Southeast Technical Institute Systems Portfolio 2017-2018 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
Southeast Technical Institute Systems Portfolio 2017-2018
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1P4 Academic Program Quality


1P4 Academic Program Quality

Academic Program Quality focuses on ensuring quality across all programs, modalities, and locations. Describe the processes for ensuring quality academic programming. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for:

• Determining and communicating the preparation required of students for the specific curricula, programs, courses, and learning they will pursue (4.A.4)
• Evaluating and ensuring program rigor for all modalities, locations, consortia, and when offering dual-credit programs (3.A.1, 3.A.3, 4.A.4)
• Awarding prior learning and transfer credits (4.A.2, 4.A.3)
• Selecting, implementing, and maintaining specialized accreditation(s) (4.A.5)
• Assessing the level of outcomes attainment by graduates at all levels (3.A.2, 4.A.6)
• Selecting the tools/methods/instruments used to assess program rigor across all modalities

Determining and Communicating the Preparation Required of Students for the Specific Curricula, Programs, Courses, and Learning They Will Pursue

Program Requirements: Because program preparation varies significantly by program need, each Southeast Tech program has individualized program entrance requirements.  This allows Civil Engineering Technology to focus requirements on mathematics skills, while Early Childhood focuses on reading and writing skills.  Individual program entrance requirements are formally reviewed on a six-year rotation by a Program Entrance Committee of the program faculty, the Office of Institutional Research, and the Admissions person assigned to that program. This assures that entrance requirements are meeting the needs of students, the program, and employers.  If needed, program faculty can request, through their Academic Administrator, that a review occur prior to the six year rotation.  The Office of Institutional Research, with input from faculty and administration, develops the review cycle and assures that all programs are reviewed within the cycle (Table 1P4.1). 

Table 1P4.1  
Year Programs for Entrance Requirement Review
2014-2015 Ultrasound Programs, Invasive Cardiovascular, Nuclear Medicine, ENDT
2015-2016 Early Childhood, Digital Media Production, Media Design
2016-2017 Transportation Programs
2017-2018 RN, LPN, and Remaining Health Programs
2018-2019 Business, Law Enforcement, IT and Horticulture Programs
2020-2021 Electronics, Engineering, and Industrial Programs
  • Capture:  The first step in the process is the collection of inputs, which is completed by the Institutional Research Office.  Data on program student demographics, entrance test scores (ACT, Accuplacer, Compass, TEAS, etc.), individual student retention and graduation results, first time status, transfer status, low income, high school gpa and rank, previous college gpa, etc. are combined with program data such as enrollment, retention and graduation rates, assessment results, program accreditation requirements and benchmarks, etc. in order to gain a full picture of program and student success. An initial analysis and summary of the data is created by the Office of Institutional Research, which is then presented to the committee.
  • Develop:  Student data is provided in spreadsheet form, which allows the committee to analyze the inputs by choosing specific student groupings and determining if these groupings resulted in student success.  For example, the committee can choose to look at all first time students with ACT Math scores of 21+ and determine the retention rate of these students.
  • Decide:  Committee meetings are held to review and analyze the data, discuss the success and concerns of the current entrance requirements, and take into consideration any external stakeholder requests for changes, such as student drug testing.  Decisions on entrance requirements are made, and if adjustments are necessary, an implementation plan is developed.
  • Deploy:  The Admissions Office uses the new/revised entrance requirements when accepting students into the program.
  • Evaluate/Reflect:  The Office of Institutional Research continues to track and report student data to faculty and admissions on an annual basis, allowing these individuals to monitor the results of any changes. A formal evaluation and reflection of the changes takes place during the program’s next scheduled entrance requirement review.
  • It is the responsibility of the committee to assure that entrance requirement adjustments are deployed.  Note:  Southeast Tech uses a process similar to the one described above to determine and modify general education course placement requirements.
  • Publish/Communicate:  Any entrance requirement/course placement changes are communicated to all stakeholders through the Southeast Tech Catalog, the Admissions Office, high school visitation and orientation days, JumpStart, and meetings such as monthly employee and program Advisory Committee meetings, as needed.   

