Committee Members:

Greg Crow (chair) - Professor of Mathematics, Kim Bogan - Director of Academic Advising, Brandon Hill – Dean of Students, Cynthia Hurley – Associate Professor of Education, Ron Kirkemo – Professor of Political Science, Mike McConnell – Professor of Biology and Chemistry, Mike McKinney - Professor of German and Literature, Jeff McKinstry – Professor of Computer Science, Kevin Modesto – Assistant Professor of Social Work, Charlene Pate – Assistant Professor of Writing, Norm Shoemaker – Director of the Center for Pastoral Leadership, Sheryl Smee – Director of Alumni Relations and Robert Smith – Professor of Religion

Committee Charge:

Point Loma Nazarene University has chosen to opt for a thematic approach to its Education Effectiveness Review. The newly restated University Mission, summarized in the phrase To Teach ~ To Shape ~ To Send, is a logical choice for such a thematic treatment. Furthermore, the University is anxious to investigate further and more deliberately sustain discourse on these missional phrases. The Institutional Proposal, page 8, calls for "analytical essays for each of the three themes" utilizing "specific lines of inquiry and means of assessment." At the conclusion of its work, Task Force III will have prepared a reflective essay whose findings will generate full discussion "with the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, students, and alumni."

Listed below are questions that have been crafted by the WASC Steering Committee (Institutional Proposal, page 12) for the purpose of addressing the theme "To Send." These questions cover three specific areas: vocation, community, and church.

Vocation

Are students at Point Loma Nazarene University well prepared for graduate study or for work in a profession?

Community

Do our students evidence a commitment to lives of service?

Church

In what ways are current students and alumni involved in a local faith community?

Reflective Essay

As with the previous two Special Themes, "to Teach" and "to Shape," the third Special Theme, "To Send," likewise flows directly from, and is inextricably tied to, the University’s Mission Statement. Indeed, over the past several decades, the Mission Statement has been revisited and re-crafted on numerous occasions, reflecting the truism that the Mission Statement is not a mere showcase created for positive public relations, but is, rather, a dynamic, albeit realistic and accurate, statement of what PLNU is about. Importantly, the Mission Statement has evolved as the institution has conscientiously and intentionally reflected on what it is we, as a Christian institution of higher leaning, believe ourselves to be. It is also the standard by which we measure ourselves and by which we are measured by others.

The Mission Statement identifies three institutional activities, the third being "To Send." Its inclusion in the mission idea demonstrates that this concept is embraced, shared and embodied throughout the entire institution, i.e., the "sending" of our students, and how, precisely they are sent, is one of this University’s three cornerstones. What this concept actually entails has been more thoughtfully delineated by the PLNU WASC Steering Committee. Drawing on the Mission Statement itself, along with the Vision and the Statement of Institutional Core Values, it is agreed that the phrase "To Send" embraces three essential ideas: Professional Preparation, Community and Church. And each of these, in turn, is addressed by a corresponding and supportive question (Institutional Proposal, Page 12).

While the nature of vocation is, of course, far broader in scope than can be addressed in this particular review, we are guided by some generally recognized principles. Vocation, as we will use the term, refers to the overall unfolding of our students’ lives as they leave this community and the direction their lives then wholly embrace. While we recognize that vocation is not the final measure of how successful we are in sending our students into their world, understood in the broader sense of one’s life direction, we are able to come to certain conclusions as to how successful we are in our mission of sending. As a means of examining the nature of "Sending" at PLNU, therefore, we are going to focus on three facets of vocation. Though certainly not exhaustive, these three areas are reflective indicators underlying our commitment to the mission of "Sending." These three factors encompass one’s chosen profession, one’s service to and involvement in, the local community, and one’s relationship to a local church body. These factors, we believe, serve as representative elements of a life well lived.

Addressing first of all the mission of preparing our students for their respective professional lives, we ask: Are students at Point Loma Nazarene University well prepared for graduate study or for work in a profession? Pursuant to our Mission Statement "Point Loma Nazarene University exists to provide higher education in a vital Christian community where minds are engaged and challenged." It is, moreover, our unqualified vision that Point Loma Nazarene University be known for its excellence in academic preparation.

Immutable prerequisites to actualizing this vision are the following core values (Mission Statement): 1) a robust scholarly community that promotes excellence in teaching, research and service; 2) a distinctive undergraduate curriculum and co-curricular experience that offers a model in higher education; 3) exceptional undergraduate programs that prepare our students for success in graduate school and the professions; and 4) select graduate programs of proven quality and professional relevance. To this end, excellence in teaching and learning is imperative, and it is to this end that all else must be subjugated.

Our 2005 alumni survey indicates that we are preparing our students well for the world of work and for graduate study. The vast majority of our students feel they have been adequately prepared with the skills and knowledge necessary for the world of work. Our students also perceive that we are actively encouraging them to pursue additional training after graduating from PLNU. They are earning Ph.D.s, have had laudable acceptance rates into medical schools, and are studying law in significant numbers at highly esteemed schools. In short, the data indicates we are "Sending" our graduates out well prepared for their professional callings.

However, we also need to have a 21^st century approach to maintaining contact with our graduates. Our attempts at tracking data on where our graduates practice their vocation and what they are doing within their professional lives have up to now been wholly inadequate. We would like to have information on their career paths and on their geographic mobility, not just anecdotal information. Similarly, although we currently have information as to what services our students use within the Office of Career Services, we do not have good measurements as to output variables. Accordingly, steps are now being taken to improve communication with our graduates and to bring our data gathering up to speed.

