MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

obtain and utilize meaningful data for programmatic improvement (i.e., the focus is on “actionable information”). Institutional assessment efforts are headed by the director of institutional research and planning (DIRP) working in conjunction with the Institutional Research and Planning Committee (IRPC). The DIRP, who formerly served as chief academic officer and assumed his current responsibilities on July 1, 2010, holds a faculty appointment with approximately 50% of his time assigned to assessment and related activities (see Appendix A-11 for a position description). Faculty representatives, staff members and a student constitute the IRPC (Appendix A-7). To assist in the implementation of the strategic plan and the assessment of its implementation, outcome measures have been established for each of the strategic objectives. Many objectives have multiple outcome measures. These measures were developed by the responsible vice president in collaboration with the DIRP and IRPC and may be modified with the concurrence of the vice president and DIRP. The goals and objectives of the strategic plan, along with the identified outcome measures, were configured as a Web based grid in spring 2010, which is referred to as the Strategic Planning Grid . Appendix A-12 provides sample pages of the grid. Goals/objectives form rows in the grid while outcome measures constitute columns. There are also columns that designate the vice president/senior manager and administrator who have primary responsibility for the goal/objective. Administrators may upload documents and enter comments relevant to each outcome measure by clicking on the outcome measure. They may also enter an annual summary and action plan in a column designated for this purpose. Managers have found the grid to be more cumbersome to use than had been anticipated, limiting its utility. This has led to the development of other vehicles, which are intended to be more user-friendly and compatible with routine data collection within functional units, to track implementation of the strategic plan. These are described below. In the summer of 2010, the IRPC, working with the vice presidents and president, developed a set of key indicators that will be used to track performance longitudinally for various College functions related to implementation of the strategic plan (Appendix A-13). On a predetermined schedule, each area head provides to the DIRP data relevant to the key indicators for his/her area. These data are formatted as charts, bar graphs, trend lines and/or pie charts to form dashboard indicators that will be posted on the Office of Institutional Research and Planning’s webpage (in process). Access will also be provided through links on the relevant pages of the College website. Much of the data will be available to the public, while other data will be password protected and accessible to appropriate segments of the College community. A few examples of data that are currently or soon to be tracked (grouped by College mission) include:

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