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Notre Dame College Self-Study Report

Chapter 6: Responsiveness

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  Self-Study Website

Self-Study Report

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• 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
  • Capacity to Serve
  • Engagement
  • Responsiveness
  • Value
  • Considerations
• Chapter 7: Conclusions

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  Higher Learning Commission Final Team Report

Core Component: Notre Dame College demonstrates its responsiveness to those constituencies that depend on it for service.

Collaborative ventures exist with other higher learning organizations and education sectors (e.g. K-12 partnerships, articulation agreements, 2+2 programs).

In an effort to expand its offerings, enhance educational opportunities, and provide greater convenience and flexibility for its students, Notre Dame College is involved in several collaborative ventures with other higher learning institutions and education sectors. For example:

• An articulation agreement exists between Notre Dame College and Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) whereby Tri-C students may transfer to Notre Dame College upon completion of an Association of Arts or an Association of Science degree program with junior status, providing requirements are met. The agreement also includes students who transfer before completing their associate’s degree and those enrolled in Tri-C’s Dual Admission Program. The College also has articulation agreements for four tracks in accounting.

• Notre Dame College and Lakeland Community College have an articulation agreement that enables Lakeland students to transfer into the Communications and Graphic Design degree program at Notre Dame College. The partnership involves a two-way transfer. Notre Dame College students can complete the Media Technology certificate at Lakeland as the technical part of their four-year Bachelor of Arts degree. Lakeland’s Media Institute provides training in the most current media disciplines and specialties, boasts state-of-the art equipment, and provides students with the opportunity to work with a teaching staff recognized for its accomplishments in the world of broadcasting, recording, and audio production. In addition, several media corporations, including Sony and JVC, partner with the Institute allowing students to gain valuable insight into the marketplace and trends in media technology.

• Collaborative efforts with local Boards of Education (PK-12) enable students to gain valuable teaching experience in diverse settings.

• The Clara Fritzsche Library collaborates with other academic libraries through its membership in OhioLINK. The Library also belongs to the NEON (North East Ohio Network), NEO-RLS (Northeast Ohio Regional Library System), OHIO NET, and OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) consortia, which enable the Library to provide services that would otherwise prove unaffordable.

NEON provides funding for implementation of OhioLINK plus ongoing training and technical assistance. This is a partnership that includes the College, Ursuline College, John Carroll University, Hiram College, and Baldwin-Wallace College. NEO-RLS provides professional development and networking opportunities and vendor discounts. OHIO NET provides discounts on OCLC services. OCLC provides cost effective, and efficient means to order interlibrary loan materials for students, faculty, and staff.

• Notre Dame College participates in a cross-registration program coordinated by the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education in which students from any participating institution may register for one course per semester at any other participating school on a spaceavailable basis. Colleges and universities participating in the program include Cuyahoga Community College, Lakeland Community College, Cleveland State University, John Carroll University, and Ursuline College.

Notre Dame College’s transfer policies and practices create an environment supportive of the mobility of learners.

The transfer policies of Notre Dame College enable learners to complete a smooth transition to the College from their former institution. The College has long had a very fair and generous policy on the transfer of academic credit earned within the preceding five years at a regionally accredited college or university. Weekend College students benefit since most are transfer students. As long as the student has earned an A, B or C (in some cases a D would be considered if that student has earned an associate degree from the school), if the content of transfer courses matches Notre Dame College courses, the student receives credit for the course and does not need to repeat it. If there is no matching course, the credit becomes an elective credit helping the student reach the 128 semester credits required for graduation from Notre Dame College. Coursework completed more than five years ago is evaluated on a course-by-course basis. Transfer credits are not issued for coursework considered to be remedial.

Information pertaining to the College’s policies relating to admission requirements for transfer students is readily available on the College’s Admissions Office webpage and in the current undergraduate course catalog, which is also available online. Prospective students have the option of printing and mailing an application or submitting a free online application form. All semester and WECO transfer candidates must schedule a personal interview with an Admissions Counselor.

Transfer policies are regularly assessed and transfer students are encouraged to meet with their academic advisors to review transfer credits for equivalencies. Departments frequently work with students and their families to assure a smooth transition from one institution to the other. Academic advisors periodically check with students to assure courses are transferred and academic records are current.

All transfer students are encouraged to participate in the orientation activities the campus offers. These activities provide introductions to other students, faculty, staff, and services that the College offers. Separate orientations for WECO and adult students are also planned according to the yearly schedule through the WECO Office, Student Development, and Adult Recruitment. Orientation packets are provided and contain general information about the College and specific materials from departments such as Career Services, Financial Aid, and the Library. Other ways in which Notre Dame College eases the transfer process include the following:

• General Education Requirements listed in the course catalog are stated in courses rather than credits.

