Continuous Improvement Successes at UCO From the NCA Self-Study to the Start of the OKQ Self-Study
Dates March, 2000 – Sept, 2004
As UCO began its re-accreditation self-study, the Higher Learning Commission announced the beginning of the Academic Quality Improvement Program as an alternative to traditional re-accreditation. That self-study then began UCO’s exploration of continuous quality improvement concepts. Those concepts are entirely compatible with UCO’s efforts to continuously improve the way it serves students and the community. While beginning another self-assessment, this time using the Oklahoma Quality process, based on the Baldrige model, it is worthwhile to briefly identify some of the success of UCO’s academic continuous improvement efforts thus far.
Continuous Improvement Web Site – This site was established shortly after the creation of the Continuous Improvement Team (CIT). It serves as a site for presenting quality tools including process improvement (“Lean”), Fishbone Diagrams, etc. It provides links to other quality-related sites and, perhaps most importantly, provides an open look at UCO campus activities tied to continuous improvement in academics. Contact: Ed Cunliff, ecunliff@ucok.edu
Best Practice Web Site – This site is just beginning and is a spin-off from the Chair’s Best Practice Toolbox as a recommendation of a CIT Action Team. It is designed to provide a forum for sharing best practices amongst faculty and staff as pertains to students, faculty, staff, and administration. UCO faculty and staff are invited to contribute to the site using a standard format. The current location of the site is www.ucok.edu/cit. Contact: Lon Dehnert, ldehnert@ucok.edu
Chairs Best Practice Toolbox – The quarterly Chairs meetings in 03-04 began with 30- minute sessions in which a panel of 3 or 4 Chairs would share their best practices in areas of concern to chairs. During the first year topics included: “Dealing with Student Issues”, “Developing Faculty”, “Writing Faculty Evaluations that Work”, and “Managing Adjunct Faculty”. Ideas from these panels are then shared on the web site (http://www.ucok.edu/cit). The process has received a positive evaluation from Chairs and will be continued. Contact: Bill Radke, wradke@ucok.edu
Continuous Improvement of Student Performance. As part of its assessment system, the teacher preparation program at UCO reviews certification pass rate data for program completers as one measure of the effectiveness of its programs. The teacher preparation program has established the goal to be above the state’s average certification pass rate as reported for Title II, the annual report required by federal HEA guidelines. To be above state pass rates is significant because UCO prepares a large number of teachers, and statistically this large number would play a factor in the establishment of the state average. Teacher education faculty members work with their departmental colleagues to establish consistent curricula that reflect the state and national teacher preparation standards for each discipline. For the past three years, UCO has gradually increased its aggregate pass rates on the state certification tests from 92% in 2000 to 100% in 2003. In all years, UCO is above the state average. Contact Judith Coe, jcoe@ucok.edu
Departmental Weekly SSCI meetings. In the College of Education, the Department of Psychology, the Department of Kinesiology and Health Studies and the Department of Occupational and Technology Education met weekly to address the self study required for the SCCI report. This meeting time provided momentum and emphasized the continuous improvement effort throughout the semester. Contact: Judith Coe, jcoe@ucok.edu
Self-Study for Continuous Improvement - The program review process has been revitalized to support departments/schools in their efforts to improve. The SSCI incorporates the assessment planning and reporting in the Helping Students Learn criterion and ties directly to the annual academic strategic plan. Contact: Ed Cunliff, ecunliff@ucok.edu
Departmental SCCI Retreats: Three departments in the College of Arts, Media & Design: Art, Design, and Theatre, Dance, and Media Arts, held retreats to develop the departmental self-study required for the Continuous Improvement and Strategic Planning process at UCO. The new SSCI timeline includes a departmental retreat as part of the process. Each department commented on the value of getting away from campus and working together to develop the first draft of the document. Contact: Lon Dehnert, ldehnert@ucok.edu
Department of Art Self-Study: The Department of Art, in an endeavor to improve the safety of the facilities for the students, requested a safety evaluation be prepared on all of its facilities. The final report has been used throughout the year to focus improvements where they will best serve the students. Contact: Joe Daun, jdaun@ucok.edu
New Chair Orientation – Chairs are now provided with some initial guidance as they assume their new role. Training, now in its second year, includes topics such as: Policy and Procedures, Class Scheduling, Dealing with Students and Legal Issues, Evaluating and Developing Faculty and Staff, and Strategic Planning. The sessions are provided by current Chairs and appropriate staff. Contact: Bill Radke, wradke@ucok.edu