Second, and pertaining to the mission of sending students of character and faith into the "community," we ask: Do our students evidence a commitment to lives of service? (Institutional Proposal, Page 12). This objective arises from the Mission Statement's declaration that "Point Loma Nazarene University exists to provide higher education in a vital Christian community . . . where service becomes an expression of faith." Equally important to its quest for academic excellence, the University intends to be known for its wholeness in the personal development of its students, as well as for its faithfulness to its mission. This objective entails creating 1) a collegial community characterized most notably by civility and respect, where all members are valued and encouraged to fulfill their individual potential, and 2) an exemplary model of student engagement for service to the community, wherever that community may be. To this effect, the University strives to create an intentional Christian community (Mission Statement), a community that necessarily includes global perspectives and experiences; fosters a community where ethnic and cultural diversity are inviolate priorities; and builds a community where service is lived out as the ultimate expression of faith.

Our 2005 alumni survey indicates that our graduates volunteer their time with service organizations at a level that is twice as high as that which is undertaken by the rest of the U.S. population. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of our graduates contribute financially to charitable organizations, which is fitting for a school founded and supported by the Church of the Nazarene, since that sort of social action has been an integral part of its mission from the very beginning. This commitment to community on the part of our alumni flows, no doubt, from the ubiquitous ambience of service that is so prevalent on the PLNU campus, as well as from the large number of service activities our students involve themselves in throughout the local community, throughout the nation, and even throughout the world at large.

At the same time, we need to have better information as to the actual extent of service engaged in by our alumni. We do not know, for example, specific details, such as where our alumni perform their community service, the nature of the service, and just what groups and types of individuals are, in fact, affected by the contributions of our alumni.

In this respect, our senior survey has been taken by far too few of our graduates to be credibly useful in determining just which attitudes and beliefs pertaining to service to the community have been affected during the student’s tenure at PLNU -- if impacted at all. The challenge we face is to expand the horizons of our often sheltered students to the point they will serve the world beyond their own comfort zone communities. We are doing many things in this regard and we are also able to measure these input variables, i.e., such as how many campus clubs/organizations and participants work in the community. What we have not done successfully, however, is to measure outcomes. Nevertheless, the alumni survey has been a good starting point in our attempt to track and measure the social and charitable work our graduates contribute to their local communities, to the nation, and, in many cases, to numerous countries around the world.

Finally, and understanding the notion of "church" involvement to be broadly defined, the following question arises: In what ways are current students and alumni involved in a local faith community? (Institutional Proposal, Page 12). Similar to the "community" component, this commitment likewise flows from the University’s Statement that "Point Loma Nazarene University exists to provide higher education in a vital Christian community." It is the University’s vision that Point Loma Nazarene University will be known for its wholeness in personal development and for its faithfulness to its mission, demonstrated by a spiritual vitality that is centered on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is this spirituality that we mean when we speak of creating an intentionally Christian community, i.e., the Lordship of Jesus Christ lived out by our students in whatever community they find themselves. A presupposition to this admittedly lofty ideal is that this vital spirituality be observed and experienced while a student at Point Loma Nazarene University, and that it be modeled by professors, administrators and staff alike.

We have been effective at continuing the work, begun by others, to encourage our graduates to be active participants in local faith communities. According to our 2005 alumni survey, the vast majority of our graduates are, in fact, involved in their local churches. The evidence shows they support the work of churches both at home and around the world. They are, moreover, decidedly dedicated to their faith communities.

Once again, however, there are things we desire to know about our alumni, but which we have not yet obtained the capacity for learning. We do not know, for example, why and how our alumni make the choice to worship in a given church community. Is there perhaps a relationship between entering denominational affiliation and the likelihood of participation in a church of that denomination after graduation? And do we adequately understand the effects of activities, such as required chapel attendance, on the alumnus’ later involvement in a local church? We also do not know the actual rate of voluntary participation, since so many of our graduates assume full time employment in church related organizations, thereby skewing the figures somewhat. Finally, we would additionally like to know to what degree our students are equipped to participate in multi-generational church worship settings.

Importantly, stating a rather imposing mission, while highlighting its concomitant vision and core values, is meaningless absent an intent and plan to implement that mission. As must be evident throughout this entire review, and given the strong and repeated emphasis placed upon it in several of the essays, assessment has in recent years become an immutable cornerstone in the life of the University. Indeed, as noted in the WASC CPR Group Six: Assessment Report and WASC EER Group One: Assessment Report, assessment is now an on-going process that all departments undertake on an annual basis -- and not merely for the obligatory purpose of surviving accreditation review, but rather as an intentional University-wide commitment to the mission that we profess drives all that we do. Within that context, we have many opportunities to improve our assessment activities as we expand and increase our efforts.

To Send Report

The assignment of the "To Send" Committee was to measure the degree to which we do, or do not, succeed in meeting the mission we say is ours as to this third component theme. For purposes of this particular review, therefore, a number of sources were utilized, many of which were already in place and widely implemented by the respective academic and administrative departments for their own on-going assessment purposes. These sources included GRE scores, professional licensure examinations, graduate school admittance records, data from the Office of Spiritual Development, alumni surveys, focus groups, Career Services data, senior exit interviews, senior surveys, and registration surveys.

