Decision Making Structure Analysis UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN EAU CLAIRE

Transcription

1 Decision Making Structure Analysis UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN EAU CLAIRE Liz Sinclair HIGHER EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION MARCH 13, 2014

2 Sinclair 1 Students at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, a public liberal arts university, are having difficulties having their credentials transfer once they ve returned from an education abroad program. A task force appointed to research and make a recommendation to solve this problem has proposed that general study abroad courses that would count toward general education requirements be added to the course catalog. Students could then register for these general education courses rather than lose credits after returning from study abroad. In this case, the organizational function served by this decision is integration, as the goal is to link units and people by linking education abroad experience with academic credit shown on a student s transcript. In order to understand how this proposal might be received by the various bodies that have control over its success or failure, it is important to understand the mission of the university and its academic culture, as well as the administrative organizational structure. The UW Eau Claire s mission statement is, We foster in one another creativity, critical insight, empathy, and intellectual courage, the hallmarks of a transformative liberal education and the foundation for active citizenship and lifelong inquiry. This mission is stated to be fulfilled by many activities, including multicultural and international learning experiences for a diverse world. The fact that international education is stated to be one of the key factors in fulfilling the mission statement shows that the university understands the great importance of study abroad and therefore should seek to enable ease of its students participation in such programs. This means allowing straightforward credit transfer from education abroad programs to the student s transcript. One of the ways this can be done is through the proposed addition to the course catalog of general Education Abroad courses that fulfill general education requirements. Students are unlikely to study abroad if they fear they will not receive academic

3 Sinclair 2 credit for their experiences. It is easy to understand based on this reasoning why the task force would make such a recommendation. UW Eau Claire has a collegial and developmental culture as demonstrated by the aspects of the mission deemed most important. Specifically, the university aims to foster exemplary student-faculty research and scholarship that enhance teaching and learning (collegial) but also an inclusive campus community that challenges students to develop their intellectual, personal, cultural, and social competencies (developmental). The collegial nature of the university is evident in the importance given to faculty, who are elected to the University Senate which has the direct ear of the Chancellor. It is easy to see who is deemed important in the organization of the institution based on who has direct access to the Chancellor. The developmental culture is also evident in the way that the Liberal Education Core, which is comprised of university-wide course and experience requirements, focuses on student development. There is also a managerial aspect to the culture of the university as it is so large in terms of its student body. The business policies and procedures manual demonstrate how managerial practices are necessary for such a large institution. The process of making changes to the course catalog has been routinized and is detailed in the Faculty and Academic Staff Rules and Procedures. In order to add new courses, a number of steps need to be taken, starting with a suggestion by a member of the faculty or academic staff. A department or equivalent unit must come to an agreement and make a proposal as a unit to the University Senate. The Dean of the college under whose jurisdiction the proposed change lies would also need to be on board with the request made to the senate. This can be seen Undergraduate Academic Program Changes chart (Appendix B). In the case of education abroad credit, this would be the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, under whose authority falls the

4 Sinclair 3 department of international education. The Senate is made up of elected members of the faculty and academic staff, and is overseen by the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor. The purpose of the University Senate is to be a, deliberative body empowered to act for the University Faculty and the University Academic Staff in matters of faculty and academic staff responsibility and concern. In matters related to curriculum, there is discussion by the full Senate, but voting is reserved for those senators who are university faculty members. The results of the vote are forwarded to the Chancellor. Thus, the University Senate fulfills its goal of serving as a consultative body to provide recommendations to the Chancellor for making policy decisions. Possible challenges exist here if some members of the University Senate are not in agreement regarding proposed policy changes. Because this particular case involves a change to general education courses, the proposal must go through the University Liberal Education Committee (ULEC) in addition to having approval from the college. This adds a layer of complication to the process, as well as increasing the likelihood the tensions will develop among various committees and their members. This committee is made up of elected faculty and academic staff members from the various colleges that comprise the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire as well as a student appointee from the Student Senate. The ULEC has the responsibility of determining and developing learning outcomes for the Liberal Education Core, which is made up of required general education courses and other university-wide experience requirements. This committee makes recommendations to the Academic Policies Committee and to the University Senate. In order to have the ULEC consider inclusion of new courses in the Liberal Education Core, an application needs to be filled out that describes how the learning experience proposed identifies with one or

