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Notre Dame College Self-Study Report

Chapter One: Self-Study 2000 Findings

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Self-Study Report

• Chapter 1
  • Introduction
  • Three Themes
  • Self-Study 2000 Events
  • Self-Study 2000 Findings
  • Self-Study Goals 2007
• Chapter 2: Criterion One - Mission and Integrity
• Chapter 3: Criterion Two - Preparing for the Future
• Chapter 4: Criterion Three - Student Learning & Effective Teaching
• Chapter 5: Criterion Four - Acquisition, Discovery, and Application of Knowledge
• Chapter 6: Criterion Five - Engagement & Service
• Chapter 7: Conclusions

Addressing the Higher Learning Commission Findings of 2000
The Visiting Team of 2000 provided a list of six concerns.

1. Failure to reverse the erosion in traditional undergraduate enrollment (while maintaining the success in recruitment of parttime and graduate students) continues to be a concern and efforts to address this problem need to be incorporated into a comprehensive strategic and tactical plan.

Since admitting its first coeducational class in the Fall, 2001, the College has made steady tactical progress by halting the erosion of traditional undergraduates and by growing its total enrollment. This growth is supported by several strategic initiatives:

• Duties were reassigned within the adult and graduate programs, staff was added, and the operating budget was increased. In Fall, 2003, adult recruitment was separated from the Admissions Office. While the Admissions Office continued to recruit high school students and traditional-aged transfers, the Office of Adult and Graduate Admissions was created for the purpose of recruiting prospective students ages 23 and older into the undergraduate and graduate programs.
  
  The former Vice President for Recruitment and Professional Development, who had been responsible for recruiting all students along with supervising the Student Services Office (financial aid and registrar), became the Vice President for Adult Recruitment and Enrollment Services.
  
  A new location was constructed and the Adult Recruitment and Enrollment Services Office currently includes three full-time and one part-time counselors. One full-time counselor recruits and admits new students into the College’s undergraduate degree programs. As a new function for this office, two full-time and one part-time counselors recruit and admit new students into the Teacher Education Evening Licensure (TEEL^®) program and graduate programs. This function was transferred from the Education Department to this office. One full-time and one part-time clerical staff support the professional staff efforts.

• A new Dean of Undergraduate Admissions was hired, staff was added, and the operating budget was increased. The new Dean came to the College in October, 2003 with 18 years of educational administration experience. His experience included athletic recruiting as a college football coach, athletic director, and interim dean of enrollment management.
  
  The Dean implemented a new recruitment strategy, now a campuswide priority based on quality admissions personnel, personal touch customer service, and focused marketing. Since 2003 the Dean initiated changes in training, expectations, and placement. The admissions support staff was reorganized to achieve optimal efficiency. An office manager was hired and is supported by two part-time staff. There are seven admissions counselors which include an Assistant Soccer Coach who coordinates international recruitment. An effort is made to hire qualified Notre Dame College graduates as counselors who can relate their personal experience of the College to prospective students. Currently four counselors are also alumni.
  
  Customer service has been improved by requiring the admissions staff to read Why Are You Making It So Hard for Me to Give You My Money, Selling the Invisible,and The One Minute Sales Person. All staff are assigned recruitment and customer service goals that are charted for all to see. Evaluations are scheduled yearly and weekly staff meetings include discussions to improve the admissions process.
  
  Counselors are required to establish professional contacts with high school guidance counselors in their assigned areas. Since 2003, the Admissions Office has hosted annual events for high school personnel.
  
  Recruitment reflects the focus on the personal touch. Direct recruitment includes handwritten letters, flyers and postcards, e-mail and consistent phone calls. Larger efforts include television and radio advertising specifically targeted to the high school audience. The College recently leased six Nissan Altimas for the counselors. Each car has the Notre Dame College logo and contact information which provides continuous advertising for the College.

• Management and packaging of financial aid has been redesigned. Rather than applying a matrix system to determine aid, scholarship awards were simplified to merit-based (academic or athletic) and needbased (Notre Dame College Grant). The result is more flexibility to work with families.
  
  In the past, the admissions counselor did not become involved with the financial aid package. Now the counselor remains with the student and the family throughout the total recruitment process. The Dean and the counselor or coach create the package after all federal and state monies are awarded. Then the counselor guides the family through the process. This method of delivery is consistent with the personal touch strategy of recruiting.

As seen in Table 1.5, retention figures are also strong. Although there is room for improvement, over two-thirds of Notre Dame College students return for their second year. The goal is to increase that to 75 percent by 2010.

Table 1.5: Retention Rates of Full-Time, First Time Freshman, Begining in 2001
Source: IPEDS data created from CARS data, Full Count Day

View Table 1.5: Retention Rates of Full-Time, First Time Freshman, Begining in 2001
(PDF File Table1.5-Retention-Rates.pdf, 32KB)

 

These improving retention rates result from a combination of factors:

• The student-faculty ratio is low, making possible a close working relationship between students and faculty. Faculty members not only provide classroom instruction, but they serve as advisors to clubs and as fellow participants in extracurricular activities such as the Notre Dame College Vocal Ensemble. Faculty members attend poetry readings, sporting events, theater productions, and residence hall functions such as Thanksgiving Dinner and midnight breakfast before final exams. This sense of partnership between faculty and students enhances retention.

