WNCC 2010 Self-Study Report - Western Nebraska Community ...

The Self-Study Process and Report Creation and Organization
The 2010 NCA/HLC analysis project and this written report represent an interior examination of the
College made by its faculty and staff, but it also represents more. Because it was compiled by
exactly those who serve its students, the study represents a learning odyssey for its participants.
The study was not performed by professional researchers who analyze data for a living, nor was
the report drafted by people who create promotional literature. Instead, classroom instructors,
secretaries, directors, counselors, and division chairs looked at the institution and tried their best to
record, understand, and evaluate what they saw. This written report transmits the perception of the
people who drive the institution at the functional level.
The self-study process began in the spring of 2007 with the appointment by President Eileen Ely of
self-study co-chairs Mary Barkeloo, the Institutional Researcher, and Susan Dickinson, a member
of the faculty from the Division of Language and Arts. They, along with some administrators,
attended the NCA’s annual convention that spring to learn about the new criteria and to plan for the
self-study. After the convention, committee co-chairs were appointed by Dr. Ely to head each of
the five criteria to be covered, and members of the faculty and staff were assigned to a specific
criterion as a member of an investigative team.
The self-study endeavor was a deliberately diffuse process, based upon the premise that equally
important to the institution were not only reviewing processes and results in order to discover
opportunities for improvement and to renew its accreditation but to give its employees a chance to
explore the College in ways they had not previously done—to learn about other areas, other jobs,
and the other people who fill those positions. WNCC had some relatively new faculty members
and new administrators, and it was time that everyone in this rather small school really got to know
how the place works. Obviously, the design was intended to introduce a measure of objectivity
since most of the people charged with understanding, evaluating, and reporting upon an area were
not familiar with it previously.
Throughout the fall of 2007, co-chairs met monthly to familiarize themselves with self-study
process in general and to explore the specific criteria more fully. In January of 2008, trainers for
the Center for Conflict Resolution presented a workshop for committee co-chairs that focused on
increasing participation by committee members and celebrating progress. Additionally, to prepare
for the project, criterion co-chairs attended the NCA/HLC convention in spring of 2008.
During fall 2008’s Inservice days, Dr. Karen Solomon, HLC liaison, came to WNCC to discuss the
purpose for and requirements of the self-study process. After Dr. Solomon’s visit, a steering
committee was created, made up of the College President, the original project co-chairs, the Dean
of Educational Services, the Student Learning and Assessment Coordinator, the Online Learning
and Services Director, and the Registrar. This group met regularly to problem-solve and to check
on the progress of the creation of the document. Eventually, steering committee members were
appointed to spearhead each criterion group as consultants to that area of inquiry.
Over the next two semesters, criterion co-chairs met with their committee members to begin
gathering information for the self-study. The administration created two self-study work days, one
in October of 2008 (at Scottsbluff) and another in January of 2009 (held at the Sidney site),
signaling to the faculty and staff that executive-level leaders at the College understood the
complexity of the task it was asking of them and valued their efforts.
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Western Nebraska Community College