Integrating Higher Education Planning and Assessment: Concepts and Strategies

1. Integrating Higher Education Planning and Assessment:Concepts and Strategies Michael F. Middaugh Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research and Planning University of Delaware Commissioner and Member of Executive Committee Middle States Commission on Higher Education Andrea A. Lex Dean of Planning and Institutional Research Prince George’s Community College

2. “The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise and is not preceded by a period of worry and depression.” John Preston, Boston College“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.” Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

3. A Brief Overview of Accreditation

4. What is accreditation? • A means of providing quality assurance in the areas of • Student learning and achievement • Curriculum development and support • Faculty • Facilities and equipment • Finance, administration, and governance • Integrity and compliance

5. Why is it done? • Voluntary self-regulation • Voluntary self-examination • Opportunity for peer review • Quality assurance • Public accountability • And, in the case of regional accreditation • Ability to receive Federal financial aid dollars

6. Institutional Effectiveness Planning Resource Allocation Leadership Governance Administration Integrity InstitutionalAssessment Educational Effectiveness Admissions & Retention Support Services Faculty Offerings General Education Related Education Activities Assessment of Student Learning What do we use?Characteristics of Excellence Institutional Mission

7. What have we learned? • That the quality of an institution’s accreditation self study hinges on how it addresses the standards related to • assessing institutional effectiveness (Standard 7) • assessing student learning outcomes (Standard 14) • implementing a vital and comprehensive strategic planning process (Standard 2).

8. Commission-Directed Follow-up(2004-2009) • 81 percent required some sort of follow-up • Student Learning Outcomes (S 14) • Institutional Effectiveness (S 7) • Strategic Planning (S 2) • Sufficient Resources (S 3) • Enrollment Management (S 8)

9. Creating and Closing the Loop • Institutional Mission is the Foundation of & Our Reason for Being

10. Educational Effectiveness Admissions & Retention Support Services Faculty Offerings General Education Related Education Activities Assessment of Student Learning To what extent have students achieved the educational and co-curricular goals set forth by an institution as it recruits and retains these individuals? -- Assessment of Student Learning (Standard 14) Creating and Closing the LoopCharacteristics of Excellence Institutional Mission

11. Creating and Closing the Loop Standard 14: Student Learning Outcomes • Assessment of student learning demonstrates that, at graduation, or other appropriate points, the institution’s students have knowledge, skills, and competencies consistent with institutional and appropriate higher education goals.

12. Selected Fundamental Elements forMSCHE Standard 14 • Articulated expectations for student learning (at institutional, degree/program, and course levels) • Documented, organized, and sustained assessment processes (that may include a formal assessment plan) • Evidence that student learning assessment information is shared and used to improve teaching and learning • Documented use of student learning assessment information as part of institutional assessment

13. Institutional Effectiveness Planning Resource Allocation Leadership Governance Administration Integrity InstitutionalAssessment To what extent has the institution acquired and allocated human and fiscal resources in a manner that supports the achievement of its goals? -- Assessment of Institutional Effectiveness (Standard 7) Creating and Closing the LoopCharacteristics of Excellence Institutional Mission

14. Creating and Closing the Loop Standard 7: Institutional Assessment • The institution has developed and implemented an assessment process that evaluates its overall effectiveness in achieving its mission and goals and its compliance with accreditation standards.

15. Selected Fundamental Elements forMSCHE Standard 7 • Documented, organized, and sustained assessment processes to evaluate the total range of programs and services, achievement of mission, and compliance with accreditation standards • Evidence that assessment results are shared and used in institutional planning, resource allocation and renewal • Written institutional strategic plan(s) that reflect(s) consideration of assessment results • Evidence that institutional assessment findings are used to improve student success

16. Institutional Effectiveness Planning Resource Allocation Leadership Governance Administration Integrity InstitutionalAssessment Educational Effectiveness Admissions & Retention Support Services Faculty Offerings General Education Related Education Activities Assessment of Student Learning Creating and Closing the LoopCharacteristics of Excellence Institutional Mission Planning Planning Planning To what extent are an institution’s policy, decision making and resource allocation processes shaped by a systematic, evidence-based, and mission-guided planning process? --- Assessment of Institutional Planning (Standard 2)

17. Creating and Closing the Loop Standard 2: Planning, Resource Allocationand Institutional Renewal • An institution conducts ongoing planning and resource allocation based on its mission and goals, develops objectives to achieve them, and utilizes the results of its assessment activities for institutional renewal. • Implementation and subsequent evaluation of the success of the strategic plan and resource allocation support the development and change necessary to improve and to maintain quality.