• The Dwyer Learning Center serves as a bridge between students and faculty for academic success. Faculty members identify peer tutors to work in the Learning Center. Each peer tutor is responsible for helping students in a course or discipline in which the tutor has excelled. Students who need help with courses or disciplines self-identify or are referred to the Learning Center for study tables, peer-to-peer tutoring, or examinations. This close attention to academic success brings excellent students (who become tutors) and students who are working to correct course deficiencies together, creating a sense of community which enhances retention.

• Student development encompasses Campus Ministry, Counseling, Student Activities, Residence Life, the Learning Center, Career Services, and the Academic Support Center for Students with Learning Differences. Although each of these has a very small staff, in some cases consisting of one single professional, the services provided are equal to those in larger, better staffed colleges. In part, this is the Notre Dame College tradition of approaching the job as vocation; it is not unusual for any of the student affairs professionals to be on campus well after normal hours. And with this sense of vocation comes a sense of professionalism that students appreciate. They appreciate the accessibility of the student development staff, and the staff catches many problems before they become larger issues because they are on campus.

• Student athletes enter the College already belonging to a specific team and the broader athletic program. As such, a team works together towards a common goal on the court or field. And, as a team, it supports other Notre Dame teams by attending their contests. Social networks are formed through this support that flows into living arrangements. Many student athletes live together on or off campus.

In addition, the coaching staff is a significant and positive influence on the student athletes. As the Coaches’ Policy and Operations Manual directs, “Coaches are teachers, mentors, and role models. As such, coaches share in the education, training, and development of studentathletes. Coaches are important people in carrying out the mission of the College and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Coaches have the responsibility to all student-athletes to take a sincere interest in academic, social, and athletic activities and to ensure that each individual is treated with fairness and provided with the optimal opportunity to excel.” And, as coaches in the athletic program, their interrelationships provide role models of professional behavior and collegiality.

This academic, athletic, and social support creates bonds and networks that promote successful recruiting and retention of student athletes.

These initiatives have resulted in consistent, increased enrollment. Table 1.6 provides enrollment statistics from fiscal years 1998 – 1999 through 2006 – 2007.

Table 1.6: Notre Dame College Enrollment Events
Source: Registrar’s Records

View Table 1.6: Notre Dame College Enrollment Events
(PDF File Table1.6-Enrollment-Trends.pdf, 17KB)

Notre Dame College has grown significantly since 1999 with the largest growth occurring since 2003. This growth has brought related improvements in the College’s financial health. Enrollment levels and incoming full-time enrollment are now at record levels for the College.

• Undergraduate enrollment (expressed in headcount) has grown from 648 as of Fall, 1998 to 1,239 by Fall, 2006, led by the growth in full-time traditional-aged student enrollment.

• Traditional-aged, full-time student enrollment has grown from 205 as of Fall, 1998 to 632 by Fall, 2006, growth of 208 percent.

• TEEL^® full-time and part-time enrollment grew from 12 as of Fall, 1998 Fall, 2006, growth of 1,733 percent.

• Graduate student enrollment grew from 37 as of Fall, 1998 to 152 by Fall, 2006, growth of 310 percent.

2. The College lacks a formal, on-going systemic strategic planning process that involves all constituents and is based on assessment results. Formalized planning for the changes in enrollment strategy is limited. Scarce resources clearly limit budget choices but budget decisions need to be integrated into the planning and assessment processes.

During the past four years the College has embarked upon a strategic planning process. This has been done through the creation of IPPC. However, the College has also moved expeditiously to resolve its immediate financial and enrollment challenges. This has resulted in the College doing two things simultaneously: tactically meeting the challenges of today while strategically planning for its future.

Low enrollment and a small endowment have kept the College financially fragile since before the year 2000. Then, as now, when finances are tight, any spending requires careful thought because the number of projects or initiatives requiring funding is ubiquitous. It seems that everywhere one looks, a need stares back. And, as the Team’s concern states, “scarce resources clearly limit budget choices.” That means that although a few critical initiatives receive funding, many equally real needs go unfunded. The Board of Directors made a courageous decision to incorporate and fund coeducation as a strategic initiative to grow the College.

Opening the College to men created a new institution that in many respects models a startup or new venture that can be likened to high-tech enterprises. A limited operating history, higher risk and potential return on investment, and improved scalability for growth given its limited capital and resources are all characteristics of startups. Many startups are funded by the founders and fail before reaching profitability or merger with an established organization. Notre Dame College’s experience matches the spirit of a startup venture, but the large adult student enrollment tempered the risks to that of a new product introduction and rollout of an established organization. Given its strategic imperatives, the College needs to grow its traditional enrollment to create financial stability and better achieve its mission.

And, because the College was almost 80 years old at the time and fragile, it was in a turnaround situation. As much as any president and administration would agree that “a formal, on-going systemic strategic planning process that involves all constituents and is based on assessment results” is good practice, it also must be recognized that in a turnaround situation, survival is the daily challenge. And for Notre Dame College, survival has meant continuous attention to enrollment and retention. The current strategic thinking includes a goal to attract a high quality and diverse student population of sufficient size to ensure both the College’s survival and to create a vibrant learning community. By Fall, 2012, the College plans to grow its enrollment to:

Full-time students:	1200 – 1400
Part-time students:	750
Graduate students:	250
Online enrollments:	500

This equates to a full-time enrollment of approximately 1847. These students will be enrolled on-campus, off-campus, and online and include both traditional and adult students.