Course Requirements: Course requirements are guided by Southeast Tech’s program curriculum maps.  These maps, which indicate at what point and to what level common and program learning outcomes are covered, provide the necessary information to determine course requirements (1P 1 ).  Therefore, if a particular outcome is introduced in program course number 120 and mastered in course 250, the mapping indicates that 120 must be a prerequisite to 250. Other course requirements, such as equipment, textbooks, or required placement scores are determined by program faculty with input from Advisory Committees, external accreditation requirements, Academic Administration, etc.

All curriculum adjustments, including course requirements, must be approved by Southeast Tech’s Curriculum Committee prior to implementation.  (See the “Evaluating and Ensuring Program Rigor” section below for the Curriculum Committee approval process.)

Changes to course requirements, as well as other curricula changes, are communicated to stakeholders through Southeast Tech’s website, Catalog, degree audits, program brochures, Admissions and Student Success staff, Academic Advisors, and faculty.  Standardized course syllabi communicate course learning outcomes, assessment tools, pre-/co-requisites and other course requirements.  A review of course requirements occurs during the mapping process cycle as well as annual curriculum reviews with Advisory Committees and the Academic Administrator.

At orientation sessions, Admissions Counselors register new students for their first semester coursework, assuring that students are placed in the correct program and general education courses. Once students begin classes at Southeast Tech, they are assigned to a primary faculty Academic Advisor and a Student Success Advisor. These individuals then work with students to assure that they take the correct sequence of coursework to meet program and Institutional requirements. (4.A.4)

Evaluating and Ensuring Program Rigor for All Modalities, Locations, Consortia, and When Offering Dual-Credit Programs

Ensuring program rigor, and ensuring rigor across all modalities, requires the integration of processes from across the portfolio and its categories.  Therefore, references and links are indicated in several locations to provide quick access to these processes. 

