Roles & Purposes Dimension Report
Committee Co-Chairs:
· Alan Asher, Faculty, Library
· Lisa Kratz, Director, Maucker Union Administration
Committee Members:
· Stacey Christensen, Community Relations Manager-UMPR
· Joseph DeWitz, Psychologist, Counseling Center
· Lisa Krausman, Dining Unit Manager
· Siobahn Morgan, Assoc. Dean & Professor: CNS
· Alex Oberle, Assistant Professor, Geography
· Lori Seawel, Educational Technology Specialist
· Tony Smothers, Transfer Advising Relations
· Miranda Vesey, student
· Laura Wilson, Career Services Advisor
Foundations Institutions promote student understanding of the various roles and purposes of higher education, both for the individual and society. These roles and purposes include knowledge acquisition for personal growth, learning to prepare for future employment, learning to become engaged citizens, and learning to serve the public good. Institutions encourage first-year students to examine systematically their motivation and goals with regard to higher education in general and to their own college/university. Students are exposed to the value of general education as well as to the value of more focused, in-depth study of a field or fields of knowledge (i.e., the major).
The Roles & Purposes committee identified and examined over sixty relevant documents from the Evidence Library. These items were organized according to the following categories:
Orientation and Transition Programs: Counselor Advisory Board meeting notes, New Student Survey Fall 2007, Family Weekend Schedule of Events, Orientation Coordinating Committee/Welcome Week 2008 Final Report, Student Affairs Homepage, FYE Program Report, Jump Start materials, Student Support Services materials
Residential Life Programming: Peer Academic Advisor in Residence (PAIR) 2008 survey, Department of Residence Mission Statement, Department of Residence Student Handbook
Liberal Arts Core (LAC): LAC Homepage, Oral Communication course packet, miscellaneous Oral Communication syllabi, Category V LAC Review 2005, Introductory Psychology syllabi, College Research and Writing course goals, Guidance on House file 2679 and Senior Year Plus, First Year Seminar for Business Majors, Oral Communication 48C:001, World Geography syllabi, Syllabus for Champs Life Skills course, First-Year Writing syllabi, LAC 1A outcomes, LAC 1A Draft Assessment Plan, Themes from First-Year syllabi
Academic Advising: Office of Academic Advising Homepage, NACADA Consultant Report 2007, UNI Intake Model information, Office of Academic Advising mission and goals, University Academic Advising Mission and Vision Task Force Report, Office of Academic Advising Outcomes for Advising Events, Academic Advising Learning Outcomes, Student Survey on the Importance of Academic Advising 2007, Academic Advisor Survey, 2004 Liberal Arts Core Advising Guide, LAC Goals Summary
Mission/Program: Curriculum and Instruction Mission Statement, Special Education Mission and Objectives, Malcolm Price Lab School Mission and Vision, Communication Studies Mission, Theatre Mission, Industrial Technology Mission, Mathematics Mission, Science Education Mission and Vision, DTGFS Textiles and Apparel Mission, Social Work MSW Mission, Graduate College Mission, Graduate College Strategic Plan, Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology Mission, CBA Mission, COE Strategic Plan, CHFA Mission Goals and Strategic Plan, CBCS Mission, Non-Academic Unit Mission Statements
General: NSSE Date, Admissions Marketing Materials, Institutional Strategic Plan, 2001 Accreditation Report, COE Strategic Plan, Qualities for UNI Undergraduates: A working document for field testing 1997, New Student Handbook
The information gathered from the Evidence Library, along with the results of the faculty/staff and student surveys, formed the basis of the committee’s response to the following three performance indicators:
Purposes
Motivation
Rationale
Current Situation
Performance Indicator 8.1 Purposes asked to what degree does the campus effectively communicate to first-year students its vision for the various purposes of higher education. Foundations of Excellence recognizes four purposes of higher education including:
1) Knowledge acquisition for personal growth
2) Learning to prepare for future employment
3) Learning for engaged citizenship
4) Learning for serving the public good
The review of the evidence revealed no consistent, University-wide approach to providing Roles and Purposes Information. For example, the current institutional Strategic Plan (which is slated to be revised in the very near future) does address values such as service to the State of Iowa, expansive awareness of multiple perspectives characteristic of a global society, personalized character building experiences, and opportunities for students to provide service to the greater community, but there was no prominent information addressing Roles and Purposes in the admissions literature or web site. Individual colleges and non-academic departments vary considerably in how their mission statements and other information sources address Roles and Purposes. For the LAC, there is no approved Purposes and Goals statement for the LAC as a whole, and course syllabi for First-Year level LAC courses are inconsistent in their presentation of Roles and Purposes information.