In addition to enrollment and retention, many other strategic initiatives have occupied the President and his staff over the last three years. Among these are:

• Land Acquisition: While the College owns the buildings on campus, the Sisters of Notre Dame own the land. By early 2007, the College should complete negotiations for the purchase of the land. Owning this land will help the College leverage its resources and increase access to financial markets. The College is also interested in acquiring land that is adjacent to the campus. To date, the College has purchased one house. It is in negotiations for approximately 13 more acres. The purpose for this land is future expansion.

• Facilities Planning: The campus is currently zoned residential with conditional educational use. For every campus modification, the city of South Euclid requires that the College submit plans before the zoning commission and planning board. The College has proposed to the city that it change the zoning to educational use. To facilitate this, the College would submit a total facilities plan for review. Lending institutions also require such a plan in order for the College to borrow funds.
  
  Because of the increased enrollment, classrooms, residence halls, and office space is at capacity. The Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board of Directors and the administration are currently at work to determine the next steps to increase capacity.

• Student Affairs : Due to the expansion of the mission to include men, the growth of traditional enrollment, and challenges the College has faced in recent years, a strategic decision was made to make Student Affairs join seamlessly within Academic Affairs.
  
  It was determined that Student Affairs would be placed under the umbrella of Academic Affairs and a new Associate Dean of Student Affairs was appointed in July, 2006. The College did this because it is impossible to describe a student’s academic development apart from his or her social, emotional, spiritual, physical, and moral development. These things cannot be separated; indeed the word “integrity” comes from the Latin for wholeness. To say that the College has integrity means that all these things are seamlessly connected. Putting Student Affairs together with Academic Affairs makes that point powerfully.
  
  Campus Safety: The College also reorganized its Campus Police to a hybrid police/security model. The College hired Guardsmark, a private security firm, to provide patrols and campus presence; reduced the size of the Notre Dame College Police Department; and developed a closer relationship with the South Euclid Police Department to align law enforcement efforts.

• New Academic Programs:
  Associate of Science in Health Sciences: In Fall, 2004, the College was approved by the Ohio Board of Regents and the Higher Learning Commission to embark on a partnership with the Huron School of Nursing. Students enrolled in this three-year program earn an Associate of Science in Health Sciences degree from Notre Dame College and a diploma in nursing from the Huron School of Nursing and are eligible to take the National Council Licensing Examination (NCLEX). This program has attracted adult students who want to become registered nurses in less time than it takes for a Baccalaureate degree.
  
  Bachelor of Science in Nursing: In Summer, 2006, the Ohio Board of Regents and the Higher Learning Commission approved the Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree programs. The mission of the nursing programs is to prepare a professional nurse who is responsive to the health needs of a diverse global society. The Ohio Board of Nursing visited the campus in October, 2006 and approved the program in November.

• Additional Academic Sites for Teacher Education Evening Licensure (TEEL^®) Program: In January, 2004, the TEEL^® program expanded its offerings to include sites in Akron, Youngstown, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Initially, these sites were chosen as a result of an agreement formed with White Hat Management Company, a charter school operation, for the purpose of ensuring that their teachers achieve the federally mandated status of being highly qualified as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act.Today both White Hat employees and those not associated with White Hat are enrolled at all sites. Enrollment at these sites is presented in Table 1.7.

Table 1.7: TEEL Enrollment, Off-Site Offerings
Source: Registrar’s Records

Term	Akron	Cincinnati	Columbus	Youngstown
Spring, 04	0	8	12	24
S1-04	7	5	16	35
S2-04	7	4	16	33
Fall, 04	10	9	16	55
Spring, 005	13	7	10	55
Summer, 05	9	5	9	46
Fall, 05	22	5	12	41
Spring,06	20	10	30	43
Summer, 06	28	10	31	22
Fall, 06	38	13	48	30

• Academic Support Center: During 2005 – 2006 the College determined that by developing a program for students with learning differences, it would fill an educational need that resonates with its mission. The Center provides a structured and comprehensive program for students with documented learning disabilities. Some of the services offered are tutoring, use of adaptive equipment, special workshops that teach study skills, organizational skills, and academic advising.

• New Athletic Teams: Until 2000, Notre Dame College had only five women’s teams (volleyball, basketball, fastpitch, cross country, and soccer). In 2000 a women’s tennis team was formed but later was discontinued. In 2001 men were recruited to join inaugural teams of soccer, basketball, and tennis. In the years from 2002 to 2006 nine more teams were added to the athletic programs: men’s cross country, men and women’s track and field, women and men’s golf, women’s lacrosse, baseball, wrestling, and women’s swimming and diving

• Online Classes: Throughout the growth phase of 2003 – 2006, it became apparent that the College must supplement its bricks-and mortar classes with virtual classes. One reason is practical: as the College grows, it does not want to stress facilities beyond what they can bear. Online classes offer the ability to serve more students with the current facilities.
  
  

  …another reason to include online experiences is the increasing expectation of students, especially adult students, that classes will provide online convenience.

  But another reason to include online experiences is the increasing expectation of students, especially adult students, that classes will provide online convenience. The College has already offered blended courses, ones that use both online and face-to-face pedagogies. There is already in use an online assessment and portfolio tool for Education Division offerings. It is a relatively short step to offer well-constructed courses that are wholly online.
  