With the foregoing as a backdrop, this essay will address, seriatim, the results of that study. More specifically, the following questions will be directly addressed: are we succeeding in preparing our students for further training and for their professions; are we succeeding in preparing our students for a commitment to lives of service in the community; and are we succeeding in preparing our students to be actively involved in a local faith community. In addition to discussing the degree to which we are, or are not, succeeding in these three areas (Vocation, Community, Church), we will also be pinpointing important concerns the Committee believes the University should be aware of, as well as what information still needs to be gathered in order to improve the University’s efforts in these three areas. Finally, the Committee sets forth specific recommendations that have arisen from these concern and inadequacies?

Vocation

Are students at Point Loma Nazarene University well prepared for graduate study or for work in a profession?

The data demonstrate that we are succeeding in preparing our students for graduate study and for work in their chosen professions.

In determining whether we are, in fact, successfully preparing our students for graduate school and for their chosen professions, we surveyed 1300 alumni (2005 Alumni Survey Response Rates) who were graduated from PLNU within the past ten years, i.e., alumni who were graduated between 1994 and 2004.

We believe the results (2005 Alumni Survey Results) of this survey graphically demonstrate that we are indeed successfully preparing our students for graduate training, as 69.2% of respondents offered that they either agreed or agreed strongly that they were, in fact, well prepared for the intellectual challenges of post-baccalaureate training. This number is even more impressive when the responses of only those alumni who have actually completed a graduate degree are considered, i.e., when we exclude a consideration of the responses from alumni who did not actually pursue a graduate degree and who thus may not credibly reflect the degree to which they were or were not prepared. Of those alumni (2005 Alumni Survey Results) who obtained at least a Master’s Degree, approximately 90% felt they had been well prepared. Moreover, 44% of respondents indicated they had completed some type of professional certification, a Master’s Degree, a Doctoral Degree, or some other post-graduate program at another institution. To the degree this survey accurately mirrors the progress of our alumni, it would appear that close to half of our graduates (2005 Alumni Survey Results) complete an advanced degree of some sort.

In addition, 63.5% of the alumni who responded (2005 Alumni Survey Results) indicated they were well prepared for the social and psychological challenges inuring to post-baccalaureate training. And once again, this number rises to 78.3% when only those responses are considered where the respective alumnus actually pursued post-baccalaureate training.

While our alumni may well be the best source as to how successful we are in training our students for graduate training, additional considerations appear to verify the positive results suggested by our alumni. Indeed, if Ph.D. production is an accurate measure of our academic success, then we can confidently claim that our students are well prepared for graduate training when they leave PLNU. PLNU, for example, places in the 85th percentile when compared with the Ph.D. production of all California institutions; in the 59th percentile when compared with CCCU institutions; in the 73rd percentile when compared nationwide with Bachelor’s Degree granting institutions; in the 79th percentile when compared nationwide with Master’s Degree granting institutions; and in the 49th percentile when compared nationwide with Doctorate granting institutions.

And just as we believe that alumni are one of the most reliable indicators as to how well we are preparing our students for graduate training, we also believe our current students have much to tell us in this regard as well. To this end, therefore, we also conducted a survey among our most recent graduating seniors. Of those responding, 49% indicated they were frequently encouraged to pursue graduate or professional study. This compares favorably with 39% at other religious schools and with 39.1% at private colleges nationwide.

The perception among our students that they are actively encouraged to pursue some sort of post-graduate training is, moreover, borne out by the efforts the University itself undertakes in this regard. While we have not yet compiled an exhaustive list of University directed endeavors, their number and impact is significant. Under the auspices of the Center for Teaching & Learning, for example, seminars are provided to students across the campus on graduate schools, graduate programs, graduate school preparation, professional examinations etc. These sessions are well attended and they give the student the opportunity not only of gaining critical information and background, they are also given the opportunity for dialogue with experts in these various areas.

In addition, PLNU has a "pre-med" committee, comprised of a number of professors from across the curriculum, the primary work of this committee being to prepare our pre-med students, on an individual level, for a career in medicine, and more specifically, for their application process for med school, as well as being a resource for their professional thinking in this area as a whole. Similarly, PLNU has two faculty pre-law advisors who direct a pre-law program and work individually with virtually every student on our campus considering a career in law. Here, too, an important part of the University’s endeavor is to prepare individual students for gaining admittance into the law program of their choice.

Finally, albeit not exhaustively, the science faculty, along with alumni who work in the field of science, have formed a support group for current students. Called "The Research Associates," this group, comprising some 290 alumni who work in the field of science, provide approximately $30,000 a year for our students to engage in summer research programs. And along with this program, the biology department has created a "Careers Option Program." Fifteen seminars are offered during the first semester of the student’s freshman year in which the various professional options in the scientific arena are presented (although upper classmen frequently attend as well) and a large number of these seminars are presented by alumni who are active in the field. Importantly, the Mathematical, Information and Computer Sciences department has a similar program, as does the School of Education.

Although PLNU does not have hard data as to how many students university-wide are, and are not, accepted into the various graduate and professional programs, the Pre-Med Committee reports that in the past five years, 78% of those who applied to medical schools were accepted, and 66% of those who applied to dental school were accepted. Moreover, over the past ten years, the medical school acceptance rate has been 72%, while the dental school acceptance rate has been 88%. These numbers, we believe, speak for themselves. Likewise, the pre-law advisors report that our law students are accepted into some of the most prestigious law schools in America and that virtually all our applicants are accepted into an ABA accredited law program. Finally, and reflective once again of the academic preparation attained by our students, is that in the past ten years, five of our students have been selected as Fulbright Scholarship recipients. To this end, PLNU has a standing Fulbright committee which actively seeks out qualifying students for this prestigious program and prepares them for the process as well, two of those committee members having been former Fulbright scholars themselves, as have two other faculty members (see Fulbright data).

