Academic Plan

Looking to Century II:
A Framework for Academic Planning for
Point Loma Nazarene University

April 2006

Table of Contents
Introduction
University Mission, Values and Vision
Faculty
Students
Curriculum
Support for Instruction
Co-curriculum
Educational Effectiveness and Learning Outcomes
Quality Assurance Process
Academic Leadership
Summary
References

Introduction

When Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) was founded in 1902 in Los Angeles, the institution’s first president made it clear that he envisioned much more than simply a training school for ministers. In fact, he had in mind a substantial university of 3,000 students—with various professional schools and an undergraduate residential liberal arts college—a university vital in the Christian faith, excellent in academics, robust in scholarship, intentional about character formation, and faithful to the sponsoring denomination while remaining nonsectarian. Since at the time there were only two institutions in this country with an enrollment of over 3,000 students (the University of Michigan numbered 5,000; Harvard stood at 3,500), this was a big dream indeed.

Eventually, the institution made its way to suburban Los Angeles and operated as Pasadena College (PC). Over the years, PC experienced times of both feast and famine but eventually developed into a solid, stable liberal arts institution of about 1,300 students. The College was awarded accreditation from the Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools in 1943, and the Western College Association accredited PC in 1949. Although it was a vibrant academic community with many faculty and staff members living within walking distance, the 19-acre campus was simply too small to permit further growth and development. In 1973, the College made the decision to sell its campus in Pasadena and bought a 90-acre site overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Diego—becoming first Point Loma College, then Point Loma Nazarene College, and finally Point Loma Nazarene University. This move proved to be a defining event in the history of the institution.

Since coming to San Diego, the Institution has experienced unprecedented institutional growth and development. In particular, the later half of the 1990’s saw: the redevelopment of the campus core; virtual completion of the campus master plan; major strides in faculty strength, discourse, and productivity; impressive improvements in student ability; increased selectivity in student admissions; and renewed efforts to maintain a vital relationship with the sponsoring denomination. In late 1997, the institution elected its first lay president, signaling a serious commitment to professional management, strategic leadership, and resource acquisition. In 1998, the College moved to university status, a further indication that many of the founder’s hopes and dreams had become, in fact, a reality. In 1998, the University’s enrollment reached the cap imposed by the City of San Diego—a maximum of 2,000 full-time equivalent students. In 1999, as a result of the pressures caused by the cap, all graduate programs were moved from the Point Loma Peninsula and ultimately settled in a newly acquired educational facility ten miles away in San Diego’s Mission Valley. The main campus is now at capacity solely with undergraduate programs—approximately 2,400 students (2000 full-time equivalents) with 1,650 living in residential housing. The combination of strong academic and co-curricular programs, a beautiful seaside campus, a vital spiritual community, and a capped enrollment has resulted in PLNU becoming an “institution of choice.” Over 91 percent of entering freshmen indicate that PLNU is their first choice, and currently the University receives more than three applications for every available undergraduate freshman admissions slot. In addition, the institution has developed new graduate programs in biology, business and nursing as well as new facilities for graduate education in Arcadia, Bakersfield and the Inland Empire. The University total enrollment today stands at approximately 3,600 undergraduate and graduate students.

One hundred years later, the founding president’s dream is a reality. PLNU is a prominent Christian university, increasingly selective in admission, vibrant in leadership development, connected to its sponsoring denomination (the Church of the Nazarene), and known for strong professional programs in athletic training, business, education, nursing, and journalism; a robust pre-med program; a long-standing undergraduate research program; and an excellent teaching faculty dedicated to the liberal arts. Now that the founding dream has been accomplished, what can be said about Century II? How do we capitalize on our strengths, address our weaknesses, and faithfully sustain our mission? This is the challenge before us, and the intent of this academic plan is to guide our efforts as we strive To Teach, To Shape, and To Send.

Note:
The philosophy discussed in this plan is derived from and influenced by the works of Robert Benne (Quality with Soul), John Bennett (Academic Life), Richard Brodhead (The Good of this Place), David Jacobsen and Rhonda Jacobsen (The Scholarship of Christian Faith), John Henry Newman (The Idea of the University), Jose Ortega y Gassett (The Mission of the University), Parker Palmer (To Know as We are Known), and Alfred North Whitehead (The Aims of Education). References appear at the end of the document.

University Mission, Values and Vision

To Teach - To Shape - To Send

Mission Statement:
Point Loma Nazarene University exists to provide higher education in a vital Christian community where minds are engaged and challenged, character is modeled and formed, and service becomes an expression of faith. Being of Wesleyan heritage, we aspire to be a learning community where grace is foundational, truth is pursued, and holiness is a way of life.

Mission Context:
The University, established in 1902 by the Church of the Nazarene, offers quality liberal arts and professional programs on its main campus in San Diego and select graduate and professional programs throughout the denomination’s southwest educational region.

This Mission Statement and Mission Context were approved by the Point Loma Nazarene Board of Trustees in 2003.

Because Point Loma Nazarene University has used the Wesleyan theological themes grace, truth and holiness as cornerstones in its development, our academic values of hospitality, conversation and covenantal community derive directly from our theology. Hospitable conversation in a covenantal community creates “a sense of place” or “wisdom community” where we teach, shape and send the students entrusted to us. Our goal is to guide students as they acquire knowledge and skills, develop and mature, and prepare to become servant leaders in the world. These are the marks of a vital Christian higher education community “in form” and the connections between these ideas can be seen in the following diagram (Allen and Zack).

Diagram

Core Institutional Values:

Excellence in Teaching and Learning – Teaching and learning constitute the central and defining activities of Point Loma Nazarene University. Faculty believe that effective teaching includes maintaining a vital relationship with one’s discipline, establishing a positive connection to students and building bridges among the students as a community of learning with the academic material.
An Intentionally Christian Community – We want students to be participants in a community of learning who intentionally think and behave as Christians in all of their endeavors. Through many curricular and co-curricular activities PLNU builds a community where women and men are challenged to explore ways to align their hearts and minds to that of Christ.
Faithfulness to our Nazarene Heritage and Wesleyan Theological Perspective – While working cooperatively with the whole church of Jesus Christ, we are committed to maintaining and celebrating our denominational ties with the Church of the Nazarene and embracing the distinctives of that tradition.
The Development of Students as Whole Persons – A complete education prepares women and men to live full lives that integrate the pursuit of knowledge with beliefs, values and actions. Holistic learning prepares students to make a positive difference in the world.
A Global Perspective and Experience – Our students should be equipped to become “world citizens.” The university provides academic coursework, international study, field research and ministry experiences that aid students in becoming conversant with the complexities of life in the global community.
Ethnic and Cultural Diversity – We recruit women and men from a variety of cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds as students, faculty and staff. A willingness to hear and learn from many diverse voices is foundational to a Christian liberal arts education and prepares our students to become truly educated people, equipped to live in a diverse society and world. We therefore actively pursue ideas, practices and relationships that honor diversity and encourage engagement with others different from oneself in order to grow in community with and be reconciled to one another.
The Stewardship of Resources – We are caretakers of all that has been entrusted to the university (people, facilities, money and knowledge). We are to use these resources in a way that reflects the purposes of God and protects the goodness of God’s creation.
Service as an Expression of Faith - We are stewards, not owners, of our time, talent and selves. Part of our call as Christians is to serve the world, working to better the condition of humankind both locally and globally.

A reflective essay for each of these core values can be found in with the appendix items for this section.