Chair’s Virtual Resource Room – The College of Liberal Arts and the College of Education both have developed “survival books” for new and current chairs. Thanks to their cooperation the Chair’s Survival Book was developed for the New Chair Orientation in Aug of 2003. This year’s survival book will resemble the virtual resource room created during the NCA re-accreditation. The current location of the site is: http://www.ucok.edu/planning_and_analysis. Contact: Carla Supon, csupon@ucok.edu
Academic Mission and Core Values – The UCO Academic Mission was revisited and revised as a result of continuous improvement efforts in the Academic Affairs Executive Council. The Core Values were discussed and debated by the AAEC, shared with academic faculty and staff, and finalized in June of 2004. This is the first time that the academic core values had been clearly identified by stakeholders at UCO. Contact: Don Betz, dbetz@ucok.edu
Strategic Planning – UCO undertook a major strategic planning effort when President Webb took office. Since then, a consistent format has been developed for all academic departments and colleges. The model includes assessment and is designed to serve as a guide for all academic budgeting decisions. The Academic Quality Improvement Process criteria have been utilized to serve as a framework and to support a focus on student learning. The process has gone through one cycle and is continuing to evolve with the goals of simplification and creating a connection between planning and budgeting. Contact: Bill Radke, wradke@ucok.edu
Systematic Approach to University-Wide Surveys – Faculty, staff and student surveys that are university-wide are better coordinated. A consistent timeline including annual student surveys and third-year faculty surveys is intended to reduce duplication of effort and to provide a consistent benchmark. There is also an emphasis on using the information for continuous improvement. Surveys are analyzed and action plans are developed to respond to major issues. National surveys are utilized to provide comparative data for benchmarking. Contact: Karen Henderson, khenderson@ucok.edu
Staff Survey –There were no national staff surveys that matched the needs of UCO, so a survey was developed internally and administered in the spring of 2003. This is the first staff survey in almost ten years. Results will be processed and a response developed during the fall of 2004. Contact: Karen Henderson, khenderson@ucok.edu
Survey Action Process – Surveys provide an important means of gathering information from stakeholders. The amount of information gathered can be so overwhelming that data are not appropriately used in decision-making. A process was developed by the Assessment Office staff to focus and simplify the analytical process so as to tie actions to the data. Contact: Karen Henderson, khenderson@ucok.edu
Electronic Schedule – Several process changes have been made to the scheduling process. Perhaps the biggest change, in terms of cost reduction and quality improvement came from the move to an electronic schedule. The efforts of the Enrollment Management Office and a CIT Action Team came together in the form of a recommendation to the Provost and resulted in an electronic schedule readily accepted by UCO’s web savvy students. Contact: Jerry Legere, jlegere@ucok.edu
e-Portfolios -The College of Education piloted a study for the use of electronic portfolios to meet state and national accreditation requirements. Based on the study and changes in program review processes at the national level, the e-Portfolio will be implemented beginning Fall 04. The electronic portfolio will replace the current paper version and assist in streamlining the collection and aggregation of data related to candidate performance and competency. Contact: Judith Coe, jcoe@ucok.edu
Teacher Work Sample - In Spring 2004, the teacher preparation program began work to implement teacher work sample methodology into its undergraduate curricula. The methodology has been a focus of federal and state studies designed to establish quantifiable data that teacher candidates impact K-12 learning. Contact: Judith Coe, jcoe@ucok.edu
Increasing National Recognition – UCO continues to improve its national reputation with presentations related to campus continuous improvement activities. Steve Kreidler presented at a National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education program in Dallas, Texas, while Pam Washington, Chris Markwood, and Melinda Henderson presented for the same group at a national meeting in Nashville, TN. Don Betz and Donna Guinn presented at the Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting. Judith Coe, Pamela Fly, and Dana Owens have presented UCO’s efforts in streamlining assessment data collection and use at the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education annual conference for 2001, 2002, and 2003.These are just a few of the opportunities UCO has had as a result of our continuous improvement efforts. Contact: Don Betz, dbetz@ucok.edu