  The administration and faculty together explored ways in which courses could be offered online. The original thinking was that the College would have to build a program from scratch. Toward that end, a faculty member was given significant released time to pursue that line of thinking .
  
  Soon, however, it became clear that the College had more options. After comparison of various possible partners, the College invited The Learning House, Inc., of Louisville, Kentucky, to make a day long visit to the College.
  
  The Learning House is a company devoted to helping small colleges get online with a minimum of upfront investment. They provide the servers, the training, the help desk, and other vital services to the College. They also provide marketing of the courses and programs, and help with bookstore and other auxiliary services. In sum, they do all this with no upfront investment, in return for a share of tuition once the course is up and running.
  
  The Learning House spent one day with the whole faculty, and then returned for follow up visits to interested faculty and administration at several other points. It has provided both online and face-to-face faculty training for the initial rollout of courses. The College has designated a new Associate Dean, part of whose duties is to monitor and grow the online offerings. In addition, a full-time faculty member in Education, the first program to offer online courses, has been designated to assure that all components, including all assessment measures, make the transition from face-to-face classes to online classes.

• Avian Flu Preparation: The Notre Dame College community is in the process of preparing a response plan, under the leadership of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The purpose of the Notre Dame College Pandemic Influenza Response Plan is to provide a framework for responding to an influenza pandemic on the Notre Dame College campus. Because such a pandemic is likely to have its origin in the greater Cuyahoga County community, this plan takes into account the Pandemic Response Plan developed by Cuyahoga County, and envisions close and coordinated interactions with the Cuyahoga County Public Health Collaborative. The Notre Dame College Response Plan also is compliant with the National Incident Management System developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and follows guidance from the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Ohio Department of Health. The Notre Dame College Response Plan is meant to be a dynamic document and will be regularly reviewed and updated as new information on the novel virus, its spread, treatment, and prevention becomes available. Although this plan focuses on influenza, it may be adapted to address other large-scale outbreaks of highly infectious respiratory diseases.
  
  The College’s response will be differentiated based upon the following three levels of threat:
  
  Level 1: Confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission (in U.S.)
  
  Level 2: Suspected cases on campus or suspected/confirmed cases in northeast Ohio, and
  
  Level 3: Confirmed cases on campus (only essential personnel report)
  
  The College has identified initial procedures and possible leadership personnel depending on the threat level. As the plan moves forward and depth is added, all constituencies of the College community will be involved.

In addition to attending to these critical initiatives, the College has experienced three years of consecutive growth in enrollment, increased financial viability, and has taken major steps to improve programs and facilities. Now formal, consistent, and systematic strategic planning will have a better chance of success.

3. There is confusion about the roles and responsibilities of faculty and administration in shared governance. 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.

In one sense, this comment captures the age-old problem of shared governance. The problem is frequently worked out in ways which satisfy neither partner, and in ways which sometimes seem destined to remain in dispute. To say that Notre Dame College has solved the problems of shared governance would be disingenuous. These problems are always solutions in progress, and only good faith and hard work make shared governance work.

That said, however, much has been accomplished in governance since 2000. During that visit, the Higher Learning Commission’s Team saw a faculty which felt marginalized from major decision-making. There existed a marked divide from the administration. To describe it so does not denigrate the administration of that time; for a variety of reasons it had taken on sole responsibility for many decisions, had taken to itself some obligations which might properly have benefited from the counsel of faculty, and was not open to constructive criticism. The faculty interpreted the failure to consult and negative reception of criticism as a lack of respect and trust.

However, one important sign of a healthy clarification of faculty governance was the major revision of the Faculty Senate Constitution and Handbook. This began in 2002 and was finally approved by the President in Fall, 2005. In 2002, the administration had engaged a consultant acclaimed to be an expert guide to best practices in academic handbooks. As the faculty worked with the consultant’s drafts, it realized that these were not suited to Notre Dame governance and so incorporated very few of his suggestions. The process of revision and faculty consensus was long and sometimes tedious, but the result is a document developed fully by the faculty. In the following areas, faculty makes the final decisions:

• Articles of the Faculty Senate Constitution and Handbook,

• Interpretation of these articles,

• Determination of the voting members of the Faculty Senate,

• Changes in current curricular requirements,

• Experimenting with new courses as Selected Topics,

• Requirements for academic majors and minors,

• General education requirements,

• Methods of decision-making within departments,

• Choice of department or division chair,

• Assignment of instructors to various courses, including hiring of qualified adjuncts,

• Determining purchases from department budget funds,

• Assignment of student grades,

• Requirements for graduation

• Admission of students to academic departments that have specific criteria,

• Allocation of in-service funds to specific faculty through the Faculty

• Academic and Development Committee (FADC), and

• Determination of recipients of the Distinguished Faculty Award and Outstanding Teaching Award.

In the new administration, much effort has been expended to modify and correct the relationship between the administration and the faculty. Early in President Roth’s tenure, during the time in which he served as both President and Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA), he convened a “Dean Team,” comprised of executive administration, faculty leadership, and senior staff. The goal of the “Dean Team” was to provide an inclusive, solution-oriented approach to the administrative side of governance.

Some issues addressed by the “Dean Team” were:

• Faculty members urged the President to increase the faculty salary levels above what was originally proposed. The President did raise salaries as much as possible.