Academic Values

The symbols of venia (grace), veritas (truth) and sanctitas (holiness) appear on the Point Loma Nazarene University seal because they are values that characterize the Wesleyan-holiness tradition of our Nazarene heritage. These themes are not unique to the Wesleyan tradition; most Christian traditions affirm them. Our understanding of grace, truth and holiness has significantly shaped our institutional history and our approach to learning. As we model and practice them, they create, over time, a distinctive intellectual community and a vital context for learning.

Venia - Grace Grace is the action of the triune God. It is grace that draws us into a relationship with God. It is the embodied grace of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice that makes the relationship possible. It is the sanctifying grace of the Spirit that sustains and nurtures the relationship. Just as the father ran to meet the prodigal son while he was still a long way off, God is in the world coming to us and drawing all persons to Himself. Since God is working in the world, we should as well. Thus we view the world, although fallen, with a sense of optimism because God is in it. The active presence of a loving God in the world compels us to reach out in sacrificial love and embrace the other.

In our academic community, this optimism finds expression in a genuine hospitality for others – a willingness to draw them into relationship and an openness to hear, understand and be changed by them. Without hospitality, education is a mechanical act: scholarship becomes parochial, teaching becomes credentialing, and learning becomes the receipt of information without any internal impact (Bennett p 59). But with hospitality the learning community remains open to and energized by ideas that stretch and challenge our understanding. Hospitality extends courage and permission to teach and learn rather than to indoctrinate.

Veritas - Truth For us, the pursuit of truth is always tentative, ongoing, and respectful. Recognizing that we “see as through a glass darkly” and we “know in part” (I Corinthians 13), we approach learning with a sense of humility. There is always something to be learned from another point of view. We can not know everything, and we realize that education is much more than just the presentation of simplistic answers for complex questions and eternal issues. But we also approach truth with a sense of confidence; we do “see” (even if through a glass darkly) and we do “know” (even if only in part). This blending of confidence and humility in the pursuit of truth makes conversation so essential to academic life and provides such an inviting and nurturing approach to faithful teaching and learning.

In Academic Life, John Bennett states that the meaning of a university resides not in its mission or purposes, but it the intellectual adventure of conversation (Bennett Chapter 5). Conversation is a respectful engagement with the other that extends across all of academe, and thus relevant to teaching, research, scholarship and leadership. It involves students, colleagues, texts, data traditions and one’s self. The quest at all times is to bring about understanding. Since this is always fragile at best, our goal must be to listen and speak with great care. Learning at its finest is an ongoing, dynamic and multi-layered conversation among the teacher, students and the material studied, where each is open to being shaped by the others (Bennett Chapter 5).

Sanctitas – Holiness We are called to be holy people. This call requires both personal devotion and social concern. We value both personal integrity (telling the truth, keeping your promises, being loyal to your friends, worshiping consistently, praying fervently, living simply) and heartfelt compassion for those in need (feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the dying, seeking the lost, fighting injustice). We provide programs where students are challenged to put these values into action. With a core commitment to wholeness, faculty members do much more than just teach facts and figures. They embody and practice these fundamental commitments rooted in the knowledge the holiness holds them accountable to God, to the community and to their academic discipline.

Faculty and staff members offer their lives as living sacrifices and humbly ask students to “follow us as we follow Christ.” Holiness can only be lived out in the context of a covenantal community – deeply rooted in its past, shaped by theological commitments, and energized by a unified moral vision for learning, scholarship and service. “A covenantal community is rooted in members’ commitment to each other in pursuit of the common good. These are public vows. They are created and maintained through the promises of each member to the others” in the community to practice hospitality, promote conversation and persevere in faithful living (Bennett p157).

As we pursue our mission – to teach, to shape, to send – we do so as Wesleyan Christians who endeavor to practice what we profess. We teach with confidence, humility, integrity, and compassion. We embrace hospitality, conversation and a covenantal community as essential academic values – and permit ourselves to be shaped by them as members of the “wisdom community.” In doing so we become a unique place – shaped by our collective understanding of what it means to be an educated Christian, and this vital “sense of place” becomes as foundational to who we are and what we do as scholars, as grace is to our theology.

Institutional Vision
In 2004 the Board of Trustees of PLNU approved the following vision to guide the university in the 21st Century:

Point Loma Nazarene University will be a nationally prominent Christian university and a leading Wesleyan voice in higher education and the church – known for excellence in academic preparation, wholeness in personal development, and faithfulness to mission.

The University will be recognized for:

Spiritual vitality centered in the Lordship of Jesus Christ;
A robust scholarly community that promotes excellence in teaching, research, and service;
A collegial community characterized by civility and respect where all members are valued and encouraged to fulfill their potential;
A distinctive undergraduate curriculum and co-curricular experience that offer a model in higher education;
Exceptional undergraduate programs preparing students for success in graduate school and the professions;
Select graduate programs of quality and professional relevance;
Participation and influence in professional and academic organizations at the national level;
Superior student retention and graduation rates;
A thoughtful articulation and consistent embodiment of a Wesleyan approach to faithful living;
Effective efforts in the development of pastoral and lay leadership in collaboration with the church;
An exemplary model of student engagement for service to community and church;
A source of expertise, resource, and involvement for the University’s surrounding communities.

At the heart of our vision is the desire to become a nationally prominent Christian university in the Wesleyan tradition. Over many months and through extensive conversation, the strategic planning arm of the University has worked to develop a list of some essential qualitative characteristics (listed above) of such a university. In addition, some potential quantitative markers that are suggestive of a general direction are given in the appendix. The critical task that now lies before our academic community is to develop some specific initiatives in the areas of faculty, students, curriculum, support for instruction, co-curriculum, educational effectiveness, quality assurance, and academic leadership that will bring PLNU closer to the fulfillment of its mission and the realization of the vision.

Mission, Values, Vision Initiatives and Recommendations
2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

Appendix Items:
Definitions
Excellence in Teaching and Learning
An Intentionally Christian Community
Faithfulness to our Nazarene Heritage and a Wesleyan Theological Perspective
The Development of Students as Whole Persons
A Global Perspective and Experience
Diversity and Equity
The Stewardship of Resources
Service as an Expression of Faith
Strategic Plan 2004-2006

Faculty
Point Loma Nazarene University’s reason for existence is to provide “higher education in a vital Christian community.” Student learning is the overriding objective of the institution, and we desire to enhance their intellectual, personal and spiritual development and make a positive contribution to their sense of vocation (Bennett p162). Though staff and administrators play key roles in supporting and facilitating this mission, it is the faculty who are at the core of the educational endeavor. As such, a university is only as good as those who teach (Brodhead).

Characteristics
Because PLNU believes that education is best understood as a hospitable conversation carried out in a covenantal community, the University recruits faculty who can fully participate in that “conversation.” These individuals have excellent academic credentials, an active intellectual life, a deep Christian faith, a vital connection to a worshipping community, and believe that faith and academic knowledge can be in dialog. Conversation must involve many different voices and the University actively seeks faculty from diverse academic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds to enrich our community life.

Because we value “excellence in academic preparation” we have a strong bias toward full-time faculty with terminal degrees who value both teaching and scholarship. As teachers, we expect faculty to be engaged with students both in and out of the classroom. As scholars, we expect faculty to stay current in their discipline, actively participate in their guild and use that information to inform their teaching.

Because we are a mission-centered institution whose goal is to shape and send as well as teach, our strong bias is toward full-time faculty who are committed to building relationships that invite students to participate in the covenantal community. And because the discourse that forms the life of the academy is most fruitful when strong relationships exist over time, PLNU recruits faculty to come and develop as long-term members of the community.

