PRELIMINARY VISIT QUESTIONNAIRE 2004 STANDARDS AND CRITERIA FOR BACCALAUREATE/GRADUATE DEGREE SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS

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1 PRELIMINARY VISIT QUESTIONNAIRE 2004 STANDARDS AND CRITERIA FOR BACCALAUREATE/GRADUATE DEGREE SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS

2 INSTITUTIONAL OVERVIEW The contents of the Preliminary Questionnaire begin with completing and submitting information about the institution in general and the business program specifically. Following is an outline that may be used to create the overview. Or, the institution may contact the ACBSP office for a.pdf version that permits entering of information and return it as an electronic submission. The intent of the overview is to address what is most important to the business schools or programs, the key factors that influence how the business schools or programs operate, and where the business schools or programs are headed. 1. Contact Information Name of Institution: Northwestern Oklahoma State University Name of Business School or Program: Department of Business 1 Name/Title of President/Chancellor: Dr. Janet Cunningham, President Name/Title of Chief Academic Officer: Dr. Steven Lohmann, Executive Vice President Name/Title of Business Unit Head: Dr. James Bowen, Dean School of Professional Studies Dr. Steven Palmer, Department Chair Academic year covered by the Preliminary Questionnaire: The institution s Preliminary Questionnaire coordinator contact information: Name: Dr. Steven Palmer Title: Department Chair Campus Address: 709 Oklahoma Blvd. Country: USA City: Alva State/Province: OK Zip/Postal Code: Phone: Fax: scpalmer@nwosu.edu 2. Identification of Individuals Who Helped Prepare the Preliminary Questionnaire The following people contributed information that was used in preparing this document. The document was primarily written by Steven Palmer, Department Chair. The President, Executive Vice President, Dean School of Professional Studies and the Business faculty had the opportunity to review the document and provide feedback before the final draft was sent. Contributors: Name Ms. Sheri Lahr, Registrar Information Technology Dept researchers and compilers of the 2009 Factbook Dr. Ralph Bourret, Assistant Professor of Accounting Dr. Jim Breyley, Associate Professor of Business Dr. Jerry Gustafson, Professor of E-Commerce Ms. Rita Castleberry, Institutional Research Title Dr. Kathleen Harris, Professor of Business Dr. Fred Jungman, Professor of Economics Mr. Bhanu Reddy, Instructor of Business Mrs. Dana Roark, Instructor of Business Ms. Karen Sneary, Instructor of Business Mr. Gary Tucker, Instructor of Business 1 During the academic year covered by this study ( ), the academic unit was the Department of Business, E-Commerce and Agriculture. Agriculture was spun off into its own department at the beginning of the current academic year ( ) and the Department was renamed Business, E-Commerce and Accounting. The E-Commerce major is being phased out this academic year. The university has submitted for approval to change the unit s name to the Business Division. This request has been approved by the Regional University System of Oklahoma Regents. The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the final step in the approval process, should consider the request at its March or April meeting. The university does not anticipate any objection. 1

3 3. Review of All Academic Activities a. Business Courses Offered by Business Unit. ACBSP accredits degree programs in business and business-related fields. The ACBSP accreditation process takes into account the traditional specializations in business, including accounting, business administration, finance, marketing and management. Any of these specialized programs offered by the business unit seeking accreditation must be included in the Preliminary Questionnaire to be considered for accreditation. b. Business Degrees Offered by Business Unit. The accreditation process includes a review of all academic activities in a business school or program. In other words, if an institution offers associate degrees, bachelor s degrees and graduate degrees in the business school or business program, the accreditation process embraces all of these in the Preliminary Questionnaire. If an institution has only a bachelor s or master s degree program at the time of accreditation, but adds the bachelor s or the master s degree at some later date, the institution will have a maximum of five years from the date of the program s inception to achieve accreditation. When a new degree program in business is added after an institution has been accredited, it must be referred to in the institution s annual report to ACBSP. The new degree program needs to be operational, with enrolled students, for at least two years before it can be considered for accreditation. c. Business Content Courses Not Offered by Business Unit. At the institution s written request, other business-related programs may be either included or excluded from the accreditation process. If they are to be excluded, appropriate justification should be set forth in the Preliminary Questionnaire material, and evidence must be included to ensure that the general public clearly understands that these programs are not accredited. d. Branch Campuses/Extension Centers. If an institution has a branch campus or campuses, or there are extension centers or other types of auxiliary operations where business courses are taught, then the accreditation process will include all of these locations in the Preliminary Questionnaire. On a case-by-case basis, such entities may be excluded. If they are to be excluded, appropriate justification should be set forth in the Preliminary Questionnaire material, and evidence must be included to ensure that the general public clearly understands that these programs are not accredited and there is sufficient distinction in the degrees offered to justify their exclusion. An institution may ask in advance of conducting the Preliminary Questionnaire for a determination of inclusion or exclusion from the Preliminary Questionnaire. TABLE 1 - Review of all Academic Activities Column A: List all business or business-related programs (including those with designations in the degree or major title such as business, industrial, administration, management or organizational.) Column B: Indicate with yes or no whether the program is administered by the business unit. Column C: Indicate with yes or no whether the program is to be accredited by ACBSP. If no, provide justification explaining why the program should be excluded from the accreditation process. Column D: Indicate number of degrees conferred during Preliminary Questionnaire year. 2