Since not all students pursue graduate training upon leaving PLNU, we also inquired in our alumni survey as to how well they believed themselves to have been prepared for the respective professions they have entered. Impressively, we believe, only about 10 % of those alumni surveyed (2005 Alumni Survey Results - again, from the years 1994 - 2004) believe they were not well prepared with the skills necessary for the world of work, and only 6% feel they had not been prepared well with the requisite knowledge necessary. Not only do 90% of our graduates, therefore, believe they were well prepared for their professions, 91.5% of the responding alumni also feel that their experience at PLNU had a major or at least moderate impact upon the development of their critical thinking and analytical skills; 84.5% believe PLNU’s impact upon the development of leadership skills was major, or at least moderate; 86.5% believe the development of their written communication skills to have been significantly impacted by their program at PLNU; and 87.6% believe their verbal communication skills were significantly impacted here.

Information that the committee recommends gathering:

i. Concern as to the gathering of critical data and of maintaining on-going contact with our alumni.

In light of recent technological advances that render data collecting and assessing matters relatively easy, it is striking that PLNU to date has not yet fully implemented a comprehensive system of tracking data on our alumni (one facet of the current system is at the PLNU Alumni area of the portal). Communication is ultimately achieved, but it is slow, tedious and inadequate. Many of the addresses we have for recent alumni are in fact the addresses of their parents. Currently less than half of the alumni from the classes of 1995, 2000, and 2005 have put any occupation data into the AlumNews data gathering system.

What is needed, therefore, is a 21st century approach to communication whereby we can track–at the option of the alumnus–our graduates from the day they are graduated, continuing on throughout their entire lives. Furthermore, whatever improvements to our system are developed will not only benefit the university at large, it will also provide the alumnus him or herself a critical means of staying in touch with his or her university, not to mention a world-wide web of alumni as well.

Briefly stated, we need to know where our students go after graduation, where they live, where they work, where (and if) they perform volunteer service, where (and if) they attend graduate programs, and where (and if) they are involved in a faith community–just to name some of the more important areas of information necessary for our ongoing assessments. To this end, it is essential that we improve the current web portal, for not only would a thoroughgoing system enable us to maintain demographic and personal information, such a system would additionally facilitate interaction between the alumnus and the university, rendering archaic mail surveys, for example, obsolete. Moreover, given the alumnus’ control over such an information system, the communication would be far more personal and hence, more reliable as well.

Before implementing improvements to our system, however, it would be wise, if not compelling, that we consult with other institutions to learn what types of data gathering systems they have created; to learn what has worked and what has not worked at other institutions; to learn what other institutions are thinking in this context; and to learn what other institutions would recommend.

ii. Concern as to our institutional career placement program.

In addition to needing more precise and reliable information as to demographics of our alumni, we also feel there is a need to know to what degree we provide our students, during their tenure on our campus, an intentional and directed quest for a comprehensive understanding of whatever profession or graduate program they may be contemplating. It is, thus, essential that we learn to what degree our career placement office effectuates this goal. We have been in the practice of evaluating at the level of input variables, such as the number of participants in activities, rather than by measuring the outcomes among our graduates. We need to know more precisely and more reliably just what is, and what is not, effective in meeting the needs of our students. And in this respect, it would be impossible to evaluate our program without learning how other institutions implement their career placement programs.

Community

Do our students evidence a commitment to lives of service?

The data demonstrate that the institution does, in fact, create a vital Christian community for our students and that service also becomes an expression of faith for a large number of our students.

Point Loma Nazarene University recognizes that before we can "send" our students "out" into their respective community with a commitment to serve in those communities, we must first create a community on our campus that meaningfully reflects the greater global community.

A vital and intentional Christian community, a core mission commitment of the University, presupposes, a priori, a profound awareness, and deep appreciation, of a diversified global community -- and hence, of a necessarily diversified campus community as well. It is, therefore, paramount that PLNU presents our students, beginning with their very first day on our campus, with a community where ethnic and cultural diversity is both integral to what we are, as well as inextricably related to what we say and do. In many cases our students come from far more sheltered environments than the norm, and certainly in far greater numbers than would be the case at secular universities. To be able to serve others, therefore, our students need to experience a broader and more diverse social milieu than that with which they are familiar. Moreover, creating a campus community where all members are valued and encouraged to fulfill their individual potential while appreciating and valuing that same potential in all others is a first part of "sending" our students into a life of service. Having modeled and fostered these principles as inviolate to a life of vital Christianity, it is our hope that our students internalize this experience and continue in this vein as they enter their own respective communities upon graduation. And, in fact, the data suggest this is precisely what takes place in great measure (WASC CPR Group Seven: Diversity). Importantly, PLNU’s commitment to cultivating the demands and expectations of a diversified student body has necessarily been a major focus of attention in recent years. And in this regard, the challenge is twofold: first, to create a campus community where diversity exists; and second, to cultivate among all our students an appreciation of cultural and ethnic diversity, as well as an understanding of the issues inuring to such a diverse community and of the groups comprising the community. Future studies will show just how significantly our increased emphasis on developing a diversified university community spirit has translated the experience of diversity into a commitment by our students to cultural awareness upon graduation, as well as to a life of service in that community.

