OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
On July 23, 2013, Philander Smith College established the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning, and Dr. Annie Winkler Williams was appointed by the President as Director of this Unit. In addition to the President's vision to establish this Office, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Fiscal and Strategic Technical Assistance Program (FASTAP) visiting team in February 2013 recommended that this Office should be established and have primary responsibility for implementing an ongoing process and monitoring all units of the College in their pursuit of fulfilling requirements for reaffirmation of accreditation.
Click to Read Our 10-Year Long-Range Strategic Plan
DISTANCE EDUCATION APPROVAL:
Working with the Office of the President, this Office filed an application for distance education with the Higher Learning Commission NCA in July 2013. On November 7, 2013, the President's office received a letter from Dr. Sylvia Manning, NCA President, which provided formal notification that approved Philander Smith College for distance education courses. A Distance Education Committee has been named to assist the College in developing and implementing an action plan for distance education. The President and Administrative Cabinet will determine the final action plan for implementation of distance education at PSC.
STRENGTHENING INSTITUTIONAL ACCREDITATION ACTIVITIES:
This Office has provided leadership for Title III, Activity V: Strengthening Institutional Accreditation. Four major objectives are ongoing:
- Maintained an Office to Strengthen Accreditation Services for Philander Smith College's Institutional and Program Accreditation in order to increase institutional commitment to improving Academic Quality
- Coordinated the preparation of the 2014 Institutional Self-Study for Re-accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA), and to assist the program coordinators with preparations for re-accreditation for teacher education by NCATE, Social Work by CSWE, and Business Program by ACBSP.
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive plan to increase from three to five the number of academic program accreditations at Philander Smith College. The Computer Science Department and Humanities Division faculty are engaged in a two-year process for program accreditation.
- Purchased and established an electronic accreditation data based called TaskStream to be used as a source of qualitative information, and will update the data base to reflect additional information as it is received campus-wide for institutional and program accreditation and/or re-accreditation.
NCA SELF-STUDY PLAN ACTIVITIES:
A NCA Newsletter, Volume I, Issue I, "Reaccreditation", was published in October 2013 and posted to the PSC webpage. As Philander Smith College prepares for a re-accreditation site visit on November 3-4, 2014 by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, this NCA Newsletter strives to provide useful information to the College community regarding the PSC Self-Study process and report. Additional information regarding Re-accreditation may be found on the Accreditation link on the PSC webpage. A NCA Newsletter, Volume 2, Issue 2, "NCA Update", was published and posted to the PSC webpage on January 9, 2014.
UNCF/FASTAP GRANT ACTIVITIES:
As a component of an UNCF/FASTAP Grant in the amount of $20,000, the College purchased an electronic Accountability Management System for assessment called Taskstream in June 2013 at a cost of $7,000.00. This electronic platform will centralize and manage a broad range of assessment and planning activities, including student learning outcomes assessment, curriculum mapping, strategic planning, faculty credentials and accreditation related activities and reporting. Training and use of Taskstream began spring 3014.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS AND PARTNERSHIP ACTIVITIES WITH THE OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS:
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning partnered with the Office of Academic Affairs and sponsored a Faculty Development Workshop on November 2, 2013. Dr. Lois Sheer, Consultant, assisted the faculty with identifying courses needed to achieve the goals and outcomes and writing performance indicators and identifying assessment tools.
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning partnered with the Office of Academic Affairs to sponsor a Professional Development Workshop January 3, 2014. These activities will be completed, as well as follow up activities reports needed for the NCA Self-Study Report.
