REPORT ON THE STRUCTURAL CHANGE SITE VISIT SOFIA UNIVERSITY SEPTEMBER 19, Team Roster: JoAnn Carter-Wells, Chair R. William Cash, Team Member

Transcription

1 REPORT ON THE STRUCTURAL CHANGE SITE VISIT SOFIA UNIVERSITY SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 Team Roster: JoAnn Carter-Wells, Chair R. William Cash, Team Member The evaluation team in conducting its review was able to evaluate the institution under the Commission Standards and therefore submits this Report to the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges for action and to the institution for consideration. 1

2 SECTION I. Overview and Context TABLE OF CONTENTS A. Description of the Institution and the Proposed Change...3 B. Description of the Team s Review Process...5 SECTION II. Evaluation of the Proposed Change A. Issue: Program Development and Management...5 B. Issue: Educational Effectiveness and Assessment Implementation...6 C. Issue: General Education Program...6 D. Issue: Online Curriculum Implementation System and Personnel...6 E. Other Issues Arising on the Visit-Budget and Admissions/Marketing...7 SECTION III. Findings and Recommendations...8 APPENDIX A

3 SECTION I. Overview and Context A. Description of the Institution and the Proposed Change Background Information Sofia University (formerly known as The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology) is an independent not-for-profit school whose mission is to provide graduate education, research, and applications in transpersonal psychology. Through disciplined scholarly inquiry into the integration of spirituality and psychology, Sofia seeks to foster the development of individuals, organizations, and societies towards their fuller potential for wisdom, health, and wholeness. The institute offers masters and doctoral degrees and one-year certificate programs in residential, online, and blended learning formats. These include programs for licensing as clinical psychologists and marriage and family therapists, and broad-based transpersonal education with specializations in spiritual guidance, women s spirituality, creative expression, education and research, spiritual psychology, transpersonal coaching, wellness, and creativity and innovation. Sofia has undergone significant change recently both in leadership and in strategic direction. In May 2011, Dr. Neal King took office as Sofia s president, and shortly thereafter engaged in a Strategic Directions exercise with the board of trustees to help the Institute prepare for its next phase of development. Among a number of key initiatives the board and president considered during this phase of planning was changing the school s name. This initiative followed an extended period of internal and external assessments, reflection, and discussion among the board and within the community at large concerning Sofia s current market position as a small, independent, specialty graduate school in a highly competitive field of psychology graduate education. After gathering input from the community and deliberating on the opportunities and risks of this and other proposed initiatives, the board of trustees decided to change the school s name to Sofia University (AKA Sofia University USA), effective July 1, Given this broader social and cultural context in which Sofia exits, the administration determined that an important next step to support the school s viability and sustainability and develop the institution as a university was to include bachelor completion programs. As with the proposed initiative to change the school s name, the administration consulted with the Sofia community via the Strategic Directions Community Survey, and a significant majority of students, alumni, staff, and faculty agreed the Institute should consider offering degree completion programs of some sort. Sofia s decision to offer degree completion programs therefore is a focal point within a broader institutional plan to grow and develop. First, the proposed programs will support a strategic goal of rebranding the school as a university. As the new name suggests and the two proposed programs indicate, Sofia intends to develop into a school which supports a range of degree programs and a variety of disciplinary studies while remaining steeped in the values and mission of providing a transformative education. 3

