Self-study submitted to NEASC, September 2011 - Castleton State ...

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Castleton State CollegeChapter 2: Planning and EvaluationImprovement Process). The review process described in Policy 101 was originally adopted bythe VSC in 1979 and has been modified several times since then, including most recently inApril 2011. In addition, in 2009 the Assembly’s General Education Committee, charged withoverseeing that aspect of Castleton’s curriculum, initiated a five-year planning and assessmentprocess.The VSC has initiated Project 2011, a process to replace much of its information managementstructure (portal, content management, and learning management system). Following significantresearch, groups that included representatives of various constituencies from each campusdecided on products and vendors in the three areas. After the VSC Council of Presidentsauthorized implementation of the recommendations, task forces at system and college levelswere created to shepherd implementation. The VSC’s Datatel information management systemwill remain but, in theory at least, become more useful and accessible as it ties into a Datatelportal and SharePoint content management system. The VSC has decided to replace itsBlackboard learning management system with the open-source Moodle product to be managedand hosted by an external vendor. The decision-making process involved several Castletonfaculty and administrators, who tested and analyzed various possible solutions.The college uses a wide array of tools to evaluate its various programs. As described in Chapter4, academic departments provide the academic dean regular updates on their assessment plansand activities, noting current objectives, the kinds of assessments employed, the results of theassessments, and any plans for changes based on those results. Castleton’s General Educationprogram is assessed by a standing committee of the Faculty Assembly using similar methods.These assessments have increasingly become part of the fabric of the institution’s academic life.In addition, academic degree programs are subject to VSC review every five years through thePolicy 101 process noted above. The current policy emphasizes outcome assessment andstipulates a review of academic programs by the Board of Trustees’ Education, Personnel, andStudent Life Committee on a rotating schedule. Programs scheduled for Policy 101 review mustprepare an extensive self-study document. A number of academic programs (e.g., Social Work,Athletic Training, and Nursing) undergo periodic review by the organizations that accredit them.Effective fall 2010, these programs are exempt from Policy 101 review. Finally, the graduates ofsome programs (e.g., Education, Nursing) have to pass examinations to enter their field, aprocess that the associated departments track carefully.To support evaluation of programs, the college administers its own alumni survey, ACT’sAlumni Outcomes Survey and Withdrawing/Non-returning Students Survey, the CIRP Freshmanand Senior Surveys, the National Survey of Student Engagement, a Senior Day survey, thecollege’s Exit Survey of students leaving the college, a Quality of Life Survey on ResidentialLife, and a Quality of Service Survey regarding food service. (These are available in the digitalresources collection.)AppraisalThe college does not have an overall strategic plan, per se, though its activities are to an extentguided by the strategic plan of the VSC system. Its Master Plan, while weighted toward thephysical assets of the college, was developed with extensive input from all sectors of campus,based on study of trends in regional demographics and likely student interests and concerns. It6
Castleton State CollegeChapter 2: Planning and Evaluationhas served well as an overall framework for planning. Following the Master Plan, the college hasconstructed (in chronological order) a major addition to its science building, three newresidential houses, a new residence hall and fitness center, a major addition to its gymnasium, astadium, a large addition to the Campus Center, and a new wing in its most populous academicbuilding. Last June the Board of Trustees approved the implementation of Project 2012, whichincludes a new state-of-the-art, energy efficient, 162-bed residence hall and an open-air pavilionthat will provide a venue for large events such as commencement. At the same time, the MasterPlan has allowed the college to take advantage of changes in its environment. For example, in2009 the Rutland Area Hockey Association became unable to continue operating the arena whereCastleton hockey teams play their home games. Castleton was able to step in, acquire it asSpartan Arena, and add important new academic internships, service-learning opportunities, andcollege-community connections to its assets.Castleton has done very well so far at predicting changes in the competitive environment inwhich it is situated. A 2003 Student Housing Analysis (prepared by an external consulting firmfrom data and direction provided by the college) highlighted enrollment trends that the collegeused to develop a strong response to the challenges of a changing demographic environment. Asstated in the president’s 2010 Convocation address, “enrollment, including recruitment andretention, continues on its planned trajectory and remains under our targeted cap of 2000 oncampusfull-time undergraduates. The gradual increase in our enrollment is consistent with ouroverall plan for improving the quality and number of our students.”The priorities stated at the 2009 Convocation—strengthening the CHANGE and Green Campusinitiatives and a new emphasis on diversity—are seen as successful. The former two programsare now well established among significant constituencies. The latter has resulted in a new officethat houses the international student program and expanded study abroad opportunities designedto gradually “internationalize” our campus. Our international student population now represents27 countries and Puerto Rico.The college is preparing for changes in its content and learning management systems, withvarious groups engaged in development, deployment, and employee training. The VSC system isproviding more support for this process than has been true of similar transitions in the past.Almost all of Castleton’s academic programs have adopted educational objectives and specifiedways by which these outcomes are to be assessed. The Program Assessment Committee of theFaculty Assembly and the Academic Dean’s Office have employed a number of methods toimprove program assessment and more fully engage faculty in that process. The college hashosted assessment consultants and speakers, developed methods for surveying current andformer students, and provided support for departmental assessment initiatives. The faculty as awhole is now moving toward an acceptance of assessment practices as legitimate tools forcurriculum development. There are still many, though, who see this work as an externallyimposed “unfunded mandate.”Castleton’s academic program assessment plans and activities are regularly reviewed by theacademic dean and by the Program Assessment Committee. Feedback delivered through both ofthese review processes has resulted in numerous improvements to assessment activities.7
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