Presentation for the National Consortium for Continuous Improvement Conference: Drs. Chris Markwood and Lon Dehnert gave a presentation at the National NCCI conference entitled: Building Leadership and Team Facilitation Skills in Faculty. They presented the successes the CAMD Leadership Team has had in its first year of existence and shared the opportunities for improvement. Contact: Lon Dehnert, ldehnert@ucok.edu
Specialized Accreditation Process – Special accreditations are now reviewed in a more consistent manner at the university level. These accreditations are important to the institution in terms of resource commitment and mission focus. Within the past year the institution has successfully reviewed several possible specialized accreditation requests and has made a decision to move forward on ABET and NAST. UCO was successful in receiving accreditation from FIDER and full accreditation from NASM. During the 2000-2004 period, the College of Education underwent five extensive accreditation reviews and began preparing for a sixth. In 2001, UCO’s teacher preparation program piloted the new NCATE 2000 standards, one of 32 institutions nation-wide who agreed to pilot. The unit was successfully re-accredited under the new standards and 24 individual content programs across four colleges met state and national requirements. Also in 2001, the UCO Dietetic programs were re-accredited under ADA standards. In 2003, the National Council on Family Relations accredited the Family Life education programs in Human Environmental Sciences, and the Child Study Center was reviewed by site validator in spring 2004. Also during spring 2004, the Department of Kinesiology learned that it was recognized by the American College of Sports Medicine – Exercise Physiology Registry. The speech pathology program is preparing for its ASHA accreditation review scheduled fall 2005. Contact: Ed Cunliff, ecunliff@ucok.edu
ADA Accreditation: The Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Management program was awarded full accreditation from the American Dietetics Associate. Dr. Marilyn Waters coordinated the effort to develop the self-study and host the visiting team. Contact: Marilyn Waters, mwaters@ucok.edu
ACSM Registry: The American College of Sports Medicine has added UCO to its Registry of recognized exercise-physiology programs. This endorsement validates UCO’s curriculum and program as exemplary in preparing candidates to take the examinations for registered instructors, specialists, and physiologists. Dr. Donna Cobb, chair of the Kinesiology Department, led the effort. Contact Donna Cobb, dcobb@ucok.edu
ASHA Accreditation: Faculty in the Speech Pathology program are preparing to host an re-accreditation visit from the American Speech Language Hearing Association scheduled for fall 2005. One of the primary concerns from the past two visits has been the lack of adequate clinical facilities for preparing speech pathologist. With the support of Provost Betz and Vice President for Administration Steve Kreidler, new facilities are in process and should be completed fall 2004. Contact Scott McLaughlin, smclaughlin@ucok.edu
FIDER Accreditation: The Interior Design Program in the Department of Design has been awarded full accreditation from the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research. Laci Hensley and Melinda Lyon were instrumental in putting together the self-study and hosting the representatives from FIDER during the evaluation process. Contact: Jim Watson, jwatson@ucok.edu
NASM Accreditation: The School of Music has been awarded full accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Music. Karen Carter, Kent Kidwell and Ralph Morris were instrumental in developing the two self-studies that led to accreditation. Contact: Ralph Morris, rmorris@ucok.edu
NAST Consultative Visit: In the process of continuous improvement and planning for future accreditation the Department of Theatre, Dance and Media Arts brought in a consultant from the National Association of Schools of Theatre to review the Theatre Program. The department is actively developing their Self Study for Continuous Improvement document and working to improve their curriculum. Contact: Bob McGill, rmcgill@ucok.edu
NAEYC Accreditation: The National Association for the Education of Young Children has re-accredited UCO’s Child Study Center which provides educational services and care for pre-school children on campus. The visit differs somewhat from traditional accreditations in that it is unannounced to better gauge the quality of the program on a daily basis. Contact Lori Beasley, lbeasley@ucok.edu
NCFR Accreditation: After a review of curriculum and faculty qualifications, the National Council on Family Relations has accredited all Family Life Education programs. Dr. Kaye Sears was instrumental in compiling the documentation and pursuing the accreditation. Contact Kaye Sears, ksears@ucok.edu
NCATE Accreditation: All teacher preparation programs and operations were reviewed under new performance-based standards proposed by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. These new standards required extensive preparation of self-study documents for each of 24 programs and the entire unit as well as a visit that included 12 national and state team members. UCO is proud to be celebrating our fiftieth year of national accreditation in 2004. Contact: Judith Coe, jcoe@ucok.edu
