| WASC CPR Recommenations Table |
| | | |
| Recommendations | Responsible Person/Group | Status | Timeframe for Action |
| DATA PORTFOLIO | | | |
| Continue to study the issue of diversity, identifying most effective strategies and making a comparison between the University’s faculty, staff, and student population to that of our recruitment area. | Diversity Committee | The Diversity Committee is a standing committee. The President is the co-chair with a faculty member. | On-going. |
| Improve the collection and reporting of graduate program data. | Office of Institutional Research | New policies were put in place in the fall of 2005. | On-going. |
| Collect faculty and staff data on an annual basis, particularly for the purpose of projecting retirement trends over the coming years and financial implications. | Provost's Office; Human Resources; Office of Institutional Research | The Director of Institutional Research and the Human Resources Office will collaborate on this recommendation. | Annual reporting is in place. |
| Make available a glossary of terms for the data set. | Office of Institutional Research | The Office of Institutional Research will work with the chair of the WASC Data Portfolio Committee. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Provide a “non-expert” financial report, such as the summary provided for the Board of Trustees, in the institutional Data Portfolio. | Vice President for Finance | This action item has been referred to the Vice President for Finance for implementation. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Study data on class size and current and future classroom needs of the University as part of the academic planning process. | Provost's Council; Office of Institutional Research | The plan is to study this issue under the direction of the Vice Provost for Academic Administration in cooperation with Institutional Research. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Continue to grow the Data Portfolio as units of the University identify essential data needed for decision making. | Office of Institutional Research | The Director of Institutional Research will receive requests from various units, such as the Strategic Planning Committee, for adding data items as appropriate. | On-going. |
| Increase staffing and operational support for the Office of Institutional Research in order to assist departments and schools with their data needs. | Administrative Cabinet | The Administrative Cabinet approved budget for this position in the spring of 2006; the position has been filled. | Completed. |
| Establish procedures for gathering standardized data, including collection dates and identifiable individuals responsible for gathering the data. | Office of Institutional Research | This recommendation has been met on a limited basis but will take some time for more complete implementation, due the load of the current Director. | On-going. |
| Provide a central location for the Data Portfolio, building and maintaining these tables automatically by means of the institutional data base (CARS). | Information Technology Services; Office of Institutional Research | With the WASC Web site as a beginning, PLPNU now has a link to University Data Tables, a central location for data. Automating this process, however, will take more time. | AY 2008-2009 |
| Store raw survey data electronically with appropriate privacy protections. | Office of Institutional Research | This policy will be implemented immediately in the Office of Institutional Research, though there may have to be budget adjustments. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Document the use of data in official reports as part of the University’s effort to have a culture of evidence and verify its usefulness in decision making and improvement. | Office of the President; Administrative Cabinet | This new policy will require notification to all University personnel by senior administration. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Continue the policy that a significant portion of courses (both graduate and undergraduate) must be taught by full-time faculty. | Provost's Office; Provost's Council | This policy is in place. | On-going. |
| EDUCATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS INDICATORS | | | |
| Provide more ongoing formative writing experiences for undergraduates, building on the work done in Freshman Composition. | General Education Committee; Academic Policies Committee | This work awaits the completion of the General Education proposal for revising the program. | On-going. |
| Inform faculty about steps in writing development and about what kinds of progress they ought to expect of students. | General Education Committee; Freshman Composition Faculty | This work awaits the completion of the General Education proposal for revising the program. | On-going. |
| Provide writing support for all classes that engage in formative writing. | Tutorial Services | This recommendation has been referred to Tutuorial Services. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Encourage faculty in GE courses to make more explicit the meta-cognitive levels of their disciplinary work. | General Education Committee | The Dean of General Education has this as a goal for the next academic year. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Inform faculty about overarching themes, common goals, and meta-cognitive skills in GE courses so that faculty in subsequent courses can interact with that previous material. | General Education Committee | This work awaits the completion of the General Education proposal for revising the program. | On-going. |
| Consider a core of eight courses in the pending GE revision that permits programmatic work on development of skills and conversations around themes, referencing past courses or anticipating future courses. | General Education Task Force; General Education Committee | This work awaits the completion of the General Education proposal for revising the program. | On-going. |