• Faculty members initiated and shaped guidelines for the establishment of an Institutional Review Board to protect human subjects in any research and data collecting initiative.

In addition, the President and his staff also teach courses on a regular basis. This provides an understanding of the faculty experience on the part of the President and his staff. It also encourages the faculty to know the President and his staff in a role other than that of administration.

On the other side of the Faculty-Administration partnership, the Faculty Senate and its key committees, the Educational Policy and Planning Committee (EPPC) and the Faculty Affairs and Development Committee (FADC), have been taking appropriate decision making steps. The EPPC, comprising division chairs and at-large members, continues to exercise its proper authority as the vetting committee for all curricular changes brought forward by the divisions. The FADC has set policies to govern the disbursement of the allotted budget for faculty professional development. The Senate and its Committees were significantly involved in the selection of a new Vice President for Academic Affairs. The faculty and its various governing bodies, therefore, became more deeply involved in the shared governing of the College.

Since the arrival of a new Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA), he and the Senate Steering Committee have worked closely to identify key issues important to the academic life of the College. In matters where the responsibility is clearly administrative (e.g., new administrative guidelines governing directed studies and independent studies, or new policies governing the use of electronic devices in the classroom), the VPAA has sought the advice and consent of the faculty while working through new policy statements. Where the responsibility has lain clearly with the faculty (e.g., in the revision of the curriculum, in both the divisional and inter-divisional offerings), the VPAA has been available for consultation, attending all meetings of the EPPC and the Senate, without imposing any solution. And in cases where the responsibility is shared (e.g., charting the institutional course with regard to assessment, adjusting the course schedule from MW/TR to MWF/TR), the faculty and the VPAA have worked closely and in consensus to move the College’s efforts forward.

As Notre Dame College moves forward, and as the former Division of Student Development comes once again under the umbrella of Academic Affairs and the VPAA, the intent is to include faculty more universally in the life of students and in the governance of the College. It is a point of emphasis in the new academic year and beyond to make the faculty a more visible and vibrant presence in the lives of students outside the classroom. In this way, faculty will not only be important in the governing of the College, but will be even more influential in the daily life of the institution.

4. The College needs to give priority to investing in human capital by committing resources to competitive salaries and professional development of faculty and staff.

A college is a community formed by many and various relationships. The energy created by those relationships either drives the college forward or drives it into the ground. In the past, the relationship between administration and faculty was sometimes fraught with misunderstanding. Since the last Higher Learning Commission Team visit, much has changed. A primary reason for the change is that the administration takes seriously the need for faculty to be nurtured by and deeply involved in their professional development. In this way, the College has invested in human capital by committing resources, not because money makes things right, but because support demonstrates commitment to a healthy relationship.

A first step was taken when the new President identified what the faculty already intuitively knew: the faculty was the lowest paid in the state of Ohio. Therefore, the President made a commitment to amend faculty salaries until Assistant and Associate level faculty were at least at the 25th percentile in the state of Ohio. To do this, he committed to both a $1,000 addition to the base salaries and a four percent increase each year for five years. For the past three years, the College has made good on this commitment.

A second important step was the establishment of a budget for the Faculty Affairs and Development Committee (FADC). While the amount was modest ($5,000), the effect was galvanizing. Offered the opportunity to establish policies and to make change happen, the FADC responded with clear guidelines for fund distribution and priorities for professional development. To offer a historical comparison would be impossible— before this, faculty did not decide who received money, or why. But over the course of the 2004-05 year, the FADC approved a total of $4,942 in FADC funds. Twenty faculty members made 22 separate requests for FADC funds. The FADC approved $4,242 to cover at least some part of all of these 22 requests. In addition, FADC approved $700 to defray the cost in hosting a faculty in-service on assessment. A similar situation occurred in 2005 – 2006. For the 2006 – 2007 academic year, the fund has been increased to $10,000.

A third step was taken with the arrival of the new Vice President for Academic Affairs, a person with extensive faculty professional development experience. Since May, 2005, the faculty have had two New Faculty Orientations, four Weekend College Faculty Orientations, three half-day workshop retreats, and one full-day retreat. In addition, eight people attended the week-long assessment workshop at Alverno College in the Summer, 2005. From May, 2005 to December, 2006, the College’s faculty will have spent 1,800 person/hours in professional development activities.

A fourth step began in Fall, 2006 as a result of the change in the weekly class schedule. The time from 11:40 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. is open on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The faculty and the VPAA have identified Monday during that common time as Faculty Seminar, during which topics are raised and discussed, or short in-service themes are explored. During Fall, 2006, topics have included writing assessment, ways to include the Holocaust in the curriculum, and teaching by discussion.

Lastly, the President and Vice President for Academic Affairs have begun a series of faculty dinners. Since the Spring Semester, 2006 there have been five dinners and one lunch that included 41 faculty members. The purpose of this activity is to encourage the faculty to meet with the President to discuss the state of the College and possible future directions. The outcome is a sense of meaningful communication, a growing of shared community values, and collegiality. More of these dinners are scheduled for the future.

The College has yet to create a comprehensive development program for its staff. The challenges of both a turnaround and startup situation have placed this initiative behind the urgent priorities for enrollment growth and related issues. However, annual salary increases for staff have equaled four percent over the years 2004 through 2006.

