Portland State University – School of Extended Studies

2011-2012 Review Process Outcomes

February 25, 2012

Background

Review of the School of Extended Studies (SES) began in fall 2011, following on the heels of an audit that revealed several financial irregularities. To respond to those findings, the Office of Academic Affairs installed an interim Vice Provost, Kevin Reynolds, to oversee the transformation of accounting and reporting mechanisms to provide full compliance with industry standards.

Provost Koch charged a Task Force with the review of SES.

Level 2 Committee Members:

Chair: Melody Rose – Vice Provost for Academic Programs & Instruction, OAA

Tim Anderson – Faculty (MCECS) and Educational Policy Committee

Jackie Balzer – Vice President, EMSA

Susan Beatty – Dean, CLAS

Sherwin Davidson – Faculty (CLAS)

Scott Dawson– Dean, SBA

Erin Flynn – Associate Vice President for Strategic Partnerships, RSP

Randy Hitz – Dean, GSE

Nancy Koroloff -- Interim Dean, SSW

Robert Mercer – Assistant Dean, CLAS

Steve Reder –Faculty (CLAS) and Senate Budget Committee

Gwen Shusterman –Faculty (CLAS) and Senate Presiding Office

Larry Wallack – Dean, CUPA

Charles Burck – Staff, OAA

Level 2 Committee Consultants:

Cindy Baccar – Registrar

Sally Hudson – Director of CLAS High School Programs

Seanna Kerrigan – Capstone Program Director

Tom Luckett -- Chair, History

Kristen Pedersen – Director of Summer Session and Independent Study

Kevin Reynolds – Interim Vice Provost, SES

Sally McWilliams – Chair, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies

In the table below the recommendations of the review committee are listed and the current or pending action are listed. First, however, an overall summary is in order. When the initial review was started, SES was comprised of Summer Session (SS), an extended campus program (ECP), a Professional Development Center (PDC), an Independent Study Program (IS), and a centralized marketing, registration and accounting group. The SS is being mostly decentralized to the Schools and Colleges for 2013-2014. This is consistent with the recommendations of the SES Review Committee, the Financial Futures Task Force, and our Strategic Enrollment Management plan, which places enrollment planning for all 4 quarters with the Academic Deans. The offerings within ECP program are similarly being placed with the appropriate Academic Deans. The current programs within the PDC are to be moved to the School of Business effective July 1st, 2013 and the Independent Study program has been closed. The majority of the staff in the marketing, registration and accounting for these programs were given notice in late Spring of 2012. Those who remain are part of a small group operating a non-credit registration system, which will be centralized and serve the entire university. In summary, effective for the 2013-2014 academic year, there are no programs remaining which would constitute a SES or a renamed variant thereof. There are, however, a number of important functions that will move to other units on campus.

Recommendation / Action
Not to hire another vice provost to run what is likely to become a smaller unit than it was in the past. / Concur
Vice Provost position has been eliminated and Vice Provost for Academic Fiscal Strategies and Planning(recently changed to Vice Provost Budget Planning and Internationalization) has been overseeing this unit along with other responsibilities. The SES phase-out is nearly complete.
Hire an energetic leader (should one be needed) who both knows and respects the academic mission and will work to develop partnerships in the region as well as all relevant units on campus. / Disagree. As described in the summary above and consistent with the recommendations from the review process, the many functions of SES are either being being distributed to more appropriate homes in the Institution or are being discontinued. There is no need for an overall leader for SES, however, it should be noted that the functions moved to other units will have the leadership they need to be successful
SES needs a new name. The “school” designation is inappropriate to a unit that facilitates, but does not own, curriculum. / Not applicable. As described in the summary above, there is no functionality left within what was the SES, and thus no need to provide a new name. A process will be undertaken through shared governance to eliminate the School
Marketing, Registration and Billing
  • Centralized “service center” model for non-credit offerings in Destiny can become the database for all non-credit offerings on campus, preventing duplication of effort.
  • Functions of recruiting, registration, billing, and marketing to be important centralized functions for extension activities
/ Concur
All campus units will be directed to use Destiny forregistration, payment collection, and billingof non-credit courses. OAA and FADM are working on a location, reporting structure and implementation timeline for a centralized noncredit registration system. Current plans are to start this effective July 1st, 2013.
Marketing for non-credit programs is highly specialized and best operated by programs within each school and college, and will not be centralized.
Extended Campus Program
  • Academic programs should determine which programs meet quality standards for continuation and which should be disbanded;
  • The Center for Online Learning should be asked to prioritize the redesign of these courses/programs using Quality Matters processes currently in place for instructional design;
  • The ECP unit should be phased out following successful review and integration of selected classes/programs into academic units;
  • Transitional support may be offered to those units demonstrating high reliance on ECP-hired faculty for delivery;
  • Because PSU will no longer require space for this purpose, the institution will need to reconsider its space allocation in Salem.
  • Leadership is encouraged to take every precaution to maintain community ties during the transition, so as not to jeopardize important partnerships. The institution to consider whether PSU needs to develop a fully online degree to meet the needs of our community.
  • Off-site ECP advisors sometimes work at cross-purpose with advisors, leading to student confusion about the range of options for PSU matriculation. These positions either be eliminated, or reassigned to the appropriate campus unit, where they can be deployed to community colleges
/ Concur with the major recommendations. Steps to date
  • The student credit hours for ECP courses and the direct instructional costs for these have been built into the revenue and cost attribution tool for the appropriate Schools and Colleges. Schools and Colleges are developing their 2013-2014 enrollment plans with addition of the ECP offerings, and the ability to hire ECP instructional faculty,as a starting point
  • Schools and Colleges are developing their 2013-2014 enrollment plans with addition of the ECP offerings as a starting point
  • Online degrees are now a major component of the reTHINK PSU
  • A phase out plan for the physical space in Salem centeris underway
  • Offsite ECP advisors were eliminated as part of the reduction in force. Currently advising is be offered by the ECP Director and Asst. Director. Transition plans for advising for 2013-2014 are being developed with CLAS. In addition, EMSA has prioritized additional visits to our feeder CC and added additional visit programs for transfer students.

Professional Development Center
  • That industry partnerships around curriculum deserve academic oversight. Some Deans indicated a strong interest in recovering some of this content in order to pursue opportunities for new programs, and to realize operational synergies with other programs already offered. Other deans may share this perspective
/ Concur
  • PDC will be moved to the School of Business Administration July 1st 2013 as there is an excellent fit (accounting, project management, business writing, tax, institute, digital marketing, and human resource certificate). SBA will submit a proposal through appropriate channels to rename the unit the Center for Executive and Professional Education.
  • Other Schools and Colleges can also grow non-credit activities such as the PDC and use thecentralized Destiny non-credit registration system.

Independent Study
  • Complete closure of the IS model at PSU, in favor of more robust and contemporary program models across campus that are already serving our high school partners well.
/ Concur
IS program is being phased out (enrollment has stopped and the current students have until December 16, 2013 to complete their courses). High schools and students involved in the program have been notified.
ECP not be absorbed by the Center for Online Learning. / Concur
Retain support activities for Summer Session, / Concur- for now. For the 2013-2014 academic year a partial FTE (with multiple years of experience in SS at PSU) will assist with the Summer Session transition and marketing. The need for this position will be reviewed annually.

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Feb 4, 2013