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Private colleges and universities offer an incredible depth of self-generated accountability information available in the institutions' publications and, increasingly, on their Web sites. Here, by categorizing that information, we will help you through the maze of reports, initiatives, and measures that our colleges and universities provide. Also, as independent colleges and universities wrestle with how to improve accountability, many are trying new and novel ways of assuring that they effectively serve their constituencies. In "Profiles" below, we will provide you with Web links to a smorgasbord of notably ambitious, innovative, and emerging approaches to higher education accountability at individual private colleges and universities, as well as efforts by institutions to better communicate this information to their constituencies.
We encourage all private institutions to contribute to the important information on this page by completing our on-line survey. (For questions concerning the survey or this Web site generally, please contact accountability@naicu.edu.)
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Profiles in AccountabilitySome examples of the ways in which America's private colleges and universities are responding to the informational needs of their students and those beyond campus, and are looking critically at what they do and how they do it.
Multi-State
Colorado College (CO), Earlham College (IN), and Kalamazoo College (MI) are jointly participating in a value-added assessment project. Funded by the Teagle Foundation, the project will create and nurture friendly intra- and inter-campus environments for assessment; demonstrate in a compelling way the value-added of a liberal arts education; and collect and use stories and data to articulate each institution's unique approach to the liberal arts.
California
The University of San Francisco's budgeting process, and the data on which its budget decisions are based, are highly transparent through the annual financial analysis reports prepared by the USF budget office. The current and eight previous analyses are available on the Web site.
Colorado:
Regis University's Center for the Study of Accelerated Learning serves as a research institute for the assessment of accelerated learning formats in higher education locally, nationally, and internationally. The center particularly focuses on the needs of adult learners, and on how well accelerated programs serve low income and immigrant populations.
District of Columbia:
Trinity University posts all of its accreditation documents -- including those for its school of education -- on one Web page for easy access. Replete with charts and graphs, the opening chapter of Trinity's 2006 accreditation self-study, paints a richly detailed portrait of an institution that has purposefully evolved over time.
Florida:
Florida Institute of Technology now operates a Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence that provides faculty support and training in pedagogy assessment, and trains faculty in using technology for effective teaching and learning.
Indiana:
A model for transparency in data, Earlham College posts a summary page on its Web site with links to all of its most recent reports, along with a guide to the recurring surveys conducted by the college. It also assembles in one place links to the reviews of Earlham in a number of college guide books.
Kentucky:
Thomas More College schedules a Core Assessment Day at the beginning of both the fall and spring semesters during which the majority of general education assessments and surveys are completed. Major-field speech and writing assessments are embedded in students' courses within their major.
Maine:
Bates College is developing an institutional portfolio to expand and organize information about accountability and institutional effectiveness issues. (Do a search for "accountability" on the college's Web site, and you'll come up with 16 pages of diverse citations.)
Massachusetts:
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) posts on its Web site over 20 years of data on financial indicators such as market value of investments, endowment per student, operating expenses, and research revenues.
Michigan:
Northwood University lists -- and then describes in some detail -- 12 outcomes that students should reasonably expect from an education at the university.
New Jersey:
Every five years, Caldwell College academic departments complete a Periodic Review. Each academic department also must also have a statement of outcomes assessment.
New York:
Syracuse University's Office of Planning and Budget posts white papers on such matters as resource allocation and "Where the 2006-07 Tuition Increase Goes," and offers visitors detailed information on the university's budgeting process, plans, and policies.
Trocaire College undertook a major project to assess programs according to the core competencies. The assessment encompassed all areas of the college.
North Carolina:
Elon University gives high visibility to its National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results, both via the Web site and through a publication for prospective students devoted to the survey findings.
Wake Forest University has posted a detailed and candid report, A Case Study on the Institutional Dynamics and Climate for Student Assessment and Academic Innovation. The nearly 80-page report examines student assessment from the institutional to the departmental level, and includes results of a survey of student attitudes toward assessment.
Ohio:
The College of Wooster has undertaken a major assessment project to improve student learning in a systematic and effective manner, through the methodical collection and analysis of student outcomes data and information. The project Web pages also include links to assessment initiatives at other colleges and universities.
Oberlin College offers a detailed analysis of "Subsequent Enrollments of Students Withdrawing from Oberlin," drawing upon National Student Loan Clearinghouse data, and offers detailed information on what its graduates' plans are upon leaving the college.
Pennsylvania:
Geneva College has developed "Student Changes Survey Items Assessing Each Outcome," a list of 70 criteria, grouped under 13 outcomes, applicable to a faith-based liberal arts college.
The University of Scranton's "Innovations for Affordability Program," launched in 2001, lays out major goals that include increasing revenue, capping total debt, reducing annual debt service, examining staffing levels and cost structures for efficiency, and streamlining operations.
Tennessee:
Crichton College has a simple "Consumer Information Disclosure" form on its Web site that groups in one place the various information disclosures required by the U.S. Department of Education. Consumers check off all of those they would like to receive via e-mail.
The Fisk University Core Faculty have participated in a general education/core assessment and evaluation workshop. This event has been used as the catalyst for a series of ongoing seminars and workshops in which the core curriculum is undergoing review, and an authentic instrument of evaluation is currently being developed. This process of review and assessment, made possible by a grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation, will continue over the next academic year.
Vermont:
Middlebury College provides detailed information on its financial aid statistics, including the percentage of students who applied for and received aid, the average financial aid package, and the average borrower indebtedness.
Virginia:
Assessments that have been used at Bridgewater College include the Academic Profile, pre- and post-testing in core freshman skill courses, and a course-embedded assessment that is part of a freshman seminar introducing the college's Personal Development Portfolio Program.
Roanoke College has implemented an ambitious Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment program that is being used to sharpen the college's mission and expand its objectives; identify intended outcomes consistent with the mission; assess whether those outcomes are actually being accomplished; then adjust plans and activities to improve the college's effectiveness.
Washington:
In a "one-stop shopping" SPU Facts page, Seattle Pacific University provides links to a wealth of information on the institution -- such as enrollment statistics, student charges and financial aid, basic budget figures, and detailed financial reports for the past nine years.
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