Notre Dame College, a Catholic institution in the tradition of the Sisters of Notre Dame, educates a diverse population in the liberal arts for personal, professional and global responsibility.

Self-Study 2000 and Surrounding Accreditation Events
Between the spring of 1999 and July of 2000, the Steering Committee for the 2000 reaccreditation process conducted the College’s Self-Study and wrote the Report. That Report acknowledged that as a women’s college, Notre Dame College “struggled with the recruitment of traditional students…” Research at that time indicated that a “very small percentage of high school women…were (sic) willing to consider attending a women’s college. That number now stands at one percent.” The Report further stated that an Ad Hoc Committee had been convened in May, 2000 by Dr. Anne L. Deming, President of Notre Dame College. The purpose of the Committee was to explore the option of coeducation. The Report said,

“One viable option for the College is coeducation, and the committee is carefully examining the opportunities and threats that would accompany a move to coeducation…The recently convened Ad Hoc Committee is dealing with this issue and will send a recommendation to the Board of Trustees in July.”

“I have no worries about the future after going to [College] here with these young people. The fact that I’m in midlife…they accepted me as if I was one of them. I never felt like an outsider. I always felt like part of the group. I take pride in the fact that I’m the first male graduate and I let everybody know that we’ll listen.”

Edward Piwarski
Alumnus

Edward Piwarski Video
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At their meeting on September 22, 2000, the Board of Trustees made the decision to admit men beginning in January, 2001. A marketing strategy was developed to recruit men for Fall Semester, 2001 and beyond. The effort to recruit men during the Spring Semester resulted in men representing 20 percent of the traditional student population in the Fall, 2001 class.

Within a month of the decision to admit men, from October 23 through October 25, 2000, the Peer Review Team representing the Higher Learning Commission visited the College. The College’s low enrollment and the seemingly rapid adoption of coeducation caused the Team concern. The Team recommended that a monitoring report be submitted in three years, due on November 1, 2003. Included in this report would be:

Evidence that full-time undergraduate enrollment and retention have increased and are sustainable while maintaining the success in recruitment of part-time and graduate students.

  1. Evidence of an inclusive strategic planning process that includes assessment and program review data.
  2. Early in 2003, Dr. Deming announced her retirement as President of Notre Dame College. Dr. Andrew P. Roth assumed the Presidency on July 1 and was inaugurated as the College’s thirteenth President on November 2, 2003.

The College submitted its monitoring report due on November 1, 2003. The Higher Learning Commission’s staff analysis concluded that:

  1. Enrollment: “The (Visiting) Team noted, and the College’s monitoring report emphasized, the institution’s success in the recruitment of parttime and graduate students. As for the Team’s concern about the declining enrollment of undergraduate full-time students, a concern also expressed by the 1990 Visiting Team, the College reports that, following its third year of extending the mission to include coeducation, enrollment has increased. Specifically, the College reports that the total headcount of undergraduates in Fall, 2000 was 215, while in Fall, 2003 it is up to 332. In addition, following new recruitment strategies and improved academic and student development programs, retention has also improved. The College reports that for Fall, 2003, the undergraduate retention rate from first year to second year is 91 percent. The monitoring report provides evidence that the College has made a significant effort in addressing the concerns of the 1990 and 2000 comprehensive evaluation teams, and that a number of initiatives support the College’s efforts to increase undergraduate enrollment and retention.”

    Recent calculation indicates that the retention rate from first year to second year, Fall, 2003, is 84 percent. Earlier retention calculation included first-time transfer students, current calculations do not. See Table 1.5 on page 18 for retention rates.

  2. Strategic Planning: “The Team noted that although strategic and assessment plans have been developed, planning and budgeting decisions have been made without the involvement of all constituents and without the use of assessment and program review data. The College’s report describes activities and the development and restructuring of campus committees in order to give voice to all College constituents.”

The analysis cited the creation of the College’s Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC) by the President as one positive strategy to increase communication about planning. However, in the short time between the President taking office in July, 2003 and the current report due on November 1, 2003, there was not sufficient time to effect real change in the area of using assessment and program review data to influence decisions.

The College was directed to:

  • Become consistently inclusive in the development and implementationof strategic planning .

  • Increase the involvement by faculty, which, if left at its current level “could hamper efforts to create an inclusive culture and a planning process informed by student learning outcomes.”

  • Improve the understanding of shared governance. “As the Team noted, ‘Faculty and administration need to clarify when the corporate faculty makes final decisions, when it shares decisions with administration and when it gives non-binding advice.’”

The monitoring report, which focused on enrollment and strategic planning, was accepted. However, a second monitoring report was required by December 1, 2004 that would provide evidence of an inclusive strategic planning process that made use of assessment and program review data.

A second monitoring report was submitted on November 17, 2004. This report provided extensive information regarding the strategic planning process that had been strengthened over the year since the previous report. Major points included

  • The Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC) was formed in 2003. Its membership reflected the College’s goal to create an inclusive, college-wide planning process. Membership included 16 individuals representing faculty, students, staff, Board of Directors, and administration. Much of the operational work was performed by four Blue Ribbon Subcommittees: Academic/Traditional Students, Adult and Graduate Programs, Student Life, and Athletics.

  • The Blue Ribbon Subcommittees created and submitted planning reports to the IPPC. IPPC then met and analyzed these planning documents, emerging from planning retreats with a planning implementation grid and a calendar of strategic initiatives intended for implementation over the next three to four years.

  • The IPPC adopted a planning template that strengthened strategic decision-making. This template required that any strategic initiative be analyzed by focusing on mission, finances/budget, and facilities. This template also requires that assessment strategies be created in the planning process.

  • The appointment of the Self-Study tri-chairs was an outgrowth of the IPPC planning process.

This report was accepted with no further reports required prior to the comprehensive visit scheduled for March, 2007.

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