4 Most importantly, the new programs align with, support, and embolden Sofia s mission by giving an entirely new segment of the student population access to a distinct brand of wholeperson education. The proposed degree completion program in liberal arts also broadens the scope of transpersonal studies beyond psychology and provides a foundation whereupon a host of other social science and humanities-based programs may be offered. The online BA Degree Completion (BAC) program will be Sofia s first undergraduate offering. However, the school has been delivering on-line education for almost 30 years and has graduated over 800 students from their certificate program and 55 students from their online doctoral program. They currently enroll 122 doctoral and 4 certificate students in these programs. The online master s degree is one of Sofia s most popular programs. Since its inception in 1983, Sofia has graduated over 500 students from the online master s degree programs. These graduates have applied themselves to an array of professions, including teaching, consulting, coaching, and counseling, while some have gone on to earn a degree in their own Global and Residential doctoral programs. Recent Accreditation History Sofia University has been prolific in developing new graduate degree programs and distance education offerings since Most recently, in January, 2010, Sofia University was granted interim approval for the MA in Counseling Psychology (Distance Education) and the MA in Spiritual Guidance (Distance Education) which were ratified by the Commission in February, In June, 2012, the institution name was changed from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology to Sofia University. At its July 23, 2012, conference call meeting, the panel of the Committee acted to proceed to a site visit prior to Commission review of the proposal for the Bachelor of Psychology and the Bachelor in Liberal Arts with both as new online degrees. Proposed Change During its conference call on July 23, 2012, a panel of the Substantive Change Committee considered Sofia University s proposal to offer an online Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. This will be the first program offered by university at the bachelor level and thus will require structural change approval for a new degree level. On the same call, the panel also considered a proposal to offer an online Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts. This program will be considered as a regular substantive change if the panel recommends to the Structural Change Committee of the Commission approval of the structural change. Since the programs offer a similar format, the commendations and recommendations of the review team will apply to both. The primary purpose of the site visit under Structural Change is to address institutional capacity for the degree. The site visit will review the major components of, and support for, the proposed new online BA level programs. 4

5 B. Description of the Team s Review Process The team chair worked extensively with Dr. John Hofmann, ALO and Director of IR and Assessment, at Sofia University prior to the visit to develop a one day site visit which included meetings with key institutional officers and personnel around the four main issues which emerged from the review of the proposal submission and institutional conference call on July 23, These key issues were the role of key faculty in program development and management, assessment implementation timeline with sample rubrics, and eportfolio system, the structure of the General Education program and transfer unit structure and the entire online curriculum development process including the role of the instructional design specialist, the capabilities of the learning management system and the opportunities/activities for faculty development. The team also reviewed related key documents-job descriptions, student work, faculty handbooks, budget, assessment plan, etc. One team member was given a tour of the building next door to the current facility, which has been leased by Sofia and being remodeled to house many of the student support services for both undergraduate and graduate students. The space designated for admission and financial aid staff support for the BAC programs is separate (though adjacent) from that of the graduate programs; the entire space is designed to be a one-stop shop for Sofia students. In addition, in order to fully determine the institutional capacity for the proposed online degree of a BA in Psychology, the team wanted to meet with the online logistics coordinator the community engagement coordinator, key admissions/marketing personnel, and the technology program director. (see Appendix A- Sofia University Personnel and Approved Site Visit Schedule) SECTION II. Evaluation of the Proposed Change A. Issue: Program Development and Management Sofia University has a process in place for the development and approval of new programs. Once a program is approved for development, at least 2 faculty members must be involved in that process. In the case of the BAC, Kris Brandenburger was hired as a core faculty to Chair the programs and to be the project lead for the development of those programs. Provost Paul Roy worked with Kris throughout the process, and the curricula were reviewed by internal and external reviewers. A second core faculty member will be hired to work with Kris Brandenburger in the implementation of the program. The panel wanted to understand the job descriptions of these various individuals as part of how new programs are coordinated for overall curriculum management. Two team members met with Paul Roy and Kris Brandenburger about the hiring procedures for program chairs, faculty ratios, adjunct roles, course development procedures, and faculty development. They reviewed the extensively revised faculty handbook, online eportfolio system, BAC Intensive schedule, and job descriptions, etc 5