4 Column A Column B Column C Column D B.S. Accounting yes yes 2 18 B.S. Agri-Business 3 no no 22 B.S. Business Administration yes yes 54 B.S. Business Education 4 N/A N/A 0 B.S. E-Commerce 5 no no 2 B.S. Organizational Leadership yes yes 6 0 B.A. Political Science/Public Admin. 7 no no N/A 8 B.A.A.S. Technical Management yes yes 9 0 Comments: The Accounting, Business Administration and E-Commerce majors are traditional Business programs. The Organizational Leadership major is a cooperative degree completion program involving nine Oklahoma state universities. Technical Management major leads to a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences designed for students who have an applied arts or sciences associate degree or have attained certain national certifications. In the review academic year ( ) the Department included Agriculture. Beginning in the academic year Agriculture, including Agri-Business, was removed from the Business Department and an Agriculture Department was created. Throughout this study, the data for the Department during the self-study year does not include Agriculture or Agri- Business programs or students. 2 NWOSU is seeking concurrent ACBSP accreditation for the Accounting Program. 3 The Agri-Business major is being discontinued at the end of the current academic year ( ). Prior to the current academic year, Agriculture and Business were in the same department. With making Agriculture its own department, the decision was made to discontinue the major. In the future Agriculture students wanting a basic business background will minor in Business. 4 The review year was the last year for the Business Education major. The program no longer is available at NWOSU. 5 The E-Commerce major will be eliminated at the end of the current academic year. 6 Organizational Leadership is being accredited as a Business-related program. 7 The Bachelor of Arts with a major in Political Science (Public Administration Option) is a traditional liberal arts, public administration program based in a Political Science Department. Students in this program take three Economics courses taught by the Department of Business (Principles of Macroeconomics, Principles of Microeconomics and Public Finance). Other than the Introduction to Public Administration class, none of the other courses in the curricula have a title or content that would be confused with a Business program. The Business Department has no authority over or input into the Political Science major. 8 The information concerning the Public Administration option is not captured by the university. A total of 5 Political Science majors graduated. 9 Technical Management is being accredited as a Business-related program. 3

5 4. Organizational Charts Place in an Appendix of the Preliminary Questionnaire a copy of: 1.) The institution s organizational chart 2.) The business school or program s organizational chart Identify here the Appendix number: Appendix A = NWOSU organizational chart (study year) Appendix B = Business Department organizational chart 5. Conditions of Accreditation a. Institutional Accreditation. Institutions operating in the U.S. must be accredited by their regional body. Non-U.S. institutions must have equivalent accreditation or recognition as appropriate. For non-u.s. institutions, this is typically a copy of a certified translation of an official document from an appropriate government organization in their respective countries stating recognition, accreditation, and/or their right to grant degrees in an Appendix. Membership in ACBSP requires regional accreditation or the filing of the official document by non-u.s. institutions. It is not necessary to provide these documents unless this information cannot be verified by ACBSP staff, or there have been changes in the status. If this cannot be verified or is questioned, the institution will be required to provide documentation before the process can continue. Please note below any changes in accreditation status. Changes: NWOSU is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association. The HLC accreditation is due for re-affirmation in b. Statement of Mission Institution. Provide the approved statement of mission for the institution and state whether it is listed in the institution s catalog or program offerings bulletin (see subsection d). University Statement of Mission: Northwestern Oklahoma State University is a community of learners that includes students, teachers, staff, administrators, and area citizens advancing learning excellence and preparing its members for service as leaders and entrepreneurs in the changing climate of northwest Oklahoma and the world. c. Statement of Mission Business School or Program. Schools and programs must have a mission consistent with that of ACBSP. State the mission of the business school or program and whether the mission is listed in the institution s catalog or program offerings bulletin (see subsection d). State of Mission: Department of Business Mission Statement: The Department of Business provides a quality, student-centered learning environment to prepare students to be competent, ethical business professionals, entrepreneurs and leaders in the regional workplace and in the world. The Department accomplishes this by offering quality education delivered by qualified, involved faculty dedicated to continuous improvement processes in order to prepare our alumni to contribute to the intellectual and economic vitality of regional stakeholders and beyond. 4