The President has also scheduled lunches with the staff. During the summer months of 2006, nine lunches, including 79 staff members were held. The purpose of these lunches is similar to that of the faculty dinners: to discuss the state of the College and possible future directions. More of these lunches are planned for the future.

For both faculty and staff, there has been improvement in the health insurance benefit. The employee contribution portion for family coverage under the College’s health insurance program was very expensive and placed the College at a competitive disadvantage for attracting or retaining new employees. The College selected a new insurance broker and placed the program out for bidding. Cost savings were used to decrease the employee contribution from a high of 65 percent in 2004 to 45 percent in 2006.

5. The Board needs to take a much more active role in fund raising. It needs to retain and attract members whose primary role is to give or bring resources to the institution.

Currently, recruitment and retention of students is the preferred strategy for assuring the College’s financial security. Therefore, Notre Dame College is not expecting its Board members to contribute or to bring resources to the institution as their primary role. They are currently contributing wisdom and work as their particular talents enable them.

The Board does have several members who have the capacity to make or attract more significant gifts. To this end, the College is asking its Board members to become more active by identifying and soliciting friends, major gift prospects, corporations, and foundations. While this is happening to a small degree now, this aspect can grow significantly.

The College has recently taken one step toward further Board involvement in fund raising by creating a thank-you calling plan. In this process, Board members call donors who have made gifts of $1,000 or more to thank them and welcome them into the Presidents’ Club.

As the College prepares for the next major fund-raising campaign, it plans to work toward greater Board involvement in fund raising and the advancement process. Board members will be asked to give to the annual fund and to the campaign.

This is crucial to the success of a campaign. The goal for Board of Directors’ participation in giving is 100 percent of current active members contributing at least $1,000 annually. The College’s history of annual giving by current active members is illustrated in Table 1.8.

Table 1.8: Board Participation in Annual Giving
Source: Advancement Office

Year	Participation Level*
2000-01	91%
2001-02	77%
2002-03	91%
2003-04	83%
2004-05	100%
2005-06	96.3%

* Collectively, the Sisters of Notre Dame contribute annually to the College. The individual Sisters who are Board members are credited for giving in that year.

6. All files of full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty do not contain official college transcripts.

A faculty member’s file should contain a completed application form, curriculum vitae, and an official transcript from the college or university granting the highest degree. Throughout the faculty member’s employment all employment letters, evaluative matter from the division and/or VPAA, letters of reprimand or concern, and any other materials the faculty member wishes will also be included.

The Visiting Team of 2000 provided a list of six suggestions for institutional improvement.

1. As a component of the investment in human capital, the Team urges the Chief Academic Officer to upgrade the chair position and provide chairs with professional development activities that will allow them to better supervise and develop their faculty (full-time, part-time, and adjunct).

In many colleges and universities, the department or division chairs assume supervisory and development roles. This structure does not precisely conform to the supervisory structure at Notre Dame College.

The development function is the responsibility of the Faculty Affairs and Development Committee (FADC). This Committee plans professional development experiences in collaboration with the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Additionally, the Committee reviews requests from faculty for professional development.

The supervisory function is the responsibility of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Included in this function is the responsibility for collaborating with the faculty to follow and, where necessary, revise procedures for performance appraisal. This includes not only the joint defining of categories for performance, but also joint agreement on what will constitute excellent performance. The VPAA meets with each faculty member individually once a year in order to review documents, including student evaluations and self-reports, related to appraisal.

The role of division/department chairs is primarily administrative. These roles relate to the smooth functioning of the division/department, the rotation and scheduling of courses, the collection of assessment data from colleagues, and administration of adjunct faculty matters.

Division or department chairs do have specific supervisory responsibilities with regard to adjunct faculty members in their divisions or departments. They are responsible for interviewing and hiring appropriate adjunct instructors, and they are responsible for evaluating their performance.

Division or department chairs also perform a mediating role in faculty performance appraisal. They help colleagues to assemble their year-end reports, and discuss with them the likely problem areas they will discuss with the VPAA. They have been encouraged to and seem to view their roles here as formative, not summative.

Finally, division chairs sit on the Educational Policy and Planning Committee, what could be termed the Curriculum Committee. All matters related to curriculum change and catalog, as well as primary discussions regarding course scheduling and rotations, take place properly in this Committee. The EPPC does much of its work in collaboration with the VPAA.

2. Provide resources to assure that faculty and staff have opportunities for participation in workshops and consultations to learn more about recruiting, retaining and educating young men, international and home-schooled students.

The faculty responded very well to the presence of men, international, and home-schooled students in their classrooms. Faculty reported that discussions became livelier and more interesting due to the increased diversity.

Since 2001 several key staff positions were filled with professionals who came to the College with experience in recruiting and retaining men, international and home-schooled students In 2001 an adult recruiter already working in the Admissions Office spent 10 to 12 hours a week researching the academic and co-curricular requirements of home-schooled students.

She also attended college fairs held specifically for home-schooled students and talked with them and their parents. A recruitment brochure was designed to support this effort. Within a year, it became clear that this initiative was not bringing homeschooled students to the College. When the counselor resigned from the College, the home-schooled effort lost momentum. Currently, there is no special initiative to recruit home-schooled students.

