ACTION PROJECT 1 A. Describe the past year's accomplishments and the…

ACTION PROJECT 1

A. Describe the past year's accomplishments and the current status of the project.

Ohio University partnered with the Policy Center on the First Year of College as a member of
the Foundations of Excellence initiative. A Task Force on the First Year was created to work
with the Policy Center to assess institutional accomplishments and weaknesses in student
engagement and learning during the first year.

The guided self study required of Foundations of Excellence member institutions was completed,
resulting in the adoption of nine of the Foundation of Excellence Dimensions. Ohio University
hosted a site visit by Dr. Betsy Barefoot, Co-Director of the Policy Center, who commended the
Task Force on the progress they had made and commented that the group was well ahead of
other partner universities. Detailed progress of the Task Force can be found on the First Year
Experience web site: (http://www.ohio.edu/univcollege/fye).

Programs created as a result of the work on this action project include the Freshman Common
Reading Program, Residential Learning Communities, College "Welcome Weekend", The
Majors Fair, Supplemental Instruction and other programs continue to benefit the institution.
Data collected by the Office of Institutional Research have demonstrated the effectiveness of
many of these programs. Some have been shown to increase retention percentages by as much as
20 points.

B. Describe how the institution involved people in work on this project.

The Task Force on the First Year was very broad based and involved over 75 faculty, staff and
students in the task force and the various subcommittees. The faculty and staff members
involved had expertise in either teaching first year classes, student advising and retention efforts
or strategies to increase student engagement. The work of the task force also "dovetailed" with
the Vision Ohio institutional strategic plan Implementation Teams on Undergraduate Priorities,
Quality and Diversity and Support and Accountability; groups which were also staffed with
faculty, staff and students. All together, 100-200 persons have been directly involved in
initiatives related to this action project.

C. Describe your next planned steps for this Actions Project.

Ohio University will continue its partnership with the Policy Center on the First Year of College
and the cohort of institutions involved in the Foundations of Excellence Initiative.

A First Year Experience Subcommittee of the current Enrollment Planning Committee will be
established to help coordinate and align first year programs, policies and practices and help
prioritize and institute action items recommended by the Task Force on the First Year and the
Undergraduate Priorities Implementation Team.

The institution plans to identify and enlist a group of "First Year Fellows", a selection of
exemplary first-year course instructors who could provide leadership in pedagogy and learning
outcome development and assessment of courses commonly taken by first year Ohio University
students.

Ohio University will continue to offer, expand and make improvements to established, successful
university programs designed to improve student engagement/retention.

The NSSE and FSSE instruments will continue to be administered to monitor progress towards
the goal of increasing student engagement as well as current student and alumni surveys
conducted by the Office of Institutional Research.

D. Describe any effective practice that resulted from your work on this Action Project?

Emphasis on the importance of the first year experience and student engagement continues as
evidenced by the partnership with the Policy Center on the First Year of College, attention given
to this subject in the university strategic plan and the recommendations by the Undergraduate
Priorities Implementation Team as well as the continued investment of university resources in
programs designed to improve the first year experience, student engagement and retention. These
programs include: The Learning Communities Project, Common Reading Experience, Service
Learning, Precollege Orientation, College "Welcome Weekend" and Identification/intervention
programs for freshmen placed on academic probation.

E. What challenges, if any, are you still facing in regard to this Action Project?

Accurate data analysis to inform decisions and accurately measure the needs of the institution
with regards to student engagement/first year experience and the effectiveness of existing
programs developed as a result of work on this action project.

Effective prioritization of the many recommendations of the Task Force of the First Year and the
Undergraduate Priorities Implementation team in order to make significant progress towards
achieving the goals set forth in the institution's strategic plan. These goals include a focus on
first year engagement, and improve the trends analyzed in the NSSE and FSSE instruments in
comparison to our aspirational peer institutions.