6 d. Public Information. State the catalog page number(s) where each of the following is located: 1.) listing of the business degree programs page number(s) 52, 59-67, ) the academic credentials of all faculty members page number(s) ) the academic policies affecting students along with a clear description of the tuition and fees charged the students page number(s) 13-14, 25-36, ) the statement of mission of the institution page number(s) 8 5.) the statement of mission of the business school or program page number(s) N/A 10 e. Accreditation of Doctoral Programs. Accreditation of doctoral programs requires meeting the following requirement: 1.) Institution must have ACBSP-accredited programs at the baccalaureate and/or master s level. N/A 2.) Institution must perform a Preliminary Questionnaire addressing the six general standards and criteria and related subcategories to the extent appropriate. N/A 3.) Program must be authorized by the appropriate regional accrediting association and/or the appropriate governmental agency. - N/A 4.) Accreditation can only be awarded after individuals have graduated from the program. - N/A If this Preliminary Questionnaire includes accreditation of a doctoral program, please indicate below with attached documents as required, that you have met these requirements or you intend to meet these requirements. N/A 6. Business School or Program Organizational Profile The Organizational Profile is a snap-shot of your business school or program, the key influences on how you operate, and the key challenges you face. It consists of two parts: Organizational Description and Organizational Challenges. Importance of Beginning with your Organizational Profile. Your Organizational Profile is critically important because: It is the most appropriate starting point for self-assessment. It helps the institution identify potential gaps in key information and focus on key performance requirements and organizational performance results. It is used by ACBSP in all states of review, including the site visit, to understand your organization and what you consider important. It also may be used by itself or an initial self-assessment. If you identify topics for which conflicting, little or no information is available, you can use these topics for goal-setting and action-planning. Please submit your responses to both the Organizational Description and the Organizational Challenges on documents included within the Preliminary Questionnaire as an Appendix or immediately following these pages. Limit the response to the Organizational Profile to five pages. 10 The Department did not have a mission statement prior to the beginning of the current academic year. By the time the mission statement was adopted the current catalog had been printed. The Department of Business Mission Statement will be included in the Undergraduate Catalog which will be published later this semester. It will be printed in a new section of the catalog that describes the Business programs. The mission statement is included on the Department s webpage. 5

7 a. Organizational Description Describe your organization s environment and key relationships with students and other stakeholders. Within your response, include answers to the following: 1.) Organizational Environment a.) What are the delivery mechanisms used to provide your education programs, offerings and services to students? b.) What is your organizational context/culture? c.) What is your stated vision? d.) What are your stated values? e.) What is your faculty and staff profile? Include education levels, workforce and job diversity, organized bargaining units, use of contract employees. f.) What are your major technologies, equipment and facilities? 2.) Organizational Relationships a.) What are your key student segments and stakeholder groups? What are their key requirements and expectations for your programs and services? What are the differences in these requirements and expectations among students and stakeholder groups? b.) What are your key partnering relationships and communication mechanisms? Notes: Student segment and stakeholder group requirements might include special accommodation, customized curricula, reduced class size, customized degree requirements, student advising, dropout recovery programs and electronic communication. Communication mechanisms should be two-way and might be in person, electronic, by telephone and/or written. For many organizations, these mechanisms might be changing. b. Organizational Challenges Describe your organization s competitive environment, your key strategic challenges and your system for performance improvement. Within your response, include answers to the following questions. 1.) Competitive Environment a.) What is your competitive position? Include your relative size and growth in the education sector and the number and type of competitors. b.) What are the principal factors that determine your success relative to your competitors and other organizations delivering similar services? Include any changes taking place that affect your competitive situation. 6

8 2.) Strategic Challenges What are your key strategic challenges? Include education and learning, operational, human resource and community challenges, as appropriate. 3.) Performance Improvement System How do you maintain an organizational focus on performance improvement? Include your approach to systematic evaluation and improvement of key processes and to fostering organizational learning and knowledge sharing. Notes: Factors might include differentiators such as program leadership, services, e-services, geographic proximity and program options. Challenges might include electronic communication with key stakeholders, reduced educational program introduction cycle times, student transitions, entry into new markets or segments, changing demographics and competition, student persistence and faculty/staff retention. 1. Leadership PLEASE SEE APPENDIX C FOR OUR ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE. Administrators (chief academic officers, deans, department chairs) and faculty must personally lead and be involved in creating and sustaining values, business school or program directions, performance expectations, student focus and a leadership system that promotes performance excellence. The values and expectations must be integrated into the business school s or program s leadership system and the business school or program must continuously learn, improve and address its societal responsibilities and community involvement. a. Do your administrators and faculty set, communicate and deploy business school or program values and performance expectations? b. Do your administrators and faculty review business school or program performance and capabilities to assess program success and your ability to address changing needs? Northwestern Oklahoma State University is led by Dr. Janet Cunningham, president. Dr. Cunningham came to administrative duties from the Business Department where she taught Accounting. She is extremely supportive of the Business Programs and understands the program s vital role in the success of the university. Dr. Steve Lohmann is the executive vice president of the university and its chief academic officer. Dr. Lohmann also is supportive of the Business Programs at NWOSU. The Business Department is part of the School of Professional Studies at NWOSU. The dean, Dr. James Bowen, has a background in education. However, he has educated himself on ACBSP standards and the importance of accreditation for the Department. Senior administrators model the importance that ethical behavior has on this campus. The university has developed a code of ethics applicable to the faculty at the university (See Appendix D). The code is published in the faculty manual. Violation of the code of ethics may lead to termination or other disciplinary action if deemed moral turpitude or dishonest. Substantial or repeated violations of the code of ethics would also be grounds for termination. 7

