The role of the Registrar

Session # 1794

*Preparing for HLC

Accreditation

Mary Cisar, Registrar St. Olaf College

Liesl Fowler, Registrar Augustana College

Andrew Hannah, Senior Associate Registrar University of Chicago

Heidi Hoskinson, Associate Vice President Friends University

AACRAO: Preparing for

Accreditation

The accreditation cycle, planning and process

*Advanced Planning (2-3 years prior)

*Open Pathways Process & Reporting (2 perspectives)

*QUIP process & reporting

**Q & A

AACRAO: Preparing for

Accreditation

Advanced Planning:

What Augustana needed to do first:

* Understand our accreditation process (Open Pathway)

* Redefine a credit hour

* More clearly define Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)

* Be sure the SLO are mapped to the curriculum

(majors, minors and core)

* Set-up an HLC task force structure

* Establish a timeline

* Get going – ASAP!

Liesl Fowler

*One thing we all learned

Definition of a credit hour

Augustana had to redefine the credit hour using both

the traditional Carnegie Unit and our own

understanding of what happens outside of the

lecture classroom that also constitutes learning.

This took months of conversations and revision in

addition to months to move through faculty

governance before resolution and adoption.

Liesl Fowler

Augustana's Credit Hour Policy:

In accordance with federal policy, Augustana College defines a credit hour as the amount of work represented in the achievement of learning outcomes (verified by evidence of student achievement) that reasonably approximates one hour (50 minutes) of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work. Each standard, three-credit course at Augustana meets Monday-Wednesday-Friday for 75 minutes each day (225 minutes/week) or Tuesday-Thursday for 110 minutes each day (220 minutes/week) for approximately 10 weeks (1 trimester). Each standard course requires 8-10 hours of out-of-class student work per week. Accelerated three-credit courses (5 week courses) meet for 440-450 minutes/week, with 16-20 hours of out-of-class student work per week expected per week. For courses carrying fewer than three-credits, classroom and out-of-class student work expectations are reduced by the appropriate proportion.

OR

At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other activities as established by the institution including internships, practical, private study, studio work, immersion terms, ensembles, lessons, tutorials, student teaching, and other academic work leading toward the award of credit hours

Other types of courses:

Non-credit-bearing laboratory sections:

Most laboratory sections on campus are non-credit bearing but impact the grade of the co-requisite course. Student time spent in these laboratory sections will be factored into the out-of-class student work requirement of the co-requisite lecture section.

Credit-bearing laboratory courses:

One unit of credit will be awarded for credit-bearing laboratory courses for at least two hours (100 minutes) of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately 10 weeks.

Independent Study: is advanced critical study or research on a specific topic under the guidance of a faculty member in a department. Students may register for course 400 in the related academic department with the permission of the faculty member and the department chair. No more than 6 credits in independent and directed studies combined may be applied toward the Bachelor of Arts degree. In one term, no more than 1 credit of independent study and 1 credit of directed study may be earned in a given department. One unit of credit will be awarded for 4-4.5 hours of student work per week for approximately 10 weeks.

Directed Study: is study of a particular topic of interest under the direction of a faculty member. Students may register for courses 199, 299, 399 and 499 in departments that offer directed study. Permission is required from the department chair and the instructor. No more than 6 credits in independent and directed studies combined may be applied toward the Bachelor of Arts degree. In one term, no more than 1 credit of independent study and 1 credit of directed study may be earned in a given department. One unit of credit will be awarded for 4-4.5 hours of student work per week for approximately 10 weeks.

Private Study: In exceptional cases, a student who is a graduation candidate and who critically needs a course may take a desired course through private study with an instructor. The student must petition the Committee on Advanced Standing and Degrees for final approval. The student is responsible for all fees above and beyond regular tuition. For information, students should consult their advisor, a faculty member and the Dean of the College. One unit of credit will be awarded for 4-4.5 hours of student work per week for approximately 10 weeks.

Music Lessons: The music department offers lessons for college credit in all orchestral and band instruments, piano, harpsichord, organ, guitar,voice, drum set, world hand drumming, conducting, composing and improvisation. Lessons are scheduled individually with the instructor. One unit of credit is awarded for a 30 minute one-on- one 10 week lesson and 3-6 hours of student work per week outside of class for approximately 10 weeks.

Internships: A minimum of 40 on-site hours are required for any internship. Internships range from 0-9 credit and span varying time frames. While 40 on-site hours are required for a 1 credit internship, additional credits require 37- 40 hours of student work for each unit of credit awarded. Community internship partners must be approved by the Department Chair and/or Office of Internship Services, and on-site supervisors must agree to place the student in a position that will benefit not only their organization, but will add to the student's education in a meaningful manner. A reflective component is required for successful completion of any internship. Note: Individual departments are responsible for implementing, enforcing, and including in their assessment process changes to the credit hour policy which impact their course offerings. This includes retaining syllabi for all non-standard format courses and providing copies of these for review by the various accrediting bodies.