Making the proper and effective budgetary decisions to move forward on this action project in
difficult financial times continues to challenge the institution.
ACTION PROJECT 2

   A. Describe the past year's accomplishments and the current status of the project.

Strategic plan implementation teams and the Task Force on the First Year discussed at length the
future of faculty professional development activities and services needed to enhance student
engagement and to provide other development opportunities to the faculty as a whole. These
groups are suggesting several initiatives briefly discussed below in Section C.

In addition, many programs created through the work on this action project continue to benefit
faculty development and student engagement. These programs include:

1) Faculty Participation in Academic Learning Communities: In 2006-07, 25% of Ohio
University first year students will be involved in academic learning communities, a 4 fold
increase in the number of communities from 04-05. This increase could not have been possible
without significant faculty involvement/participation.

2) Student Research: For the fifth consecutive year the Vice President for Research sponsored
the Research and Creative Activity Fair. The fair continues to increase in popularity with over
400 undergraduate and graduate students presenting research completed under the supervision of
Ohio University faculty.

3) New Faculty Orientation/Welcome: The Orientation was expanded during the past year to
include workshops on integrating active learning techniques and technology into the classroom.
Fifty-four faculty, new to Ohio University, participated in the workshop.

   B. Describe how the institution involved people in work on this project.

The Strategic Plan Implementation Teams and the Task Force on the First Year were very broad
based groups involving faculty, students, administrators and staff. Interim reports of these groups
were shared with campus constituent groups and posted on the Strategic Plan web site. Reports
were also presented at public meetings such as the Faculty Senate for discussion. These meetings
typically have reporters from the campus and local newspapers present to report on the agenda
items of the meeting to the campus/local community.

The planning and construction of the proposed Faculty Commons has involved staff from the
university library, the Centers for Teaching and Writing Excellence (CTE & CWE) and
Academic Technology (CITL) and a 10 person faculty advisory group appointed by the Provost.

Faculty support organizations such as the CTE, CITL and University College continue to
promote and provide the organizational support for the development and expansion of the
Faculty and Residential Learning Communities. The Office of the Provost and the Vice President
for Research also provide organizational and financial support for the projects mentioned above.
The Communications and Marketing Office has also been cooperative in communicating campus
awareness of the initiatives resulting from work on this action project.
   C. Describe your next planned steps for this Actions Project.

Continue the planning and begin construction on the Faculty Commons area of the Library which
will serve as a central hub of faculty development opportunities.

Make sound institutional decisions on the organization of faculty professional development
opportunities at the university. These decisions include whether to create an Office for Faculty
Development and hire a director for this office.

Hire permanent directors for the CTE and the CITL offices.

Continue the institutional commitment to increase faculty lines and salaries, especially in certain
disciplines which significantly lag behind national averages and that of our aspirational peer
institutions.

Provide better publicity both locally and nationally for many of the highly successful activities
which promote student engagement and student-faculty interaction; a prime example would be
the phenomenal success of the Research and Creative Activity Fair.

Continue to encourage departments and colleges to review their promotion and tenure and merit
processes to assure that employment of pedagogical efforts by faculty to increase student
learning and engagement are recognized and rewarded.

D. Describe any effective practice that resulted from your work on this Action Project?

Promotion and emphasis on faculty professional development opportunities, student engagement
and faculty-student interactions at the institution. These topics are now prominently mentioned in
the strategic plan of the university.

Planning and creation of the Faculty Commons, a centralized location for faculty professional
development opportunities.

The institution continues to increase campus awareness of active learning and student
engagement practices through the media and campus workshops such as the New Faculty
Orientation/Welcome, Faculty "Brown Bag Lunch" Series and the Research and Creative
Activity Fair.

E. What challenges, if any, are you still facing in regard to this Action Project?

Making sound decisions on the organization and specific opportunities for faculty professional
development on campus in order to continue to improve faculty-student engagement.

While continuing to improve, convincing the faculty as a whole of the merits of active learning
and student engagement continues to be a challenge at a university with a research emphasis.
Addressing these ideas in the curriculum and the classroom requires a significant amount of
change in thinking and procedure which is always difficult for some to accept.
Allocating monetary resources for new initiatives as well as continuing projects is difficult in
hard budgetary times.