| Study the value of additional features in GE revision, such as a one-unit post-international-experience course, a statistical literacy requirement, and reading skills in either new or existing courses. | General Education Task Force | This work awaits the completion of the General Education proposal for revising the program. | On-going. |
| Encourage departments and schools, through the General Education Committee, to identify portions of multi-section courses (theme, method, text, experience) that are shared across all sections. | General Education Committee | This work awaits the completion of the General Education proposal for revising the program. | On-going. |
| Create a mechanism for the ongoing assessment and revision of GE. | General Education Task Force; General Education Committee | This work awaits the completion of the General Education proposal for revising the program. | On-going. |
| Through the efforts of the Dean of General Education, promote with faculty, and develop for the University, an institutional vision of the nature, purpose, and developmental impact of general education. | Dean of General Education; General Education Committee; Provost's Office | The Dean of General Education sees this as on-going in the process of revising general education through the General Education Committee. This is also on the Provost's list of goals for 2006-2007. | On-going. |
| Pursue continued integration of the curricular and co-curricular through the General Education Committee, the First-Year Experience Committee, the Assessment Committee, and through shared programs such as service learning, learning/living communities, and the Preface Reading Program associated with New Student Orientation (NSO). | Academic Affairs; Office of Student Development; Office of Spiritual Development | This recommendation focuses on the continuation of a practice already in place. | On-going. |
| STANDARDS ONE AND THREE | | | |
| Initiate a University-wide discussion on academic freedom in order to foster a clearer understanding of the official policy in the Faculty Handbook. | Provost's Office | The newly installed Provost will address this in his Academic Goals for 2006-2007. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Continue to study the composition of the Board of Trustees. | Office of the President; Administrative Cabinet; Board of Trustees | This was considered on the floor of the fall 2005 meeting of the Board of Trustees and is an on-going discussion. | On-going. |
| Include the School of Theology and Christian Ministry in future strategies vis-à-vis the sponsoring denominational church. | Office of the President | The President accepts this as a principle for future actions. | Accepted and in place. |
| Increase opportunities for members of the Board of Trustees to meet faculty on a personal level. | Office of the President; Board of Trustees | This has been institutionalized in meetings of the Board of Trustees as a regular feature. | Accepted and in place. |
| Continue development of creative solutions to recruit and retain faculty members in light of the high cost of living in the San Diego area. | Board of Trustees; Administrative Cabinet; Foundation Board | This issue was included in the President's Report to the Board of Trustees in 2004 and continues as a discussion/research/proposal item with the Board and the President. | Discussions are on-going, including local developers. |
| Add a new position among professional librarians to meet the electronic information needs of the community, including campuses at some distance from the main campus in San Diego (Bakersfield, Arcadia, Inland Empire, etc. | Office of the Provost; Administrative Cabinet; Director of the Library | This position was promoted by the Provost and ultimately approved by the Administrative Cabinet and the President for AY 2006-2007. | Completed. |
| Document faculty accomplishments annually by electronic means. | Provost's Office; Provost's Council; Information Technology Services | This has been on the agenda of the Provost's Council. Though faculty accomplishments are documented, implementation of this approach will require cooperation between academic units and ITS. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Develop library resources addressing specific needs of disciplines and departments and schools, such as a digitized music listening library, discipline-specific electronic journals, and on-site library collections at other campuses. | Director of the Library; Information Technology Services | This has been referred to the Director of the Library and the Chief Information Officer. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Give increased attention to the impact of proposals relative to the need for information and technology resources, especially at the graduate level. | Graduate Studies Committee; Academic Policies Committee; Director of the Library; Information Technology Services | The proposal template for Graduate Studies Committee will add this component. The template for the Academic Policies Committee (undergraduate) has implemented this already. The Director of the Library and the Chief Information Officer (ITS) will collaborate with these two groups as needed. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Expand interaction and input of faculty with Student Development and Spiritual Development. | Provost's Office; Vice Presidents for Student/Spiritual Development | This collaboration will be an on-going discussion among Provost and Vice Presidents in Student/Spiritual Development. Support staff will participate in brainstorming sessions relative to specific strategies. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Increase the use of teleconferencing to allow faculty at other PLNU campuses to become involved in committees and task force groups. | Information Technology Services | Teleconferencing, implemented already in many settings to include other campuses, will be announced to and encouraged of the entire University. | Fall, 2006 |
| STANDARDS TWO AND FOUR | | | |