Liesl Fowler

Advanced Planning

HLC Task Force (Open Pathways = Quality Initiative)

Steering Committee - A team leader for each criterion

I. Mission

II. Integrity, Ethical and Responsible Conduct

III. Teaching & Learning: Quality, Resources & Support

IV. Teaching & Learning: Evaluation & Improvement

V. Resources, Planning & Institutional Effectiveness

Liesl Fowler

Liesl Fowler

Undergraduates:

Friends University defines the unit of credit hour as follows: A credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally-established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:(1) one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or (2) at least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other activities as established by an institution, including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, experiential and prior learning, and other academic work leading toward the award of credit hours.

Credit Hour Definition @

Friends

Heidi Hoskinson

Friends University is an HLC AQIP School

* The Academic Quality Improvement Program infuses the principles and benefits of continuous improvement into the culture of colleges and universities by providing an alternative process through which an already-accredited institution can maintain its accreditation.

*An institution in AQIP demonstrates how it meets accreditation standards and expectations through a sequence of events that align with the ongoing activities of an institution striving to improve its performance.

AACRAO: Preparing for

Accreditation

Heidi Hoskinson

The accreditation cycle, planning and process @ Friends University

(currently – changing in 2014-15)

*Currently a 4 year cycle – moving to an 8 year cycle

*Strategy Forum

*3 Action Projects

*Check Up Visit

*Systems Portfolio and Review

AACRAO: Preparing for

Accreditation

The Nine AQIP Categories:

* AQIP Category One: Helping Students Learn

* HELPING STUDENTS LEARN focuses on the design, deployment, and effectiveness of teaching-learning processes that underlie the institution’s credit and non-credit programs and courses and on the processes required to support them.

* AQIP Category Two: Accomplishing Other Distinctive Objectives

* ACCOMPLISHING OTHER DISTINCTIVE OBJECTIVES addresses the key processes (separate from instructional programs and internal support services) through which the institution serves its external stakeholders in support of its mission.

* AQIP Category Three: Understanding Students’ and Other Stakeholders’ Needs

* UNDERSTANDING STUDENTS’ AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS’ NEEDS examines how the institution works actively to understand student and other stakeholder needs.

* AQIP Category Four: Valuing People

* VALUING PEOPLE explores the institution’s commitment to the development of your faculty, staff, and administrators.

AACRAO: Preparing for

Accreditation

Heidi Hoskinson

The Nine AQIP Categories – con’t:

* AQIP Category Five: Leading and Communicating

* LEADING AND COMMUNICATING addresses how leadership and communication processes, structures,

and networks guide the institution in setting directions, making decisions, seeking future

opportunities, and communicating decisions and actions to internal and external stakeholders.

* AQIP Category Six: Supporting Institutional Operations

* SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONAL OPERATIONS addresses the organizational support processes that

help to provide an environment in which learning can thrive.

* AQIP Category Seven: Measuring Effectiveness

* MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS examines how the institution collects, analyzes, distributes, and uses

data, information, and knowledge to manage itself and to drive performance improvement.

* AQIP Category Eight: Planning Continuous Improvement

* PLANNING CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT examines the institution’s planning processes and how its

strategies and action plans help it achieve its mission and vision.

* AQIP Category Nine: Building Collaborative Relationships

* BUILDING COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS examines the institution’s relationships, current and

potential, to ascertain how they contribute to the organization’s ability to accomplish its mission.

AACRAO: Preparing for

Accreditation

Heidi Hoskinson

Advanced Planning:

What Friends Does:

* Develop Action Plans and outcome measures

* Understand Federal Compliance requirements

* Create mechanisms for collection of data

* Map data to institutional outcomes measures & AQIP

categories (there are 9 categories)

* Execute the Action Plans

* Implement, Review, Improve, Implement, Review,

Improve

Heidi Hoskinson

The Friends University DATA:

*Supplied by IR and U Registrar (and other pockets)

*Term and Annual Enrollment Statistics

*Graduation and Retention Statistics

*Special Reports: Faculty credentials, survey data, project assessment data, mission measures

*Evidence-based reporting and data

*Self Study = 100 pages maximum

Reporting

Heidi Hoskinson

Some things we continue

to learn @ Friends

Liesl Fowler

*We are data rich and information poor.

*Paying attention to compliance and the

categories is complex.

*Developing measurable outcomes is difficult

and time consuming.

*The 4 year cycle is fast – almost too fast

*Tendency to take on too many projects that

last too long.

*

Credit Hour? What’s that?

