Assistant Chair Webinar

1. Assistant Chair Webinar Tuesday August 14, 2012 Please join the audio portion of this training:866-740-1260, Access Code: 7489001 ReadyTalk Help Desk: 800.843.9166 International Help: 303.209.1600

2. Announcements This presentation and the accompanying materials are available on the WASC website. Please mute your microphone if you are not speaking

3. Agenda • Introductions name, home institution, institution to visit, WASC experience • Outcomes for Webinar • Role and Responsibilities of Assistant Chair Guiding Logistics Compiling the Team Report • Challenges • Special Emphases for Visits • Tools

4. Outcomes At the end of the webinar, participants will be able to: Describe assistant chair’s role in managing team logistics and guiding team report writing Cite common challenges and strategize solutions List important emphases for visits Locate tools and resources for visits

5. Key Roles for a Visit • Chair: Guides the visit • Assistant Chair: Guides report writing and manages team logistics • WASC staff liaison: Guides the process

6. Role of Assistant Chair: Managing Team Logistics • Pre-visit conference call • Before • During • After • Pre-visit narrative and report writing • Visit • Role • Confidential email account • Required materials

7. Pre-Visit Conference Call Before • Talk with the chair and WASC liaison to clarify assistant chair responsibilities; discuss timeline, issues, assignments, and schedule • Assist the chair, as needed, in planning the pre-visit conference call • Ensure modified draft visit schedule is sent to team by ALO before conference call • Prepare as you would for any visit by reading and making notes on the report, data exhibits, etc. • Receive, compile, and distribute drafts of team conference call worksheet Tools: Conference Call Worksheets for CPR, EER, Special Visit

8. Pre-Visit Conference Call During • Take part in agenda as asked by chair • Take notes regarding issues, lines of inquiry, visit • Take notes regarding additional documents and/or meetings needed by team • Assist chair with team assignments • Decide on due date for pre-visit draft narrative • Discuss logistics with team (first night meeting time, due date for report sections on last day, etc.) Tools: Guidelines for Drafting Preliminary Narrative Prior to Visit

9. Pre-Visit Conference Call After • Send conference call notes to team • Send final report format to team with assignments for sections • With WASC liaison, discuss with ALO changes to the schedule and additional documents needed • Clarify additional logistics with ALO (restaurants, transportation, etc.) • Participate on chair’s call with president, if asked • Tools: Team Report Formats for CPR, CPR Candidacy, EER, • Special Visit, or Pathway B

10. Pre-Visit Narrative and Report Writing • Send compiled preliminary draft narrative to team a few days before first night meeting • Draft opening sections of report (Section 1) Description of institution and visit Quality of report and alignment/evidence Response to last action letter recommendations • Incorporate, as appropriate, team draft narratives into report • Tools: Team Report Formats for CPR, CPR Candidacy, EER, • Special Visit, or Pathway B

11. Visit: Role • Take part in first night meeting as asked by chair • Take notes as needed at first night and all team meetings • Help team members stay on track with issues and lines of inquiry, agenda, etc. • Help team chair be alert to issues with team functioning • Attend your scheduled meetings • Draft your sections of report • Work with ALO and WASC liaison regarding schedule changes, additional material, etc.

12. Visit: Confidential Email Account • Check for emails every day; do not reply • Share content with team chair and team as appropriate • Ensure that team is diligent in investigating issues raised by emails • Make sure that only issues from emails discussed with institution are included in report • Ensure that report does not make unsubstantiated claims based on emails

13. Visit: Required Materials • Help draft commendations and recommendations for exit meeting for chair to read • Ensure the team completes the Educational Effectiveness Framework or Pathway B Framework, as appropriate • Ensure the team decides on confidential recommendation to Commission • Collect final drafts of each team member’s report sections before exit meeting Tools: Framework for Educational Effectiveness Review or Pathway B Confidential Team Recommendation Form for CPR, EER or Sanctions Commission Decision Indicators

14. Role of Assistant Chair: Guiding Team Report • Process • Effective Team Reports • Use of Criteria for Review • Use of Evidence • Team Recommendations • Tips for Writing Reports

15. Team Report: Process • Compile and edit the report using team’s final narratives • Send report to WASC liaison, chair and team for review • Make changes based on input and send report to team chair • Submit completed Educational Effectiveness Framework, as appropriate, to WASC • Make sure Confidential Team Recommendation is sent to WASC and WASC liaison

16. Team Report: Effectiveness Effective reports: • Reflect a thorough assessment of the institution • Are based on evidence • Provide the basis for a sound and supportable Commission decision • Identify institutional strengths: what it’s doing well • Identify important areas for the institution to address As of June 2012, Commission action letters and team reports are publicly available on the WASC website. Tools: Public Disclosure of Accreditation Documents and Commission Actions

17. Team Report: Use of CFRs • Criteria for Review (CFRs) link the interpretations of various readers to a common source • Standards and CFRs form the basis for Commission decisions • CFRs and Standards must be cited in each section of the report and in final findings and recommendations