There were some examples of units who were incorporating broad Roles and Purposes information into their mission statements. The Academic Advising unit materials referred to how a college education at UNI should prepare students for future employment, assist them in achieving their life goals, and increase their knowledge for personal growth. The Department of Residence mission statement addresses the provision of an environment that is more conducive to students becoming engaged, productive citizens of the University.
After a review of the evidence related to this performance indicator, the committee concluded that the university does not have a unified campus-wide philosophy, statement, or approach that addresses the roles and purposes of higher education. Pieces of Roles and Purposes-related information are communicated through some programs and venues, but there is not consistent, intentional approach to this communication.
Performance Indicator 8.2 Motivation asked to what degree does the institution provide opportunities for first-year students to examine their personal motivation for pursuing higher education?
UNI provides many opportunities for students to explore career related reasons for pursuing higher education, but there is very little evidence to suggest that the university is providing organized or systematic opportunities for students to explore their non-vocational reasons for pursuing collegiate study. The Liberal Arts Core provides opportunities for students to experience non-career specific academic offerings, and the Liberal Arts Core committee has been attempting to highlight how courses from the core contribute to the development of a well rounded individual, but these efforts fall short of a campus-wide commitment.
In examining the LAC information, it was evident that the majority of the information about the LAC that addresses Roles and Purposes is directed towards students and parents, not faculty. This may have contributed to the discrepancy in the student and faculty/staff surveys, in which the students rated UNI’s attention to the Roles and Purposes dimension as a 3.56, compared to a 3.08 rating for faculty/staff (“3” indicates a ranking of “moderate” on a scale where “1” equates to “not at all” and “5” equates to “very high”). On the student survey, the lowest rated item was the question asking how UNI helped them examine their own personal reasons for getting a college education (3.04).
Performance Indicator 8.3 Rationale asks the question to what degree does the campus effectively communicate its rationale for the following three areas:
Required courses
Required competencies
Requirements for entry into majors
The core curriculum at UNI is the Liberal Arts Core. The campus committee charged with oversight of the Liberal Arts Core has made considerable effort to communicate the rationale for a required general education to students; however, the rationale could be communicated more effectively to faculty, as mentioned above. Among the examples of competencies enumerated in this performance indicator, only writing skills are systematically addressed, and this is through the College Writing and Research course in the Liberal Arts Core that most first-year students take. The requirements for entry into the major areas are addressed in numerous areas including academic advising and the various introductory courses for the majors.
The student and faculty/staff surveys also provided some information in how these constituencies perceive the delivery of information related to the rationale for these three areas. The highest rating on both the student (3.81) and faculty/staff (3.47) survey was for the question related to how the University helped students understand the value of higher education for future employment. The second highest rating on both surveys (3.80 for students and 3.04 for faculty/staff) was for the question about how the University helped students understand the value of higher education for their own personal growth.
Conclusions
After careful examination of the Evidence Library and the survey results, the committee was able to confirm that there is no consistent message on the campus that articulates to students the broad roles and purposes of higher education. Opportunities exist within existing campus structures such as the Liberal Arts Core, new student orientation programs, residence life programs, new faculty orientation, and ongoing faculty development programs, to incorporate roles and purposes statements into the fabric of the undergraduate, especially first-year, student experience.