6 B. Issue: Educational Effectiveness and Assessment Implementation The panel was interested in the overall schedule on when the various elements of the assessment plan will be completed. The team also wanted to see a sample rubric for one of the degree learning outcomes for both bachelor programs and a sample eportfolio. Two team members met with Paul Roy and Kris Bandenburger and asked about the development of the SLOs and assessment of student learning. They reviewed the Degree Learning Objectives and Program-Specific Learning Objectives, the curriculum alignment matrix, and the assessment plan for the BAC. Sofia has comprehensively outlined the context in which assessment and program review will take place, identifying the key stakeholders, the methods for assessing student achievement and personal development, and the process by which this data will be analyzed and used in program review. Although specific rubrics have yet to be developed for the degree learning outcomes, there are well-defined plans to utilize them throughout the assessment process. A subsequent conversation between a team member and John Hofmann (ALO) provided assurance that the appropriate assessment instruments and rubrics will be ready by the time of their scheduled implementation. C. Issue: General Education Program The General Education program allows for 60 quarter credits to be transferred in but no breakdown of required subject areas is spelled out. In relationship to transfer credits the team wanted to learn about SU s plans for General Education. A team member met with David Norris (VP of Enrollment Management), Leah Mattix (BAC Admissions Counselor) and Kris Brandenburger (BAC Program Chair) to review the GE structure and credit transfer policies. It was confirmed that Sofia has not established any specific criteria regarding the distribution of the credits that will be transferred in, whether it be from an accredited institution, CLEP, or life-experience credits (as processed by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning- CAEL). D. Issue: Online Curriculum Implementation System and Personnel The learning management system was of interest to the team with a focus on the role of the instructional design specialist. Since it takes a long time to develop new courses, the team wanted to learn more about the schedule for the timely preparation of course materials for online instruction. They also wanted to learn more about faculty development in the learning management system. A team member met with the online logistics coordinator (Jagu Patel) and the Provost (Paul Roy) to review the various levels of existing online support for both faculty and students and particular concerns or issues in moving the LMS from Angel to either open source such as Moodle or Blackboard. The same team member also met with Nick Ottavio (Chief Information Officer) about the LMS decision, timeline for implementation and new training and faculty development procedures. There were concerns about existing HELP support protocols and staffing and how that will be amplified with a new student population with different student support and curriculum needs. The team member and the CIO also reviewed together the details of the job 6

7 description for the instructional design specialist who is expected to be hired shortly. There was also concern for the expectation of the level and type of online course development expected with this new position including improved multimedia enhancement and course development around best practices in the field such as those outlined by the SLOAN C protocols. The role and identification of the essential in-house SMEs was also discussed. In addition, the CFO was asked about institutional financial capacity to fund the planned shift in IT/LMS platforms, and was told that there were more than enough capital funds available to make this switch, and to fund the purchase of any additional software that might be needed (eg. Turnitin-plagiarism ) as the new BAC programs are launched. Another area of clarification was the role of the existing graduate level Community Engagement Coordinator (Mari Ziolkowski) and how the policies and procedures of that office will be transformed to the online environment for the undergraduate student population. A new Bachelor Completion Praxis Handbook was also reviewed. E. Other Issues Arising on the Visit Budget: A team member met with Roger Ono (Chief Financial Officer) and Paul Roy (Provost and academic Vice-President) to discuss the finances and budget for the proposed BAC program. Questions were raised regarding the numbers presented in the WASC Substantive Change Budget Template, namely that there were no budgeted expenses listed for marketing/recruitment, faculty development, or staff development. Further, projected costs for course development were constant across all three years, even though the norm for new program development is usually more heavily loaded in the early stages of developing a new program. Mr. Ono explained that the costs for marketing/recruitment, faculty development, and staff development were included in Sofia s overall budget, including the additional staffing needed for the BAC program, and hence were not singled out in the budget template. It was also explained that the costs shown for course development were only the portion of the entire salary expense of the course development personnel that will be hired for this program. Admissions/Marketing: Conversations with a team member and members of the Enrollment Management team (David Norris, Leah Mattix, and Kris Brandenburger) provided additional insight into the steps that Sofia is taking to establish a prospect pool. Ms. Mattix described her interview process as she screens these prospects and the information that is presently being provided these potential applicants. These staff have previous experience with undergraduate and adult learner communities, and appear to be making well-informed decisions as they await WASC approval of their BAC programs. 7