Realizing that it does not suffice merely to have a diversified student body on our campus, i.e., to be able to show on paper that we have students of myriad ethnic and racial backgrounds (Table 1.4.1-Undergraduate Admissions Ethnicity), in the past five years the University has implemented a series of support networks and services for the men and women on our campus of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. These support services function not only to facilitate an increase in the percentage of students of color, for example, they also serve to provide a campus-wide awareness of the presence and needs of minority students. In fact, the various programs have been created to assure that "all" students are enabled to maximize their potential, and this necessarily includes an understanding of the impediments that accompany many of our minority students. Subsequent to the 1996-1997 accreditation cycle, for example, the Office of Student Development established the "Office of Diversity and International Student Services". Although student clubs are directly under the auspices of the Associated Student Body, the Director of the Office of Diversity Student Services draws the various campus clubs together under her jurisdiction in a collaboration called MOSAIC (Multicultural Opportunities for Students Actively Involved in Community). This collaboration of ethnic and cultural clubs includes the "ALAS" (Association of Latin American Students), the "BSU" (Black Student Union), the "ASU" (the Asian Student Union), the Hui O' Hawai'i, the International Club (created for our international students), the Mu Kappa Club (designed for students whose parents are missionaries), and the "SSJ" (Students for Social Justice). Importantly, each club is open to any and all students, without restriction, and a centrally located lounge in the Nicholson Commons Student Center has been set aside as a meeting place for MOSAIC meetings and events.

In addition, the Director also works with the University Admissions Counselors to assist in a smooth transition for incoming freshmen, and particularly for those of a culturally diverse background. To this end, a group of student volunteers (Team Barnabas) has been put together with the task of supporting incoming students of diverse backgrounds, and particularly those who are first generation in a university environment. During "New Student Orientation" held the week before the beginning of the fall semester, a breakfast is hosted for students (and their families) of diverse backgrounds as a means of welcoming these students (and their families) to the PLNU family. Club representatives are also invited to this breakfast so that they can share their experiences and make personal connections with these incoming freshman and transfer students. The intent of all these programs is to make sure our minority students know from the very outset that all students are equally important on our campus, that programs are in place to assist them in growing to their fullest potential, and that their contributions to the Institution are sincerely valued.

As noted above, there are a number of clubs and associations available for our students of diverse backgrounds which have been created to meet their unique needs and interests. The University additionally provides myriad opportunities to all students for cultural experience and service both on and off campus as well. An important step taken in this direction by the Office of Spiritual Development since the last accreditation study was the hiring of a Hispanic professional, as the Director of Discipleship Ministries. Her responsibilities include the selection and training of small groups of students across the University for the purpose of leading Bible studies, organizing and sponsoring men’s and women’s retreats, and coordinating women-in-ministry events.

A second creation of the Office of Spiritual Development, called Cross-Cultural Ministries, maintains a full range of activities designed to help University students participate in meaningful cross-cultural service experiences on both a national and international scale. In recent years, University sponsored student groups have traveled to South America, Central America, Europe, Africa and Mexico (see Spiritual Development Data). During the summer of 2006, for example, approximately 120 students traveled to ten different countries for a service-related experience/ministry. Importantly, prior to taking part in these mission/service trips, each student is required to participate in 16 weeks of logistic and cross-cultural training. This training is, of course, indispensable for a meaningful experience in the host country. The benefits of this training, however, extend far beyond the immediate experience, as the students who have participated in these programs return to campus with greater cultural sensitivity and, in fact, frequently become leaders in subsequent cross-cultural experiences. Not all students go abroad, however, in order to participate in meaningful cultural service, for large numbers of our students have similar experiences closer to home, such as routinely conducting academic tutoring sessions in Southeast San Diego in both Hispanic and African-American neighborhoods, to give just one example out of many.

In addition to the aforementioned programs with their emphasis on diversity, in 2002 the University established the "Center for Justice and Reconciliation" (CJR). The mission of the CJR is to "study poverty and oppression and teach Christian means of social engagement." Since its creation, the Center has paid particular attention to raising awareness among our students, faculty and staff of racial and ethnic discrimination, as well as of the strong correlation between race and oppression.

Despite the controversial nature of these social awareness forums, our students have enthusiastically embraced them, average attendance running at about 60. A brief mention of some of the topics presented by the CJR provides a fair understanding of the University’s commitment to relevant cultural matters, however controversial the themes. In the fall of 2004, Michael Mata, Director of the Urban Leadership Institute at the Claremont School of Theology, presented on "Latinos y Latinas en la Iglesia"; in January of 2005, Jim Godlsborough, a noted reporter for the San Diego Tribune, presented on "Reporting in the Public Square: Limitations on being a Voice for the voiceless"; in February of 2005, Moises Escalante and Rosemary Johnston of the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights presented on "Welcoming the Stranger: Faith, Immigration and Social Justice"; in March of 2005 Imam Sharif Battikhi (Inter-Religious Council), Affad Shaikh (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Muslema Permul (a student activist) and Shareef El-Arbi (Muslim youth Council of San Diego) presented on "Who is my neighbor? Reconciliation with our Muslim Brothers and Sisters; and in the spring of 2006, Rabbi Michael Lerner spoke on the spiritual, social and political issues faced by our contemporary society.