  • Hiring Faculty:  Ensuring rigor begins with the hiring process.  Faculty must be qualified and active in their professions.  Southeast Tech requires that all faculty have a minimum of three years of relevant, in-field experience. General Education faculty must have a masters plus 18 credits in the specific general education area in order to teach transferrable general education courses. All faculty must provide transcript documentation and meet Southeast Tech’s general hiring requirements (3P 1 ).
  • Training Faculty:  Because the majority of our incoming faculty have little or no formal instructional training or experience, it is vital that we provide them with the support and training they need to transition from their in-field role to their instructional role.  Southeast Tech requires new faculty to complete the Institute’s new faculty training program, participate in the new faculty mentoring program, and be evaluated three times a year by their Academic Administrator for the first three years of employment.  Faculty training, however, does not end there.  Southeast Tech believes in continuing professional development, and therefore provides faculty with funding and training options throughout their career at the Institute.  Additionally, Southeast Tech has established two full-time positions to provide faculty training on how to effectively use technology for traditional, hybrid, accelerated, and online courses (3P 1 , 3P 2 , 3P 3 ).
  • Faculty Expectations: Southeast Tech has defined and documented its expectations for effective teaching and learning in its Instructor Evaluation Handbook. This document includes the Institute’s ”Indicators of an Effective Instructor” and the “Classroom Evaluation Form”, which outline and define Southeast Tech’s instructor expectations. Effective teaching and learning expectations are communicated to faculty through in-service presentations, formal and informal evaluations, meetings with academic administrators, and formal training processes such as the Institute’s mentoring program for new instructors.
  • Evaluating Faculty: All full-time faculty are evaluated on a set evaluation cycle, which is used to identify areas for improvement and to determine continued employment. Faculty who do not meet minimum expectations are placed on a Plan of Assistance and are given help to improve instruction. Part-time faculty are also evaluated by administration. (3P 2 )
  • Advisory Committees:  Every program is required to maintain an Advisory Committee and hold committee meetings at least twice a year.  Meeting minutes are also required and must be maintained on STInet.  Advisory Committees review curriculum, program and course requirements, program rigor, etc. and provide program faculty with information on industry direction that may impact the program.
  • Curriculum Committee:  Southeast Tech’s Curriculum Committee, consisting of faculty from across the campus, an Academic Administrator, Registrar, Registrar Assistant, and an Information Technology representative, is assigned the responsibility of assuring all programs maintain their curriculum and rigor appropriately and systematically.  Faculty requesting changes to curriculum, including new courses, course deletions, changes in course order, pre/co-requisites, course textbooks or other required course materials including software, course numbering, etc. must submit the request on the required form(s). The faculty member then presents the request in person to the committee, and the committee determines whether or not the curriculum change will be approved.  If not approved, the faculty member can revise the request and submit again, or remove the request.  If approved, the Registrar Assistant assures that the curriculum is changed in the Catalog and verifies these changes with the program faculty.  These changes are then communicated to other departments by March.  All changes are documented through the request forms and meeting minutes, which are maintained on STInet.  While Southeast Tech believes its faculty are the experts in their field of study, the Institute has found that the use of the Curriculum Committee process is vital in assuring that programs maintain consistency and rigor across campus and for all modalities (Figure 1P4.1).
  • Program Accreditations:  Specialized program accreditations provide rigorous program reviews by external sources, validating the program, its curriculum, and its outcomes (see the “Selecting, Implementing, and Maintaining Specialized Accreditations” section).
  • Program Assessments:  Results of program and common learning assessments provide opportunities to discover both strengths and weaknesses regarding program rigor and outcomes (1R 1 , 1R 2 ).
  • Internal Program Review:  Southeast Tech began piloting a more effective internal program review process in 2016-2017 as part of the Institute’s Annual Planning process (4P 2 ). Through this process, all programs and departments are formally reviewed annually on set criteria to determine future direction and continuation, allowing Southeast Tech the opportunity to review key program performance indicators that may indicate a concern regarding the program and its rigor.  Key indicators included during the process are internal assessment results, enrollments, retention and graduation rates, number of graduates, graduate placement rates and average salary, and employer and student satisfaction results, as well as program performance for both associated revenue and expenditures as well as program resource needs (1P 3  and 4P 2 ). 
  • State Program Review:  The Office of Career and Technical Education reviews all programs on an annual basis using three key indicators:  enrollments, retention rates, and graduate placement (1P 3 ).
  • Modality Assurance of Standards:  Regardless of modality, all program offerings must meet the above criteria and the processes associated with each criteria as well as meet the established common and program learning outcomes.  To further assure that online courses maintain appropriate rigor, Southeast Tech’s Education Design and Delivery Team, along with Academic Administration, has developed and implemented comprehensive guidelines for online courses, online student and instructor evaluations, templates, and student communications that are specific to online programming.  Because the expectations of students is greater for online students in terms of self-motivation and expected entry-level academic ability, these students must meet minimum entrance requirements that may be more stringent than traditional program entrance requirements.  The expectations for online courses mirror those of traditional courses, and faculty are provided resources to ensure consistency.

Online courses are delivered via the STInet Jenzabar LMS system, which has such features as audio and video testing, grade book, and collaborative work environments. Users are authenticated and granted access using industry-standard security protocols (unique identifiers and passwords). Access by students is controlled via the secure login profile established by each eligible user. When appropriate or necessary, data passed over the internet through web application for faculty, staff and students is encrypted. For distance education courses which may require students to take proctored exams, the exam is supervised, just as it would be for a course taken in a traditional classroom setting. The proctor verifies the student’s identity via photo identification, supervises the exam, and returns the completed exam to the instructor to grade. No fee or a nominal fee is charged for proctored exams, depending upon the setup and circumstances of the course or program. 

