLA); high-quality faculty-student interaction inside and outside the classroom

25. Your Unit OPAR – Consider the following • Are you enabling more students to progress toward degree completion through improved advisement and better academic support to reduce D,F,W rates? • Are you making efforts to increase external funding through grant writing and/or enrollment/tuition generating activities? • Do your Assessment Plan and Assessment Findings effectively demonstrating that you are actually doing what you say your do? • Are you using your assessment findings from last year to develop strategies to improve your outcomes this year?

26. Your Unit OPAR – Consider the following: • If we do not receive additional state funding, we will have to reallocate existing resources. Units with good evidence of continuous improvement will fare much better in the reallocation process than those who do not have such evidence. • Your OPAR is your tool for demonstrating continuous improvement. • So, as you discuss your plans for the upcoming year, I encourage you to give your best thought and energy to developing the best possible plan for continuous improvement.

27. My support for you • I promise that I will take advantage of every opportunity to publicize your successes, lobby for your needs, and protect the interests of FSU. • Involvement in Board of Governor’s initiatives • Reports to UNC GA, Board of Trustees, the press • Ex. Article on “Return on investment” • http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/05/22/1257417 • Advocate on your behalf within the university • Budget, renovations, repairs, IT, HR

28. Campaign for FSU • Campaign is among FSU’s most important initiatives for the next five years. • Current limited scholarship resources place us in competitive disadvantage in student recruitment. • Campaign will help provide more resources for faculty development and global experiences. • Your support? • I hope every member of AA will make a financial commitment to the campaign. We should not see this as charity – though it is a tax deduction – but as an investment in our own collective future. • If you cannot give monetarily, there will be ways you can give of your time and talent to help conduct the campaign. • All of us can serve as positive ambassadors for FSU in our interactions with members of the community and our circles of influence.

29. Thank you!

30. Questions