Addressing the faculty perception that current tenure and promotion guidelines and expectations
do not encourage or reward participation in professional development and innovations directed
towards improving student engagement and learning practices.
ACTION PROJECT 3

A. Describe the past year's accomplishments and the current status of the project.

An institutional strategic plan and master campus (building) plan were completed and reflect our
continuing commitment to a learning-centered residential experience for our students.

The Residence Life department developed its own strategic plan that includes plans to further
enhance the learning centered environment by strengthening relationships with campus support
units. An Educational Benchmarking Inc. (EBI) instrument was used to measure our
performance against that of similar institutions. This instrument will be used in alternate years to
track progress.

Residential Learning Communities (RLC's) are now administered centrally and are firmly
integrated into institutional operations. The RLC model was refined and expanded based upon
an analysis of program participation data and an outcomes study conducted by graduate students
in Communication Studies. RLC's were promoted through marketing communications and
housing contracts. As a result, close to 25% of first-year students will participate in learning
communities in fall 2006.

Plans for a new residence hall were developed and construction began. The hall is designed to
provide a learning-centered residential experience and includes study lounges and high speed
wireless internet connections.

Principles identified when this project began have been successfully integrated into institutional
planning and are now "owned" by units responsible for their implementation.

B. Describe how the institution involved people in work on this project.

Each of the planning efforts described above were undertaken by advisory groups that included
faculty, staff, and students. The strategic planning process employed multiple opportunities for
input including committees and subcommittees, open forums, and presentations to (and feedback
from) governance groups. This approach was modeled and modified as needed for other
planning efforts. If anything, the campus may have suffered from planning overload, in that the
number of efforts, the volume of information about them, and the number of opportunities for
input may have been overwhelming at times.

C. Describe your next planned steps for this Action Project.

The most significant next step will be the thoughtful integration of the campus master plan into
the institutional strategic plan. The campus master plan will provide a set of tools to assist
institutional leaders and planners. Combined with a recent statewide measurement of the
institutional financial health, the stage will be set for significant discussions about institutional
priorities relative to debt and debt capacity which in turn will determine the future approach to
residence hall renovation.
The plan for the next residence hall renovation has been completed and was developed with
participation of students, faculty and staff. It continues the focus on creating spaces and
capabilities that support learning, and is an improvement over previous renovation plans.

As the residence hall program has been restructured, the next key step is the development of
local metrics to be used in improving student learning. In addition to the EBI instrument and a
locally-developed Community Life Assessment, we will develop a plan to assemble and
communicate data about student learning performance to resident directors by floor section and
building. This will lead to a better understanding of the relationship between types of
environments and student success, and to the development of meaningful interventions.

D. Describe any effective practice that resulted from your work on this Action Project?

With regard to the housing plan, we were able to effectively use internet surveys and forums
with student leaders to gain input into planning, and to recruit students for continued
involvement in planning processes. Through meetings with student leaders, we were not only
able to gain useful input into planning, but were also able to obtain ideas for surveys that could
be used to reach large numbers of students for their input. The meetings also served to get
students interested/excited about the project so they would be more likely to participate in the
planning activity that followed.

Relative to the work of the First Year Experience Task Force detailed in the first action project
report, we found that a web-based planning framework tool could be used to bring together a
large number of planning participants. This tool, provided by the Policy Center, was more
effective than home grown systems in that it was customized to the topic. It took an investment
of time and effort to get participants to actually use the tool, but once they did, it helped us
achieve our goal of a thorough, multi-faceted plan that reflects the thought and expertise of the
many participants.

E. What challenges, if any, are you still facing in regard to this Action Project?

This project, as were others, was challenged by the significant turnover in institutional leadership
and resultant organizational distress. As many key positions were successfully filled, newcomers
added their ideas to planning and operations already underway, causing a second ripple effect.
However, stability is growing now that most of these leadership positions are filled.

