Contents

List of Tables and Exhibits

List of Jargon Alerts

List of Acronyms

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction: Today’s Quality Context

Chapter 1: Why Is American Higher Education Under Fire?

Economic Development

Return on Investment

The Changing College Student

Initiatives to Address These Concerns

Chapter 2: Understanding American Accreditation

Regional Accreditors: The Cornerstone of U.S. Accreditation

Accreditation as a Process of Collegial Peer Review

The Higher Education Act and Title IV

A Focus on Evidence of Outcomes

The Spellings Commission and Its Aftermath of Criticisms

Does U.S. Accreditation Work?

Chapter 3: Quality: Committing to Excellence

A Commitment to a Pervasive, Enduring Culture of Excellence

A Culture of Relevance (Chapters 5–6)

A Culture of Community (Chapters 7–8)

A Culture of Focus and Aspiration (Chapters 9–12)

A Culture of Evidence (Chapters 13–16)

A Culture of Betterment (Chapters 17–18)

Interrelations Among the Five Cultures

Defining Program Excellence Through the Five Cultures

Defining Teaching Excellence Through the Five Cultures

Chapter 4: Why Is This So Hard?

Quality Continues to Be Defined by Reputation, Not Effectiveness

The Money Is Not There

A Culture of Isolation

A Culture of Reticence

Change Is Hard

A Culture of Silos

Colleges Are Not Always One Big Happy Family

Academic Freedom Is Misunderstood

Fuzzy Focus and Aspirations

We Do Not Put Our Money Where Our Mouth Is

A Culture Relying on Antecedents and Anecdotes

Emphasizing Assessment Over Learning

We Have Pockets of Mediocrity

Dimension I: A Culture of Relevance

Chapter 5: Integrity: Doing the Right Thing

Meet Your Responsibilities

Put Your Students First

Know Your Key Stakeholders and Meet Their Needs

Keep Your Promises

Serve the Public Good

Demonstrate That You Are Ensuring Quality and Meeting Your Responsibilities

Chapter 6: Stewardship: Ensuring and Deploying Resources Responsibly

Recognize That People and Their Time Are Your Greatest Resources

Ensure Your College’s Health and Well-Being

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Monitor Where Your Money Is Being Spent

Monitor the Impact of Your Investments

Deploy Resources Efficiently

Dimension II: A Culture of Community

Chapter 7: A Community of People

A Culture of Respect

A Culture of Communication

A Culture of Collaboration

A Culture of Growth and Development

A Culture of Shared Collegial Governance

A Culture of Documentation

Chapter 8: Leadership Capacity and Commitment

Capacity and Commitment

Empowered Leadership

Independent Leadership

Putting Your College’s Interests Ahead of a Third Party

Collaborative Leadership

Board Engagement

The Right People

Ongoing Education and Development

Dimension III: A Culture of Focus and Aspiration

Chapter 9: Purpose: Who Are You? Why Do You Exist?

Essential Activities: What Would You Keep Doing No Matter What?

Distinctive Traits: Why Should Anyone Enroll or Invest Here?

Underlying Values: What Are the Rationales for Your Decisions?

Target Clientele: Whom Do You Aim to Serve?

Use Systematic Evidence and Collaboration

How to Articulate Your Purpose

Chapter 10: Goals and Plans: Where Are You Going? How Will You Get There?

Identify Your Destinations

Articulate Your Destinations

Plans: How Will You Get There?

Integrate Goals and Plans Throughout Your College . . . Reasonably and Appropriately

Be Prepared to Attune and Adjust Your Goals and Plans

Chapter 11: Who Is a Successful Student?

What Do Students Need to Learn?

Identify Your Learning Outcomes

Articulate Your Learning Outcomes

Integrate Learning Outcomes Throughout Your College . . . Reasonably and Appropriately

Chapter 12: Helping Students Learn and Succeed

What Helps Students Learn?

What Helps Students Persist and Complete a Degree?

Designing Curricula to Help Students Learn and Succeed

The Role of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and General Education

Helping Students Learn and Succeed in Non-Traditional Venues and Modalities

Facilitating Transfer

Dimension IV: A Culture of Evidence

Chapter 13: Gauging Success

Gauging Student Success

Gauging Responsiveness to the Changing College Student

Gauging Economic Development Contributions

Gauging Contributions to the Public Good

Gauging Achievement of College Purpose and Goals

Gauging Student Learning

What About the “Ineffables”?