Teaching, scholarship and service are one complex activity not three distinct ones and they maintain the health of the academy. Teaching must be fortified by scholarship, the first-hand knowledge of and engagement with the material that is the basis of the intellectual life. Any scholarship of value must be made public in ways that engage the audience with the material and foster understanding, interest and perhaps further research. These are also the fundamentals of good teaching. Service calls for faculty to ensure that the institutional conditions for hospitable conversation in teaching and scholarship remain (Bennett p130).

Teaching
Teaching is the central act of the professional life of any PLNU faculty member because we are an institution where “minds are engaged and challenged” and “truth is pursued.” The highest quality teaching is a three-way dialog between professor, student, and the academic material. In order to facilitate this conversation, faculty must:

Maintain a vital relationship with their discipline;
Establish positive and open relationships with students;
Build bridges between individual students and the academic material.

As Parker Palmer astutely points out, students learn when faculty members invite them to be shaped by each other and by an encounter with subject matter about which the professor is passionate (Palmer Preface). Each professor brings both their disciplinary expertise and their Christian faith with them into the classroom and both inform the “conversation” that is teaching and learning.

To foster excellent teaching, the most basic qualifications for employment as a faculty member include:

A love of truth and a deep personal commitment to its pursuit;
A capacity to stimulate student interest and engagement in learning;
Respect for each student;
A serious effort to remain current in the major area of instruction and a vital interest in creative work (research, writing, etc.) in this discipline.

Excellence in teaching is the primary qualification for tenure and our faculty evaluation process takes teaching evaluations seriously (for further details see the section on Quality Assurance).

Because teaching is both an art and a craft that is developed over a lifetime, PLNU faculty members are expected to:

View the maintenance of “professional standards” as necessary but not sufficient for defining excellence in teaching;
Make themselves available to students in and out of the classroom both to provide assistance and support for the students, and to remain conversant in the ever-changing student culture;
Participate in university-wide conversations about teaching and learning;
Stay current with the most recent pedagogical developments in their discipline and have a willingness to try new techniques and technology in the classroom.

Scholarship
Scholarship is essential to maintaining an active intellectual life. Faculty members can only “engage and challenge” the minds of students when their own minds are stretched. If we are to help students become life-long learners, faculty must model a compelling picture of the life of the mind, one that is contagious and coherent (Bennett p135).

Furthermore, if Point Loma Nazarene University is to become “a leading Wesleyan voice in higher education” then faculty must participate in the national discourse about pedagogy, and the discovery and integration of new knowledge that is occurring within individual guilds. Faculty must also participate in the larger conversation about the meaning of higher education and the defining marks of a “quality” education and “engaged” teaching. Scholarship is the only means for being able to enter and have a credible voice in the dialog. Scholarly writing is a primary way to engage the world in conversation - what John Bennett calls the “sacrament of the academy” (p126).

Active and engaged scholarship in a variety of disciplines also affords an opportunity to be a “leading Wesleyan voice in the church.” This not only provides much needed theological reflection and resources for the Church of the Nazarene, but also enriches broader theological conversations by interjecting a Wesleyan outlook and analysis as well as placing the Wesleyan tradition within the context of the tradition of the church catholic.

PLNU models its definition of scholarship on that of Ernest Boyer. He classified scholarship into four broad categories (these definitions are extracted from Scholarship and Christian Faith by Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Jacobsen, p51):

The Scholarship of Discovery – the narrowing of one’s focus to only one isolated part of reality in order to understand its intricate complexity (this is “traditional” research).
The Scholarship of Integration – the attempt to arrange relevant bits of knowledge and insight from different disciplines into broader patterns that reflect the actual interconnectedness of the world.
The Scholarship of Application – this takes seriously the mandate of our interconnectedness and seeks to “close the gap between values in the academy and the needs of the larger world.”
The Scholarship of Teaching – focuses on the means and ways of handing down knowledge, faith, wisdom, and wonder across the fragile bonds of connection that link different cultures and successive generations to each other.

It is expected that all faculty members will be actively engaged in the scholarship of teaching and at least one other form of scholarship. However, because PLNU is not a research university, the creation of new knowledge (the scholarship of discovery) is not necessary for obtaining tenure – but active scholarship in some area is required. Faculty evaluations address all four types of scholarship (for further details see the section on Quality Assurance).

Service
John Bennett describes service as“a commitment to teaching informed by scholarship as well as concern for the integrity of one’s discipline and institution” (p131). Further, PLNU faculty members are expected to model “service as an expression of faith” in their professional and personal lives. Three key area of service are:

Service to the Church and Community – To build the relationships necessary for PLNU to become a “leading Wesleyan voice in the church” faculty must take on leadership roles in the local and global church. In order for the University to model “wholeness in personal development and faithfulness to mission,” members of the faculty must become “salt and light” and embody grace in the local and global community.
Service to the Discipline – In order for the institution to become a “leading Wesleyan voice in higher education,” faculty members from PLNU must take active leadership roles in guilds and other discipline related national organizations.
Service to the Institution – In a covenantal community, individual members are linked through a web of relationships built through discourse and shared experience who are committed to advancing the common good (Bennett p 143). Faculty members do this through informal service to the institution (e.g. participating in ministry groups, attending community events, taking on special projects) and through participation in PLNU’s extensive system of governance.

Governance
Rather than having a faculty senate, PLNU’ current model of governance involves all faculty members directly in significant academic and academic-related broader decisions. All full-time members of the faculty are expected to be present for and participate in the monthly faculty meetings. Governance by the whole means that the health and quality of the entire university educational program is the responsibility of every faculty member.

The University also has a system of twenty-one faculty committees in addition to the Faculty Council and the Administrative Cabinet. There are also task forces and other committees established in the service of specific projects (for example the WASC accreditation process). Full-time faculty members are elected to the standing committees and Faculty Council with the expectation that roughly 75% of the full-time faculty is serving on at least one committee at any given time. Full-time faculty members are appointed by the President or Provost to committees that give leadership to special projects.

Institutional Support
PLNU believes that faculty should be actively engaged in a life of the mind and thus supports faculty development as both teachers and scholars. Affirming that a healthy academy is nurtured by cross-discipline conversation, the University also creates opportunities for faculty discourse. Some of the key sources of support include the following features:

Faculty members have professional development money available each year to be used for travel, books and memberships that relate to their work as teachers and scholars;
There is a well defined system of sabbaticals and research grant opportunities (RASP, Wesleyan Center, Provost’s Discretionary);
The PLNU Alumni Association provides grants for course development and scholarly work;
The Office of International Studies provides grants for study abroad course development;
The Center for Teaching and Learning organizes many programs to strengthen teaching and learning and makes available a limited number of teaching-focused grants;
The Faculty Resources Committee, the Wesleyan Center for 21st Century Studies and various academic departments, schools and centers sponsor lectures and conferences where scholarly work is presented and discussed;
The Provost sponsors two on-going faculty discussion groups (Science and Theology Discussion Group, Social Issues Discussion Group) as well as short-term groups organized around special issues.

Faculty Initiatives and Recommendations
2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

Students
Point Loma Nazarene University seeks students who desire to live and learn in “a vital Christian community” and who not only want their “minds … engaged and challenged” but are also open to having their “character… formed” and learning ways where “service becomes an expression of [their] faith.” Though PLNU serves two very distinct student populations, primarily traditional students in undergraduate programs and working professionals in graduate programs, we actively recruit students who will embrace our approach to education.