18. Selected Fundamental Elements forMSCHE Standard 2 • Clearly stated goals and objectives, at both the institutional and unit levels, that reflect conclusions drawn from assessments that are used for planning and resource allocation at those levels • Planning and improvement processes that are clearly communicated, provide for constituent participation, and incorporate the use of assessment results • Well-defined decision-making processes and authority that facilitates planning and renewal and the assignment of responsibility for improvement and assurance of accountability • Periodic assessment of the effectiveness of planning, resource allocation, and institutional renewal processes

19. Central Threads Running Through All Accreditation Requirements: • Planning must be systematic • Planning must be rooted in an institution’s mission • Planning must be predicated on analytical and evaluative information • Planning must be used for institutional decisions, including resource allocation

20. The Closed Loop • Institutions must plan effectively in order to be effective. • Where that is the case, the accreditation process is an affirmation of the evidence of that effectiveness.

21. Components of This Curriculum • Best Practice in Planning • Best Practice in Assessment • Closing the Loop Between Planning and Assessment • Real Life Case Studies

22. End Result • Institutions must plan effectively in order to be effective. • Where that is the case, the accreditation process is an affirmation of the evidence of that effectiveness.

23. Components of This Curriculum • Best Practice in Planning • Best Practice in Assessment • Closing the Loop Between Planning and Assessment • Real Life Case Studies

24. In thinking about what good planning is, it is useful to begin the discussion by describing what it is not:George Keller, Academic Strategy: the Management Revolution in American Higher Education, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. Strategic Planning is not: • The production of a blueprint. • A set of platitudes. • The personal vision of a president or board of trustees. • A collection of departmental plans, compiled and edited.

25. Strategic Planning is not: • Done by planners. • A substitution of numbers for important intangibles. • A form of surrender to market conditions and trends. • Something done on an annual retreat. • A way of eliminating risks. • An attempt to read tea leaves and outwit the future.

26. Strategic Planning IS • Academic strategic decision-making means that a college or university and its leaders are active rather than passive about their position in history. • Strategic planning looks outward and is focused on keeping the institution in step with the changing environment. • Academic strategy making is competitive, recognizing that higher education is subject to economic market conditions and to incredibly strong competition. • Strategic planning concentrates on decisions, not on documented plans, analyses, forecasts, and goals.

27. Strategic Planning IS • Strategy making is a blend of rational and economic analysis, political maneuvering, and psychological interplay. It is therefore participatory and highly tolerant of controversy. • Strategic planning concentrates on the fate of the institution above everything else.

29. Let’s begin at the beginning . . . Why are we here?

30. Mission Statement • A good mission statement is a carefully reasoned analysis of what an institution aspires to be, and the core values that it embraces. • It avoids cliché language, e.g., “Students and faculty will interact in a rich intellectual environment in which each individual has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.” Noble sentiment, but says nothing about the institution’s purposes and priorities. • Mission must speak to central institutional issues, e.g., desired balance between undergraduate and graduate education; relative emphasis on teaching, research, and service, respectively; and so on.

31. Mission Statement • Mission statements are characterized by a sense of vision that, while not immutable, nonetheless represents a long-term statement of institutional values and direction around which human and fiscal resource allocation decisions can be made. • While cognizant of the institution’s ever changing external environment, mission statements are not whimsical, morphing with each new market trend that emerges. • The mission statement provides a clear sense of direction around which action-oriented goal statements and measurable planning objectives can be developed.

32. Planning Goals • Goal statements are derived from the institutional mission, and help to define policy. • For example, the mission statement might say that “The University affirms its historic mission of providing the highest quality education for its undergraduate students, while maintaining excellence in selected graduate programs.” • The mission statement is underscoring the primacy of undergraduate instruction in the curriculum. The question for planners is how to provide that high quality undergraduate instruction.

33. How will we achieve our mission?

34. Planning Goals • The “how” translates into specific, action-oriented planning goals aimed at moving the institution toward a fuller realization of its mission. • Possible goal related to the undergraduate education mission statement: “The University will continue to attract and retain the most academically talented and diverse undergraduate students, and support their intellectual, cultural, and ethical development as citizens and scholars.” • Action verbs such as “attract,” “retain,” and “support” elevate the goal statement to policy level. How do we know that policy is being carried out? Measurable planning objectives.

35. Meeting Goals • How will we know when we get there? • What will we look like when we get there?

36. Planning Objectives Planning objectives provide empirical evidence of the extent to which planning goals are being achieved. Consider the following planning objectives as they relate to our goal to attract, retain, and support academically talented and diverse students. • Retain a freshman admissions target of 3200 to 3400 students annually, with an admissions profile for academic year 2007 of 23,000 applications, a 40 percent admit rate, and a yield rate in excess of 35 percent. • Improve the alignment of undergraduate enrollment distribution and instructional resource distribution across the disciplines, especially with respect to faculty.

37. Planning Objectives Continued • Maintain a freshman-to-sophomore retention rate above the national average for highly selective institutions, and seek to achieve a consistent rate of 90 percent or higher. • Maintain a graduation rate above the national average for highly selective institutions, and seek to achieve a consistent six-year rate of 75 percent or higher. • Increase minority and international enrollment, with retention and graduation rates for those populations consistent with the university-wide averages for all students.