• Notre Dame College offers the Community College Opportunity Grant, a transfer scholarship of $8,557.

Community leaders testify to the usefulness of the organization’s programs of engagement.

Letters of appreciation, verbal testimonials, survey results, and the desire to collaborate with the College all indicate that Notre Dame College is of value to the communities it serves. Particularly supportive is the Mayor of South Euclid. She and her husband regularly attend events at the College. The Mayor participated in the College’s first Women’s Leadership Forum in Fall, 2005.

The mayor also initiated a partnership among Notre Dame College, the City of South Euclid, and other South Euclid organizations to plan the first South Euclid Fun Day, a successful collaborative venture. As the mayor values diversity, resource-sharing, collaboration, and regionalism, values compatible with the College, further collaboration is planned. The City of South Euclid has also been supportive of the College’s events by posting College press releases on its website.

Other members of the local community value the College’s service and are eager to partner with the College. Heights Community Congress sent the Tolerance Resource Center a letter of thanks with an open invitation to work on other projects together. The Italian-American Cultural Foundation was so impressed by the Mary Costanza exhibit that it paid to have a professional video documentary made.

The local Subway Restaurant features the Notre Dame Falcon of the Week in its facility. A photo and athletic information is posted.

Notre Dame College’s programs of engagement give evidence of building effective bridges among diverse communities.

Through its curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities Notre Dame College builds effective bridges among diverse communities. For example:

• The Art Department presents exhibits with broad and diverse appeal that engage students and support existing academic programs. Related class assignments, lectures, and workshops are designed to address diversity and tolerance, such as the Mary Costanza exhibit and the Charlene Teters exhibit, both of which addressed racial bias and stereotypes. All Notre Dame College students and the general public are invited to participate in these discussions and programs.

• The Library regularly donates books and equipment to Catholic inner city schools. In turn, the nuns give their review copies of curriculum sets to the Curriculum Library. Now the College has one of the largest and most current curriculum collections in the area. The materials are regularly used by Notre Dame College students, alumni, and area teachers.

• The President and two Notre Dame College faculty members serve on the planning board of the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage and were involved in planning the 2006 exhibit, “Cradle of Christianity: Treasures from the Holy Land”. In addition, the Maltz Museum Director of Education and Public Programs met with the Tolerance Resource Center and is anticipating future collaborations with Notre Dame College.

• In September, 2006, 20 Notre Dame College faculty members attended a workshop hosted by Teaching History and Ourselves‚ Director Mark Swain-Fox. The workshop prepared the faculty for a multimedia event co-sponsored by the Tolerance Resource Center, Masquers, and the Art Department. The event was a presentation of the James Still play, And Then They Came for Me, based on the life of Holocaust survivor, Eva Geiringer Schloss. Each performance, directed by a College professor and performed by College and high school students, was followed by a question and answer session hosted by Eva Schloss, a neighbor and contemporary of Anne Frank. Through the efforts of a member of the College’s Board of Directors, over 4,000 high school students attended the play.

In conjunction with the production, the Art Department hosted “Coreopsis: Renderings of the Holocaust,” an exhibit of pastel drawings of children who perished during the Holocaust. The drawings were by artist and educator Barbara Krahe Powers, friend and collaborator of Eva Schloss.

• A recent graduate in history worked with an area Holocaust survivor in transcribing her memoirs, now set for publication.

  The College is a member of College360°, a partnership of area colleges and universities, corporations, and notfor- profit agencies designed to provide students in Northeast Ohio with greater access to unique academic, personal, professional, and leadership opportunities in the region and to offer incentives for students to remain in the area after graduation.

• The Library’s Book-A-Year Club Gallery schedules four to five exhibits a year. Many of these address issues of race, tolerance, gender, religion, and culture. Art exhibits and gallery talks are often integrated into class assignments. For example, in Spring, 2005, students enrolled in Advanced Composition: Expository Writing (EN 110) were asked to view the Croatian textiles exhibit as part of their class assignment. Several students wrote poems inspired by the exhibit which were then displayed. Students enrolled in Basic Design (AR 221) viewed the Marvin Jones exhibit, (design motifs in folk art from around the world), and then created their own designs. Gallery talks and artists’ demonstrations provide students with opportunities to meet working artists.

• Attendees of the annual Eastern Church Anniversary celebration are primarily from outside the College community and learn about the event through the College’s website or their church bulletins. Some have come from as far away as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Evaluation forms indicate that these individuals greatly appreciate these events.