9 Student ethics is also an important element on campus. The university has its policy regarding academic dishonesty in the student handbook. When hiring new faculty, one of the interview questions concerns with how the professor would deal with academic dishonesty. As the Department s policy manual is developed over the next several months, a code of ethics for the students will be included. Under university procedures, students have the opportunity to evaluate professors during fall semester classes. One of the questions that is asked on the evaluation form regards the professor s fairness. Students also have the opportunity to make written comments on the evaluation instrument. The evaluations are conducted anonymously. (NOTE: Starting with the current academic year Business classes will be evaluated by students every semester.) Faculty has the opportunity to evaluate academic administrators during the spring semester. The administrators reviewed include the applicable division/department chair, the applicable dean, the executive vice president and the president. Faculty may include detailed comments in this anonymous survey. Senior administrators value communication between administration and faculty. While allowing the Business Department to take the necessary steps toward accreditation, they have wanted to be kept advised as to the progress. When asked for assistance, senior administrators have been open to providing the necessary contributions to support the Department. The president firmly believes that communication is vital to the success of the university. She and other senior administrators meet with each division/department in the fall to discuss university and department issues. This informal session involves a healthy dialogue between administration and faculty. The administration has an excellent record of following up on Department concerns raised at this meeting. The president also holds two or three all-university faculty meetings during the semester. After covering the issues on the agenda, she opens the floor for questions. Again she frankly answers those questions and if necessary provides follow-up information. Department chairs meet weekly with the dean to discuss issues and concerns regarding the university and departments. These meetings provide for smooth operation of the departments. All senior administrators are open to meet with students, department chairs and faculty to discuss concerns or issues that arise. When necessary, administrators take steps for the necessary resolution of the issue. The dean and executive vice president annually review the program assessment data regarding all university programs, including Business. The dean or executive vice president will discuss with the chair any issues that the data presents that are not appropriately addressed in the Department s assessment report. 2. Strategic Planning The business school or program must have a process for setting strategic directions to better address key student and program performance requirements. The strategy development process should lead to an action plan for deploying and aligning key plan performance requirements. It should also create an environment that encourages and recognizes innovation and creativity. a. Do you use a formal process to set the strategic direction for your business school or program? b. Do faculty and staff members participate or have a voice in this process? 8

10 c. Have you established your business school or program s key strategic objectives and the timetable for the current planning period? During the study year, the Business Department lacked a formal strategic planning process. The Department did not have a separate strategic plan from that of the university. The Department and administration did set one strategic goal specifically for the Department attain ACBSP accreditation. In the current academic year, the first steps toward a Business Department strategic plan have been made. At the beginning of the academic year the Department created a Planning Committee. The committee was charged as follows: The Planning Committee is responsible for strategic planning. This includes suggesting modifications to the department s mission statement, development of departmental goals and objectives, and annual review of the department s performance regarding mission, goals and objectives. The committee shall report its findings and recommendations to the department faculty. The Planning Committee also acts as the department s curriculum committee. In this regard the committee considers all suggested curriculum changes and makes recommendations to the department chair. Finally, the Planning Committee is responsible for stakeholder outreach. The committee should suggest and organize outreach activities. In the Fall 2009 semester the Planning Committee worked on the mission and vision statements for the Department. The committee then worked on the revision of the curriculum to meet the needs of our students and other stakeholders. The major curriculum revision recommended by the committee has been approved by the department faculty, university s Academic Affairs Committee, university administration and the Regional Universities of Oklahoma Regents. The curriculum proposal will be on the March or April 2010 agenda of the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education. This semester (Spring 2010) the Planning Committee will start to focus on developing a formal strategic plan for the Business Programs. For now, the primary strategic initiative for Business Department is to earn ACBSP overall accreditation for the Business Programs and specific accreditation of the Accounting Program within five years. 3. Student and Stakeholder Focus A business school or program must have a systematic procedure to determine requirements and expectations of current and future students and stakeholders, including how the business school or program enhances relationships with student and stakeholders and determines their satisfaction. Stakeholders may include parents, employers, alumni, donors, other schools, communities, etc. a. Have you determined or targeted the student segments your educational programs will address? b. Have you identified methods to listen and learn to determine student and stakeholder requirements and their importance to these groups decisions related to enrollment? 9

