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Compliance Certification Section 3.3.1
Institutional Effectiveness
The institution identifies expected outcomes for its educational programs and its administrative and educational support services; assesses whether it achieves these outcomes; and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of those results.
Coker College is in compliance.
Since 1994, the College's administrative units and academic programs have used the effectiveness planning model described in the Criteria for Accreditation and other publications of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2003, the College adopted a new institutional effectiveness model, which is now in place.
Educational Programs
Since all of the College's academic programs have a capstone course experience, that constitutes a significant measure of the success of students in the discipline.
The new effectiveness model
incorporates core skills into every course taught, through course syllabi
(see [1481]
for an example) and the online assessment that occurs at the end of the
semester (see instructions in [1052]).
The syllabus requirement is only 25% implemented in spring 2004, with
full implementation planned for the fall.
The goals of this integration are:
- to show students that the mission of the College is more than to assign them grades, and create an awareness of the importance that the core skills have in a liberal arts-based education
- to encourage dialogue about the core skills between faculty and students
- to set standards for levels of achievement in the skills
- to "close the loop" and continuously improve core skills achievement levels of students
Each academic program currently has an effectiveness plan, which can be found on the program's page in this report. These are all easily located on the academic programs page. In addition to the plan, each program has documentation of recent effectiveness improvements to the program. Some examples of such improvements are given below. The discipline is given for context, followed by the reference to the document from which the quote is taken:
Worth noting were changes made in art history offerings to better meet the needs of our students. The assessment acknowledged the success of previous Art Department trips to New York City by incorporating Art in New York into our art history offerings. It was noted that Sophomore reviews [1213]
We have already increased performance opportunities for students by establishing the Coker Repertory Dance Company in Spring 2002 and establishing the Pee Dee Regional Dance Festival at Coker in 2003. We have increased the number of students auditioning for summer dance workshops and those applying for internships. Along with requiring students to research job postings in dance, this shows students that they can find employment in their field. It minimizes questioning of the feasibility of making a living in dance. (Dance, from [1461]
Faculty and students share an open dialogue about assessment, and students frequently express their opinions and suggest changes concerning available courses. In fact, Dr. Julia Klimek's English 299: Women and Literature course was a direct response to students' requests for a class devoted to women's literature. (English, from [1416]
From the establishment of the Foreign Language Majors in 1985, the language majors are required to study abroad. Most students have joined programs that are not connected with Coker College. Students have been successful in completing those courses to the satisfaction of Coker College, and have proved that they possess the proficiency in the given target language. (Foreign Language, from [1431]
Over the past four years a number of initiatives have been taken to improve the academic experience of History and History Education majors at Coker College. As a result there has been a remarkable increase in the number of students both majoring and minoring in History, from less than 5 total to well over 30. (History, from [1408]
In Fall 2003, we collected all final exams from each service course taught and compared them to the syllabi and course description. As a result, two adjuncts were ruled out for future contracts because they were not covering the entire course content.(Mathematics, from [1421]
External internship supervisors' comments are used to change curriculum as appropriate. In the Fall semester of 2003, courses in counseling with children, counseling and the creative arts, cognitive psychology, and history and systems were added to the offerings in response to feedback from recent graduates as well as documented interests of psychology majors.(Psychology, from [1268]
These examples are evidence that the programs set goals, assess them, and improve programs based on the assessment. Many more examples can be found in the documents mentioned.
Three academic programs are subject to requirements for external accreditation or approval:
- The Teacher Education
Programs are approved by the South Carolina Department of Education,
and are required to use outcomes-based planning in each program. The
programs' accreditation was reaffirmed in 2002-03, as shown in [1282].
- The Music Programs
have been accredited through the National Schools of Music (NASM), as
shown in [1354].
Two representatives from NASM will be on campus on April 19 and 20,
2005, for the formal reaccreditation proceedings. Among other things,
they will examine the curriculum, teaching loads, facilities (including
the pianos, practice rooms, recital hall, faculty studios, and rehearsal
spaces), and library holdings.
- The Social Work Program was granted candidacy by the Council on Social Work Education at its fall 2003 meeting. The program is granted candidacy for up to three years, if needed. The program's faculty members have submitted the self-study document (CSWE's Benchmark II criteria). The first commissioner's visit during the candidacy phase will be scheduled during April-May 2004. The commissioner may recommend that (1) the program continue revisions on the self-study for the next year, or (2) the program is in compliance with accreditation standards and ready for a full site team visit.
Administrative and Educational Support Services
Each administrative and service unit has an effectiveness plan and summary report of effectiveness, which can be found on its page (linked from the organizational chart). The format of each unit's information is:
- An overview of the unit
- An outline of the organization with links to job descriptions and résumés of key personnel
- Best practices adhered to (if appropriate)
- Mission and goals planning document
- A budget proposal on the standard budget form, with line items linked back to goals
- Documentation of improvements derived from planning and assessment
- A detailed description of the unit's function
For example, on the Library
page can be found: Effectiveness Plan [557], and Effectiveness History
[738].
Unit pages are available through the organizational chart page by clicking on the unit's "bubble" on the chart.
Some excerpts from the Effectiveness History documents show that units are using planning, assessment, and improvement effectively.
