Transcript PAINLESS PERIODIC REVIEW

PAINLESS PERIODIC
REVIEW
Cynthia Steinhoff
Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, Maryland
Agenda
• Cindy’s Top 5 Periodic Review Tips
• The painless way to a successful periodic
review report.
• Cindy’s Top 5 Periodic Review Tips
• Questions
Top 5 Periodic Review Tops
• Select the right chair and steering committee
members early in the process.
• Select the writer and editor for your report
and involve them from the beginning.
• Make the Handbook for Periodic Review
Reports your new best friend.
Top 5 Periodic Review Tops
• Develop a detailed outline for each section of
the report, based on information presented in
the Handbook.
• Mind the timeline, deadlines, and report
length.
Periodic Review - General
Considerations
• Not a mini self-study, yet is a significant
component of the accreditation cycle.
• Middle States definition of a PRR - a
“retrospective, current, and prospective
analysis of an institution.”
• Emphasis on brevity, yet completeness, in a
50-page report.
• Report should be useful to the institution, not
just a response to Middle States.
Leading the Periodic Review Process
• PRR Chair – Chair of the self-study steering
committee? Someone else?
– AACC chose the self-study chair
• Steering Committee – New group? Team that
led the self-study? Existing institutional team?
– AACC chose a new group, with representation
from all segments of the institution’s community,
and included the needed expertise.
Preparing for Periodic Review
• Handbook for Periodic Review Reports will
become your best friend.
• Attend PRR training session sponsored by
Middle States.
• Attend sessions such as this one at Middle
States conferences.
• Start 18-24 months prior to the due date
– AACC’s steering committee began meeting in
October 2007 for a PRR due in June 2009.
Organize
• Who will collect information needed for the
report?
– AACC - Steering Committee divided into teams.
– Chair wrote charge for each group, based on the
outline in the PRR Handbook.
• Who will write and edit the report?
– AACC Steering Committee Chair wrote report and did
some editing.
– Editing done by at least one other steering committee
member and an administrator in the area covered by
the section.
Organize
• What materials will be collected to support
the content of the report?
– Some items listed in the Handbook must be
included.
– At AACC, those collecting information for the PRR
and the Chair identified other items.
• Chair prepared a timeline
– Stick to it!
Publicize the PRR Process
• AACC did this in several ways:
– Presentations at College Orientation and
constituency group meetings.
– Regular updates at college leadership team
meetings.
– Regular reports to executive leadership at
meetings and by e-mail.
– Intranet site for PRR materials.
– College wide announcements at key points.
Report Contents
• Outline of content provided by Middle States
in the Handbook.
• Content of the PRR is much more prescribed
than a self-study.
• 50 pages, not including appendices, exhibits,
and other supporting materials.
• Be sure to include items specifically
mentioned in the Handbook.
Six Sections of the PRR
1. Executive Summary
– Write it last
2. Response to recommendations in the selfstudy and the visiting team reports.
– Good starting point - most recommendations
should have been addressed by this time.
– AACC created a grid, listing person responsible
for and status of each, updating when necessary.
Six Sections of the PRR
3. Major challenges and opportunities facing
the institution.
– Enlisted assistance of AACC’s Institute for the
Future and sought input from entire college
community.
4. Enrollment trends and projections / Finance
trends and projections.
– AACC involved finance and enrollment
development staff in developing this section.
Six Sections of the PRR
5. Assessment efforts – institutional and
student learning assessment.
– AACC faculty compiled student LOA information
and collected many examples for the exhibits.
– Institutional research staff provided information
and data about institutional assessment efforts.
6. Linked institutional planning and budgeting
processes.
– AACC finance and planning staff contributed.
After Writing the Report
• Draft of report posted to intranet for college-wide
review and comment.
– Open, on-ground sessions.
– Comments accepted via web form, e-mail, snail mail.
• Set a deadline for making changes to report.
• Final updating and editing.
• Organizing materials for appendices.
– Examples of assessing student learning are important.
– Don’t forget the items on the list of specific materials
that Middle States wants included!
Report Format
• All paper, all electronic, or a mix?
• Check with your Middle States liaison often, as
report formats that are accepted by Middle
States may change.
• Originally, the AACC report was to be all paper,
but ended up as a mix of paper and electronic.
Report Format
• AACC produced a printed, spiral-bound report,
exactly 50 pages in length, with 4 disks:
– Disk 1 – the report hyperlinked to appendices.
– Disk 2 – learning outcomes assessment exhibits.
– Disk 3 – financial and strategic planning resources,
as required and detailed in the Handbook.
– Disk 4 – DVD of work produced by Communication
Arts Technology students.
Success!
• Periodic Review Report sent to Middle States
by June 1, where is it is read by 4 reviewers:
– A Middle States staff member
– Two external reviewers, a role similar to that of an
on-site evaluator during a self-study visit
– A finance associate, who examines financial
documents submitted with the report.
Response – External Reviewers
• External reviewers respond by August 1.
• Prepare a confidential briefing to the
Commission that includes recommendations
regarding accreditation action, including any
need for follow-up activities.
• Prepare a report to the institution that
addresses findings.
Response – External Reviewers
• Report to the institution includes general
comments on each section of the PRR and, as
appropriate:
– Suggestions - “collegial advice.”
– Recommendations - address where improvement
is needed to continue to meet standards.
– Requirements – indicate that an institution does
not comply with a standard and what is needed to
come into compliance.
Response – Finance Associate
• Reviews overall financial health of the
institution.
• Addresses areas where the institutional
financial condition improved or worsened.
• Discusses any changes in assets and reserves.
• Addresses impact of any long-term debt on
the institution.
• Identifies anything that is cause for concern.
The End of the PRR Process
• The Committee on Periodic Review, chaired by
a Commission member, examines all materials
and makes a recommendation to the
Commission.
• Commission acts at its November meeting.
• Middle States staff notifies the institution of
the Commission’s action shortly thereafter.
Top 5 Periodic Review Tips
• Select the right chair and steering committee
members early in the process.
• Select the writer and editor for your report
and involve them from the beginning.
• Make the Handbook for Periodic Review
Reports your new best friend.
Top 5 Periodic Review Tips
• Develop a detailed outline for each section of
the report, based on information presented in
the Handbook.
• Mind the timeline, deadlines, and report
length.
Questions?
Questions?
Questions?
Questions?