AAEC Minutes – One of those small but significant changes has been to the AAEC meeting minutes. The format was modified to clearly identify follow-up actions and assignments that were the result of the meeting. Given the nature of the group involved, this is a significant increase in efficiency. Contact: Bill Radke, wradke@ucok.edu
“Quality Tools” – The singular focus on the use of quality tools has been suggested as a reason for the failure of TQM to catch on in higher education in the late 1980’s. Seen within a context and used as part of a systematic approach to continuous improvement, they can be very useful. Dozens of faculty and staff on the academic side have received training in some of the tools and are using them effectively in committees and thereby saving resources, time especially, in the process. Administration has trained its entire staff in the “Lean” process improvement tool. Contact: Don Betz, dbetz@ucok.edu or Steve Kreidler, skreidler@ucok.edu
CAMD Leadership Team: The College of Arts, Media & Design has completed their first year with the CAMD Leadership Team. This team consists of the chairs from each of the CAMD teams including Curriculum, Faculty Enhancement, Continuous Improvement, and others. They have participated in planning for the college as well as training exercises to improve their skills in team building and facilitation. Contact: Lon Dehnert, ldehnert@ucok.edu
Self-Study on Galleries and Museums: The CAMD received a grant from the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS) to assist with the improvement and maintenance of the college’s museums and galleries. As part of the grant an assessor is currently compiling a report which will identify the museums needs and areas of concern. It is the objective of the college to determine which goals and plans for the museums are reasonable and attainable. Contact: Zina Gelona, zgelona@ucok.edu
Dance Certification in Oklahoma: In concert with the Da Vinci Institute, the OCAE has successfully partnered with the Oklahoma State Department of Education to develop standards for Dance Certification in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma State School Board has approved this area of licensure. By the fall of 2005, colleges and universities will be able to offer dance/movement education as a certified area of teaching in the schools of Oklahoma. Contact: Jamie Jacobson, jjacobson@ucok.edu
McCurtain County Educational Co-op/U.S. Department of Education: In March 2003, the OCAE was contacted by the McCurtain County Educational Co-op (McCare) to aid in the implementation of a three year grant to train faculty, staff, and administration in the public schools in southeast preK-12 public Oklahoma in integrating the arts into all core subject areas as well as training fine and performing arts specialists in developing arts skills. The purpose of this training is to aid these schools in increasing student test scores. To date, the OCAE has successfully trained over 200 faculty, staff, and administrators in 39 schools. The OCAE is scheduled to continue this process in individual schools as well as continue with the summer institutes. The OCAE is the major partner in this implementation process. Contact: John Clinton, jclinton@ucok.edu
The Arts Education Perception Survey (Research): The OCAE initiated a research project to survey parents, school administrators, school board members, faculty, business leaders, and legislators to determine their perception of arts education in Oklahoma. This research has received approval from the UCO IRB as well as the University of Oklahoma IRB (a research partnership has been formed with OU). This study was piloted in Arkansas to measure reliability and validity and, during the fall of 2004, will be distributed among participants in 120 randomly selected communities in Oklahoma. Results of this survey will be prepared and published by January 2005. Current funders include the Oklahoma Center for Arts Education, Business Circle for Arts Education, Oklahoma Alliance for Arts Education, and the Oklahoma Arts Council. Contact: John Clinton, jclinton@ucok.edu
Arts Education Associations of Oklahoma: The Merrick Foundation has approved a grant to further the cause of arts education in Oklahoma. Through this grant state-wide arts education associations and fine/performing arts supervisors in preK-12 schools will be able to better fund arts program in their schools/organizations. These associations and schools include the Oklahoma Art Education , Oklahoma Arts Institute, Dance Education, Drama/Theatre Education, Oklahoma Alliance for Arts Education, Oklahoma Music Educators, Moore Public Schools, Norman Public Schools, Oklahoma City Public Schools, Tulsa area Public Schools. The purpose of this coalition is to work together to serve as a common voice for the advancement of quality fine arts education for all students in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Center for Arts Education serves as a catalyst to facilitate the mission of this coalition and the mission of each individual organization. Contact: John Clinton, jclinton@ucok.edu