8 SECTION III. Findings and Recommendations Commendations The team commends Sofia University on their strategic planning process that led to the development and expansion to the BA level and obvious capacity to sustain future growth and to their timely resubmittal of previous Substantive Change proposals. The team also believed that the history of success in the online graduate programs to date will allow Sofia University to transfer those accomplishments to the BA level. The team was impressed with the thoroughness with which Sofia University has considered and addressed issues related to implementing a new undergraduate degree focus including admissions, financial aid, and student readiness on a variety of levels. The team observed evidence of teamwork, energy and commitment in designing the new degree and related support programs and in refining the assessment model and protocols. The team thanks the university for its superior level of organization of personnel, documents, scheduling and other logistical preparation for this visit. Findings and Recommendations 1. General Education program A team member met with David Norris (VP of Enrollment Management), Leah Mattix (BAC Admissions Counselor) and Kris Brandenburger (BAC Program Chair) to review the GE structure and credit transfer policies. There was additional conversation with the key institutional officers. It is apparent that General Education and related student learning outcomes and readiness expectations for degree completion have not yet been fully determined. Thus, the team recommends that Sofia University develop clear guidelines for essential skills and abilities in the GE transfer program that link to degree learning outcomes (CFRs 2.2, 2.3, 2.14) and that those guidelines are integral to the recruitment and admissions policies and procedures. 2. Faculty Development Two team members met with Paul Roy and Kris Brandenburger about the hiring procedures for program chairs, faculty ratios, adjunct roles, course development procedures, and faculty development around SLOs and assessment of student learning. They reviewed the extensively revised faculty handbook, online eportfolio system, BAC Intensive schedule, and job descriptions, etc. The team recommends that Sofia University strengthen the faculty development program around undergraduate student development, learning and online issues especially for new adjunct/part-time hires (CFRs 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, ). 8

9 3. Online Curriculum Development Based on the meetings with the online logistics coordinator and the CIO, the team recommends expanded multimedia curriculum integration and HELP desk support in emerging undergraduate online environment (CFRs 3.7, 4.2). This is especially critical with the imminent change in the LMS and the new role of an instructional design specialist who has expertise in interactive teaching methods, experience with web and interactive simulation development, and familiarity with Universal Design for Instruction (UDI). The instructional designer will also provide supervision for the online Logistics Coordinator who acts in a training and support role. Finally, the team expressed concerns to the institutional leadership about the reality of the proposed new online degree completion program development during spring, 2013, prior to the implementation timeline in fall, Of particular concern are the overlays of multiple institutional changes in a relatively short time during spring, 2013, which include key staff as the CIO and ID and the complexity of infrastructure changes such as the new LMS decision and transitions (Angel to open source or Blackboard), improved student data management system (Genzibar), new course development and faculty hiring and training, etc. Overall The site visit team recommends interim approval of the Bachelor of Psychology as a Structural Change. As noted in the WASC letter to Sofia University on August 1, 2012, following this approval, the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts will be recommended for Final Approval by the Substantive Change Committee as part of the consent agenda of the commission. 9

10 APPENDIX A Sofia University Personnel Name Neal King Paul Roy Kris Brandenburger John Hofmann David Norris Roger Ono Nick Ottavio Jagu Patel Mari Ziolkowski Leah Mattix Cheryl Hoke Position President Provost and Academic Vice-President BAC Program Chair ALO, Director of IR and Assessment VP of Enrollment Management Chief Finance Officer Chief Information Officer Online Logistics Coordinator Community Engagement Coordinator BAC Admissions Counselor Director of Admissions Approved Site Visit Schedule Time Topic Personnel Site Team Lead/Location 9:00-9:30 Preliminary meeting with President, Provost, and ALO Neal King, Paul Roy, and John Hofmann JoAnn and Bill/President s Office 9:35-10:20 Hiring faculty, faculty development, course development, SLOs, assessment of student learning Paul Roy and Kris Brandenburger JoAnn and Bill/Ubuntu 10:25-11:10 10:25-11:10 Instructional design + Online logistics coordination Evaluation of student readiness + Credit Transfer and GE units 11:10-11:25 Break Paul Roy and Jagu Patel David Norris, Leah Mattix, and Kris Brandenburger JoAnn/Ubuntu Bill/WASC Meeting Room 11:30-12:15 Finances, budgeting Roger Ono and Paul Roy Bill/WASC Meeting Room 11:30-12:15 Information technology Nick Ottavio JoAnn/Ubuntu 12:15-1:15 Lunch JoAnn and Bill/WASC Meeting Room 1:20-2:05 Community engagement coordination Mari Ziolkowski and Kris Brandenburger JoAnn/Ubuntu 1:20-2:05 Facilities tour Cheryl Hoke Bill/Building 2 2:10:2:40 Prep Time JoAnn and Bill/WASC Meeting Room 2:45-3:30 End of visit de-briefing Neal King, Paul Roy, and John Hofmann JoAnn and Bill/President s Office 10