Chapter 14: Good Evidence Is Useful

Know Your Stakeholders and What Is Useful to Them

Tie Evidence to Key Goals

Aim for Reasonably Accurate and Truthful Evidence

Chapter 15: Setting and Justifying Targets for Success

Choose an Appropriate Perspective for Comparison

Set Justifiably Rigorous Targets

Set a Range of Minimal and Aspirational Targets

Have Clear Goals

Set Both Milestone and Destination Targets

Chapter 16: Transparency: Sharing Evidence Clearly and Readily

Form Follows Function

Make Clear, Meaningful Points

Tell Your Story in Your Voice

Make Evidence Easy to Find

Be Honest and Balanced

Dimension V: A Culture of Betterment

Chapter 17: Using Evidence to Ensure and Advance Quality and Effectiveness

Recognize and Celebrate Successes

Use Evidence to Advance Quality and Effectiveness

Use Evidence to Deploy Resources Prudently

Use Evidence to Refine Goals and Targets

Use Evidence Fairly, Ethically, and Responsibly

Chapter 18: Sustaining a Culture of Betterment

Foster a Culture of Community

Value Efforts to Change, Improve, and Innovate

The Perfect Is the Enemy of the Good

Document Evidence

Periodically Regroup and Reflect

Conclusion: Integrating and Advancing the Five Dimensions of Quality

Chapter 19: Demonstrating Quality to Accreditors

Use Accreditation Processes as a Tool and Lever

Understand What Your Accreditor Is Looking For . . . and Why

Start Early, with an Honest Appraisal of Where You Are

Understand Your Accreditor’s Emphasis on the Five Cultures of Quality

Organize Your Report and Supporting Documentation

Provide Good Quality Documented Evidence for Everything You Say

Put Shortcomings in Context . . . with Integrity

Respect the Reviewers’ Time

Chapter 20: Program Reviews: Drilling Down into Programs and Services

What Is a Quality Program?

Specialized Accreditation as a Form of Program Review

View Program Reviews as Cousins of Grant Proposals and Business Plans

Ensure Program Review Integrity and Value

Chapter 21: Where Do We Go from Here? A Six-Point Agenda for Ensuring and Advancing Quality

Know Your Stakeholders, and Make Your College Relevant and Responsive to Them

Encourage and Support Great Teaching and Learning

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Fight Complacency

Break Down Silos

Tell Meaningful Stories of Your Successes

How Can Higher Education Leaders and Others Help?

Three More Ideas for Accreditation

Can We Do This?

References

Index

Advertisements

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

TABLE 12.1. Strategies That Help Students Learn

TABLE 13.1. Examples of Dashboard Indicators for Some Hypothetical College Goals

TABLE 19.1. Comparison of Research Reports and Accreditation Reports

TABLE 19.2. Examples of Assertions with Suitable Evidence in Accreditation Reports

TABLE 20.1. Questions to Consider in Proposals for New Initiatives and in Academic Program Reviews

List of Exhibits

EXHIBIT 12.1. Curriculum Map for a Hypothetical Four-Course Certificate Program

EXHIBIT 12.2. Template for a Curriculum Map for a Course Syllabus

EXHIBIT 15.1. Rubric Results for a Hypothetical Assessment of Written Communication Skills

EXHIBIT 16.1. A Dashboard for a Hypothetical College Strategic Goal

EXHIBIT 18.1. Sample Template for Documenting Nascent Student Learning Assessment Processes

EXHIBIT 18.2. Rubric to Appraise a College’s Culture of Evidence and Betterment

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Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series

Five Dimensions of Quality

A COMMON SENSE GUIDE TO ACCREDITATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Linda Suskie

Foreword by Stanley O. Ikenberry

Professor and President Emeritus, University of Illinois, and Co-Principal Investigator, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment

Cover design by Wiley

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To my husband Steve and our children Melissa and Michael

To everyone whose passion is helping students get the best possible education

And in memory of Petey

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