In this same vein, the University has continued its commitment to women’s studies, having recently established the Margaret Stevenson Center for Women's Studies. This center was created to offer PLNU students and faculty an opportunity to engage in the interdisciplinary study of women’s status in, and their contributions to, the world. Other programs directed to women’s issues have arisen in recent years as well. Most notably, perhaps, is the Women in Science Careers discussion group and which is co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching & Learning. Started in 1994, this group meets every few weeks in the spring semester. With an average attendance of from 10 to 20, this group’s primary concern is for mentoring women in the area of career logistics and the pragmatic issues that inure to such logistics.

Yet another program that similarly has proven to be strongly effective in supporting the University’s commitment to diversity issues is the "Women's Forum," created for graduating seniors. Co-sponsored with the Discipleship Ministries program under the auspices of the Office of Spiritual Development, this forum, led by PLNU staff and faculty, is an eight-week series held every spring semester and is open to all graduating women.

Finally, and again indicative of the University’s commitment to increase cultural awareness and appreciation, has been the creation of a PLNU Gospel Choir (the Voices In Praise), open to all students, staff, faculty and family members. This choir’s first appearance at a campus event was in February of 2006 as part of the University’s educational celebration of Black History Month.

Inasmuch as most of the programs created to support our minority students have been recent additions to the PLNU campus, it is too early to measure the overall impact these programs are having. We have, however, been able to measure the degree to which our students are actively engaged in some sort of service program during their tenure at PLNU. According to the Senior Survey given to our graduating seniors, approximately 59% of our recent graduates indicate that they frequently, or at least occasionally, performed community service as part of a class while a student at PLNU. This compares with 57.3% of students at other religious affiliated institutions, and with 54.1% with students at private colleges in general. More impressive, perhaps, 80.4% of our responding graduates indicated they had taken part in some sort of volunteer work during the past year. This compares with 77.3% at religious affiliated institutions, and with 72.2% at private colleges.

As noted, the University’s interest in fostering a commitment to community service among our students extends beyond their tenure at PLNU, as it is our larger aim that they continue this commitment when they leave our rather structured community. In this regard, it would appear that we have been successful in this part of our mission, for according to our alumni survey (2005 Alumni Survey Results), 81% of the respondents indicated they had volunteered their time to a service organization at least once a quarter or more. This, perhaps more than anything else, confirms the success of our endeavors to create community minded men and women, for according to a study conducted by independent researcher C. Toppe, the proportion of PLNU alumni who took part in some sort of voluntary work during this past year is nearly twice the national average of persons (42.1%) (see Faith and Philanthropy).

In addition, 89% of alumni (2005 Alumni Survey Results) responding indicated they contributed financially to a service or charitable organization at least once a quarter; 22.6% indicated they had volunteered their time for a community or civic organization; 36.1% indicated they had volunteered their time in schools or in other educational organizations; and 13.7% indicated they had volunteered time in social organizations.

We need to expand the integration of the Curricular and Co-Curricular experience across the campus. We recognize the need not only to bring the curricular and the co-curricular closer together in the academic setting, it is also paramount that we build upon the integration of the curricular and the co-curricular to which the University in recent years has demonstrated an increasing commitment. Again, the mechanism for this emphasis is already in place and while considerable is being done, and since the University is committed to expanding the growth of all of our students in community-minded affairs, and we again recommend that the possibilities for increased integration be addressed by the various support groups having expertise and responsibility in this arena, e.g., the General Education Task Force, the First-Year Experience Committee, the Assessment Committee, the Preface Reading program associated with New Student Orientation and the various clubs, service-learning, learning/living support, as well as the various outreach communities that have been brought together under the guiding umbrella of MOSAIC (Multicultural Opportunities for Students Actively Involved in Community).

Service to the community being a long-standing mainstay to the mission of the Church of the Nazarene, and service to the community therefore also being one of the chief mission objectives of PLNU, it would appear that the University continues to play a major role in the successful realization of this mission. From all appearances, we are sending service-minded men and women into the wider global community. But while taking considerable satisfaction in the values our students leave PLNU with, we remain committed to seeking even more meaningful ways to create community on our campus and to continue preparing our students for a life of service beyond.

Information that the committee recommends gathering:

i. Concern as to whether we are promoting and developing racial understanding within our campus community.

Although our Senior Survey is not yet as scientifically reliable as we would wish it to be, it does provide at least a glimpse into the attitudes held by our incoming freshman and outgoing seniors as to various racial issues. The results of that particular survey, given over the past four years (2002-2005), for example, reveal that whereas approximately 22% of our incoming freshmen students believe it is very important or essential to promote racial understanding, 30% of students have that belief when they graduate; hence, an improvement of approximately 8%. By way of comparison, 28% of freshmen at other religious institutions believe promoting racial understanding is very important or essential, whereas 35% of seniors at those same institutions share that belief, which, in turn, compares to 31% of freshman at all four-year private colleges and 36% of seniors.

Similarly, 75% of our incoming freshmen (CIRP survey data) relate having socialized with someone of another racial or ethnic group in the preceding year, whereas just 55% of seniors related having such an experience -- a decline of some 21%. These numbers compare fairly closely with the experiences of students at other institutions, e.g., cross-racial or ethnic socializing drops from 62% to 44% among students at other religious four-year colleges, and from 66% to 47% at all private four-year colleges.

While our students are fairly reflective of students at other institutions in this regard, we are concerned that our students’ perceptions of their role in promoting racial understanding and their sense of the importance of racial understanding are too limited. We need to learn, therefore, how we as an institution can instill within our students the value of promoting greater racial understanding. To this end, we also need to know what other institutions are doing to promote racial understanding and appreciation, and especially what those institutions are doing where racial understanding is considered a significant value by their students.

ii. Concern as to whether the support and service programs offered by PLNU actually impact our students in terms of service.