11 c. Do you have a process to use the information you obtain from students and stakeholders for purposes of planning educational programs, offerings and services; marketing; process improvements; and the development of other services? In the past processes in the Business Department have been informal in many respects. This means that there is little documented evidence of the processes the Department has used. The Department had an advisory board comprised of alumni and local business professionals. The advisory board met annually. In addition the faculty would have informal discussion with students, alumni and local business professionals about the program. The Department is in the process of establishing more formal processes to gather information from these constituencies to improve our programs. Currently, the plan would include a three-year rotation of surveys. One year the survey would be of the regional business community. The following year would be a survey of employers who have employed our alumni. The third year of the rotation would involve an alumni survey. Notices will be sent to the applicable target audience requesting their participation. These surveys will be administered through LiveText or another online survey platform. The Department will continue to utilize the advisory board for input from alumni and regional businesses. The use of the advisory board will be more formalized. Likewise the advisory board will be used more frequently for input as to what the program does well and what needs to be improved. An informal process that has been put in place involves the three regional Chambers of Commerce. Members of the Business faculty have joined Chambers of Commerce in Enid, Woodward and Alva. Being active in the Chambers of Commerce will assist the Department in assessing the communities needs for Business graduates and whether we are meeting the needs. A student advisory board is also being discussed. This will give students a more formal mechanism for providing advice to the Business faculty about the program. An exit survey for graduating seniors will be developed and implemented in the next year for student input. 4. Information and Analysis Business schools and programs must have an outcomes assessment program with documentation of the results and evidence that the results are being used for the development and/or improvement of the institution s academic programs. Each business school or program is responsible for developing its own outcomes assessment program. At many universities outcomes assessment is frequently misunderstood by faculty. Those disciplines that have outside, professional accreditation have a much greater appreciation and understanding of assessment purposes and processes. This is probably true with the Business Programs at NWOSU. In the past, as reflect by the responses below, assessment was not understood by the faculty. For one, most measures used by the faculty in the program assessment process were not measures of student learning; rather they are measures of professor teaching at best. Attached to these responses as Appendix E is the Assessment Report regarding the Academic Year. 4.1 Selection and Use of Information and Data a. Do you have an outcomes assessment program? b. Do you have measures/indicators for tracking your business school or program s overall performance? 10

12 Northwestern Oklahoma State University has an outcome assessment process involving all programs on campus. The assessment results for each program are initially reviewed by the Director of Assessment. Then the Director of Assessment meets with both academic deans and the Executive Vice President (chief academic officer at NWOSU) to review and discuss the assessment results for each program. If areas of concern are identified, either the appropriate dean or the Director of Assessment meets with appropriate division/department chair to discuss the concerns. Whether it is the dean or the Director of Assessment that brings the concerns forward depends on the nature of the concern. The Director of Assessment does meet with each division/department chair to discuss input from the deans and executive vice president regarding their respective programs. This meeting is also an opportunity to discuss assessment for the current academic year. A summary of the assessment report for each program is forwarded to the Regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, which is published by the state regents. The assessment reports for Business Programs are kept on file with the Director of Assessment and the department chair also has a copy. There is little evidence that, beyond sharing the information with members of the Business faculty each year, formal tracking of data occurs. The Business faculty had informal discussions about the assessment reports. As the decision was made to seek ACBSP accreditation, the faculty believed that assessment issues would be addressed in the accreditation process. In Fall 2009 a virtual drive was created on each Business faculty member s computer by the Instructional Technology Department. The Department s assessment reports, as well as other important information, are posted on this virtual drive to allow Business faculty access to the information. 4.2 Selection and Use of Comparative Information Data Describe the business school or program s selection, management, and use of benchmarking (comparing to best practices) or comparison (comparing with similar business schools or programs) information and data to improve overall performance. In the study year of the only assessment benchmarking involved the Major Field Tests results. The university frequently identifies as peer institutions the other RUSO universities (East Central University, Northeastern State University, Southeastern University, Southwestern Oklahoma State University and University of Central Oklahoma). All other RUSO universities, except Southwestern Oklahoma State, are accredited by ACBSP. Southwestern Oklahoma State is currently accredited by IACBE. The administration appreciating the importance of professional accreditation and the fact NWOSU was the only RUSO program without professional accreditation made the decision to seek professional accreditation. 4.3 Selection and Use of Information Results What improvements have been made to your programs based on information obtained from outcomes assessment programs. In the study year, there is little evidence to indicate the department faculty made any substantive changes in the program as a result of the assessment data. In part no action was taken because the assessment data did not show any shortfalls, except in regard to the Major Field Test results. There is no documentation to indicate that the Business faculty formally discussed the assessment data and its implications. 11

13 The administration, with the faculty support, started the process of determining the appropriate professional accreditation agency for the NWOSU Business Programs. Business faculty and administrators examined AACSB, ACBSP and IACBE and determined that ACBSP was the appropriate organization for NWOSU. 4.4 Continuous Process Improvement: Student Learning and Performance How do you evaluate and improve your student learning and performance processes? Being a small school and having only ten full-time Business faculty members, most department processes are informal and not documented. In the study year little was formally done with the assessment data collected to evaluate and improve student learning. There was no course level outcomes assessment performed. The university had adopted a standardized format for syllabi that included identifying desired course learning outcomes in the syllabus. Business faculty did use the required syllabi format, but did not engage in course-level assessment to determine if the outcomes were being achieved. 4 UPDATE: In the current academic year ( ) assessment, both program and course-level, has been a priority for the Department. In Fall 2009 a department assessment committee comprised of three Business faculty members was formed. The Assessment Committee was charged as follows: The Assessment Committee is responsible for developing the overall Program assessment process for all degree programs offered by the Department. Once the assessment process is developed, the committee is responsible for implementation. Each year the committee will review the program assessment data and report the results, observations, conclusions and recommendations to the department faculty. The committee must document how the assessment data was used and what actions occurred because of the assessment results. The report shall include five-year trend data. In addition, the committee should collect the data on learning objectives assessment for each class. In its annual report the committee should also report on the assessment of class learning objectives. As part of the assessment process the committee must determine methods for benchmarking, both internal and external. The results of benchmarking should be included in the annual report to the faculty. During the Fall 2009 semester the Assessment Committee worked hard and identified overall program goals for all NWOSU Business Programs. The committee further identified specific program goals for each Business Program. The proposed goals were then presented to the Business faculty. After a department-wide discussion of the proposed goals, the Business faculty voted to adopt the recommended goals. (See Appendix F) Once the goals were adopted, the Assessment Committee began designing a program assessment process. Their recommended process was presented to the Business faculty at its first department meeting of the Spring 2010 semester. The Business faculty will be discussing, developing and adopting a program assessment plan during the Spring 2010 semester for implementation with the start of the academic year. 12