• The Picture Perfect Media Literacy project, held in February, 2005, brought an audience of girls, young women, and adults from the local community to the campus for a workshop about body image and the negative depiction of women in the popular media. This project was a collaboration among the College and award-winning local producer and media educator Carol Tizzano, the Cleveland Clinic Health System (East Region), The Cleveland Women’s City Club Foundation, and Sisters of Charity of Saint Augustine. Evaluations indicated that the audience found the workshop to be relevant, interesting, and worthwhile. Notre Dame College participates in partnerships focused on shared educational, economic, and social goals.

Notre Dame College participates in numerous partnerships at the local, state and national level that focus on shared educational, economic and social goals.

Some examples include the following:

• The College is a member of College360°, a partnership of area colleges and universities, corporations, and not-for-profit agencies designed to provide students in Northeast Ohio with greater access to unique academic, personal, professional, and leadership opportunities in the region and to offer incentives for students to remain in the area after graduation. Sixteen institutions of higher learning are involved along with corporations such as KeyBank, Jones Day, Charter One Bank, National City Bank, and the Cleveland Indians. Nonprofit collaborators include the Cleveland Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, the Kulas Foundation, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland.

• The College is a member of the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education (NOCHE), a consortium of 24 colleges and universities in the 13 counties of Northeast Ohio which seeks ways to leverage higher education as a resource for the advancement of the regional economy and improvement of individual and regional quality of life.

• Notre Dame College partners with the Ohio Department of Education in providing Notre Dame College graduate education credits for Highly Qualified Teacher professional development offerings through the Ohio School Net e-Learning program.

  Notre Dame College participates in the Council of Independent College’s Tuition Exchange Program, a network of over 500 colleges and universities willing to accept a certain number of tuition-free students from families of full-time employees of other CIC-TEP institutions.

• Notre Dame College participates in the Council of Independent College’s Tuition Exchange Program, a network of over 500 colleges and universities willing to accept a certain number of tuition-free students from families of full-time employees of other CIC-TEP institutions. This benefit encourages Notre Dame College employees to consider private institutions for their children.

• The Center for Professional Development’s partnerships with Instructional Delivery Services, Teacher Education Institute, and Open Links, Ltd. satisfy the need for professional development for local PK-12 instructors.

• The Center for Professional Development’s partnership with the Cleveland Chapter of the American Society for Training & Development satisfies the needs of individuals in meeting individual career goals and the needs of businesses in the area by providing training for specific organizational skills.

• In October, 2003 Ursuline and Notre Dame Colleges celebrated Ohio’s bicentennial by sponsoring the Ohio Writers Celebration, a salute to two centuries of Ohio writers. The program was funded by the Ohio Humanities Council and developed for educators of middle grades through college. Events were scheduled at both campuses and included lectures presented by best-selling author Mary Doria Russell; short story author and novelist, Mary Grimm; and Plain Dealer book editor, Karen Sandstrom.

• The Tolerance Resource Center is a frequent partner with the American Jewish Committee and the Catholic Interfaith Commission. During the Fall of 2006 they presented workshops that encouraged interfaith dialogue such as “One God, Three Faiths,” a discussion among Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

Notre Dame College’s partnerships and contractual agreements uphold the organization’s integrity.

The partnerships and contractual agreements that Notre Dame College has entered into are an outgrowth of its mission and a reflection of its longstanding role as a local leader in teacher education. The Board of Directors monitors the ethical, fiscal, and intellectual integrity of the institution. Faculty, staff, and student handbooks all address ethical issues and provide standards of appropriate conduct. The annual financial audit reflects the effectiveness of business procedures and allocation of institutional funds. Various grants awarded to the institution require detailed reports analyzing effectiveness and accountability for monies administered. Some examples include the following:

• The Center for Professional Development must follow the requirements set by the Ohio Board of Regents pertaining to credit hours. It must also be diligent in adhering to the national continuing education standard and various professional standards in offering continuing education hours.

  Notre Dame College involves its internal and external constituencies in assessing the quality and usefulness of the services it offers.

• The contractual agreement between the Library and OhioLINK ensures that the Clara Fritzsche Library will have adequate books and databases to support the curriculum of Notre Dame College.

• The partnerships between Notre Dame College and Life Skills Center of Akron and Youngstown, and the Columbus College of Art and Design enable the College to expand its Teacher Evening Licensure program to new communities.

• For select services, Notre Dame College has partnered, through contracted services, with key service providers, and will continue with this practice to leverage their expertise in these areas. This practice allows the College to focus its resources on its educational mission while providing competitive and high quality services to its constituents. Most suppliers are local; Siemans and Guardsmark are national service providers. Significant contracts include:

– Food service agreement with Normandy Catering since 1999.

– Bookstore operation with B & N, Inc. since 1996.

– Information systems support with Adventures in Automation.

– Janitorial services with All for You Janitorial, since 2003.

– Building technologies service agreement with Siemens since 2005.

– Guardsmark Security services since 2006.

 

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