In 2000-1 I asked the acquisitions coordinator, Nancy Matthews, what we were paying for an average book, so I could budget accordingly. The answer was very close to $50. By the simple expediency of getting a business credit card, which was her idea, our ability to shop around for new and used books reduced the average cost to around $40 by the time I was planning the 2003-4 budget. (Library, in [738]
Orientation planning was expanded to include faculty participation due to concerns regarding a lack of academic focus. [834]
The Food Committee, composed of students, was resurrected and annual or semiannual focus groups were conducted with the corporate marketing director for Aramark. Dining Hall serving area renovation including the addition of a grill area for display cooking. (Student Services, from [1055]
Based on the results, Coker College is slightly above the national average in graduation rates for student-athletes. Moreover, Coker College excels in the CVAC in terms of graduation rate when results are compared. [595]
In 1998 the college was introduced to zero-based budgeting and adopted this process in preparing the 1999-2000 budget. This approach solved a key complaint from faculty in particular by providing a means for broad community participation in the budget process. It also established a basis for developing the revenue stream and setting spending priorities. After extensive training for both faculty and staff, a ZBB Steering Committee was appointed and a new era of fiscal improvement begun. The result has been a more informed and supportive community and a budget each year reflecting the changing needs of the college. (Business Operations, from [1412]
One of the outstanding efficiency problems in IT has been in purchasing. The assessment device for measuring this is simply time and money. Although most purchasing is done through the business office, usually technology purchases are first routed through IT. Until recently this meant many different orders for computers during the year. During the 2002-3 budget cycle, through the Budget Steering Committee, a new policy was adopted to schedule these purchases [366]
Prior to IR's involvement in the budget process, the decision to raise tuition seems not to have involved much hard analysis. That has changed considerably since 1999-2000. Now, the process has evolved to the point where the Budget Steering Committee agrees on a level of risk to assume (not unlike investing in a mutual fund), and builds the next year's revenue total on predicted attrition (influenced by tuition changes) and institutional aid averages (also influenced by tuition). (Institutional Research, from [737]
Reference Documents Cited
| ID | Type | Source | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 366 | HTML DOC PDF | Office: Information Technology | Computer Purchasing Policy | computer purchasing, budgeting |
| 557 | HTML DOC PDF | Office: Library | 2003-04 Library Budget Plan | Mission, goals, and objectives for operating the library. Forms the basis for the budget proposal. |
| 595 | DOC PDF | Office: Athletics | General Athletics Assessment Plan, 2002-03 | Goals, objectives, results and use of results for 2002-03 |
| 737 | HTML DOC PDF | Office: Institutional Research | 2000-03 Effectiveness Improvements | vision and goals of institutional research (IR), automated reporting, tuition, financial aid |
| 738 | HTML DOC PDF | Office: Library | 2000-03 Effectiveness Improvements | vision and goals of the library, collection, staffing, circulation, gate count, eBooks, budget |
| 739 | HTML DOC PDF | Office: Information Technology | 2000-03 Effectiveness Improvements | vision and goals of Information Technology (IT), security, infrastructure, classroom technology, reorganization |
| 834 | HTML PDF RTF | Office: Student Services | Student Services Staff Meeting, 11-10-03 | Meeting Minutes: EESP Activity Fee, Byerly-Grannis Renovation, Fall activities |
| 1052 | HTML | Office: Institutional Research | Instructions for Core Skills Survey | Instructions on how to fill out the end-of-term survey of students on effective writing, speaking, analytical thinking, creative thinking using the web-based form |
| 1054 | HTML PDF RTF | Office: Athletics | Athletics Effectiveness Improvements, 2002-3 | Goal by goal summary of improvements in the effectiveness of the Athletics program for 2002-03 |
| 1055 | HTML PDF RTF | Office: Student Services | Student Enrollment Services Effectiveness Improvements, 2002-3 | Goal by goal summary of improvements in the effectiveness of Student Enrollment Services for 2002-03 |
| 1213 | DOC PDF | Academic: Art Dept. | Sophomore Checksheet 2003 | Assessment, sophomore, review, art |
| 1268 | DOC PDF | Academic: Behavioral Sciences Dept. | Behavioral Sciences Effectiveness Report | Assessment, evaluation, behavioral sciences |
| 1282 | Academic: Education Dept. | Professional Review Committee Recommendation Letter to the State Board of Education | Letter of approval. Recommendation for accreditation. | |
| 1286 | DOC PDF | Academic: Art Dept. | Art Department Assessment History, 2004 | Assessment, narrative, history, report, 2004 |
| 1354 | Academic: Performing Arts Dept. | NASM letter of good standing | Letter acknowledging accreditation of Coker's music program | |
| 1408 | PDF RTF | Academic: History, Philosophy, and Religion Dept. | Academic Effectiveness History | Academic Effectiveness History for the History Program |
| 1412 | DOC PDF | Office: Business | Business Operations Description and Effectiveness Improvements | Describes the functions of Business Operations and improvements made 1998-2003 |
| 1416 | PDF RTF | Academic: Language, Literature, and Comm. Dept. | English Assessment Survey, 1994-2004, and Future Assessment Plans | A survey of assessment in the English program for the past ten years, plus a description of assessment plans for the future. |
| 1421 | DOC PDF | Academic: Science and Math Dept. | Math and CS Effectiveness Improvements 1993-2003 | History of math and computer science effectiveness improvements during 1993-2003. Assessment, program review, |
| 1431 | DOC PDF | Academic: Language, Literature, and Comm. Dept. | Foreign Language Assessment Survey, 1994-2004 | Survey of assessment in the foreign language program (French and Spanish) for 1994-2004 |
| 1461 | DOC PDF | Academic: Performing Arts Dept. | Effectiveness Plan for Dance | Dance Effectiveness Plan; Assessment-Objectives |
| 1481 | DOC PDF | Academic: Science and Math Dept. | Syllabus for CS 340 | Syllabus for Computer Science 340 Computer Organization |