3. Insure that the College’s publications accurately reflect the extension of the mission.

In the Team’s Report of their 2000 visit, they noted “a problem… with the marketing activities of the College. In several of its new recruitment publications it included pictures of males to suggest that they were members of the current student body. These pictures were not taken at the College, but downloaded from the Internet.” This was identified as a problem of integrity, at that time the fifth criterion for accreditation.

In addition to the photographs downloaded from the Internet, the College hired local high school male students and the husband of one of the administrators to appear in photographs for use in the College’s marketing materials. However, this was not done to be dishonest; it was assumed that this was an acceptable marketing practice. As the College was recruiting men it believed it needed to show men within its environment. Those photographs were retired as soon as men enrolled at the College and new photographs could be taken. This was not done to put an end to any dishonest act. Rather, the faculty and staff were proud to show the faces of Notre Dame College.

During the last six years a local photographer has been commissioned to photograph formal events and informal situations so that the current marketing materials utilize Notre Dame College faces and architectural elements. In addition, for the last three years, the Athletic Department hired an additional photographer who has great talent for athletic motion and still shots. These two professionals provide photographic identity for all marketing activity.

Infrequently, file photographs from the Internet are still utilized in brochures, catalogs, and advertising for The Center for Professional Development. The photographs used show professionally dressed men and women within a professional environment, a situation that would be difficult and expensive for the College to acquire.

The College utilizes two local graphic designers for all of its marketing materials. They work closely with all departments requiring any marketing material and with each other. This protocol has kept the Notre Dame College identity consistent.

4. Continue efforts to assure faculty orientation to and deepening knowledge and skill in developing, implementing, and evaluating assessment practices.

Chapter Four discusses the Higher Learning Commission’s Criterion Three, Student Learning and Effective Teaching. The information provided here addresses the suggestion provided by the Visiting Team in 2000 and acts as a prelude to new efforts and initiatives.

The 2000 Self-Study Report and the Visiting Team agreed that “the College has made significant progress toward developing and implementing effective assessment processes. Yet, each of the issues raised historically is still present in latent or overt form.” The issues the Visiting Team referenced include a structure of assessment that ensures a coherent assessment program, College-wide faculty and administrative involvement, and allocation of resources for assessment purposes.

The progress observed within these issues includes:

• “Structures that ensure a coherent assessment program: In 1995, an Assessment Committee was formed and continued through 2001. The Committee functioned through three subcommittees: academic majors, college-level skills, and core objectives.”

The Academic Majors Subcommittee included department and division chairs guided by the chair of the Assessment Committee. By June 2000 each member had constructed an assessment rubric for each academic major containing a goal statement for the department, general objectives, intended outcomes, assessment criteria and procedures for each outcome, resources available to help students achieve the outcomes, and suggestions for how findings could be used.

Each department chair asked all instructors to collect and store evidence of student achievement. At the end of each year the chairs intended to compose a narrative that provided the levels of achievement and suggested improvements. Some departments tried to fulfill this mandate, but due to faculty turnover, this was not completed.

In 2001 the chair of the Assessment Committee, who was also the coordinator of the 2000 Self-Study, resigned and the Assessment Committee was dissolved. Since the Assessment Committee dissolved, there was no office to which to send the interpreted data.

In Fall, 2005, EPPC assumed the function of the Assessment Committee. Current assessment efforts are discussed in Chapter Four.

The College-Level Skills Subcommittee (mathematics, written and oral composition, and computer literacy) created general education assessment rubrics showing goals and measurable outcomes on four developmental levels. Although the Subcommittee no longer functions, these rubrics were used as guidelines by department chairs in 2005– 2006 for developing outcomes for each student population.

For example, English faculty held in-service sessions to mentor other faculty in using a writing rubric for student compositions. Since then, many faculty members have developed their own writing rubrics. In Summer, 2006, the Writing Committee offered a standard rubric and standard scoring guide for all faculty to encourage competent writing across all disciplines.

In addition, faculty members who teach IS 220, a required course, use a common final exam created in 2004 to assess mastery of the electronic communication skill levels.

The Core Objective Subcommittee created an assessment rubric for each Core Objective, specifying measurable outcomes on four developmental levels. At least one outcome, “choosing wisely for health and well-being” is currently implemented in all health and wellness classes.

As another example, the chair of the Theology/Philosophy Division created a simple instrument to gather students’ impressions of their own moral and spiritual growth through randomly selected classes. The results were counted and summarized in Spring, 2000. This survey has not been used since.

In 2004 and 2005, students used another simple instrument to rate their growth in each of the core objectives. The data remains unanalyzed.

Until 2001, the Assessment Committee maintained a website that included “published results and a calendar listing assessment events or reports, the targeted population, and who is responsible to manage the assessment. The Committee publishes an annual report that provides comprehensive feedback about annual assessment results.”

The website served more as a storage site for documentation than for broad-based communication to the faculty. The attempt to openly communicate was made but the format was less than user-friendly and so the website did not support assessment for most of the faculty. The website was discontinued in 2001.

Faculty who worked directly on the above three subcommittees had a fair grasp of all the assessment rubrics that were constructed. By the time these were all in place, the chair had resigned and the rubrics did not function as anticipated.

• College-wide faculty and administrative involvement: Membership of the Assessment Committee included faculty representation from academic divisions, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, and administrative offices.
• Allocation of resources for assessment purposes: A Committee goal for 2000 – 2001 states that it would propose budget items based on the findings contained in its year-end annual report.

