An Analysis prepared by
the 1993-94 Long Range Academic Planning Committee
and
the 1994-95 Academic Planning Committee
December 15, 1994
Following from the Universal Principles adopted by the Academic Senate in the Spring of 1992 and in response to a charge made to it by Academic Vice President Donald Farish during the following Fall, the Long Range Academic Planning Committee prepared a series of Long Range Planning Assumptions which were negotiated and accepted in joint consultation with the Vice President for Academic Affairs' Council in May 1993, after which the document was forwarded to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Vice President of Academic Affairs later furnished the document on an information-only basis to members of the Academic Senate in the Fall of 1993.
The committee, ceasing to have an administrative function in September 1994, was returned to its original status as a sub-committee of the EPC. At that time, to stress the importance of intermediate, as well as long-range planning, the committee was renamed the Academic Planning Committee, a sub-committee of the EPC.
Throughout the Spring and Fall of 1994, the committee continued to consider the Assumptions Document to develop suggested goals and implementation measures. With the exception of a single item (support of instructional equipment--see section XI. Instructional Support, Assumption 1), the Assumptions remain unchanged from those jointly accepted and submitted in 1993 to the Vice President of Academic Affairs.
The committee recommends that the Academic Planning Assumptions, as enriched by the following goals and implementation measures, be taken as a guide for the planning deliberations of faculty and administration during this important period of structural change.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS, 1993-94 and 1994-95
Carlos Benito, Professor of Economics; Philip Clayton, Associate Professor of Philosophy (liaison from the EPC); Katharyn Crabbe, Associate Vice President of Academic Programs and Planning (liaison from the Administration); Chris Kjeldsen, Professor of Biology; Perry Marker, Associate Professor of Education; Susan McKillop, Professor of Art; Susan Moulton, Professor of Art (liaison from the EPC); Tak Richards, Student Services Professional; James Stewart, Professor of Environmental Studies (Chair 1994-95); Linda Webster, Associate Professor of Education (Chair 1993-94).
GOALS AND IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES LEADING TO A NEW ACADEMIC ACTION PLAN FOR SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITYPrepared by the Academic Planning Committee of the EPC
based on
THE ASSUMPTIONS FOR LONG RANGE ACADEMIC PLANNING
(Adopted by the Vice President for Academic Affairs Council, May 1993)
1. The University is committed to the belief that students should acquire appropriate skills, learn diverse modes of inquiry and be exposed to a variety of perspectives in their course of study. Along with inter-disciplinary inquiry, the University recognizes and fosters inter-disciplinary perspectives as valuable for full intellectual exploration.
2. The University promotes active involvement in learning and close human interactions throughout the curriculum and throughout the campus.
3. The University recognizes and fosters the richness which results from diversity and multiple perspectives in the curriculum and the entire campus community.
4. The interaction between the campus and the surrounding community is an integral aspect of curriculum planning and implementation in graduate and professional/applied programs.
I. THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSITY
1. SSU is a community of faculty, staff, and students dedicated to the common purpose of achieving and maintaining excellence in teaching and learning.
2. SSU is committed to achieving and maintaining excellence as the premiere public undergraduate liberal arts and sciences institution in California and to offering selected graduate programs of the highest quality that meet the professional and community needs of the North Bay.
3. SSU is an important educational and cultural resource for the North Bay region.
4. With changes in the CSU system, SSU has an opportunity to continue to develop its distinctive educational character. At the same time, these changes will require rethinking current programs and structure.
5. Even if additional funding becomes available, it is the institution's goal to grow only modestly over the next ten years.
Goals:
Implementation:
1. SSU is committed to teaching as its primary mission and to the support of faculty in their endeavors to increase teaching effectiveness and to expand instructional strategies.
2. SSU is committed to increasing its student retention and graduation rate.
3. SSU is committed to having many small classes and places high value on human interaction in all facets of a student's education.
