CRITERION TWO
The institution demonstrates that it has effectively organized the human, financial, and physical resources necessary to accomplish its purposes.
2. Evidence that demonstrates the criterion needs institutional attention
a. Instructional and office space is at a minimum. Despite the current plans to expand the University's physical plant, many areas, namely the College of Business and the Department of Nursing, are sorely short of adequate space.
Limited science laboratories also hamper the expansion or development of some laboratory experiences.
b. In this economic environment few funds have been set aside to upgrade and replace equipment. Biological Sciences reports that much of the laboratory equipment is out of date or needs repair. The need for purchasing and maintaining scientific equipment, for teaching and learning, has not been adequately addressed.
c. Classroom and laboratory space is at a premium for late afternoon and evening courses. Movement of courses to earlier day periods has not been successful because of the commuter status of many of the students. Some departments indicate that better use of weekend courses as well as more classroom and laboratory space to alleviate the popular time barriers would be helpful.
d. The graduate and undergraduate bulletin do not differentiate faculty with graduate faculty status.
e. The institution's current budget situation has required a number of faculty searches for vacant tenure-eligible replacement positions to be put on hold. This problem is particularly acute in the College of Business . The institution does not have a plan by which tenure-eligible positions are filled.
f. While the institution has been able to employ a significant number of well-qualified adjunct and temporary instructional staff, university attention to the impact of the reliance of non-tenure track employees on the workload of tenured faculty members, as well as the long-term quality of academic programs is minimal.
g. Support for faculty and staff professional development is inadequate.
h. Although considerable progress has been made to identify and rectify the funding inequities of Chicago State University , the current economic situation of the State of Illinois does not, at present, allow for the addressing of those inequities. CSU had to return 3.5% of its appropriated dollars in 2001-02 and another 1.5% in mid-year. In 2002-03, the base budget was the 2001-02 budget minus 5%, and another $1 million had to be returned to the State to help cover health care costs. This has resulted in position freezes, travel restrictions, purchasing curtailments and other operational reductions.
i. While the University is to be commended for its recent fund-raising activities, these are still in their infancy. A culture of philanthropy initiative is currently underway. The Team encourages this development. In addition to the President and the development office, best practices indicate that the Board of Trustees and the Foundation Board should also assume prominent roles.
j. The athletic program currently operates on a $1.6 million annual budget. All of the programs compete in NCAA Division IAAA. This is a concern to many in the University community.
k. While governance structures are in place, many faculty, staff and students do not feel respected nor empowered. Further, there are significant communication gaps in the governance mechanisms.
3. Evidence that demonstrates the criterion requires institutional attention and Commission follow-up
CRITERION THREE
The institution is accomplishing its educational and other purposes.
2. Evidence that demonstrates the criterion needs institutional attention
a. While the organization has many structures to effectively execute the mission and programs of the University, there is a lack of communication and feedback loops between the hierarchy of these structures to allow for information sharing and recognition of sound practices. This lack allows many anxieties and concerns to rebound through several layers of faculty, staff, and administration before the individual or group with expertise and knowledge base can correct misinformation and communicate chosen avenues of decision making. There is a lack of knowledge about roles and expectations. Many groups and individuals feel slighted but also do not understand the decision making process. Communication about how decisions are made and who carries the responsibility for decisions would greatly improve the morale on this campus. For example, faculty were not aware of how the provost search process was established, and many faculty and staff were operating with misinformation or conjectures about the budget. Communication issues extend to students who also expressed concerns about not being heard, and about receiving conflicting information from university offices.
b. Throughout the visit, students, faculty and staff stated that they perceived a lack of respect by the administration. This perspective contributes to low morale.
c. The institution is aware of issues related to student retention and continues to make great efforts to improve retention rates. CSU needs additional monitoring and evaluation of retention through graduation in order to determine which initiatives are most successful.
d. Although the university has made progress toward making the institution ADA accessible, there is still much that needs to be accomplished.
e. The funding and processes for faculty and staff professional development are inadequate. For example, there is no formal program for staff development, and institutional funding for faculty development has decreased over the past years.
f. University planning needs to more explicitly incorporate, anticipate, or plan academic program development, expansion, and/or elimination based on environmental scanning information gathered within the region and state.
g. While a great deal of measurement and data collection is undertaken annually by the Office of Institutional Research, greater attention to the analysis of such data and how it impacts program improvement and institutional decision-making, planning, and the delivery of services is needed.
h. As the University becomes increasingly residential, greater attention will need to be given to co-curricular and student development programs and activities.
i. Courses offered via distance learning must have in place student learning outcomes assessment plans.
3. Evidence that demonstrates the criterion requires institutional attention and Commission follow-up
a. Enrollment management efforts are led by a loosely organized group that has representation from student, academic, and administrative affairs. An Executive Director of Enrollment Management has chief responsibility for the Office of Admissions and the Registrar convenes the group. The group appears to have little influence in the decision making process and no responsibility in resource allocation. The lack of the appropriate alignment of offices that constitute the Enrollment Management group does not facilitate strong enrollment management efforts. Neither dotted lines nor direct lines appear in the organizational chart for the majority of offices that engage in this process. Collaboration in programming which might include the Office of Admissions, Registrar, and the Office of Financial Aid appear to be meager to non-existent. Recruitment and retention issues are not being appropriately addressed or addressed in a timely manner that would prevent increasing levels of dissatisfaction and prevent these issues from negatively impacting enrollment.
b. Students reported receiving conflicting information from student services offices. For example, financial aid would send them to the Bursar, who would send them back to financial aid; some students reported not being able to graduate because the audit done by their advisors differed from that done by the Registrar's Office.
c. Admissions and the Registrar report to Academic Affairs, while other student services report to Student Affairs. This sometimes leads to conflicting priorities.
Recommendation of the Team
Pattern of evidence sufficiently demonstrated; Commission follow-up recommended.
Monitoring:
Monitoring report on a comprehensive enrollment management program.
CRITERION FOUR
The institution can continue to accomplish its purposes and strengthen its educational effectiveness.
2. Evidence that demonstrates the criterion needs institutional attention
3. Evidence that demonstrates the criterion requires institutional attention and Commission follow-up
Recommendation of the Team
Pattern of evidence sufficiently demonstrated: no commission follow-up recommended.
|