Undergraduate Student Characteristics
The undergraduate program at PLNU is firmly grounded in the American Christian liberal arts tradition. Because we believe that learning happens best in community, the majority of our undergraduate students are full-time. This is carefully balanced with a limited number of transfer and part-time students. The University creates a “sense of place,” that students are residents of a learning community, through carefully crafted academic programs and meaningful co-curricular experiences. On the Point Loma campus the majority of students live on or near the campus which serves to strengthen their sense of community.

We believe that learning entails an encounter with faith and believe that undergraduate students of intellectual ability, moral character and personal maturity will gain the most benefit from our total program (both curricular and co-curricular). We are not an open admissions institution. We seek students of high academic ability (as measured by GPA and standardized tests) with preference given to students who are aligned with our institutional mission. There are also admissions office initiatives to recruit students of color and students with specific abilities (for example musical and athletic).

The ratio between the genders in our undergraduate population has stayed relatively fixed over the last five years. Gains have been made in increasing the number of ethnic students on the Point Loma campus; roughly 20% of our 2005-06 undergraduate population is non-white. For further details and longitudinal data, see the tables in the appendix to this section. The WASC Capacity and Preparatory Review Group Seven: Diversity has some recommendations in this area (see the appendix items at the end of this section).

Undergraduate Student Persistence
Because we believe that the highest quality learning happens in community, we strive to build “classes” that are learning communities that persist for four years. Both the retention and graduation numbers have improved significantly over the same statistics five years earlier. In addition, the number of students on academic probation has steadily declined over the last five years. Some of this is a direct result of the increased selectivity due to the City of San Diego imposed undergraduate enrollment cap on our Point Loma campus. For further details see the student profile data tables in the appendix to this section.

Graduate Student Characteristics
Graduate programs at PLNU are designed to meet the advanced educational needs of working professionals in a manner that also fosters their spiritual and personal development. We assume that our graduate students have full-time jobs, families and other life commitments, and that they do not necessarily live near University sites. The majority of our graduate students are part time (fewer than six units per semester for the MA and fewer than eight units per semester for teaching credentials).

Our graduate student population is ethnically diverse. Roughly 40% of our graduate students are from non-white racial/ethnic groups. Details of our graduate student population can be found in the tables in the appendix to this section.

Graduate Student Persistence
Because we believe that learning happens in community, we use cohorts, modified cohorts and other techniques to help with student persistence. Because of a wide variety of record keeping methods, graduation and retention data has been difficult to obtain in some of our graduate programs. The University has moved to a centralized system for keeping graduate records and expects to have accurate persistence data by the fall of 2007.

Student Initiatives and Recommendations
2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

Appendix Items:
Undergraduate Admissions Requirements and Procedures (from the 05-06 PLNU Undergraduate Catalog)
Admissions Diversity Initiatives (from the PLNU Office of Undergraduate Admissions)
Diversity Scholarship Information (from the PLNU Office of Undergraduate Admissions)
Key Diversity Initiatives and Services on Campus
Howard Hughes Grant Information
WASC CPR Group Seven: Diversity Report
Graduate Admissions Requirements and Procedures (from the 05-06 PLNU Graduate Catalog)
Table 1.1.1 Undergraduate Admissions Activities by Level
Table 1.1.2 Graduate Admissions Activities by Level
Table 1.2.1 Preparation/Selectivity Levels for Entering Undergraduate Students
Table 1.3.1 Undergraduate Admissions by Gender
Table 1.3.2 Graduate Admissions by Gender
Table 1.4.1 Undergraduate Admissions by Race/Ethnicity
Table 1.4.2 Freshman Admissions Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity
Table 1.4.3 Graduate Admissions by Race/Ethnicity
Table 2.1 Headcount Enrollments by Degree Objective
Table 2.2 Headcount Enrollments by Gender
Table 2.3 Headcount Enrollments by Race/Ethnicity
Table 3.2.1 First-Time Freshman Retention Rates
Table 3.2.2 First-Time Freshmen Graduation Rates

Curriculum
Point Loma Nazarene University serves two very distinct student populations, mostly traditional students in undergraduate programs and adult learners in graduate programs. However the entire curriculum is designed to carry out the institutional mission to teach, shape and send in ways that are appropriate both to the material taught and the students served. We believe that our defining educational metaphor of hospitable conversation held within a covenantal community demonstrates the living out of grace, truth and holiness that is relevant to all learners.

Undergraduate Program
Point Loma Nazarene University’s undergraduate program is based on the American liberal arts tradition that affirms that exposure to many streams of knowledge and academic disciplines is part of the formation of “educated people.” The broadening experience in the General Education Program is balanced by the depth of knowledge gained in completing a specific academic major. All students are also offered the integrative opportunities provided by a variety of centers and special study programs.

General Education – The General Education Program is currently organized into four major categories (roughly corresponding to the Wesleyan quadrilateral) where students have some choice within each category:

Responding to the Sacred – courses in Bible and the Christian tradition (8 units)
Developing Cognitive Abilities – courses in personal development, writing, speaking and mathematical reasoning (11-14 units)
Exploring the Interdependent World – courses in the sciences, social sciences and physical education (13-16 units)
Seeking Cultural Perspectives – courses in history, philosophy, literature, foreign language and the fine arts (26-29 units)

However, a task force is working on updating the General Education curriculum. Details of some of their work can be found among the appendix items at the end of this section.

Majors – There are seventeen departments/schools offering bachelors degrees. The majority of the degrees awarded are in the B.A., however the School of Nursing, the Sciences and Mathematics offer B.S. degrees and the Music Department offers several specialized degrees. The content of the major programs is determined by the faculty of the host department or school and are carefully scrutinized by the Academic Policies Committee before being approved by the faculty as a whole (for further details see the section on Quality Assurance).

Integrative Opportunities – There are numerous opportunities for students to gain additional depth, breadth and a sense of integration to their academic endeavors.

Centers – the University is home to a wide variety of special purpose academic centers that sponsor lectures and guest speakers on topics particularly relevant to undergraduates, and some offer unit bearing course work.
Integrated or Interdisciplinary Studies – In addition to the cross-disciplinary offerings of the centers, freshmen are given two opportunities for integrative course work. All freshmen are required to take “The Psychology of Personal Development” (PSY101), a course that is taught by a large multi-disciplinary team of faculty. Forty eight freshmen are given the opportunity to participate in the fall “Integrated Semester for Freshmen” where a team of PLNU faculty plan coordinated General Education classes and specific student activities to develop a learning community.
Study Abroad – Since one of PLNU’s Core Values is “A Global Perspective and Experience”, we want our graduates to be true citizens of the world. As part of achieving that aim, PLNU offers students both semester-long and two to four week short-term study abroad opportunities. Some semester-long programs and all short-term programs are developed and taught by PLNU faculty. In the 2004-05 academic year 8.5% of our students participated in a study abroad experience.
Honors Scholars – the highest achieving PLNU students are offered the opportunity to write a senior honors thesis under the guidance of a PLNU faculty member in their academic department or school. This is a coordinated institutional effort that involves the students in a weekly seminar. Participating faculty also meet as a group to discuss the program and processes. The experience culminates with a “defense” of the thesis to a committee, a presentation at the PLNU Honors Scholars Conference, a celebratory banquet and recognition at commencement.
Internships – several academic programs require the students to gain some “real world” experience by working in a semester or year long supervised internship in the local community.