| Create more formal policies and procedures to protect the University as it grows through off-main campus programs, including the professional development of graduate faculty, careful review of course syllabi, and examination of department/school expectations for support of the Mission of the University. | Graduate Studies Committee; Academic Policies Committee; Provost's Office | The recent report from Maguire Associates has been referred by the President to various groups to address the issues uncovered in that document. The President will outline the challenges and ask for responses and planned actions for the improvement of policies and procedures. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Continue the orientation and preparation of adjunct faculty with sessions at the beginning of each academic year. | Provost's Council | After a successful trial run in the fall of 2005, the Provost's Council has made plans for establishing this as a regular program for adjunct faculty. | August, 2006, is the next offering. |
| Inquire further into the weaker item response of graduate faculty as compared to undergraduate faculty regarding the institution’s commitment to long-term success in professional development. | Graduate Studies Committee | The Graduate Studies Committee will look into this as part of their agenda for the coming academic year. Results will be reported in the EER report. | Fall 2006, 2007 |
| Inquire further as to why there may be an information gap between adjunct and full-time faculty, as well as graduate and undergraduate faculty, regarding commitment to graduate programs. | Provost's Office; President's Office | This has been addressed by the President in faculty meetings in the fall and spring of 2005-2006. The recently recently installed Provost will clarify, in a white paper and in person to the entire faculty, the University's commitment to graduate programs. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Take steps to foster an institutional commitment to support the growth of graduate education and professional development. | Provost's Office; President's Office | This has been addressed by the President in faculty meetings in the fall and spring of 2005-2006. The recently recently installed Provost will clarify, in a white paper and in person to the entire faculty, the University's commitment to graduate programs. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Explore a policy and procedural structure designed to prevent institutional drift as the institution continues to grow off the main San Diego campus. | Administrative Cabinet; Board of Trustees | The President will include this recommendation in the overall work of analyzing the development of programs off the main campus. | On-going. |
| Improve the level of access to academic resources for graduate students with the goal of improving the level of academic rigor in research and scholarly activity. | Provost's Council; Director of the Library | The Honors Scholars Program will be studied with the possibility of including graduate-level students as well as undergraduates. Library holdings will be studied for adequacy. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Improve the orientation of graduate students to University support services. | Academic Affairs; Office of Student Development; Office of Spiritual Development | Existing orientation session will be expanded to include more student services information. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Utilize benchmarks to measure standards of excellence such as professional accreditation, national exams, publications, and significant research, in order to gage improvement and growth in each field. | Provost's Office; Provost's Council; Office of Institutional Research | These benchmarks will be created for the Provost in a data portfolio and then utilized in the analysis of the various programs. | On-going. |
| Improve academic support in the following ways: 1) document the use of literature in the field of study and its availability to graduate students and faculty for their research agenda, 2) assure the commitment of library and media services in developing graduate-level facilities and resources, 3) review curricula, faculty involvement, academic resources and technology for currency in scholarly literature, and 4) conduct a “best practices” survey of graduate curricula, textbooks, professional/academic journals, and conference proceedings available to faculty and students at comparable graduate institutions. | Provost's Office; Director of the Library; Information Technology Services; Graduate Studies Committee | Under the direction of the Provost's Office, these steps toward improving academic support will be taken in collaboration with the Director of the Library, the Chief Information Officer, and the Graduate Studies Committee. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Continue efforts with freshman retention, seeking new and better ways for facilitating retention. | Office of Student Engagement and Retention | This is a regular function of this office. | On-going. |
| Research the reasons students leave the University before graduating in an effort to increase retention rates. | Office of Student Engagement and Retention | This is a regular function of this office. | On-going. |
| Develop measures for retention and graduation rates at the graduate level and analyze the results for possible action. | Provost's Council; Graduate program directors; Office of Institutional Research; Office of Student Engagement and Retention | This recommendation will be a focus for each of the College deans who serve on the Provost's Council. Program directors, who are closest to these students, will work on a survey design to gather data. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Consider regular collaboration on content and pedagogy between full-time and adjunct faculty both within the same discipline and across disciplines. | Provost's Office; Provost's Council; Academic Council | Though a small amount of this is happening already, the Provost will work with the Academic Council (the academic leadership team) to promote this effort. | On-going. |
| Emphasize to faculty the need to correlate their own perceptions about establishing challenging and clear expectations with student perceptions. | Provost's Office; Provost's Council; Academic Council | Though this action is an expectation of all faculty, the Provost will work with the Academic Council (the academic leadership team) to recognize this concern and promote more deliberate efforts in this regard. | On-going. |