14 In Fall 2009 the Department s Development Committee made a brown bag presentation to the Business faculty on course-level assessment. The presentation included valuable information as to the benefits of course-level assessment, as well as possibly techniques that could be used. During the current semester (Spring 2010) teams of three to five faculty members have been charged with developing proposed standard learning outcomes for each class offered by the Business Department. It is planned that by the end of the semester the department faculty will meet, discuss and adopt standardized learning outcomes for each class. It is felt that standardized learning outcomes are especially important at NWOSU because approximately one-third of our courses are delivered by adjuncts. Once the course-level learning outcomes are adopted, then course-level assessment techniques will be developed. By using the same assessment techniques for any particular class, there will be longitudinal data available in the future. In February 2010 the department faculty attended a LiveText training session on campus. The representative from LiveText introduced the Business faculty on the use of LiveText for program and course-level assessment. In August 2010, Business faculty will have another day of training by LiveText trainers focused on how to use LiveText to gather, assess and analyze data for program and course-level assessment. LiveText has been used for program assessment by the Education Division for a couple of years. The Business Department will start using LiveText in Fall With the creation of the Assessment Committee, the Department also created a formalized system to close the assessment loop. The program assessment data will first be analyzed by the Assessment Committee. The committee is responsible to write a report to the Business faculty. The report will include observations, analysis and recommendations for improvement. Then the Business faculty will meet to discuss the assessment data and the committee s report. As a result of these discussions, the faculty will make recommendations regarding program improvement. The recommendations will be implemented by the chair, or the chair will discuss with the faculty why their recommendations are not being implemented. The Assessment Committee is also charged with collecting course-level assessment data from the faculty. This will assure that the information is being collected in each class. The committee will make general observations concerning the results of course-level assessment. The chair, working with appropriate faculty, will discuss what, if any, changes are needed, as a result of course-level assessment. 5. Human Resource Development and Management The ability of a business school or program to effectively fulfill its mission and meet its objectives is dependent upon the quality, number and deployment of the faculty and staff. Hence, each institution seeking ACBSP accreditation for its business school or program must: (1) develop and implement policies and plans that ensure an excellent faculty including a staffing plan which matches faculty credentials and characteristics with program objectives, (2) evaluate the faculty based on defined criteria and objectives, (3) provide opportunities for faculty development and ensure scholarly productivity to support department and individual faculty development plans and program objectives; and (4) foster an atmosphere conducive to superior teaching. 5.1 Human Resource Planning a. Do you have a human resource plan? 13

15 (NOTE: During the study year ( ) the Business Department had nine lines available for teaching Business-related courses. The Agriculture program also was part of the Business Department in the study year. The Agriculture program was spun-off into its own department at the start of the current academic year. In discussing the Business Department during the study year, the Agriculture faculty are not included as Business Department faculty. Further, one new Business faculty member left the university at the end of the Fall semester. She was replaced in the Spring 2009 semester by an instructor who had very similar qualifications. Both individuals held a Masters in Business Administration and were working on a doctorate degree in business administration. Therefore, for the purposes of this discussion, they will be treated as one person.) As a small regional state university in a small, rural community, NWOSU historically attracts faculty members who have previous ties with the university or the area. Faculty turnover at NWOSU is historically low. In the study year, the average length of faculty service at NWOSU for Business faculty was 9.5 years. Two professors had 20+ years of service. In the study year four of the full-time Business faculty members held at least one degree from NWOSU. Eight of the ten Business faculty members held at least one degree from a college or university in Oklahoma. Of the two faculty members who did not have a degree from an Oklahoma institution, one had been at NWOSU for 27 years and the other for 10 years. The faculty member with 10 years of NWOSU experience taught for several years at Phillips University in Enid. When Phillips University closed its doors, this faculty member was hired to be part of the Enidbased Business faculty. The university has a very specific hiring process that it follows. The process actively involves the department faculty and the faculty makes hiring recommendations to the dean. The hiring process is described in Appendix G. All full-time faculty, except tenured faculty, undergo an annual review. Tenured faculty members are reviewed every three years. The process used at NWOSU is well defined and rubrics have been established to assist in standardizing evaluations. Each faculty member develops an electronic portfolio using LiveText. Each portfolio is reviewed by the department chair, a peer reviewer of the faculty member s choice and a peer reviewer chosen by the department chair from a list of names provided by the faculty member. Appendix H contains a description of the process, the scoring sheets and the scoring rubric. By university policy and as performed by the Business Department during the study year, students evaluate every fall class. Starting in the current academic year, the Business Department policy is that students will evaluate all classes, not just those taught in the fall semester. The Business Department believed that input for the entire academic year is necessary for true continuous improvement How do you determine the best makeup of the faculty, including academic credentials and business experience? Under NWOSU policies, a person must have a doctorate degree to be considered for tenure. No one will be appointed to the rank of assistant professor without a doctorate, unless the person is ABD or has completed a non-doctorate graduate program consisting of at least 60 hours. The university does have a non-tenure track appointment for individuals who do not have a doctorate. These individuals are appointed at the rank of instructor. They may be a non-tenure track faculty member for seven years. After the seventh year, the regents must approve the further retention of non-tenure track faculty as a waiver of policy. 14