The most significant challenge is the same one that faces us with other action projects and that is
how to re-conceive our AQIP participation in light of what we have learned through our
involvement to-date. With significant institution-wide change underway, it is difficult to gain an
appropriate degree of focus on, and support for, the idea of reframing our accreditation approach.
Adopting a new approach has been discussed, but not yet agreed upon.
ACTION PROJECT 4

   A. Describe the past year's accomplishments and the current status of the project.

Implementation of the proposed general education program upon which this action project was
initially based proved to be difficult. The Faculty Senate suggested alternatives to the proposed
program but faculty consensus could not be achieved so the proposed program was abandoned.

Faculty Senate recognized the immediate problems with the current general education program
and worked throughout the year to specifically address these concerns. The Senate agreed that
the core of the current program was effective and a benefit to students. The Senate decided rather
than recreate a curriculum, the Educational Policy and Student Affairs (EPSA) subcommittee
would assess the current program, address the immediate problems, and evaluate its future
viability. The result of this study was the acceptance of capstone courses to fulfill Tier III
(Synthesis) requirements and the restructuring of Tier II (Breadth of Knowledge) requirements.

Strategic plan implementation teams discussed development and assessment of common learning
outcomes for general education and whether our current program would be capable of achieving
these goals. These groups recommended the creation of a team to develop a set of common
learning outcomes, methods to assess these outcomes, and a complete analysis of our current
program's ability to achieve the desired outcomes.

   B. Describe how the institution involved people in work on this project.

The Faculty Senate, through the EPSA subcommittee, was involved in the evaluation of the
current general education program and creating policy changes to solve the immediate problems
identified with the program. The University Curriculum Council (UCC) was responsible for
reviewing and approving the capstone courses which may be completed to fulfill the Tier III
requirement.

Discussions of student learning outcomes and general education reform involved the
implementation teams, created to develop action items for implementation of the university
strategic plan. These groups were broad based and involved faculty, students, administration and
university staff members.

During the course of the year the faculty senators and members of the implementation teams
were encouraged to communicate and discuss issues related to learning outcomes and general
education reform with their department/school constituents. Information related to these issues
was discussed publicly during regular Faculty Senate meetings and also posted on the Faculty
Senate and strategic plan web sites for the university community as a whole to review and post
comment.

   C. Describe your next planned steps for this Action Project.

The institution will focus on developing common learning outcomes for general education and
assess the ability of the current curriculum to achieve these goals. It is felt that the current
general education program will provide the adequate framework to achieve the outcome goals
but it is expected that some changes in the common curriculum will be required.

A committee, composed mainly of faculty from different disciplines has been created and will be
charged with developing the common learning outcomes for Ohio University students, creating
an assessment program for general education and making recommendations for reforms in the
current general education program to achieve the outcome goals. This committee is expected to
complete its charge by the end of the 2006-07 academic year.

The institution plans to refocus this Action Project away from the creation of a new general
education program and on the development and assessment of common learning outcomes for
Ohio University students and reform of the current general education program to achieve these
outcome goals.

   D. Describe any effective practice that resulted from your work on this Action Project?

Through the work of several groups on campus related to this action project, the institution has
made a serious commitment to reforming the existing general education program to solve the
short term curriculum problems but more importantly to focus our attention on what we as an
institution want the general education program to accomplish. Development of common learning
outcomes for all Ohio University students will in the future dictate, as it should, future reforms in
the institution's general education program.

   E. What challenges, if any, are you still facing in regard to this Action Project?

Obtaining consensus among the faculty on the identity and assessment methods of the common
learning outcomes for Ohio University students.

Making progress on the necessary general education reform needed to achieve the desired
learning outcome goals.

Obtaining significant faculty "buy in" for not only the importance of developing the common
learning outcomes but the curriculum and pedagogical changes which will be required to achieve
these goals.

Creating the necessary faculty development opportunities to realize the goals of the general
education program.

Providing the funding to achieve the needed general education reform.