In 2002 one faculty member was sent to an AAUW conference about assessment and reported back to the faculty. Since there was no assessment committee, no real results followed from that effort.

5. Provide increased support and staff for the Weekend Program in the day-to-day operations and strategic planning for the number of students enrolled.

In 2000 the Weekend College office and staff were housed in the Admissions Office. Two hundred ninety-four students were enrolled in weekend classes; 250 of them were Weekend College students and another 44 students were semester students taking advantage of the weekend format. The majors available in WECO at that time included Accounting, Management, Marketing, Human Resources, Information Systems, Paralegal Studies, and Psychology.

The Dean of the Weekend College reported to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Dean’s duties included academic advising, hiring faculty, student and faculty orientations, publishing a newsletter, insuring that courses met the curriculum road maps, and creating the WECO calendar. Two full-time adult admissions counselors, responsible for recruitment, reported to the Director of Admissions. One Admissions secretary provided approximately 10 hours per week clerical support to the WECO program.

This arrangement continued for a couple of years. The only program change was the elimination of the Paralegal Studies and the Information Systems majors. Paralegal Studies was discontinued because of the high cost and low enrollment and Information Systems was discontinued because it was not a major suitable to the accelerated format of the Weekend College. No new programs replaced them.

In 2002 the Dean of the Weekend College assumed additional responsibilities as Director of the Advising Center. This new role was a natural extension of existing responsibilities. As Dean, she was the academic advisor for all Weekend College students. With the additional responsibilities, she advised all new traditional and adult undergraduate students and those who had no assigned academic advisor. To support this added responsibility, an Assistant Director to Student Advising was hired.

The Dean moved from the Admissions Office into a newly renovated space adjacent to Student Services. On WECO weekends, however, she and the part-time secretary continued to work from the Admissions Office. Students were used to this arrangement and space was available. In Fall, 2004 all Weekend College activities moved to the Advising Center.

Enrollment in the Weekend College continued to decline. New WECO students were not enrolling at the same rate that WECO students were graduating. In Fall, 2002, there were 200 students enrolled in WECO classes with 155 being WECO students and 45 semester students. In addition, one of the adult recruiters resigned, leaving only one recruiter to seek new WECO and adult semester students.

In July, 2003, in an effort to replace the full-time recruiter position vacated in late 2002, salary was allocated from the admissions budget to hire an Assistant Director of Career Services who was to provide part-time hours as an adult recruiter. Specifically, this part-time adult recruiter was given the task of generating recruitment leads by attending off-site adult college fairs held at local businesses.

Since 2003, there has been only one full-time recruiter for the adult undergraduate degree programs. The primary responsibilities of the Assistant Director of Career Services have precluded her from recruiting as planned. The Dean of the Weekend College and the Assistant Director to Student Advising have worked carefully and closely with the adult recruiter providing transcript evaluation and course scheduling. While they report to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, there is a dotted line relationship to the adult admissions office for undergraduate recruitment. Clerical support continues to amount to 8-10 hours per week.

Rather than providing direct increased support and staff for the weekend program as suggested, the College tried various indirect strategies. Current strategic and operational planning for the adult and weekend program is addressed in Chapter Three.

6. The Library is in need of a significant boost in resources in order to best serve the Notre Dame College student body and faculty.

Since the 2000 Self-Study and Team visit, the Clara Fritzsche Library has been transformed to a multipurpose building that better serves the College’s students and faculty. During 2004 – 2005 the second floor was remodeled to include:

• A SMART Classroom that includes 40 laptop computers and two SMART Boards. This classroom is now utilized by technology-fluent faculty and librarians who use this resource interactively within many academic programs.
• The Academic Support Center for Students with Learning Differences. This is a large area that provides the resources for more than 20 students to receive the assistance they need to achieve academic success.
• The offices of the Director of Nursing and one faculty member.
• A spacious reading area with wireless access, study tables, and study carrels.
• Several gathering spaces for students to sit, read or socialize.

The Falcon Café is a welcome addition to the first floor of the Library. It provides a meeting place for students between classes and offers wireless internet access, an array of coffee and tea, light lunches, and other snacks.

Danger signs noted by the 2000 Visiting Team:

• In the past eight years, circulation dropped 53 percent.
• Reference inquiries dropped 20 percent from 1998 – 1999 to 1999 – 2000.
• “The acquisitions budget is also woefully under-funded…the ALA standard is that six percent of the education and general (E&G) budget should be allocated for library expenditures, at Notre Dame College this figure is only 2.67 percent.”
• “Climate control (HVAC) in the building is apparently an ongoing problem.”

Library usage has increased. In FY 2005 – 2006, circulation increased 14.9 percent from the previous year, reference inquiries were up 4.7 percent from FY 2004 – 2005, and interlibrary loan requests increased 27 percent from the year before.

The Library received an increase in the book budget from $3,500 for FY 1999 to $12,500 for FY 2005 – 2006. This was to assist in the purchase of books and materials for new programs such as Intelligence Analysis, Nursing, and the Academic Support Center.

Despite the efforts of the maintenance staff and Enterprise HVAC Service and Control, temperature control is not yet solved. However, the College is taking the best possible course of action to alleviate it.

Notre Dame College’s administration has taken very seriously the concerns and the suggestions posed by the Visiting Team in 2000 and has acted on each one. Now the focus shifts to the goals set by the College for the 2007 Self-Study.

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