16 Because of the difficulty the university has experienced in recruiting doctorally-qualified faculty to this small agricultural community (5,000 people), the university has taken a home-grown approach. Individuals, with masters degrees, have been hired with the expectation that they will earn a doctorate degree. In the area of Business during the study year, there were five full-time instructors. Four of the five instructors were working on their doctorate degrees. Two were working on doctoral degrees in business and two in education. One full-time instructor held a Masters in Business Administration and had considerable business experience but had no interest in pursuing a doctorate degree. This instructor retired at the end of the study year. Most of the Business faculty brings a combination of experience (academic and business) with the academic credentials. As noted elsewhere in this report, NWOSU has historically used the home grown method of faculty development. Frequently masters qualified candidates with real-life experience were hired with the understanding that they would complete a doctorate program. The faculty hiring approach for Business professors has changed in the past two years. Greater effort has been made toward a national search for doctorally-qualified faculty. In evaluating applicants, the department look for both real-life work experience and doctoral qualifications. This change in approach is evident by the last four hires made by NWOSU for Business faculty. Mr. Tucker, hired for Spring 2009, did not have his doctorate, but he was working on a doctorate in Marketing when hired. Mr. Tucker has significant work experience that he brings to the classroom. The next hire was Dr. Steven Palmer, the new department chair. A search firm was utilized to fill this position. Dr. Palmer is doctorally qualified in Law, Management and Marketing. 11 Dr. Palmer has both industry and education experience. After national searches, Dr. James Breyley and Dr. Ralph Bourret were hired. Both gentlemen have work experience and prior teaching experience. Dr. Breyley is doctorally qualified in Accounting, Finance and Management; 12 while Dr. Bourret is doctorally qualified in Accounting If your institution offers non-traditional delivery systems or if any of your programs make extensive use of parttime (adjunct) faculty, How do you establish clear and explicit policies for recruiting, training, observing, evaluating and developing faculty for these non-traditional delivery systems. Approximately one-third of the courses offered by the Business Department are offered by adjunct faculty. Many of these individuals hold fulltime, non-teaching positions at NWOSU. Several other members of the adjunct faculty are faculty members at other universities across the country. All of these individuals who are involved in teaching online classes, have experience with online teaching. The adjunct faculty members who use ITV technology have been trained, usually one-on-one, by a professor who is knowledgeable on ITV or an ITV coordinator. Further, the university has an ITV facilitator available whenever there is an ITV class being taught who can assist faculty, full-time or adjunct, when technical issues arise Historically, accredited programs have focused on faculty input as a basis for demonstrating quality. The following criteria are considerations of historically appropriate employment input: 11 Dr. Palmer was found to be doctorally qualified in these areas when Eastern New Mexico University s ACBSP accreditation was re-affirmed in April Dr. Jim Breyley s credentials were reviewed as part of the initial accreditation of University of New England during the academic year. Dr. Breyley was found to be doctorally qualified in Management, Accounting and Finance. 15

17 At least 80 percent of the undergraduate credit hours in business and 90 percent of the graduate credit hours in business are taught by doctoral or professionally qualified faculty (see glossary of terms for doctoral or professionally qualified). At least 40 percent of the undergraduate credit hours in business and 70 percent of the graduate credit hours in business are taught by doctoral faculty. There is a mix of faculty, including sufficient business experience, business consulting experience, or other characteristics to ensure appropriate emphasis on business practice to meet program objectives. In the study year, the Department had full-time, doctorally-qualified faculty in several disciplines, as indicated in Table 2. With the new hiring done prior to the current academic year, all disciplines except E-Commerce and Management Information Systems have a doctorally qualified faculty member on the full-time faculty. The E-Commerce major is being phased out. Dr. Kathy Harris has 12 graduate hours in MIS. She is planning to take another 3-hour MIS graduate course so she will be doctorally qualified in Management Information Systems. Table 3 shows the doctoral coverage per discipline in the current academic year. Table 2 Doctorally-Qualified Faculty by Discipline Study Year ( ) DISCIPLINE Accounting E-Commerce Economics Finance Law Management Marketing Management Information Systems DOCTORALLY QUALIFIED Dr. Jordan None Dr. Jungman None Dr. Patzkowski Dr. Harris None None DISCIPLINE Table 3 Doctorally-Qualified Faculty by Discipline Current Year ( ) DOCTORALLY QUALIFIED Accounting Drs. Bourret, Breyley 13 E-Commerce None Economics Dr. Jungman Finance Dr. Breyley Law Dr. Palmer 14 Management Drs. Breyley, Harris, Palmer Marketing Dr. Palmer Management Information Systems None 13 Dr. Jim Breyley s credentials were reviewed as part of the initial accreditation of University of New England during the academic year. Dr. Breyley was found to be doctorally qualified in Management, Accounting and Finance. 14 Dr. Steve Palmer s credentials were reviewed as part of the reaffirmation of Eastern New Mexico University during the academic year. Dr. Palmer was found to be doctorally qualified in Law, Management and Marketing. 16