For further details about these opportunities, see the appendix items at the end of this section.

Graduate Programs
PLNU provides graduate programs in select disciplines that meet community needs with high quality academic programs that are consistent with our identity as a Christian university in the Wesleyan tradition. We seek to meet the educational needs of working professionals in a manner that also fosters their spiritual and personal development. The faculty is committed to preparing thoughtful, culturally sensitive professionals who utilize the latest research and methods in their work and are equipped to become moral and ethical leaders. See the appendix for the essay Why Graduate Programs at PLNU?

The current graduate programs are in the following disciplines:

Biology – M.A. in General Biology – this new program focuses on increasing the content knowledge of middle and secondary school Biology teachers;
School of Business – M.B.A.;
School of Education – M.A. in Counseling and Guidance, M.A. in Educational Leadership, M.A. in Teaching and Learning and Ed Specialist in Educational Leadership (not all programs are offered at all sites);
School of Nursing – M.S.N.;
School of Theology and Christian Ministry – M.A. in Theology, M.A. in Biblical Studies, M.Min. (a professional degree for working ministers).

The content of the graduate programs is determined by the faculty of the host department or school. Degree programs are carefully scrutinized by the Graduate Studies Committee before being approved by the faculty as a whole (for further details see the section on Quality Assurance). Additional masters’ as well as doctoral level programs are under consideration.

Curriculum Initiatives and Recommendations
2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

Appendix Items:
Description of the Undergraduate Curriculum (from the PLNU Undergraduate Catalog)
First Principles of General Education
Philosophy of General Education
Granting of Degrees (from the PLNU Faculty Handbook)
Table 3.1.1 - Undergraduate Degrees Awarded
Colleges, Schools, Departments and Centers (from the PLNU Faculty Handbook)
Description of the PLNU Centers (from the PLNU Undergraduate Catalog)
PLNU Centers Home Page
Descriptions of PSY101, Integrated Semester and Study Abroad (from the PLNU Undergraduate Catalog)
List of Off-Campus Cooperative Programs (from the PLNU Undergraduate Catalog)
Office of International Studies Home Page
Honors Scholar Program Description (from the PLNU Faculty Handbook)
Honors Project Proposal (approved by the faculty)
Why Graduate Programs at PLNU?
How Shape Occurs in Graduate Programs
Graduate Student Shape Data from WASC Surveys
Graduate Alumni Shape Data from WASC Surveys
List of Degrees Offered (from the PLNU Graduate Catalog)
Table 3.1.2 Graduate Degrees Granted

Support for Instruction
Point Loma Nazarene University is an institution “where minds are engaged and challenged” and “we aspire to be a learning community where ….truth is pursued.” Excellence in teaching and learning is the very first of our core values and is foundational to our institutional identity. As a community we actively work to provide the best possible instruction to our students. In addition to recruiting high quality faculty and a diverse and talented student body, PLNU supports instruction on both the main campus and other PLNU sites in several essential ways.

Support of Pedagogy
The University strongly encourages faculty to keep current on the latest pedagogical innovations in their discipline and provides both the freedom and the resources to experiment with new teaching techniques. One of the endorsed (and funded) forms of faculty development is attendance at conferences and workshops focused on pedagogy.

Teaching has been described as one of the most privatized professional acts (Palmer). Yet as a covenantal community whose life blood is hospitable conversation, we believe that the best possible understanding of effective pedagogy can only be achieved when a wide variety of faculty voices discuss together the art of teaching. Much of the faculty discourse about teaching and learning is organized by the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) which is run by an experienced faculty member with an excellent reputation as an innovative teacher.

The Center for Teaching and Learning sponsors seminars on the use of technology, various pedagogical techniques and content-specific information. Many have happened on the Pt. Loma campus but the Director of the CTL also facilitates events at all of the PLNU sites. In addition, the CTL maintains a collection of journals and books specifically related to excellence in teaching and learning, and the Director periodically sends faculty summaries/reviews of particularly helpful books or articles. All of these summaries plus additional information about print and electronic materials are posted on the Center’s website.

The Center for Teaching and Learning is primarily focused on practical information to help faculty in the classroom. It maintains information on common faculty tasks, resolutions to common faculty and student problems and links to helpful websites. It also sponsors a program on the Point Loma campus called “Teachers Noticing Teachers” (TNT) where faculty members are invited to observe the teaching techniques of a particular instructor in a specific class over a number of weeks. A conversation follows with the instructor about what he or she was trying to accomplish with a particular lesson or teaching technique. This has been an extremely helpful program and has greatly expanded cross-discipline discourse about teaching.

The CTL organizes some of the new faculty and adjunct orientation sessions, providing helpful information about pedagogy, class management and PLNU instructional distinctives to faculty members new to the PLNU community.

University Library:
The library staff supports teaching and learning in a wide variety of ways. These include:

The library is staffed with a team of professional librarians who are members of the faculty. In addition to collecting and maintaining the print, media and electronic resources in the library, this group also instructs students and faculty at all locations in various research techniques (mostly electronic). The main campus library provides individual reference assistance in person and via phone and e-mail.
The University has access to on-line periodical databases that students can enter via the Internet from any location. In addition, the University participates in LINK+, a very user-friendly system of inter-library loans that supplements the on-site book collections at each location (there are small collections in Arcadia and Mission Valley). LINK+ also provides the students with borrowing privileges at a wide variety of university and public libraries near many of our sites.
Faculty members may place items in support of their classes on physical reserve in the Ryan Library or on electronic reserve which can be accessed by all students and faculty at any site.
The University archives, located at the Mission Valley site are maintained by the library staff.

Media Services
The Media Services supports the use of non-print resources in the classroom. This includes:

Collecting and maintaining media resources in partnership with the library.
Supporting instruction via computer-based presentation systems and video and audio playing and production. Staff members from Media Services provide equipment setup in classrooms and are available to assist faculty in the use of equipment.
Media Services also oversees the maintenance of this equipment at all sites.

Information Technology
The University supports the use of technology in teaching in a wide variety of ways:

Computer Labs – On the Point Loma campus there are several computer labs (both Mac and PC) available both for formal instruction and for student work. The Arcadia and Mission Valley sites each have a computer lab with both Macs and PCs. Bakersfield doesn’t have a lab yet, but has access to rented labs. The Information Technology Services (ITS) department of the University keeps these labs in good working order resourced with the latest versions of software. There is also a staff of trained student lab assistants to provide help to students in the computer labs on the Point Loma campus both in and out of class. The labs at the other sites are not staffed with lab assistants.
Technology in the Classroom – All campus classrooms have network connections. Point Loma, Mission Valley, Arcadia and Bakersfield also have both wired and wireless network connectivity throughout the facilities. The faculty have migrated to using laptop computers so that they can move their computer directly into the classroom and connect to the network either wirelessly or via a docking station (in data projector equipped rooms). Each year more classrooms at all sites are being equipped with ceiling mounted data projectors and docking stations to facilitate the use of computer presentation tools. All classrooms in Point Loma also have access to the campus owned and operated CCTV system and all have permanent monitors installed. In addition to the PLNU Information Channel, PLNU manages its own CTV channel over which educational and /or student driven content can be presented. Some classrooms and labs have Smart Boards, Smart Sympodiums, document cameras, High Definition LCD & Plasma screens, audio equipment and IP Cameras with recording capabilities.
Residence Halls – 100% of the student rooms in the residence halls are connected to the campus network. In addition, ITS employs a collection of students called Residential Network Consultants (ResCons) who are trained to help students connect their personal computers to the campus network and train them in the use of campus network resources. All the Residence Hall rooms also have the CCTV connection.
Technology in Support of Faculty
- 99% of full-time faculty have laptops as well as some adjuncts. Most adjuncts have access to shared desktops.
- We have installed a wireless ‘grid’ at all Point Loma facilities for both student and staff/faculty use. This unique wireless infrastructure allows users to roam from one location to another while maintaining network and/or internet connectivity. Most wireless networks require you to stay within the range of a single access point.
- We have VPN (Virtual Private Network) in use by many Staff and available to all faculty so that they can maintain communications with students, manage classroom events and keep current on university activities during breaks or time off campus.
- All faculty have access to Blackboard, an on-line Course Management System. ITS has automated the generation of all courses with enrollments.
Computer Support for Faculty – ITS has a Director of Academic Computing whose primary assignment is to support faculty computing needs. This includes equipment, software and the use of web-based instructional support. In the Fall of 2005 ITS completed a document entitled “Model for Supporting the Technology Needs of Faculty and Students in a Multi-Site Environment” (see appendix items). This document provides a brief overview of the current ITS support for our academic work and some specific recommendations. In the spring of 2006 ITS will hire an Instructional Technologist to work with the Director of Academic Computing to make recommendations to faculty related to methods of using technology to enhance teaching and learning as well as promote technological literacy. In addition, ITS runs a Help Desk that is available from 7:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. for assistance with software and hardware problems. Technicians can also be paged after hours and on weekends by leaving an urgent message at the Help Desk.
Training in the Use of Technology – The Center for Teaching and Learning provides some training for using computer technology and ITS has an extensive menu of year-round computer classes for faculty and staff. ITS employs a Technology Training Coordinator to provide this support. The ITS Training Coordinator’s office is on the Pt. Loma campus but she periodically visits the other sites for training customized to meet their needs. Also, Element K is made available upon request to all faculty and staff for access to e-learning courses in a wide variety of applications.

Facilities
Since 1996 Point Loma Nazarene University has spent over 70 million dollars on the physical plant (both buildings and technology). The Master Plan for the main campus is virtually complete with the exception of:

Renovations in the Physical Education Complex;
Construction of the School of Theology and the Center for Pastoral Leadership;
The construction of a new Science and Mathematics Center.

Plans are underway to raise the needed resources for all three projects. Within the context of its Conditional Use Permit (CUP), the University has the capacity for further expansion.

The graduate programs in San Diego are housed in the Mission Valley building purchased by PLNU in 1999. As the programs expand, more of the building is being converted from rental property to PLNU classroom and office space.

In Arcadia, Bakersfield and the Inland Empire, the University is leasing prime office and classroom space and has expanded over time as programs have demanded it. In all graduate programs at sites, the practice is to provide excellent and accessible educational facilities that reflect the quality of the programs we offer.

Support for Instruction Initiatives and Recommendations
2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

Appendix Items:
Description of the Center for Teaching and Learning (from the PLNU Faculty Handbook)
Index of the Center for Teaching and Learning Website
Calendar of Faculty Enrichment Opportunities
Description of the Teachers Noticing Teachers (TNT) Program
Library Strategic Planning Report
Description of the PLNU Library Resources (from the PLNU Undergraduate Catalog)
Ryan Library Home Page
Ryan Library Academic Resources (for specific departments and schools)
Description of the PLNU Information Technology (from the PLNU Undergraduate Catalog)
List of Computer Labs (from the ITS web-site)
Description of Student Computer Services (from the Student Handbook)
Description of ResCons (from the Student Handbook)
Model for Supporting the Technology at Multiple Sites
List of ITS Faculty and Staff Classes
ITS Faculty Resources
Table 5.1 Information and Computing Resources
Master Plan Progress Report
Table 5.2.1 Physical Resources - Teaching Facilities

Co-curriculum
The current undergraduate program at Point Loma Nazarene University is deeply committed to a residential liberal arts educational experience as the most effective way to teach, shape and send. It is impossible to accomplish this mission without a vital partnership between the curricular and the co-curricular programs.

PLNU believes that education is most effective when students, faculty and staff live in a covenantal community that is defined by hospitable conversation. The co-curricular is a way to further build that community by offering opportunities for students, faculty and staff to be engaged with each other outside of the classroom. The covenant is reinforced through the celebration of our shared Christian values. Co-curricular engagement, service, growth and leadership opportunities add new perspectives and voices to the conversation that defines university life. Several of the institution’s core values find part of their expression in the co-curricular:

Excellence in Teaching and Learning;
An Intentionally Christian Community;
Faithfulness to our Nazarene Heritage and Wesleyan Perspective;
Service as an Expression of Faith;
The Development of Students as Whole Persons.

The institution takes the co-curricular seriously. There are significant resources devoted to both Student Development and Spiritual Development, and each area is lead by a Vice President who is a Cabinet-level administrator. Students are encouraged to take leadership roles in many of the co-curricular programs, setting direction and making decisions, and extensive support is given to them as they develop this vital life skill. Faculty members are involved in many of the programs and seek to participate in ways that will link the co-curricular with academics. The ultimate goal is for students to experience their PLNU education as an integrated whole.

Academic Co-Curricular Programs
These programs are housed in academic departments or schools, or campus centers and are an extension of the material that students are learning in their coursework. Some of the opportunities include:

Musical Performance Groups – both vocal and instrumental;
Summer Research – students engage in joint projects with faculty;
Media – work in the University radio and television station supported by faculty instruction;
Forensics – the University has an award-winning program and hosts an annual tournament;
Guest Speakers and Lecture Series – on topics from poetry to business, sponsored by academic departments or schools. Some are occasional events and others are annual conferences and series.
Academic Clubs – these are hosted by individual schools or academic departments and involve students in conferences and other events related their specific field of study.
Center-based Learning Opportunities – specific themed events and conferences sponsored by several of the University centers.

Spiritual Development Co-Curricular Programs
The Office of Spiritual Development sponsors many programs to nurture the spiritual growth of students, faculty and staff. The primary emphasis is in helping students to become mature Christians who live out their faith in the world. Opportunities include:

Corporate Worship – structured time weekly for community worship;
Spiritual Care – individual spiritual direction, care and guidance through the office of the chaplain;
Worship Ministries – a wide variety of opportunities for student to use their musical gifts to lead in worship;
Discipleship Ministries – study groups, retreats and discussion forums;
Community Ministries – opportunities to serve in an on-going way in the local community (e.g. tutoring, helping the homeless, assisting at orphanages);
International Ministries – short-term (two to four weeks) opportunities to work beside Christians in other nations to meet the needs of their communities.
Service Learning – this is a new program to bring together community service opportunities and academic pursuits.

Student Development Co-Curricular Programs
The Office of Student Development offers many programs to help ensure the overall well-being of the students. Their holistic approach is aimed at helping students to integrate knowledge with beliefs, values and actions. Programs include:

Academic Support – tutorial services, support for probationary students and assistance for all students with special educational needs;
Athletics – both intercollegiate and intramural opportunities;
Public Safety – maintenance of general campus safety (including shuttle services) and vehicle registration;
Residential life – a large team of people that handles the logistics of housing as well as working to form community in the campus residence halls;
Student Engagement and Retention – career services, student government, intercollegiate and intramural athletics, Wellness Center (outreach education, psychological services, health services and peer educators), student media (paper, yearbook, radio and television station) and student clubs.