18. Team Report: Use of Evidence • Include qualitative and quantitative evidence • Select evidence carefully and purposefully • Connect evidence to an assertion or question • Document the evidence (provide source) • Analyze data; do not just present data • Let evidence suggest improvements • Use evidence that speaks to the institution’s themes and the team's questions

19. Team Report: Recommendations Effective recommendations are: • Overarching and important • Clear and direct • Supported by evidence • Linked clearly to Standards and CFRs • Supported by text in the report • Limited in number (3-8) • Distinct from minor recommendations and from suggestions embedded in the report

20. Team Report: Writing Tips • Remember the multiple audiences for the report: the institution, the Commission, the public, WASC staff, the next team • Honor requirements for length • Be sure the report addresses the themes/priorities and goals set by the institution and important points • Make commendations that do not send the wrong or a mixed signal • Avoid redundancy • Ensure use of documentation and evidence

21. Team Report: More Writing Tips • Use formal language and tone, e.g., no “we” or “they” • Do not criticize or praise personnel by name • Do not be overly prescriptive or try to solve the institution’s problems • Ensure consistent use of CFRs • Consider creating a short list of conventions for the team to help with consistency among draft sections • Double check grammar, punctuation and spelling

22. Challenges • Chair is ineffective or disorganized • Team does not gel • Team seeks to criticize rather than understand • Team does not honor meeting schedules on visit • Team member is too prescriptive or draws on own institution to make judgments • Team member is not prepared • Team member does not complete assigned sections of the report • Quality of section is not as expected • Team does not achieve consensus

23. Special Considerations and Emphases • Student success • Program review • Sustainability of effectiveness • Marketing and recruitment practices • Finances in light of economic recession • Credit hour policy

24. Addressing Student Success • Does the institution report 3-5 year trends in retention and graduation rates (aggregated and disaggregated)? • What do the data show? • Has the institution benchmarked its rates against peer institutions? • Does the institution have goals with timelines to make improvements overall or for subgroups, as appropriate? • Does the team judge the institution’s graduation rates to be satisfactory? Tools: Undergraduate Retention and Graduation documents Graduate Retention and Graduation Documents

25. Addressing Program Review Teams are expected to: • Review a sample of recent program reviews (number may vary by institution) • Evaluate them under the CFRs, applying various WASC rubrics as appropriate • Study one or two program reviews in depth, and • Meet with the faculty and appropriate administrators from the programs selected for in-depth examination to learn more about: How program review works What was learned What actions flowed from the program review Tools: Approaches for Evaluating Program Review Assessment Rubrics Combined

26. Addressing Sustainability What structures, processes, and plans does the institution have in place for continuing the progress that it has made in the current review cycle? • For CPR: What are the plans for using institutional capacity to achieve and demonstrate educational effectiveness at the EER? • For EER: What are the plans for optimizing EE at the institution until the next interaction with WASC? Tools: Educational Effectiveness Framework

27. Addressing the Impact of the Financial Recession • How has the financial recession affected the institution? • How has the institution responded? • What plans are in place to operate within the current financial environment?

28. Addressing Recruitment and Marketing • Does the institution provide accurate information about: The length of time to degree? The overall cost of the degree? The kinds of jobs for which the graduate is qualified with this degree? Employment of graduates? • Does the institution follow federal regulations on recruiting students?

29. Addressing Credit Hour Policy Questions for the institution: • Does the institution have a policy for assigning credit hours? • How does the policy address non-standard courses (e.g. labs, studios, internships, individual directed studies) Teams are expected to: • Review a sample of syllabi for non-standard courses • Conduct an audit of one term’s course schedule • Complete Credit Hour form as an appendix to report Tools: Credit Hour Policy Credit Hour Review

30. Tools: WASC Resources Available under “Tools and Requirements for Fall 2012 Visits” on WASC Website • Compliance Audit: checklist to determine compliance with WASC Standards; required for Candidacy, IA visits, Special Visits for institutions on sanction or notice of concern; include in report appendix • Evaluating Program Review: analysis of program review process required at EER • EE Framework: rubric for assessing capacity and effectiveness of student and institutional learning; submission to WASC liaison required following EER; also a good teaching tool

31. Tools: More WASC Resources • Available under “Tools and Requirements • for Fall 2012 Visits” on WASC Website • Team Report Directions and Format: guide for organizing report • Preliminary Team Report Narrative: guidelines for drafting sections of the report prior to visits • Credit Hour Policy: policy and forms; include in report appendix • Assorted Rubrics: tools to help evaluate GE, program learning outcomes, capstones, portfolios, and program review

32. Tools: box.net Introduction to box.net Use of box.net • Maneuvering through the materials Institutional specific material from WASC General visit resource materials from WASC Logistical materials from WASC • Downloading, saving, and printing • Email • Drafting team reports

33. Thank you for your service to WASC and the region

34. Post-Webinar Survey WASC is interested in ongoing improvements to our training. Please let us know how well you believe the webinar has helped you to understand and be better prepared for your role as a member of a visiting peer review team. This survey should take approximately 15 minutes. Responses will be aggregated; comments will be reported anonymously. The link below will be sent directly to your e-mail.