18 Prior to the decision to seek ACBSP accreditation, the university assigned qualified faculty members to teach courses without considering if the person was doctorally, professionally or minimally qualified. Therefore, no attempt was made to meet ACBSP goals of 80% doctorally or professionally qualified and 40% doctorally qualified for the undergraduate curriculum. As the graduate Business courses taught at NWOSU during the study year were combined undergraduate/graduate classes, the undergraduate teaching assignments were the primary concern. Table 4 shows the student credit hours generated in the study year based on the professors qualifications. Table 5 shows the student credit hours generated based on the professors qualifications for Accounting classes in the study year. Table 4 Business Program: Study Year Academic Year Total Student Credit Hours in Business Program Taught by Faculty Members in the Business Unit Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Undergraduate Graduate % 63% % 4% Table 5 Accounting Program: Study Year Academic Year Total Student Credit Hours in Business Program Taught by Faculty Members in the Business Unit Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Undergraduate Graduate % 100% % 50% Since making the decision to seek ACBSP accreditation, the university has hired four professors for the Business Department. The first hire was needed to cover the Spring 2009 semester, so doctoral qualification was not a vital factor. For the other three hires, doctoral qualifications were seen as vital. Three of the four new hires are doctorally qualified. Two of these professors are doctorally qualified in three disciplines. The professionally qualified new hire is pursuing a doctorate in Marketing. Upon graduation, this faculty member will also be doctorally qualified in three disciplines. The semester class schedules were designed to make progress in achieving the 80/40 mix in undergraduate student credit hour coverage. These efforts were constrained by ACBSP load standards and conditions at NWOSU. Significant progress was made in overall coverage percentages; although there was slippage toward the doctoral coverage in Accounting. 17

19 Table 6 shows the student credit hours generated based on the professors qualifications for the current academic year. Table 7 shows the student credit hours generated based on the professors qualifications for Accounting classes taught during the current academic year. Table 6 Business Program: Current Year Academic Year Total Student Credit Hours in Business Program Taught by Faculty Members in the Business Unit Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Undergraduate Graduate % 79% % 17% Table 7 Accounting Program: Current Year Academic Year Total Student Credit Hours in Business Program Taught by Faculty Members in the Business Unit Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Undergraduate Graduate % 100% % 100% As the Fall 2010 schedule was developed, efforts were made to achieve the ACBSP 80/40 undergraduate and 90/70 graduate coverage standards in both the overall Business program and in Accounting. As the Fall 2010 semester is currently scheduled, NWOSU has achieved these goals, except for doctoral coverage in the overall program. Currently only 38% of the credit hours being offered are scheduled to be taught by doctorally qualified faculty. However there are three scheduled classes listed as Staff. If a doctorallyqualified adjunct is hired to teach any of these three classes, the 40% goal will be achieved. Table 8 shows the projected credit hours offered based on the professors qualifications for Fall Table 9 shows the projected credit hours offered based on the professors qualifications in Accounting for Fall

20 Table 8 Business Program: Fall 2010 Projection (Note: This projection is based on courses scheduled to be taught, the faculty scheduled to teach each course and the credit hours each course carries. This is not based on student credit hour production per course.) Total Credit Hours in Business Program Taught by Faculty Members in the Business Unit Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Total credit hours currently listed as staff (as the qualifications of the faculty teaching these classes are unknown, for these calculations these 9 hours are treated as being taught by minimally qualified faculty.) Undergraduate Graduate % 100% % 100% 9 0 Table 9 Accounting Program: Fall 2010 Projection (Note: This projection is based on courses scheduled to be taught, the faculty scheduled to teach each course and the credit hours each course carries. This is not based on student credit hour production per course.) Total Credit Hours in Business Program Taught by Faculty Members in the Business Unit Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral and Professionally Qualified Faculty Members Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Percent of Total Credit Hours Taught by Doctoral Qualified Faculty Members Undergraduate Graduate % 100% % 100% As the Business and Accounting programs achieve the 80/40 and 90/70 requirement, there are several indications that these standards will continue to be met. Regarding graduate hours, all combined undergraduate/graduate Business courses have been eliminated. Business does not have a graduate program at NWOSU; the graduate courses offered are a service to the Master of Education and Master of Counseling Psychology programs. It is anticipated that only one or two graduate-level Business/Accounting courses a semester will be offered. These classes will be taught by doctorallyqualified faculty. The Fall 2010 semester will be the last semester that E-Commerce classes are taught. The program has been phased out due to low enrollments. There were no professors doctorally qualified in E-Commerce teaching these classes. Removing these student credit hours from the calculations will improve the percentages. 19