5 Sinclair 4 more Liberal Education Learning Core Outcomes and is broadly accessible to students from all programs of study at the university. In this particular case, the inclusion of general education abroad courses in the Liberal Education Core fulfills many of the goals in the Liberal Education Core Framework. The first of these is Knowledge, whose goal is to, build knowledge and awareness of diverse peoples and cultures and of the natural and physical world through the study of arts, histories, humanities, languages, mathematics, sciences and technologies, and social sciences. The second is Skills, whose goal is to, develop intellectual and practical skills, including, for example, inquiry and analysis, critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, quantitative literacy, information literacy, and teamwork and problem solving. The third is Responsibility, whose goal is to, apply personal and social responsibility for active citizenship and develop skills needed to thrive in a pluralistic and globally interdependent world, The fourth is Integration, whose goal is to, integrate learning across courses and disciplines within and beyond campus. It is easy to see how allowing study abroad as general education courses fulfills the knowledge goal, as study abroad increases awareness of diverse cultures. It fulfills the skills goal, as reflection of experiences in education abroad lead to increased abilities to think critically. It fulfills the responsibility goal, as well-designed education abroad opportunities prepare students to be global citizens. If the ULEC committee approves of the inclusion of general education abroad courses in the Liberal Education Core, it may make a recommendation to the Academic Policies Committee, which is a University Senate committee. The committee would then review the recommendation made by the ULEC and report back to the University Senate as a whole, with the responsibility of describing the proposal, its advantages and drawbacks, and making a

6 Sinclair 5 recommendation. Assuming the Academic Policies Committee approves of the recommendation made by the ULEC, it would then recommend the policy change to the University Senate, which would then vote on the change. If the vote is successful, the Chancellor considers the result and makes a decision regarding whether to adopt the change. Following the organizational structure of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, if the Chancellor decides to adhere to the recommendation made by a positive vote by the University Senate, the Chancellor would then tell the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (who also attends University Senate meetings and therefore should be abreast of the situation) of the policy changes. The office of the Registrar falls under the direction of the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, so he or she would be the one to inform the registrar of the changes to be made to the course catalog. Thus concludes the lengthy process of making a change to the course catalog through adding general education abroad courses. Research into the academic policies and procedures reveals the complicated nature of fulfilling the recommendation made by the task force to include general education abroad courses in the course catalog to ease students transfer of credentials from education abroad programs. A number of committees and governing bodies need to approve of the request in a particular order to make changes to the course catalog. This makes sense at such a large university, as it is important that various people and departments not be able to alter the course catalog at will, and it avoids disjointed incrementalism. This provides stability to the university and ensures that changes are made thoughtfully, and not without consideration for the members of the institution that would be affected by those changes. The following of these procedures also means that the Chancellor, who makes the ultimate decision of whether a policy change is adopted, is only seeing recommendations that are approved by majorities of various groups that

7 Sinclair 6 are affected by the change. This means that the Chancellor does not need to review every single change proposed, and that the recommendation to the Chancellor is a strong one, as it is backed by many committees of the university. An institution like the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire might be likely to make such a change that would improve ease of access to study abroad as it holds international education objectives as key to the mission of the institution. This is evident by its talk but also by its walk with the implementation of the International Fellows Program which, this year, won the Heiskell Award for campus internationalization given by the Institute of International Education.

8 Sinclair 7 References IIE 2014 Heiskell Award winner: international fellows program. (2014). Retrieved March 10, 2014, from Awards/Internationalizing-Campus/2014-University-of-Wisconsin-Eau-Claire University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire faculty and academic staff rules and procedures. (2013). University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Website. Retrieved from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. (2006). Retrieved March 12, 2014, from

9 Sinclair 8 Appendix A Organizational Structure of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

10 Sinclair 9 Appendix B Structure of Decision Making for Changes to the Undergraduate Academic Program