Co-Curricular Initiatives and Recommendations
2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

Appendix Items:
Administrative Cabinet Committee Description (from the PLNU Faculty Handbook)
Administrative Organizational Chart
Co-Curricular Programs (from the PLNU Undergraduate Catalog)
PLNU Centers Home Page
Student Development Program Description (from the PLNU Student Handbook)
Spiritual Development Program Description (from the PLNU Student Handbook)

Educational Effectiveness and Learning Outcomes
In a 1997 letter to Point Loma Nazarene University, Ralph Wolff, Executive Director of WASC, recommended that the institution focus on “a careful analysis and interpretation of existing data, their integration into a coherent, overall assessment of institutional effectiveness, and the use of these data to inform decision making and strategic planning.” Because PLNU seeks to be a “nationally prominent Christian university and a leading Wesleyan voice in higher education,” the University has responded to this call and is diligently working toward developing a “culture of evidence” that will lead to institutional improvement.

Over the last eight years the University has trained the faculty and key staff members in the use of the Nichols Model of Assessment, appointed a Vice Provost for Educational Effectiveness, established a standing Assessment Committee and devoted significant financial resources to supporting institutional data gathering. We have made significant progress in assessing student learning outcomes in academic majors with annual reports required of all department chairs/school deans. Co-curricular programs and instructional support are in the early stages of assessment and we have an emerging process for assessing general education.

Point Loma Nazarene University is committed to decision making based on data and as part of the WASC accreditation process has appointed four committees that are considering various aspects of intuitional data gathering and the use of data in planning, including “closing the loop” in curricular assessment.

Educational Effectiveness Design
Point Loma Nazarene University’s educational effectiveness program is based on the Nichols Five Column Model for assessment. The key ingredients of this model are:

Program mission;
Intended educational outcomes;
Means of assessment and criteria for success;
Summary of the data collected;
Use of the results.

Institutional leaders have been given detailed information about the construction and use of the Nichols Model in their own programs and are supported by the Vice Provost for Educational Effectiveness and the members of the PLNU Assessment Committee. Academic leaders are expected to submit an annual assessment report. This information is compiled and used to create the table of Educational Effectiveness Indicators.

Academic Areas Assessed
Assessment is underway in the five key academic areas.

General Education – this process is currently under development in parallel with institutional conversation about needed changes in the general educational program. The General Education Committee under the leadership of the Dean of General Education is spearheading this process and has run some small scale experiments in assessing the effectiveness of our general education core through a senior exam (approximately 40 students tested in 2003-04 and approximately 100 students tested in 2004-05 out of graduating classes of roughly 500 students).
Undergraduate Majors – each academic department has a defined set of learning outcomes and measures; however there are a few programs in individual departments which are still under development. Each department is in the process of data gathering.
Graduate Programs – All but one of the graduate programs has an established set of learning outcomes and is currently gathering data.
Co-curricular – Much of the data gathered in the co-curricular area is activity based (counts on numbers of participants). As can be seen in the appendix, Spiritual Development and Student Development have defined learning outcomes and begun gathering data.
Instructional Support – several areas of instructional support have defined learning outcomes and established systems for gathering data.

For further details about what is being gathered see the Educational Effectiveness Indicator lists and data among the appendix items a the end of this section.

General Learning Data
In addition to program specific data, PLNU has established a collection of performance indicators to monitor the overall health of the academic climate in the university. The Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) were developed by the Strategic Planning Committee. These indicators include:

Number of undergraduate applicants and the number of first time matriculants who are in the top 25% of their graduating class;
Number of ethnically diverse undergraduate applicants;
Percent of freshmen who return as sophomores;
Percent of students who began at PLNU as freshmen and graduate in six years or less;
Percent of classes with less than 50 students;
Percent of full-time teaching faculty with an earned doctorate or terminal degree;
Percent of faculty with full-time contracts.

The data gathering for the Key Performance Indicators has been underway since the 2002-03 academic year and longitudinal data can be found among the appendix items.

Also, as part of the WASC accreditation process, a team was established to create overarching University Educational Effectiveness Indicators (EEI’s) for our undergraduate program. These include:

75% of students will be able to recognize theologically or biblically informed rhetorical elements appearing in non-theological contexts.
75% of students will be able to articulate a personal spiritual position and place it within a spectrum of Christian traditions.
For departments engaged in some form of summative assessment, at least 75% of their majors will score at or above a determined competence level on a summative measure determined by the department.
75% of students will be able to interrogate an issue from at least three different disciplinary perspectives.
75% of students will be able to organize ideas to support a position (either in writing or orally) on summative GE exam
75% of students will be able to present objections to their own position as logical as shown on a summative GE exam.
75% of students will be able to apply quantitative methods to solving real-life problems.
75% of students will be able to interrogate an issue from a different racial, class or gender position as shown on a summative GE exam.
75% of students will have had active participation in a program involving substantial contact with another culture or sub-culture
75% of those students (EEI 9) will report some sense of their own cultural otherness
75% of students will have participated in a service activity at PLNU.
75% of students will have had 10 or more opportunities to work in a team in or outside of class.
75% of students will demonstrate the ability and willingness to balance the varied aspects of their lives as shown on a senior-year assessment exam.

The data gathering for the Educational Effectiveness Indicators was begun in the 2004-05 academic year and the results can be seen in the tables in the appendix items at the end of this section.

The Point Loma Nazarene University WASC Capacity and Preparatory Review Group Two: Educational Effectiveness Indicators and Capacity and Preparatory Review Group Six: Assessment have made recommendations in this area. See the reports in the appendix to this section.

Educational Effectiveness and Learning Outcome Initiatives and Recommendations
2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

Appendix Items:
The Nichols Model Description (from the PLNU WASC Institutional Proposal Appendix B)
Annual Assessment Report Filing Guidelines
Assessment Committee Description (from the Faculty Handbook)
WASC CPR Group One: Data Orientation Guide
WASC CPR Group Four: Standards 2 & 4 Orientation Guide
WASC CPR Group Five: Planning Orientation Guide
WASC CPR Group Six: Assessment Orientation Guide
General Education Committee Description (from the Faculty Handbook)
General Education Means of Assessment
Inventory of Educational Effectiveness Indicators (from the PLNU WASC Institutional Proposal Appendix B)
Educational Effectiveness Indicators Data
Key Performance Indicators
Strategic Planning Committee Description (from the Faculty Handbook)
Educational Effectiveness Indicators
WASC CPR Group Two: Educational Effectiveness Indicators Orientation Guide
WASC CPR Group Two: Educational Effectiveness Indicators Report
WASC CPR Group Six: Assessment Report

Quality Assurance Process
Point Loma Nazarene University’s vision is to become “a nationally prominent Christian university…. known for excellence in academic preparation, wholeness in personal development, and faithfulness to mission.” To attain this goal, the institution must have high quality faculty teaching in carefully designed academic programs that are consistent with national guild standards for excellence and consistent with current research on teaching and learning.

Because we are a Christian institution in the American liberal arts tradition, our faculty and our programs are also expected to shape students to be whole people who engage the world as they live out their Christian commitments.

Among the many quality assurance processes at Point Loma Nazarene University, three key components will be highlighted: faculty evaluation, program review and standards for the development of new programs.

The Faculty Evaluation System
The PLNU Faculty Handbook states:

The purpose of evaluation is to provide feedback to the faculty member for self-improvement as well as data for making decisions on salary, promotion, tenure, and retention. The data gathered is available to the President of the University, the Provost, the college dean, the department chair/school dean, and the faculty member. It is understood that faculty evaluation materials may accompany that person's promotion and tenure documents to the faculty standing committee on Faculty Status.

