Accreditation Update, General Education, and Institutional Student Learning Outcomes Deborah Moeckel, SUNY Assistant Provost for Assessment and Community College Education Fulton Montgomery Community College January 25, 2016

New Standards

There is an increased focus on the student experience and assessment of that experience. Much of the same content is covered. Standards have been approved by the Commission and the member institutions. The new standards include: 1.Mission and Goals 2.Ethics and Integrity 3.Student Learning Opportunities 4.Support of the Student Experience 5.Educational Effectiveness Assessment 6.Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement 7.Governance, Leadership, and Administration NEW STANDARDS

New Guidance Available Eight areas instead of four o Student Identity Verification in Distance and Correspondence Education o Transfer of Credit Policies and Articulation Agreements o Title IV Program Responsibilities and Cohort Default Rates o Institutional Records of Student Complaints o Required Information for Students and the Public o Standing with State and Other Accrediting o Contractual Relationships o Assignment of Credit Hours Implementation in HEOA Compliance

Proposed New Procedures

Draft available on MSCHE website ( Discussion of Processes took place at Town Hall Meetings and the MSCHE annual meeting in December. Member institutions have been voting on revised accreditation cycle. Specifics of new procedures to be developed by committees and sent to member institutions for approval. First step in implementation to be the augmented Annual Institutional Updates, then rolling implementation of other processes. Revised Procedures -- Timeline

Re-affirmation of accreditation every eight years (unless there is a problem at the midpoint) Augmented Annual Institutional Updates (AIUs) with feedback from the Commission. Mid-point review conducted on the basis of accumulated information from AIUs Self-Study consists of off site document review and focus on institutional strategic goals and initiatives which must align with standards (as in current Selected Topics review) Revised Procedures -- Summary

Data points for the augmented AIUs will be selected on the basis of what’s necessary and what’s useful. A task force will be formed to look at what’s available in various frameworks. Rubrics will be developed for all standards. Recommendations will be issued by the Commission and not by visiting evaluation teams. A standard set of recommendations will be created for teams to select from. Commission recommendations will need to be responded to in the AIUs. Progress on Institutional Self- recommendations should be reported in the self-study. Re-affirmation of accreditation every eight years (unless there is a problem at the midpoint) Augmented Annual Institutional Updates (AIUs) with feedback from the Commission. Mid-point review conducted on the basis of accumulated information from AIUs Self-Study consists of off site document review and focus on institutional strategic goals and initiatives which must align with standards (as in current Selected Topics review) Revised Procedures -- Of Note

ISLOs and General Education: SUNY Expectations, MSCHE Expectations, and Assessment

Standard 14: “Clearly articulated statements of expected student learning outcomes … at all levels (institution, degree/program, course) …that are: Appropriately integrated with one another, consonant with the institution’s mission; and consonant with the standards of higher education and of the relevant disciplines.” Standard V: “Clearly stated educational goals at the institution and degree/program levels which are interrelated with one another, with relevant educational experiences, and with the institution’s mission.” Institutional Student Learning Outcomes

Institutional Student Learning Outcomes (ISLOs) are not new requirements. These have been part of Standard 14. They are often used interchangeably with General Education because gen ed is expected of all undergraduate students at the institutional level with the exception of students in certificate programs. Current standards require evidence of proficiency in gen ed in all areas except for critical analysis and reasoning, and information literacy (which is not in the current standard, but addressed in Standard 11). New standards require that curricula are designed so that students “acquire and demonstrate” all elements. ISLOs and General Education

SUNY General Education: 7/10 Categories, 2 competencies, and 30 credits in AA and AS degrees. MSCHE General Education:Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning, Oral and Written Communication, Critical analysis and reasoning, technological competency, information literacy, global awareness and cultural sensitivity. Required of all students except those in certificate programs. Must be mapped and assessed. No credit requirement in the new standards. Institutional Learning Student Learning Outcomes:Required of all students except those in certificate programs. May be the same as MSCHE gen ed, but may also include additional disciplines or competencies. (Sustainability is an example of this.) Definitions

Institutional Student Learning Outcomes and General Education assessment are of increasing concern. Middle States General Education and SUNY General Education are not the same. If the competencies are not included in courses within degree programs themselves, they must be accessible to students in either a co-curricular or extra-curricular manner, and assessed as such. Curriculum maps should demonstrate how all degree seeking students access general education ISLOs and General Education

Standard III: at institutions that offer undergraduate education, a general education program, freestanding or integrated into academic disciplines that: a. offers a sufficient scope to draw students into new areas of intellectual experience, expanding their global awareness and cultural sensitivity, and preparing them to make well-reasoned judgments outside as well as within their academic field; Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience

Standard III: at institutions that offer undergraduate education, a general education program, freestanding or integrated into academic disciplines that: b. offers a curriculum designed so that students acquire and demonstrate essential skills including at least oral and written communication, scientific and quantitative reasoning, critical analysis and reasoning, technological competency, and information literacy. Consistent with mission, the general education program also includes the study of values, ethics, and diverse perspectives.” For graduate and professional education (new and current standards), “opportunities for the development of research, scholarship, and independent thinking…” are required. Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience

15 credits of gen ed for associate degrees, 30 credits for baccalaureate degrees, or the equivalent. (New standards do not include credit amounts.) It is not necessary for gen ed to be delivered within programs or courses; alternative methods of delivery are permissible. You have to be able to demonstrate how all students are able to obtain instruction in these outcomes. You must also be able to assess them. Program learning outcomes are not the same as general education outcomes or ISLOs. They may be limited to programs only. General education and ISLOs should be applicable to students in all degree programs at the institution. Certificate programs are not included in this expectation. MSCHE Expectations

SUNY GER MTP 10-1 Reflects 3 Board Resolutions: Strengthening Transfer and Articulation Amending General Education Requirement Streamlining Assessment Requires 30 credits of gen ed Requires Basic Communication and Mathematics for all GER programs Requires 5 of remaining 8 categories Requires 2 competencies SUNY Expectations

Student Mobility and Gen Ed Board Resolution MTP 13-3 Seamless Transfer Requirements Requires completion of SUNY GER in the first two years SUNY GER certified as met by the sending institution must be accepted as met by the receiving institution Local requirements cannot force the transfer student to exceed the number of credits required of native students Encourages maximum designation of GER courses SUNY Expectations

Policy Implementation Nuances Local General Education must include SUNY GER but is not limited to this. Middle States General Education includes elements not in the SUNY GER. Receiving institutions must accept a category as met by the sending institution if indicated on the GETA. This does not automatically mean that the course is guaranteed to transfer. SUNY Expectations

Policy Implementation Nuances cont’d Courses which have as a prerequisite a course which has been approved for SUNY GER are also approvable in that category. Double dipping (having courses approved in more than one category, allowing students to meet more than one category with a single course) is allowable according to local campus policy. 30 credits of gen ed must still be completed. SUNY Expectations

Assessment Federal pressure on accreditors: the bar keeps moving

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The Accreditation Alternative

#8 The institution systematically evaluates its educational and other programs and makes public how well and in what ways it is accomplishing its purposes. #9 The institution’s student learning programs and opportunities are characterized by rigor, coherence, and appropriate assessment of student achievement throughout the educational offerings, regardless of certificate or degree level or delivery and instructional modality. #10 institutional planning integrates goals for academic and institutional effectiveness and improvement, student achievement of educational goals, student learning, and the results of academic and institutional assessments. Requirements of Affiliation (new)

MSCHE expectations are for a “mature” assessment program Curricular offerings must be assessed consistently regardless of level, location or modality. General education and/or ISLOs must also be assessed, whether they are delivered within courses or in an extracurricular or co-curricular manner. In this case, mapping is especially important. Assessment

How do SUNY institutions measure up?

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Middle States Expectations for Assessment clearly articulated statements of expected student learning outcomes at all levels (institution, degree/program, course) and for all programs that aim to foster student learning and development, that are: o appropriately integrated with one another; o consonant with the institution’s mission; and o consonant with the standards of higher education and of the relevant disciplines; Current Standards

Middle States Expectations for Assessment a documented, organized, and sustained assessment process to evaluate and improve student learning that meets the following criteria: o systematic, sustained, and thorough use of multiple qualitative and/or quantitative measures that: o maximize the use of existing data and information; o clearly and purposefully relate to the goals they are assessing; o are of sufficient quality that results can be used with confidence to inform decisions; and o include direct evidence of student learning; Current Standards

clearly stated educational goals at the institution and degree/program levels, which are interrelated with one another, with relevant educational experiences, and with the institution’s mission; periodic assessment of the effectiveness of assessment processes utilized by the institution for the improvement of educational effectiveness. New Standards

organized and systematic assessments, conducted by faculty and/or appropriate professionals, evaluating the extent of student achievement of institutional and degree/program goals. Institutions should: a. define meaningful curricular goals with defensible standards for evaluating whether students are achieving those goals; b. articulate how they prepare students in a manner consistent with their mission for successful careers, meaningful lives, and, where appropriate, further education. They should collect and provide data on the extent to which they are meeting these goals; c. support and sustain assessment of student achievement and communicate the results of this assessment to stakeholders; New Standards

Changes in Assessment Policy Board Resolution Streamlining the SUNY BOT Policy on Assessment Essential message: Meet or exceed Middle States Standards Include SUNY GER SLOs in your assessment of general education Assessment in SUNY

Implications of Policy Change SUNY no longer collects assessment reports. You are only asked to maintain your own records and produce them on request GEAR approved assessment plans are no longer required Institutions need to assess their general education program including SUNY GER learning outcomes Not every course needs to be assessed every time Assessment in SUNY

Implications of Policy Change: assessing infused competencies Curriculum maps are important. You need to show where students in each program are obtaining instruction on the infused competencies. You also need to be able to demonstrate that the competencies are assessed in each program so that you can be sure that all students are achieving the competencies, and to what degree. You need to be able to demonstrate and document that assessment results are being used to improve teaching and learning. Assessment in SUNY

How do you know? and How do you show? The Catchphrases

Adapted from Lauren Tacke-Cushing at Suffolk Community College

Discussion/Questions