| Continue efforts at all program levels to help transfer students meet institutional objectives. | Vice Provost for Academic Administration; Academic Advising Office; Academic Council | Progress is being made in this area. For example, a new protocol for advising new transfer students was instituted in the fall of 2006, the Records Office has written a guide for transfer students, and the Academic Advising Office meets all transfer students as a part of the New Student Orientation schedule. | On-going. |
| Increase efforts, through the Center for Teaching and Learning, in helping faculty to interpret and use standardized teaching evaluation instruments with the goal of making this process more intentionally formative. | Vice Provost for Professional Development; Center for Teaching and Learning | The Vice Provost for Professional Development began working on this project during the 2005-2006 academic year. The Vice Provost is also the director of the CTL. | On-going. |
| PLANNING | | | |
| Establish a three-year planning cycle. | Office of the President; Strategic Planning Committee | This recommendation has been implemented by the Strategic Planning Committee and approved by the President. | Spring, 2006 |
| Create a University-wide communication strategy to keep the PLNU community informed about the progress in planning. | Strategic Planning Committee; Office of the President | The co-chairs of the Strategic Planning Committee will institute an electronic means of highlighting the planning activities at the University. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Expand the existing planning data set to include a broader range of key performance indicators for the institution. | Strategic Planning Committee; Office of Institutional Research | Expanding existing planning data will be undertaken by the Strategic Planning Committee, working with the Office of Institutional Research. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Study and modify the structure of the SPC with the goal of optimizing the communication between planning and budgeting and ensuring direct information access to key University areas. | Strategic Planning Committee | The Strategic Planning Committee implemented this recommendation late in the spring of 2006 as a result of its own evaluation. | Accepted and in place. |
| ASSESSMENT | | | |
| Improve structures of data collection, tracking for alumni and for students who change majors. | Assessment Committee | The Assessment Committee will consult with the Alumni Office and ITS regarding systems for tracking alumni. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Improve support for assessment leaders through additional personnel, guidance, and mentoring. This recommendation involves formalizing a system to distribute assessment funds for testing, evaluator stipends, workshop attendance and development; assessing the adequacy of the current budget to support assessment activities; creating a new position devoted to supporting assessment activities (perhaps in the Office of Institutional Research); improving communication with assessment leaders, providing regular updates, posting a calendar of events, deadlines and assessment resources; and working on recognition of the Assessment Committee as a valuable resource to facilitate outcome-based assessment efforts. | Assessment Committee; Administrative Cabinet | The Assessment Committee developed a funding application form for conference attendance. The Committee is working on strategies to implement better development of and support for assessment activities. | On-going. |
| Improve the documentation of assessment activities, providing clarity of reporting guidelines, standardizing the documentation system, and providing support for units with external accreditation to comply seamlessly with standardized documentation and formatting guidelines. | Assessment Committee | The Assessment Committee is formulating a Web-based documentation system and a Web site with resources and reporting guidelines to improve communication with assessment leaders. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by providing a broad enough scope for both curricular and co-curricular units to understand and relate to the value of assessment. | Assessment Committee | Strategies are being discussed by the Assessment Committee. | On-going. |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by discussing, evaluating, and supporting leader motivation for conducting assessment activities. | Assessment Committee | Strategies are being discussed by the Assessment Committee. | On-going. |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by helping assessment leaders and faculty/staff to discover how to use the results of assessment activities for program improvement. | Assessment Committee | Strategies are being discussed by the Assessment Committee. | On-going. |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by reaching full compliance (100%) of assessment activities (plan, measurement, data analysis, and use of results) for all academic degrees and major programs. | Assessment Committee; Chairs; School Deans; Co-curricular Unit Leaders | Liaison members of the Assessment Committee are working with schools and departments to reach full compliance. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by linking assessment objectives more explicitly to the University Mission. | Assessment Committee; Chairs; School Deans; Co-curricular Unit Leaders | With Assessment Committee encouragement, assessment leaders are beginning to incorporate "To Teach, To Shape, To Send" in learning outcomes linking Mission and outcomes. | On-going. |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by continuing progress toward the assessment of co-curricular programs, with particular attention to areas that can provide insight into student learning and formation. | Assessment Committee; Chairs; School Deans; Co-curricular Unit Leaders | Liaison members of the Assessment Committee are working with co-curricular units to make progress on this recommendation. | On-going. |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by continuing progress toward the assessment of the general education program. | Assessment Committee; Dean of General Education | The Assessment Committee is working with the Dean of General Education to make progress on this recommendation. | On-going. |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by improving measurement of educational effectiveness indicators. | Assessment Committee; Dean of General Education; General Education Committee | The Assessment Committee is working with the Dean of General Education and the General Education Committee to make progress on this recommendation. | On-going. |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by providing an increasingly visible and supportive role of administrative leadership relative to the importance of assessment. | Assessment Committee; Provost; Office of the President | Strategies are being discussed by the Assessment Committee. | On-going. |
| Improve and deepen the culture of assessment and assessment activities by working on strategies to improve attitudes toward assessment. | Assessment Committee | Strategies are being discussed by the Assessment Committee. | On-going. |
| DIVERSITY | | | |
| Continue to recruit ethnically diverse faculty and staff. | Office of the President; Office of the Provost | All job postings reflect this goal in their text. | On-going. |
| Continue efforts to grow our own ethnically diverse and female faculty members by supporting them in doctoral studies. | Provost's Office | The University offers loans for graduate study and, in recent years, these have been accessed by ethnically diverse and female faculty members. | On-going. |
| Work to sustain the numerical gains in students of color by continuing and increasing diversity leadership scholarships, contact with diverse neighborhoods and schools, commitment to a diverse admissions staff, and an increase in special outreach programs to students who meet our Mission target. | Administrative Cabinet; Vice President for University Advancement; Admissions Office | Since one of the Core Values of the institution is diversity, this recommendation to continue is taken very seriously, especially by the President. | On-going. |
| Expand outreach programs to churches with more diverse Christian populations. | Office of the President | The President accepts this as a principle for future actions and will address this in the fall 2006 meeting of the Board of Trustees. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Increase the level of institutional support for the Associate Director of Outreach in the Admissions Office in order to expand programs for under-represented populations. | Dean of Admissions; Vice President for Institutional Advancement | This will have to be addressed in budget requests in the spring of 2007. | Spring, 2007 |
| Increase the level of institutional support for the Director of Diversity and International Students along with the M.O.S.A.I.C. student club alliance. | Administrative Cabinet; Vice President for Student Development | This will have to be addressed in budget requests in the spring of 2007. | Spring, 2007 |
| Gather more substantive data to measure campus climate with respect to diversity. | Office of Institutional Research | This has been referred to the Director of Institutional Research. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Clarify and strengthen the role of the Diversity Committee, especially in terms of its potential role in the strategic planning process. | Office of the President | The President will convene the Diversity Committee in the fall of 2006 for this purpose, in consultation with the Strategic Planning Committee. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Increase the level of institutional support for the Center for Justice and Reconciliation and the Margaret Stevenson Center for Women’s Studies in order to increase their impact on the University community. | Administrative Cabinet; Provost's Office | This will have to be addressed in budget requests in the spring of 2007. | Spring, 2007 |
| Study ways to integrate students' transformational study-abroad experiences with diverse cultures and ethnic groups with the larger context of campus climate. | Office of International Studies; Diversity Committee | The President will convene the Diversity Committee in the fall of 2006 for this purpose, in consultation with the Vice Provost for International Studies. | Fall, 2006 |
| Make weekly chapel experiences a focal point for underscoring the Core Value of ethnic and gender diversity, including ethnic diversity in music and worship styles, the demographics of speakers heard, addressing topics of racism and sexism, celebrating the value of diversity, and educating students in this regard. | Vice President for Spiritual Development; Diversity Committee | In light of the change in leadership in the position of Vice President for Spiritual Development (summer of 2006), this will be referred to the new Vice President upon installation. | AY 2006-2007 |
| Link the work of the Office of International Studies with the Diversity Committee. | Office of the President; Vice Provost for International Studies | The President will convene the Diversity Committee in the fall of 2006 for this purpose, in consultation with the Vice Provost for International Studies. | Fall, 2006 |
| Consider ways to determine the institution's commitment to cultural competence vis-à-vis the content on the undergraduate curriculum. | General Education Committee; Diversity Committee | The General Education Committee will take this as an on-going discussion in its work. | On-going. |
| Add a brief paragraph under each of the University's Core Values to explicate the meaning more precisely, especially in terms of "Global Perspective and Experience," and "Cultural Diversity." | Office of the President; Administrative Cabinet; Board of Trustees | The President will present this idea to all units concerned, including the Board of Trustees leadership. | Fall, 2006 |