The committee discussed at length the discrepancy between student survey responses and faculty/staff survey responses to the question of how college can help the student achieve life goals. Many members of the committee felt that this particular survey question is misleading, since the evidence suggests that the students identify future employment as their life goal while the faculty and staff are more likely to have interpreted the question to mean learning for purposes beyond future employment. It is the assessment of the committee that UNI is performing at a high level in communicating the aspects of higher education related to future employment, but is performing at a lower level in communicating the role of higher education in learning for personal growth, engaged citizenship, and in learning for serving the public good.
Opportunities and Challenges
Most first-year students coming to UNI have some college credits, but may not have been exposed to any Roles and Purposes information in those college credit courses. Coupled with this is increasing pressure at the State level to increase the amount of college credits that a high school student might obtain before their graduation.
Approximately one-third of incoming new students are transfers direct from other colleges or universities. Many of these students will have completed the majority of their LAC courses elsewhere, and will not be exposed to the Roles and Purposes information to which first-year students should be exposed.
There are many opportunities in place for students to fulfill most of the ideals of the Roles and Purposes dimension, however, there appear to be few if any direct opportunities for students to examine systematically their motivation and goals with regard to higher education in general and to their UNI experience. There is also no unified Roles and Purposes statement or philosophy for UNI which could guide this exploration.
Major initiatives that are impending at UNI, such as the revision of the institutional strategic plan and the ongoing HLC accreditation process, offer an opportunity to incorporate a unified Roles and Purposes statement across the institution.
Recommended Grade: C
Recommended Action Items
1. Develop a Roles and Purposes Statement for the University. (High Priority)
· The university should develop a clearly articulated statement of roles and purposes for higher education at UNI.
· The drafting of this statement should be an inclusive process, involving representation from the entire University community, alumni and the community at large.
· The statement should also be consistently communicated and incorporated in all University publications and settings.
· The statement should directly address first-year student needs.
2. Develop a Faculty Development Program which incorporates broad first-year student information and specific Roles and Purposes information. (High Priority)
· The university should create a program of ongoing faculty development related to first-year students in areas such as Roles and Purposes, core competencies, the LAC purposes and goals, and resources on campus. (high priority)
· This is particularly important for faculty who teach Category I LAC courses, and for faculty who are new to UNI.
· Concomitantly, it is important that the faculty reward system recognize and prize faculty teaching of first-year students.
3. Incorporate Roles and Purposes information in course syllabi. (Medium Priority)
· The university should develop a template for course syllabi that incorporates roles and purposes in the goals, objectives, and outcomes for each course.
· In order to do this for the LAC courses, where it is perhaps most relevant, it is necessary that the Roles and Purposes of the LAC be clearly defined.
4. Develop opportunities for students to explore both the general Roles and Purposes of higher education, and their own personal motivation for pursuing higher education. (Medium Priority)
· The university should develop systematic opportunities for students to examine their motivation and goals with regards to higher education in programs such as Orientation, Residential Life, and the LAC.
· The development of a First Year Experience is of critical importance, and the Roles and Purposes component should be featured in any First Year Experience program which is developed as a result of this self-assessment.
· The University should investigate the use of e-portfolios as a tool through which Roles and Purposes information can be communicated, and through which students can personally process this information in an intentional way.
Roles and Purposes Dimension Feedback
University of Northern Iowa
Betsy Griffin, Policy Center Advisor
Remember the purpose of this feedback is to give you an outsider’s reaction and reflection on your report. Obviously, there is institutional context and detail of which I am unaware. The questions are for the purpose of promoting thought and discussion among your Task Force. You don’t need to respond to me or to do anything in particular in regards to them.
I’ll provide feedback in the order of the report to make it easier to follow.
You reviewed an impressive array of documents for your dimension.
Current Situation
8.1 These institution values at least provide a basis that could be communicated to the students. In regards to the first-year level LAC courses when you say they were inconsistent in presenting roles an purposes, do you mean some did and some didn’t or that they communicated different things? It seems that Academic Advising and DOR are model departments in many areas. Good analysis.
8.2 The LAC efforts do provide an avenue that reaches all the students because of the required courses. If LAC faculty were in the picture the messages could really have impact.