4. SSU is committed to excellence and diversity in its faculty, student body and curriculum.
Goals:
--To foster outstanding teaching, high rates of student success and diversity in the University community.
Implementation:
--Systems of support and reward are designed to encourage the professional and intellectual development of faculty and staffand intellectual discovery by students.
III. GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
1. SSU is committed to a governance and administration based upon collegiality, shared governance, meaningful consultation, and accountability in areas regarding human, financial and physical resources.
2. The governance and administration of Sonoma State University involves four major constituencies: a) Faculty; b) Staff; c) Administration; and d) Students.
3. The faculty has primary responsibility in those matters fundamental to the educational mission of the university (e.g., curriculum, degree, and graduation requirements).
Goals:
--Institutional structures and lines of communication must ensure involvement of all major constituencies of the campus in decisions related to governance and administration of the university.
Implementation:
--Efforts must be made to preserve and enhance the shared responsibility and mutual support by all those involved in the academic enterprise of the institution.
IV. SSU's COMMITMENT TO ITS FACULTY
1. SSU is committed to support and to provide resources for the intellectual, creative enrichment and professional development of its faculty.
2. SSU is committed to support faculty participation in campus governance.
3. SSU is committed to facilitating faculty service to the community.
Goals:
To promote faculty development, a strong faculty governance system, and faculty service to the community.
Implementation:
--The Institution will make every effort to set aside five per cent of its resources each year for R & D to support curricular innovation and the professional> and intellectual components of faculty activity.
In addition to resources allocated for R & D, the University shall also:
--Provide the maximum allocation of sabbatical leaves and travel monies for faculty participation in professional and scholarly activities.
--Provide support for recently-hired faculty in the areas of professional and curriculum development.
--Continue its support for the Center for Teaching and Professional Development and the Office of Sponsored Programs.
--Provide release time for key members of the Academic Senate.
--Encourage the creation of Centers and Institutes that support scholarly activities and community service.
--Through the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, seek ways to promote faculty development and community service projects supported by private sources of funding.
V. THE NATURE OF THE STUDENT POPULATION
1. The class level distribution of the student population should reflect a balance appropriate to a high quality four-year undergraduate program and selective graduate programs.
2. SSU will recruit on a state-wide basis for quality at the freshman level, but will give junior transfers from the service area (including re-entry students) who have completed their GE requirements a high priority for admission.
3. SSU will increase its percentage of underrepresented ethnic populations (e.g., Native American, Hispanic, African American) to accomplish two purposes: (a) to ensure that the entire student population is exposed to an educational experience that reflects the cosmopolitan nature of contemporary society and
(b) to serve the under-represented population of the service region.
4. SSU values the presence of international students, and will admit sufficient numbers of these students to strive for a distinct international presence in the student body.
Goals:
--To attract a diverse population of students with high academic potential.
Implementation
--The University will use enrollment management strategies, developed through consultation by faculty, staff and administration, to maintain a balance of student backgrounds related to such factors as age, ethnicity and national origin.
--The University will adjust these enrollment strategies as necessary to support an optimum balance of offerings appropriate to a liberal arts and sciences university and to respond to curricular change and newly developed programs.
1. SSU's highest staffing priority is to retain tenured and tenure-track faculty and those permanent staff essential to its academic mission.
2. SSU will maintain a core permanent faculty able to respond to its changing needs, and will keep temporary faculty numbers to the minimum required by programmatic needs to enrich the curriculum or respond to student needs.
Goals:
--To achieve the objectives described above.
Implementation:
--SSU will continue to seek ways to attract and retain quality faculty through the active encouragement of intellectual and professional activity within and beyond the classroom, including recognition and support of faculty research.
--SSU will provide orientation sessions and development programs for new and continuing tenure-track faculty. Appropriate bodies for this task include, but are not limited to, the Office of Sponsored Programs, the Faculty Sub- Committee on Professional Development, Library professionals and the CMTS staff.
--SSU will provide programs to enhance the development of professional and
support staff members.