It will have been observed that PLNU offers our students a broad array of opportunities for service. What is not known is whether there is a significant correlation between such opportunities and the likelihood our students will be committed to lives of service in their communities. In short, we need to verify that the many activities our students involve themselves in while at PLNU actually broaden their understanding of the nuanced complexities and needs of the global world.

iii. Concern as to how we can improve our service learning and institutional structures.

When addressing the question as to how we can improve service learning and institutional structures such that our students learn to value the importance of community service, we need to investigate how this can be done without implementing a top-down mandate. Phrased otherwise, we need to engage in further studies to learn how a university such as ours can foster a sense of community service without mandating such, i.e., without requiring service experiences for graduation.

In addition, we need to learn to what degree our students (and alumni) engage in community volunteer service that is not church related, and we need to know what levels of non-church related volunteer service are desirable.

Church
 

In what ways are current students and alumni involved in a local faith community?

The data demonstrate that we are succeeding in preparing our students for involvement in a local faith community.

Our recent survey of alumni, which yielded over 1300 respondents (2005 Alumni Survey Results), has provided a graphic picture of just how involved our graduates become in a faith community when they leave PLNU. Of those responding, for example, 79.6% indicated they regularly attended a church service; 72.9% indicated they financially support a church related organization; 32.6% relate making financial contributions to various mission organizations; and 11% volunteer time in various mission organizations.

In addition, the data demonstrate a high correlation between church attendance and volunteer work. Over the last year, for example, 70.4% of respondents indicated they attended church on a weekly basis, and of this number, 51.9% performed some sort of volunteer work for a church related organization.

Information that the committee recommends gathering:

While we have a fairly good understanding of the degree to which our alumni are part of a church community, we do not know how often our students themselves attend a church service. However, we do not know why and how our alumni make the choice to worship, or not, in a church community. We also do not know to what degree our required chapel attendance for our students is a positive or a negative factor in our alumni’s later decisions to join, or not, a church community, nor do we know to what degree required chapel attendance acts as an impediment to our students being part of a church community while a student at PLNU. And finally, we do not know to what degree denomination affiliation as a student plays a role in the student’s decision to join a church community subsequent to graduation.

In addition, it would be helpful for us to learn whether the various jobs our alumni hold preclude some from taking part in volunteer work, and it is important as well to determine to what degree our alumni who do not report being engaged in volunteer work are actually professionally engaged in such areas, e.g., might it be that a full time pastor, youth leader, or lay leader does not report what he or she does as volunteer-type work goes since such endeavors are compensated? And similarly, it would be useful to us to learn what percentage of our alumni are church leaders, which, of course, presupposes a working definition of "church leader," a concept that must also be more carefully developed.

Finally, we need to know to what degree our students are equipped to worship in multi-generational church worship settings. To date, the data gathered in this regard has been meager and we are ill-equipped at this point in time to assess how we are doing in preparing our students for diverse church settings, diverse congregational make-ups, and diverse worship styles.

Rationale for Recommendations:

(Listed in order by the committee based on most important first.)

1. That we develop expanded opportunities for helping students explore their vocational callings, and that we provide the necessary systems and financial support for this endeavor.

Rationale:
As noted above, several official bodies exist at PLNU whose entire raison d’etre is actively and engagingly to promote specific vocational awareness among respective groups of students, more specifically, to provide our students with information, resources, tools, and the requisite preparation for taking the next step towards their professional direction. Such official bodies are components of programmatic systems that need to be expanded to provide greater opportunities for our students to explore their vocational callings. This expansion will require time, energy, and financial resources. Equally important, these various support groups enable students to better understand their vocational calling in the first place so that the student may make a more informed decision as to his or her particular professional choice.

Because we believe that educational formation is at the core of the process of preparing our students for graduate training and/or their professions, we believe the university should make an even greater effort to assist students with their professional thinking and preparation. We thus recommend that to the degree such groups do not already exist, each department should be encouraged (with appropriate assistance) to create a vocational resource association/group, made up of faculty and professionals in the respective fields, the ultimate objective being that students of all majors should have recourse to resource persons already active in that particular field and who are willing and prepared to assist our students in their vocational thinking. These efforts are probably more effective the closer they are connected to professionals in the field. Regular direct contact between faculty and professionals within individual departments will bear fruit in the "sending" of our graduates.

In addition, the committee recommends that the career placement office play a greater role in the student’s quest for professional direction. Although the career placement office is very successful in bringing employers onto our campus to engage with interested students, we believe the process of vocational thinking should begin in the student’s freshman year with far more depth and intentionality than is currently the case, and we also believe that the process should be on-going throughout the student’s tenure with us.

Finally, the establishment of a web portal system will have the potential of putting our students in contact with an unlimited number of "mentors" actively working in whatever field of interest the student may be pursuing, and to the degree alumni are willing—and we believe a large number of alumni would be more than willing to invest in the lives of our current students in a mentoring capacity—students would have access to resources that have up to now not been possible.

2. That we develop a five- and ten-year post graduate tracking system to complement the work done in the Freshman (CIRP) and Senior (CSS) Surveys, and that we continue to monitor the professional outcomes of our graduates.

