Planning, Assessment, and Accreditation
Significant learning points:
Debbie
St. Jean provided an overview of planning and assessment at the College. She explained how the mission, vision, and
strategic directions influence the College and campus plans. Within the plans, divisions write three year
goals with annual objectives to meet those goals. At the College, our institutional
effectiveness structure evaluates how well the plans we implemented helped us
achieve the desired outcomes through SLOA, ESOA, and MGA. The significant learning point for me was
working through the planning activity.
Dr. Judi Sciple led a discussion of accreditation at Delaware Tech which included an explanation of the purpose of accreditation, the decennial accreditation cycle, and the Middle States standards of accreditation. Her talk was followed by two current scenarios in which we were required to take a position on various accreditation-related issues. The significant learning point for me was that accreditation ensures that Delaware Tech meets regulatory requirements necessary to continue to receive financial aid funds. Unfortunately, tying accreditation to federal aid has made the accreditation process a political issue, rather than a matter of educational quality.
Dr. Judi Sciple led a discussion of accreditation at Delaware Tech which included an explanation of the purpose of accreditation, the decennial accreditation cycle, and the Middle States standards of accreditation. Her talk was followed by two current scenarios in which we were required to take a position on various accreditation-related issues. The significant learning point for me was that accreditation ensures that Delaware Tech meets regulatory requirements necessary to continue to receive financial aid funds. Unfortunately, tying accreditation to federal aid has made the accreditation process a political issue, rather than a matter of educational quality.
Relevance to ideas about leadership:
Leaders
must continually look for ways to be more effective and this can be achieved
through the planning and assessment process, since the goals and objectives
rise above the level of “business as usual.”
By continuously assessing our programs and services, we can
strategically target areas for improvement.
Ways to apply learning to current role:
As
the Owens campus assessment coordinator and co-chair of the Middle States self-study,
I was already very familiar with the information presented at this
seminar. However, this seminar
reinforced for me the importance of making explicit linkages between everything
in the planning, budgeting, and assessment cycle for the purposes of
accreditation. I will be sure to emphasize this feature in our new Assessment
Management System.