Since teaching is central to the work of the university, PLNU very carefully evaluates all faculty members on a regular cycle. Every faculty member is expected to use standardized forms (SIR or IDEA) to conduct student evaluations of their teaching each year. Summaries of these evaluations are sent to the faculty member, and they are also reviewed by the department chair/school dean, college dean and provost.

At intervals (depending on tenure and length of service but not to exceed every four years) each faculty member completes a three-part evaluation that includes:

Self and chair evaluation that considers teaching, involvement in all four types of scholarship (as defined by Ernest Boyer and discussed above), service to the University and service to the community;
Student evaluations;
Peer evaluation.

These documents are carefully considered by the Department Chair/School Dean and then discussed with the College Dean and Provost. When faculty members are applying for promotion or tenure, they may supplement this material with a portfolio. All promotion and tenure materials are sent from the Provost to the Faculty Status Committee for review before a recommendation is made.

Program Review
The PLNU Faculty Handbook states:

Department/school/program review is a systematic, periodic, collection, analysis and interpretation of data and the writing of reports related to the health and quality of a university department/school and/or program. It is the attempt to arrive at an objective statement as to how the department/school or program fits into the university mission, how it fits similar programs in the academic community, its strengths and weaknesses, and its cost effectiveness. Ultimately the goal of the process is to provide each department/school a means to refocus its mission and improve its programs.

Scheduled on a five-year cycle, each academic department or school undertakes a program review by looking carefully at all aspects of each program and major in the department. Based on this review, programmatic changes are made and occasionally new majors are proposed. These changes are reviewed by the Academic Policies Committee (for undergraduate programs) and the Graduate Studies Committee (for graduate programs) and then presented to the full University faculty for approval. Vice provosts keep a record of all changes as a result of the program review, and these are reported periodically to the Provost’s Council.

The Point Loma Nazarene University WASC Educational Effectiveness Review Group Three is currently evaluating the PLNU Program Review process and will be providing recommendations and initiatives in this area.

New Program Development
New undergraduate major or program initiatives typically arise from an undergraduate department or school (often as an outcome of the Program Review process) and are reviewed by the Academic Policies Committee before being presented to the full University faculty. New graduate programs are primarily developed by academic departments or schools and held accountable to the “Standards for New Graduate Programs” and are reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee before being presented for full faculty for approval.

The Point Loma Nazarene University WASC Educational Effectiveness Review Group Two is currently evaluating the PLNU New Program Development process and will be providing recommendations and initiatives in this area.

Quality Assurance Initiatives and Recommendations
2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

Appendix Items:
Faculty Evaluation (from the Faculty Handbook)
Self- Chair-Dean Evaluation Form
IDEA Student Evaluation Information
SIR Student Evaluation Information
Peer Evaluation Form
Faculty Status Committee Description (from the Faculty Handbook)
Department/School Program Review (from the Faculty Handbook)
Chair Memo Describing Program Review
Academic Policies Committee Description (from the Faculty Handbook)
Graduate Studies Committee Description (from the Faculty Handbook)
WASC EER Group Three: Program Review Orientation Guide
Markers of Effective Mission-Centered Graduate Programs
WASC EER Group Two: New Program Orientation Guide

Academic Leadership
Point Loma Nazarene University is a mission-centered institution whose primary focus is to “provide higher education in a vital Christian community.” We believe that hospitality, conversation and covenantal community are essential to our work in this place. Our academic leaders, chosen from experienced teaching faculty, foster these foundational university values. They model hospitable conversation by engaging faculty, students and staff in decision-making processes, believing that each member of the community has a role to play in creating a vital Christian university, and they work to create a free and ordered space so that faithful scholarship can flourish (Bennett Chapter 8).

Chairs, School Deans and Site Directors serve the institution’s mission by doing much of the planning and detail work necessary to free other faculty members to concentrate on teaching and scholarship. Vice Provosts play a key role in faculty hiring and development, establishing academic quality, and setting the overall direction of the academic program. The Provost serves as the Chief Academic Officer and oversees both the management and governance structure, as well as serving as the Cabinet representative for academics and coordinating all regional accreditation efforts. The Provost also manages faculty personnel issues and discipline. The entire academic administrative structure functions to protect faculty governance, promote discourse, and provide necessary resources and encouragement for engaged teaching and faithful scholarship. The mission of the University (to Teach, to Shape, to Send) cannot be accomplished without a strong and effective academic administration serving in partnership with the teaching faculty.

The University has a relatively simple academic administrative structure. The Chief Academic Officer is the Provost. There are five Vice Provosts/Academic Deans serving with the Provost. They are:

Vice Provost for Academic Administration;
Vice Provost for International Studies and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences;
Vice Provost for Educational Effectiveness and Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Professional Studies;
Vice Provost for Graduate Program Support and Dean of the College of Education;
Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Director of the Center for Teaching, and Learning and Dean of General Education.

The Provost and Vice Provosts meet weekly as the Provost’s Council to coordinate academic programs on a university-wide basis.

Serving with the Vice Provosts are a cadre of Department Chairs, Site Directors and School Deans (a department in a “professional” discipline with a graduate program is called a school and the chair is called a dean) who meet roughly three times per semester with the Provost in the Academic Council.

Academic Leadership Initiatives and Recommendations
2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

Appendix Items
Administrative Structure for Academic Affairs Organization Chart
Colleges, Schools, Departments and Centers Description (from PLNU Faculty Handbook)
Department/School Structure Description (from PLNU Faculty Handbook)

Summary
Now that PLNU has concluded its first one-hundred years, the University is looking for reliable and concrete steps to make its vision for first era of Century II a reality. This Academic Plan is directly linked to the current vision for the University, and will provide key markers for the academic contribution to that vision. At the same time, this Plan is tied to a compelling theological vision for education in the Wesleyan tradition, and expresses a deep philosophical commitment to hospitality, conversation, and covenantal community as academic values. Over time, as these values are embodied by the faculty, a “sense of place” develops. It is from this “sense of place” – this community of faith and learning - that we teach, shape and send with great confidence.

Our vision states:

Point Loma Nazarene University will be a nationally prominent Christian university and a leading Wesleyan voice in higher education and the church – known for excellence in academic preparation, wholeness in personal development, and faithfulness to mission.

Our on-going process for developing and implementing academic initiatives will help PLNU to more fully realize that vision in Century II.

2006 Academic Planning Initiatives Summary

References

Allen, Patrick and Maria Zack (2005), diagram in the University Mission, Values and Vision section to appear in publication.

Benne Robert (2001), Quality with Soul, Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans Publishing.

Bennett, John (2003), Academic Life: Hospitality, Ethics and Spirituality, Bolton, MA, Anker Publishing.

Brodhead, Richard (2004), The Good of this Place: Values and Challenges in College Education, New Haven, CN, Yale University Press.

Jacobsen, Douglas and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen (2004), Scholarship and Christian Faith: Enlarging the Conversation, New York, NY, Oxford University Press.

Newman, John Henry (1891), The Idea of the University, London, Longmans, Green, and Co.

Ortega y Gassett, Jose (1944), The Mission of the University, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press.

Palmer, Parker (1993), To Know as We are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey, San Francisco, CA, Harper San Francisco.

Whitehead, Alfred North (1950), The Aims of Education, London, Earnest Benn Limited.