--The interests of the faculty and members of the professional and support staffs shall be represented by the faculty governance system and by the Staff Council.
1. SSU's main curricular emphasis is to provide a liberal arts and sciences education that will prepare students for rich public, private, and working lives. In addition, SSU will continue to have select professional and graduate programs.
2. All undergraduate majors will have a generic core in addition to whatever particular emphases departments can effectively offer with available resources. The core will include attention to the structure and methodology of that field of study.
3. In order to prepare students for active involvement in the community, SSU will provide a broad range of opportunities for students to become involved in socially responsible community service.
4. SSU will encourage innovation in both its pedagogy and its curriculum.
Goals:
--To achieve and maintain excellence in both undergraduate and graduate
programs while promoting diverse pedagogical approaches and encouraging
academic innovation.
Implementation:
--Academic departments/programs will conduct periodic reviews of their curricular offerings to ensure thorough coverage of fundamentals of the major, to respond to emerging needs and directions in the major field of study, and to assure timely completion of requirements.
--Disciplinary, interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches to education will be encouraged on the campus.
--Efforts will be expanded to include internships, team projects and community-related educational experiences as part of both undergraduate and graduate education.
--New mechanisms will be developed which are explicitly designed to encourage academic innovation on the campus.
1. SSU will offer selected graduate programs that will be appropriately staffed and provided with resources adequate to offer the core elements of the program on a reasonable time line.
2. Departments which offer graduate programs must do so without compromising the integrity and quality of any existing departmental undergraduate program, and only if courses can be offered on a reasonable time line.
3. New graduate programs should only be created in response to demonstrable regional or societal needs
Goals:
--To offer a limited number of high-quality graduate programs which can be completed by students in a timely manner while enhancing their intellectual development and professional preparation.
Implementation:
--Establish policy and practices to assign coordinator time for every graduate program.
--Establish policies and practices which acknowledge the faculty workload involved in graduate programs and thesis supervision, including supervision of ITDS thesis work.
--Provide each graduate student with an opportunity to be mentored, and to engage in a supervised teaching experience where appropriate.
--Develop collaborative relationships with other institutions so that all graduate programs can achieve an appropriate breadth of faculty perspectives and a critical mass of students.
IX. GENERAL EDUCATION
1. SSU is committed to the creation of a GE program that, in terms of intellectual
skills, has clearly defined and regularly assessed goals, and that is philosophically
coherent such that students will experience the program as a whole rather than
as a series of discrete parts.
2. General Education is the responsibility of all permanent faculty. SSU will not
develop a separate GE faculty, but will employ mechanisms for intra-faculty
communication about the program.
3. The GE program will embody and express the basic values of SSU (See Universal Principles).
Goals:
--To provide undergraduate students with a challenging, meaningful and enriching General Education program.
Implementation:
--Faculty will work to define what students who complete the GE program should know and be able to do, including the identification of intellectual skills and basic knowledge which all students should acquire as part of the GE program.
--Faculty will work to develop a variety of strategies to promote students' awareness of the wholeness of the GE program, and how it relates to the basic values of SSU.
--In addition to courses presented along traditional disciplinary lines, each student should experience at least one of the following: thematic arrangements; cohorts of students; linked courses; team-teaching.
--To the grestest extent possible, undergraduate students will have the benefit of GE courses taught by full-time permanent faculty.
--Faculty who share responsibility for specific categories of GE will meet< regularly to plan and review the content and effectiveness of courses offered.
X. PHYSICAL RESOURCES
1. SSU is committed to a process assuring maximum flow of information and participation by all segments of the campus community in decisions pertaining to campus planning.
2. SSU values and recognizes that its physical and social environment, and its instructional spaces, are integral parts of the educational process. SSU will design new buildings, as resources become available, on a scale that supports the educational process and clearly defined needs.
Goals:
--To use existing physical facilities and any new buildings as they become available in ways which maximize the educational goals of the campus.