Rationale:
In order to better educate, train and prepare our students for postgraduate success, it is imperative that we have accurate information as to how their education and professional training unfolds. Flowing from the discussion above pertaining to our concerns in this area, as well as to what information we believe is additionally needed, we recommend that the institution initiate, and commit itself to, a data gathering system (e.g., a web portal) that will enable the institution to keep in contact with virtually all of its graduates; that will enable the individual alumnus to keep in contact with his or her university; and that will allow the alumnus to initiate and/or maintain contact with other alumni. One exemplar of this philosophy would be to enable our students to keep their e-mail accounts for life.

Such a system should not encroach on the privacy interests of the alumnus, but should, at the same time be a system over which the alumnus would have significant control. Not only would this system keep the alumnus better connected with the university and visa versa, it would also provide the means of more accurately assessing the success of our educational objectives–indeed, of more accurately assessing how successful we are in implementing our mission statement as a whole. A fully integrated web portal such as we are recommending should ultimately be of considerable benefit to the university in its development program at large, since graduates who might (and regretfully do) otherwise lose all contact with the university would be a literal touch away.

While we recognize that the collection of Ph.D. data covers a period of 15 years and thus presents us with a lagging indicator, such is the nature of Ph.D. programs. Nevertheless, because such data is so readily available and because it says volumes about the degree to which our students are prepared for graduate programs, the Committee recommends that the University continue carefully to monitor the Ph.D. production levels of our graduates, as well as other measures of professional outcomes.

3. That we develop a program whereby every graduate is contacted, either by phone or by mail, the first year following their graduation.

Rationale:
It is imperative that we know, as an institution and not merely anecdotally, what our students do the first year after they graduate. This is a concomitant recommendation to the aforementioned recommendation, but experience demonstrates that if we lose contact with out students the first year away from our institution, whatever future contact that arises is coincidental and heavily dependent on efforts made by the alumnus him or herself. Reliable information can be obtained the very first year, and the contact initiated, by a simple phone call to either the graduate or to the graduate’s family. Such an undertaking, however, requires a commitment by the university, for it would involve personnel, as well as the entering and storage of data. We recommend, therefore, that the University initiate a program whereby all graduates, or their families, are contacted—by phone where possible—the very first year after graduation, and that the personal information be computerized so as to be readily accessible by the University.

4. That as many departments as is practical strive to test their graduating students with nationally normed objective tests and that this data be made publicly available.

Rationale:
A growing number of departments currently administer undergraduate E.T.S. tests to their graduating seniors. These examinations provide nationally normed data. Thus, such a testing process enables the respective department—and the university at large—to assess more reliably how the academic preparation taking place at PLNU compares to that of other institutions. Indeed, comparing our students’ level of learning and understanding with those of other institutions gives us the ability to assess more accurately the success of our programs and may well be a better indicator than the feelings of our graduating seniors themselves. In brief, such knowledge would assist us in measuring more accurately the success of our academic programs and in guiding curricular changes and programs as necessary. The Committee thus recommends that all departments, to the degree such exams are available and are applicable to their programs, be encouraged to adopt as a policy the administration of such standard tests on an annual basis.

5. That we create mechanisms to facilitate connections to local churches for both Nazarene and non-Nazarene students.

Rationale:
Since it is important to our mission that our students join a church family upon completion of their educational experience at PLNU, it is essential that our students adopt this behavior as a lifestyle during their tenure on our campus, and that they do so on their own initiative and without compulsion. To this end, we must do far more to provide ready access to local non-Nazarene churches, as well as to our local Nazarene churches, but in doing so we must be vigilant that we do not foster policies, subtle or not so subtle, that deter students from attending non-Nazarene churches. Importantly, with a view of preparing our students for later church involvement, we might be well advised to expose our students to the various local churches by bringing in local pastors to speak at chapel, thereby providing our students an introduction into the personality of the various local churches as well as an understanding into the theology associated with the various church communities. While this would naturally include local Nazarene pastors, it should not be narrowly limited to our denomination; it should, rather, reflect the broad diversity of our student body as well.

6. That the academic departments, along with the General Education Task Force, explore the feasibility of placing service–learning components in some courses, and that support structures be created for these efforts.

Rationale:
In light of the University’s mission to "send" service-minded men and women into the global community, it is paramount that service be viewed as inextricably related to each academic discipline and not merely as a discrete entity unto itself. To the degree feasible, and without taking the form of a mandated service-training program, each academic discipline should be encouraged, and enabled, to develop service-related experiences and/or training for their students, however such endeavor might inherently relate to a given discipline. Since the mechanism is already in place, it would be expected, at least as a starting point, that the shared lead for such a discussion and study would be taken corporately by the General Education Task Force, the First-Year Experience Committee, and the Assessment Committee, working together with the various campus service-learning, the various learning/living communities, and the Preface Reading Program associated with New Student Orientation.

Recommendations:

1. That we develop expanded opportunities for helping students explore their vocational callings, and that we provide the necessary systems and financial support for this endeavor.
2. That we develop a five- and ten-year post graduate tracking system to complement the work done in the Freshman (CIRP) and Senior (CSS) Surveys, and that we continue to monitor the professional outcomes of our graduates.
3. That we develop a program whereby every graduate is contacted, either by phone or by mail, the first year following their graduation.
4. That as many departments as is practical strive to test their graduating students with nationally normed objective tests and that this data be made publicly available.
5. That we create mechanisms to facilitate connections to local churches for both Nazarene and non-Nazarene students.
6. That the academic departments, along with the general education committee, explore the feasibility of placing service–learning components in some courses, and that support structures be created for these efforts.