STANDARD 1 > ELEMENT 1 > SPA REPORTS & REJOINERS > AECT/ECIT PROGRAM REVIEW

10. Quality Assurance Processes

There are several quality assurance systems in place in the graduate programs at SHU. They are university-based, college-based, department-based, and program-based. Low performance is addressed at different levels in the IDT and EMS programs. A description of how low performance is addressed is included where appropriate.

University-Based Quality Assurance Processes

• Academic programs are reviewed on a regular basis for quality, viability, need, and cost-effectiveness.

Low performance is addressed by the University by monitoring processes and if the program does not meet standards it is discontinued. Recently two programs were discontinued in the College of Education and Human Services.

• The university establishes minimum academic policies and procedures, such as entrance and continuation requirements, transfer credit policy, and time limitations for degrees.

Students with low scores on entrance examinations are not admitted to the program. A faculty review system is in place for students with questionable scores in a particular area.

• Enrollment Services monitors and controls grading procedures, eligibility for graduation, student loads, and student records.

A computer-based counseling program monitors students’ GPAs, program requirements, and course loads. Each semester faculty receive a counseling report on each student to use for discussion when the student comes in for advisement. Students are not permitted to register unless they make contact with their advisor.

• New programs and degrees are approved at the university level based on quality, viability, need, and cost-effectiveness.

New programs and degrees must be defended and approved at the University level.

• Research projects implemented by any member of the university community require approval at the university level and are monitored at this level until they are completed.

The SHU Institutional Review Board is a significant committee that carefully scrutinizes research projects and contends with any infractions of its policies.

• Minimum ethics policies are established at the university level.

Colleges, programs, and faculty add additional ethics policies which are publicly displayed in catalogs and on course syllabi. Infractions are reviewed by committees in place at different levels.

College-Based Quality Assurance Processes

• Colleges may establish additional academic policies and procedures.

• Post-graduation follow-up program assessment of alumni and their employers is administered at the college level.

These evaluations did not include graduate programs. The program review process has prompted the Professional Development Program to request that graduate students be included in follow-up studies to plan and improve concentrations. The new College of Education Assessment Office will conduct these assessments. 

• Faculty evaluations are administered at the college level for graduate courses.

Graduate faculty performance is reviewed each semester by the department chair and the program director. The program director discusses faculty performance with each faculty member. Assistance is offered to faculty in areas where they appear to require help. Serious problems are referred to the department chair and Dean.

• New courses reviewed and approved at college level.

New courses are developed by faculty and must be formally approved by the program, the department, the college educational policy committee, and the full faculty of the college in that order. Most courses are not approved as submitted. These reviewing bodies make requests for revisions which are made be the course is approved.

Department-Based Quality Assurance Processes

• Departments may establish additional academic policies and procedures.

Candidate admission interviews were added to departmental admissions requirements. These will be conducted by program faculty. These will begin with students applying for summer, 2003 admission and were an outgrowth of the NCATE review process.

• Student evaluations of graduate faculty are reviewed and acted upon at the departmental and program levels.

• Faculty reviews and faculty teaching evaluations are conducted at departmental level.

• Departmental approval is required for course/program changes, new courses/programs, grade changes, and program transfers.

• Course offerings and the schedule of offerings are approved at the departmental level.

Program-Based Quality Assurance Processes

• Program faculty advise and assist students enrolled in the IDT and EMS concentrations whose performance is in inadequate.

There is a program policy that faculty may request that a low performance student receive an incomplete for a course. The student must satisfactorily repeat the entire course. This policy is consistently used to help students succeed. Students will be dropped from the program if they are judged inadequate after repeating the course.

• All academic program decisions are decided collegially through a shared decision-making process, and voted upon.

In the past, the program faculty have engaged in extensive conversations to reach consensus, but the program review process has prompted us to officially vote and record these decisions.

• IDT and EMS faculty meet regularly to discuss program changes based on research, trends, emerging technologies, program needs, employer needs, change in student capabilities with technology, and ECIT standards. Reviews of program syllabi will show that changes are made every semester to accommodate these issues.

IDT and EMS faculty have always been proactive on these issues. Review of ECIT standards is an outgrowth of the program review process, and began in 2002. The ECIT Standards help faculty to focus on program goals and objectives.

• Technology doesn’t work if you don’t plan ahead. Changes require new software installations, new lab assignments, new books, and new faculty skills. Faculty who teach sections of the same course plan and revise courses together. The program has a policy of using the same software and textbooks for all sections of a course, to maintain quality and consistency throughout a candidate’s program. Adjuncts teaching a section of a course are trained and use a syllabus prepared by a full time faculty member. Some technology skills are developed sequentially, and policies and methods were adopted by the program to assure that candidates are prepared for each level of study.

Low performance in adjunct faculty is carefully monitored through student evaluations. Adjuncts receive help in areas where they need improvement, but are not reemployed if they receive poor assessments for two semesters.

• Technology is constantly changing. We use a textbook series that is updated every year. This assures that we are including emerging technologies, changing techniques and procedures, and the newest thinking about instructional technology.

• Course and faculty schedules are decided through a shared decision-making process.

• Final decisions for admission of program candidates will be made by a committee of program faculty beginning in spring, 2003.

      This process will begin with students applying for summer, 2003 admission, and was an outgrowth of the NCATE review process.

The Professional Development Program has 5 full-time faculty. This small number has made working together an easy task, so we have always functioned as a team to reach program goals and assure a quality program. The faculty are proactive, committed, and share a similar vision for the program. The disadvantage of the small group was sloppiness in documenting meetings. We often made decisions and acted without recording the process. The accreditation process and program review has assisted the faculty to more carefully and systematically record activities. Now minutes are always taken at meetings, and standard meeting practices are followed for quality assurance.

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