--To maintain the beauty and educational effectiveness of the physical campus setting.
Implementation:
--Every effort will be made to encourage physical changes which promote the ideals and mission of SSU, such as close faculty-student interaction and the enhancement of a true learning community.
--The Campus Planning Committee shall develop further mechanisms to involve all constituencies of the campus community in decisions affecting physical changes on the campus.
--The Space Utilization Committee shall articulate priorities for making space utilization decisions, and shall conduct an ongoing review of space utilization on the campus.
--The Campus Planning Committee and the Space Utilization Committee shall coordinate their efforts with a view toward anticipating the impact on academic programs of any proposed changes in physical facilities and utilization of existing space on the campus.
1. SSU will continue to support educational technologies and equipment which serve curricular needs.
2. In serving a technological and information-dependent society, SSU must incorporate advancing technologies into its educational process to develop independent learning skills and promote life-long learning.
3. Universal faculty and student access to current information technology is necessary to enable effective teaching and learning in the information age. Within the context of instructional programs, the University will develop opportunities for the use of such tools by students and faculty.
Goals:
--To prepare students who can engage in life-long learning and who can function effectively in an age of ever-changing technology.
--To enable students to experience and master basic elements of the methodology and structure of their field.
Implementation:
--SSU will develop a long-range plan for regular review and revisioning of instructional laboratories, including those concerned with Information Technology, and provide instructional equipment deemed necessary by faculty in the academic disciplines.
--SSU will develop a campus computer network and a support system of faculty workstations.
--The University will develop one or more classrooms equipped for interactive video instruction.
--The Administration will provide release time for faculty to develop project- based curricula.
--The Institution will support academic innovation that uses information technology and requires students to use that technology.
1. SSU values accurate and sensitive academic advising from pre-admission through graduation and the transition to the world beyond the campus. The University recognizes advising as a shared faculty and staff responsibility that requires appropriate technological support.
2. SSU is committed to providing learning assistance appropriate to students' levels of preparation and to providing programs and structures that enhance academic achievement of students at all levels.
3. SSU faculty and staff are committed to support activities that complement the formal curriculum and provide rich opportunities for learning and personal development beyond the classroom through student organizations and programs.
Goals:
--To provide effective means of support which allow students from diverse backgrounds and with varying levels of preparation the maximum opportunity for intellectual achievement and personal development.
--To address the full range of student needs, including personal and financial support as appropriate, to enhance student academic performance.
Implementation:
--Faculty and staff develop effective advising procedures and carefully monitor these to ensure timely and effective advising of all students.
--Mentoring processes are actively supported to enhance the personal growth and educational development of students as well as to increase student retention and graduation.
--Departments encourage teachers to experiment in alternative teaching-learning methods such as cooperative and collaborative learning, incentive programs for extra work and class attendance, focus groups for disadvantaged students, tutorial programs led by junior/senior level students in the major, and communications-computer technologies for teaching.
--Students are included as research and teaching assistants on research projects and in classes.
--The University shall enhance opportunities to support our students financially through such avenues as providing on-campus employment.
XIII. FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY
1. SSU faces an increasing need to rely on funding for academic programs and student support from the students themselves and from sources other than state resources.
2. Certain professional and applied programs, mainly at the graduate level, may of necessity be offered on a self-support basis or through Extended Education.
Goals:
--To develop increased sources of funding to support the academic mission of the university in a time of reduced support from traditional sources.
--To assure that any revenue generating initiatives should not detract from the University's primary mission.
Implementation:
--Incentive programs are developed for faculty to engage in research projects which generate funds for research assistantships, release time for faculty, and resources to hire additional faculty and staff and buy equipment.
--Research is undertaken which serves the needs of the community while tapping the resources of local governments, non-governmental organizations and business associations. This generates community goodwill and promotes political and budgetary support for the campus.
--The University will adopt guidelines governing cooperative relationships.
(Revised 4/27/95 based on Educational Policy Committee recommendations).