At University of Chicago:

Quarter System, each course meets @30-33 in-class hours per quarter = 100 units of Credit

Formula (approved by State Board of Higher Ed): Each 100 units = 3 1/3 Semester hours or 5 qtr hrs.

Full-time = 300 or more units, Half-time = 200-299, Less-than-half-time = 001-199.

Ph.D. students (of which there are over 3000 enrolled) are certified as enrolled Full-time (the equivalent of 300 units or 10 semester credit hours) every quarter, regardless of coursework.

Andrew Hannah

Introducing:

The Open Pathway for Reaffirmation of Accreditation

https://www.ncahlc.org/Information-for-Institutions/open-pathway.html

AACRAO: Preparing for

Accreditation

Andrew Hannah

The Open Pathway seeks to achieve the following goals.*To enhance institutional value by opening the

improvement aspect of accreditation so that institutions may choose Quality Initiatives to suit their current circumstances

*To reduce the reporting burden on institutions by utilizing as much information and data as possible from existing institutional processes and collecting them in electronic form as they naturally occur over time

*To enhance rigor by checking institutional data annually (Institutional Update) and conducting Assurance Reviews twice in the ten-year cycle

*To integrate as much as possible all HLC processes and HLC requests for data into the reaffirmation of accreditation cycle.

Andrew Hannah

Related Resources to the Open Pathway

*Open Pathway Booklet (Complete information

about the Open Pathway Process and the

Transition to the Open Pathway)

*Federal Compliance Requirements

*Improvement: Quality Initiative

*Assurance System Training

Andrew Hannah

Andrew Hannah

The Evidence File . . . Registrar and I/R contributions

*Term and Annual Enrollment Statistics

*Graduation and Retention Statistics

*Special Reports: PhD Students Time-to-Candidacy and Time-to-Degree; Honors & Fellowships; Faculty Teaching

*Catalogs

*Term Course Offerings

*Tuition and Fee Tables

*Auditors Reports

Reporting

Andrew Hannah

St. Olaf :

What we needed to do first:

We were in pretty good shape with these:

*Understand our accreditation process (Open Pathway)

* Redefine a credit hour

* More clearly define Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)

* Be sure the SLO are mapped to the curriculum (majors,

concentrations)

* Set-up an HLC task force structure

* Establish a timeline

* Get going – ASAP!

But:

*(RE)DEFINE A CREDIT HOUR!

Mary Cisar

Definition of a credit Hour

St. Olaf courses are not denominated in semester or quarter credits.

A St. Olaf semester lasts 14 weeks (13 weeks of classes plus a 5-day final exam period). The St. Olaf

calendar also includes one four-week January Interim and two five-and-a-half week summer terms.

Regardless of the term, each full (1.00 St. Olaf credit) course includes, at a minimum, the equivalent of

thirty-eight 55-minute instructional hours. Some courses carry additional lab or discussion sessions.

Students are expected to devote a minimum of 3 hours outside of class time for every hour in class.

Fractional course credits are determined as a proportion of the thirty-eight instructional hours and out-of-

class time. For purposes of definition and transfer of credit, each St. Olaf course is equivalent to 4.00

semester credits or 5.50 quarter credits.

Thirty-five (35) full-course (1.00) credits are required to complete the baccalaureate degree. A St. Olaf

degree is equivalent to a minimum of 140 semester credits or 192 quarter credits. More specific

information regarding transfer of credit may be found under "General Policies Governing All Transfer of

Credit to St. Olaf College."

For purposes of financial aid and billing, full-time status is defined as 3.0 St. Olaf credits (the equivalent of

at least 12 semester or 16.5 quarter credits). Three-quarter time: at least 2.25 St. Olaf credits; half time: at

least 1.5 St. Olaf credits; less than half-time status: fewer than 1.5 St. Olaf credits. See "Financial Aid

Program" for further information relative to federal and state grants.

See: http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/GEN1106.pdf for relevant U.S. Department of Education

policy and comments governing credit hour definitions.

Mary Cisar

What else…….

Don’t forget other parts of the catalog:

--Transfer credit equivalency (ours were not well

aligned with our own definition of a credit)

--Classification (how many credits required to be

classified to the next class year)

--Implementation of changes (we put changes into

catalog in 2013-14 but made them effective starting

summer 2014—full Admissions cycle, one year lead time

for students.

Mary Cisar

Make the conversation inclusive….

We talked to:

--Admissions

--Financial Aid

--Dean of Students

--Institutional Research/Evaluation

--Curriculum Committee

--Faculty

…and more!

It took a LONG time (October-February)

Mary Cisar

The Post Site Visit and

Post-Review Follow-up

What should we do next……?

*

*Preparing for HLC

Accreditation

Questions for the Panel &

Comments to add from your experience?

thanks for coming please remember to complete your evaluation for session #1794