Subject: 
Self-Study reminder and checklist
Date: 
Fri, 17 Nov 2000 12:55:49 -0500
From: 
Ken Spackman <spackmank@uncwil.edu>
To: 
sabellaj@uncwil.edu, moorek@uncwil.edu, quackenbushs@uncwil.edu,
ward@uncwil.edu, trimblef@uncwil.edu, vetterr@uncwil.edu, coxm@uncwil.edu,
kelleyp@uncwil.edu, veit@uncwil.edu, dipucciod@uncwil.edu,
stocktonc@uncwil.edu, berkeleyk@uncwil.edu, fengw@uncwil.edu,
bongiornof@uncwil.edu, wilsonj@uncwil.edu, 
CC: 
seiplej@uncwil.edu, sacs_steer@uncwil.edu




This message is being sent to heads of all units that administer courses
for credit.

SUBJECT: Reminder and checklist for submission of academic unit
self-study reports.

1. Final self-study reports from academic units are due four weeks from
today, December 15, 2000. This is a critical deadline for the
Self-Study process. Please comply.

2. The report should be sent as a single MSWord e-mail attachment to
spackmank@uncwil.edu. In addition, six (6) hard copies are to be
delivered to FR 250 in the black personal file box provided, along with
all supporting documentation, syllabi, minutes, etc. (See pages 35-36,
Step 11, of the Self-Study Manual for more details of documents to be
included.) Calling ahead (ext. 3556) to alert Marla that you’re
bringing over your report and document file is recommended.

3. Please refer to the Self-Study Manual instructions on pages 33-44 to
ensure completeness of your report, and use Steps 1-11 as a checklist.
Don’t forget Step 8 (strengths and weaknesses), and Step 9 (regional
service).

4. If your department identifies weaknesses or presents suggestions or
recommendations for change (and it should whenever appropriate), then
you should begin immediately to correct the weaknesses, to write a
policy where none exists, or otherwise implement a process to begin to
address the deficiency. UNCW will have to publish a “Follow-up Report”
prior to the SACS visit that addresses steps taken to remedy
deficiencies.

5. Supplements to the Manual have been available on the Self-Study Web
site at http://www.uncwil.edu/sacs/ (click on Self-Study Manual) to
clarify sections 4.7 (Student Records), 4.9 (Consortial Relationships
and Contractual Agreements), 5.2 (Instructional Support), and 5.3
(Information Technology Resources and Systems). These supplements,
provided by the subcommittees that will use the information, are
intended to assist departments in responding to these sections. Also,
be reminded of the “matters requiring special attention” on pages 36-40
of the Manual.

6. Please include a master document list of all documents submitted with
the report.

7. Although your Institutional Effectiveness draft was submitted October
2, your (improved) Institutional Effectiveness section is to be included
in the final report.

8. All unit reports have been, and will be, available for viewing on the
Web in the password-protected “Committee-Level Access” area of the
Self-Study Web site. Use Username: xxxx Password: xxxx  (Username 
and Password deleted for this Web version of the message.) It is
permitted to pass along this password to other UNCW faculty, but please
do not publish it on any Web page available to the general public. You
may view the unit reports of the administrative units and all the
academic unit Institutional Effectiveness drafts now.

9. Some unit reports have strengths worth noting, and may serve as
models with respect to those strengths:

Administrative units
· Business Affairs (very strong in its use of survey results to support
conclusions, data collected from the six benchmark institutions listed
in the Manual, and analysis based on these data)
· Academic Affairs (very strong in identification of weaknesses,
development of recommendations to correct them, and immediate follow-up
to take action to address the weaknesses before the Self-Study Report is
written)
· Institutional Research (strong in use of data and survey results;
identification of recommendations to remedy weaknesses)
· Athletics (well documented with reference to documentation in the
text, and summary document list at the end)
· Student Academic Support Programs (strong in adherence to instructions
for unit reports in the Manual: format, documentation, required
sections, etc.)
· Student Affairs (good use of links in the text to online
documentation)
· Dean of Students (good historical context of changes, good background
information, tables of assessment tools and schedule, supporting
documents listed by section, good regional service section)

Academic units (institutional effectiveness sections)
· College of Arts and Sciences (strong use of tables of multi-year data
to present trends and support conclusions; clearly written description
of goals and objectives, each with accompanying procedure, assessment,
and evaluation; excellent “Transformations” section describes changes in
last decade)
· Mathematics and Statistics (specific examples of use of assessment
results in response to 3.1-6, draft of Section 5.3 response at
http://www.uncwil.edu/sacs/5.3Mathematics.doc )
· Psychology (good background summary of types of planning and
evaluation, specific examples of use of assessment to effect change in
policies, operations, and services)
· Honors Scholars Program (good use of tables to present data and trends
in support of analysis)
· Social Work (good use of tables to explain a well-designed plan
linking objectives to assessment, and summarizing implementation of
outcome measures)

Finally, a review of the Institutional Effectiveness drafts reveals some
common areas of potential improvement:

10. “Use of evaluation” does not mean, “Do you use any evaluation
methods?” It does mean, “Specifically, how have you used the results of
the evaluations you have conducted to change policies, procedures,
programs, services, or operations for the better?” An inventory of
evaluation techniques or measures is a first step (and most departments
have provided such a list), but more is needed. Actual detailed
examples of the use of assessment results and actual changes that were
made as a consequence are needed.

11. Many departments refer to data collected on things like course
completion rates, graduation rates, participation in regional
competitions, acceptance rates of student research papers, acceptance
rate to graduate schools, passing rates on national certification exams,
etc., but without presenting the data! Actual data should be presented
in the report (not necessarily only in Section III), over a multi-year
period, if possible, accompanied by insightful analysis, interpretation,
identification of any trends, and conclusions when possible. If you
have actually used such data, it should be easy to provide. If you only
intend to use them, say so (and get started now). If you don’t use the
data (and don’t intend to), don’t say that you do.

On behalf of the Steering Committee,

Ken Spackman
SACS Self-Study Director