Oklahoma Center for Arts Education Advisory Board: The OCAE has developed an advisory board and sub-committees that encompasses representative teachers, administrators, and business leaders from around the state. The subcommittees include the following: Art Education, Administrators, Dance Education, Drama/Theatre Education, Elementary School General Music, Expressive Arts Therapy, Instrumental Music Education, Non-metropolitan Area Arts Education, Multinational Arts Education, Public Policy. The participants on these sub-committees will continue to aid in developing standards and appropriate programs for students and act as a critical resource bank for the OCAE. Contact: John Clinton, jclinton@ucok.edu
Grade Change Procedure – To better serve our students and to increase efficiency, the procedure for changing grades was simplified by removing the signature requirement of an Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs before the form could go to the Registrar. Contact: Bill Radke, wradke@ucok.edu
Faculty Enhancement – The number of activities offered, and the number of faculty members participating in faculty development efforts has increased. Faculty Enhancement Day went from 12 concurrent sessions in 2001 to 32 in 2002. The number of faculty participating in 2002 surpassed 260. More learning opportunities have been available in the form of New Faculty Orientation and follow-up meetings, and special topic sessions during the year. Contact: Brent Wendling, bwendling@ucok.edu
Continuous Improvement Education – Knowledge is a powerful instrument, and UCO has brought in national speakers and provided several other learning opportunities related to the continuous improvement processes. Four out-of-state experts have shared their knowledge on campus with over 100 faculty and staff, and over 20 faculty and staff have traveled off campus for training in quality processes including AQIP and Oklahoma Quality Foundation. Contact: Ed Cunliff, ecunliff@ucok.edu
Adjunct Faculty Inclusion – Though the number of adjuncts used to teach classes has increased over the past twenty years, there had never been a systematic analysis of how they were brought into the university life. A first study was conducted that resulted in a variety of efforts to communicate with and include adjunct faculty into the life of the university at all levels. A follow-up study will be conducted and an examination of what systematic changes might ultimately benefit student learning. Contact: Cindy Boling, cboling@ucok.edu
Adjunct Orientation – As part of the effort to integrate adjunct faculty into the fiber of the university, an Adjunct Orientation Program will be offered for the first time in the fall of 2004. This is another means of providing support to those who help students learn. Contact: Brent Wendling, bwendling@ucok.edu
Undergraduate Research – UCO has been recognized in a publication by the Council on Undergraduate Research as a model institution for institutionalization of undergraduate research. There are three different grant programs in which faculty may involve undergraduates in research at UCO including a new interdisciplinary program. Students may also apply for funding in support of their creative activities. This year more that 300 papers and 600 registrants participated in UCO's Regional Universities Research Day, a record for the four years in which the event has been held. Contact: John Barthell, jbarthell@ucok.edu
Seven Principles of Student Engagement – The National Study of Student Engagement was conducted as part of the Self-Study for Re-accreditation in 2002 and again in 2003, both at the university level and in some colleges. The results have lead to significant discussion of the Seven Principles for Good Practices in Undergraduate Education, the research base for the NSSE. The Principles are being incorporated into academic activities throughout the campus. Contact: Karen Henderson, khenderson@ucok.edu
Student Engagement – The NSSE has impacted several areas on campus. The results have been most visible in Liberal Arts where faculty have conducted focus groups and surveys with students, piloted a faculty evaluation form based on the Principles, and have begun efforts to raise academic standards by beginning syllabi review and a survey of writing across the curriculum. Contact: Pam Washington, pwashington@ucok.edu
Continuous Improvement Training – A wide variety of training programs have been held for academic faculty and staff though only a small percentage have been trained. Education is a key component for success in continuous improvement efforts and an ongoing strategy. Contact: Ed Cunliff, ecunliff@ucok.edu
Advisory Panel Input: In the College of Education, every program uses an advisory panel made up of external experts to provide feedback and information related to program curricula and structure. These panels meet a minimum of once per year with some groups meeting more frequently. As a result of panel input, changes have been made to curriculum, assessment practices, and policies. Contact: Judith Coe, jcoe@ucok.edu