38. How are we doing? • How close are we to getting there? • How are we doing along the way?

39. Planning Objectives • The defining characteristic for any good planning objective is that it must be measurable. In other words, assessable. • Colleges or universities embarking on any planning process – long range, strategic, tactical – require a systematic institutional research capability. • While smaller institutions may not have an office of institutional research, per se, they must nonetheless have the capability of quantitatively and qualitatively assessing the extent to which planning objectives are being implemented, planning goals are being achieved, and the institutions mission is being realized.

40. Breakout Session Using your own Institutional Mission Statement, create at least five planning goals and associated measurable planning objectives that will help assess the extent to which that mission is being realized.

41. Linking Planning and Assessment Two Case Studies at The Same Institution

42. The First Cut: Creating a Culture of Planning

43. University of DelawareStrategic Planning: 1990 - 2000

44. University of Delaware Mission Statement “The University reaffirms its historic mission to provide the highest quality education for its undergraduate students, while maintaining excellence in selected graduate programs. The faculty are responsible for helping students learn to reason critically and independently, gain knowledge of the diverse culture and environment in which they live, and develop into well-informed citizens and leaders. To accomplish these goals, the University provides a learning setting enriched by undergraduate student research, experiential learning, and study-abroad programs. The University places high priority on the education of qualified Delaware residents and provides opportunity for a diverse group of citizens to participate in postsecondary education. Since the University is located in a state with a small population, providing programs of quality and diversity requires a community of student-scholars that reaches beyond the boundaries of the state, one that reflects the nation’s racial and cultural diversity. “The University of Delaware also aspires to excellence in graduate education, the heart of which is scholarship and research. The creation, application, and communication of knowledge is a primary goal of the institution and of every faculty member, providing the substance for creative, informed teaching. Research is typically based on cooperation between faculty and students, whereby faculty mentors teach students to conduct independent research and to master problem-solving techniques. Through involvement of undergraduates in faculty research, the University creates a special bond between its undergraduate and graduate programs. “The University is also committed to providing service to society, especially in Delaware and the neighboring region. Public service is a responsibility of every academic unit. In addition, each faculty member is responsible for service to the University community and to his or her profession. The University emphasizes practical research, provides extension services, and works to solve problems confronting the community. (University of Delaware, Middle States Self-Study Report, April 2001)

45. Case Study – University of Delaware • In 1987, the University embarked on a comprehensive, long-range planning process, termed Project Vision. Over a period of 18 months, the campus developed a planning document with a broad spectrum of planning goals and measurable objectives embracing all aspects of University operations. • In Fall of 1988, the President who initiated Project Vision suddenly resigned. At the same time, the Delaware economy along with that of the entire mid-Atlantic region was plunging into deep recession

46. Case Study – University of Delaware • Rather than let 18 months of planning activity go for naught – even though resources would be scarce for the foreseeable future – a panel of distinguished senior faculty was assembled to review the Project Vision planning document and to cull out those goals and objectives that were clearly consistent with, and essential to furthering the University mission. • The resulting document, Focused Vision, was economical when compared with its progenitor, both in terms of words and resource requirements. However, the economy would still clearly preclude anything even remotely approaching implementation. • In 1990, the University hired its 25th President, David P. Roselle.

47. Case Study – University of Delaware • In order to maintain planning momentum, the President consulted with his senior staff, the faculty, and appropriate constituencies across campus to determine those areas that required immediate attention. • From these consultations, the President articulated four strategic initiatives that would constitute the focus of decision-making and resource allocation activity in the immediate future. Those initiatives were competitive compensation for faculty and staff; enhanced access to the University for undergraduates through expanded availability of financial aid; a more student-centered campus environment; and renovation and rehabilitation of campus facilities.

48. Case Study – University of Delaware These priorities were not a “wish list.” They grew out of a careful examination of empirical data provided by the University’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning and other data sources. Consider the following: • When compared with the 24 Category Doctoral I universities in the states contiguous to Delaware, and the District of Columbia, in 1991 the average salary for all three major faculty ranks at the University of Delaware ranked near the bottom of the list. • The Student College Selection Survey indicated that students were receiving offers of more aid from admissions competitors, and that the aid packages had more grants and fewer loans than University aid packages. Not surprising, the University was at a competitive disadvantage for academically talented students.

49. Case Study – University of Delaware • University scores on the ACT Student Opinion Survey suggested that the institution had considerable room for improvement with respect to student satisfaction with programs and services, and with a number of areas in student life. • The University was looking at in excess of $200 million in deferred maintenance to its buildings and grounds.

50. Case Study – University of Delaware • A critical factor in moving forward with these initiatives was getting the campus to understand that the economy was in recession and that there would be no immediate or massive infusions of new resources. • Colleges and universities have multiple revenue streams – tuition, state appropriation in the case of public institutions, contracts and grants, gifts, etc. While growing revenue streams is an important strategic initiative, so too is the commitment to not balance budgets on the backs of students through inordinately large tuition increases. • Resource reallocation would be the primary source of funding the four strategic initiatives, and it was critical that the campus understand from where funds were reallocated, and why.