Southeast Tech does not maintain other locations or consortia.  The Institute’s dual credit program is taught by Southeast Tech faculty either on campus or online.  These students are integrated into our current course offerings and are taught by current full and part time faculty.  Therefore, teaching, curriculum, and course outcomes do not differ in any way from other course offerings and meet all the standards listed above.  In 2016-2017, Southeast Tech piloted a concurrent course taught by a local high school instructor.  To assure consistent standards, the Institute did the following:  1. Reviewed the instructor’s credentials and assured credentials met Institute standards; 2. Reviewed curriculum, assessments and assessment processes, by a Southeast Tech faculty member and Academic Administrator, to assure consistent course outcomes; 3. Connected the high school instructor to the Institute full-time faculty member who teaches the same course for a minimum of three face-to-face meetings, as well as emails and phone calls, to continue communications on curriculum, standards, assessments and outcomes; 4. Evaluated the high school instructor by a Southeast Tech Academic Administrator to assure teaching methodologies were used effectively.  Should the Institute pursue more concurrent programming taught by high school instructors, the Institute will use its experiences from this pilot to develop and implement a modality assurance process for future concurrent offerings (3.A.1, 3.A.3, 4.A.4).

Awarding Prior Learning and Transfer Credits

Southeast Tech accepts credits from postsecondary institutions accredited by one of the major regional accrediting associations that meet the following criteria:

  • An earned ”C” grade or higher (courses or credits over seven years old may not apply);
  • Equivalency to Southeast Tech’s course(s) as determined by the review of the Registrar;
  • Award cannot exceed Southeast Tech’s course credit assignment;
  • College Level Examination Program (CLEP) or required scoring on Advanced Placement (AP) testing.

Students may receive credit for prior learning experiences or other non-transferrable coursework in lieu of taking comparable Southeast Tech courses through:

  • Department Evaluation, which may require a portfolio of work experience, documentation of authenticity, direct skill assessment by program faculty, national certifications, military transcripts, etc.;
  • Credit by Examination, which requires the student successfully pass testing specifically designed by program faculty for a particular course.

For both credit and prior learning awards, the Registrar requests assistance from Institute faculty during the evaluation process, as needed.  Granting of credit is at the discretion of Southeast Tech’s Registrar.  

To earn an Associate of Applied Science degree or diploma at Southeast Tech, 25% of coursework must be earned at the Institute with 25 % of the major courses in the program earned at the Institute.

Processes for the awarding of prior learning and transfer credit are communicated to stakeholders through the Southeast Tech Catalog and are reviewed annually as part of the new catalog development process. (4.A.2, 4.A.3)

Selecting, Implementing, and Maintaining Specialized Accreditation(s)

Southeast Tech administration encourages program faculty to seek specialized program accreditations.  For some programs, accreditation is a requirement, and therefore maintaining accreditation is vital.  For other programs, accreditation is a mark of excellence and can play a significant role in program quality, student recruitment, and employer satisfaction.  Program faculty seeking specific program accreditations work with their Academic Administrator to develop an action plan for implementation, entering the plan and related steps in the Planning and Assessments database.  Seeking specialized accreditation requires the approval of the Administrative Team and occurs as part of the Annual Planning process.  The list of Southeast Tech programs with specialized accreditations is provided in 1R 4 . (4.A.5)

Assessing the Level of Outcomes Attainment by Graduates at All Levels

Southeast Tech’s assessment of graduate attainment occurs through the following processes:

Graduate Outcome Assessment:  As described in 1P 1  and 1P 2 , Southeast Tech has an established process for the development and assessment of common and program learning outcomes.  Program teams work directly with the Celebrating Learning Team to design, conduct, and report assessment activities in the Planning and Assessments database.  These results are used to verify that graduates have attained the expected common and program learning outcomes. The results are also used to further improve program and course offerings and outcomes.  The CLT, Vice President of Student Affairs and Institutional Research and the Vice President for Academics supervise the process and help ensure compliance of the assessment process (1P 1 , 1P 2 ).

Registrar Transcript Review:  Southeast Tech verifies that students who are awarded degrees and certificates have met learning expectations through electronic and manual degree audit by the Registrar Officer. Graduation requirements for all Southeast Tech programs are listed in the Southeast Tech Catalog.

Employment Rates of Graduates:  With its mission to educate for employment, the Institute monitors and evaluates graduate placement rates both in employment and in employment related to field of study as additional measures of outcome attainment (1R 4 ).  (4.A.6)

Selecting the Tools/Methods/Instruments Used to Assess Program Rigor Across All Modalities

The selection of measures to assess program rigor across all modalities is the responsibility of Southeast Tech’s Education Design & Delivery and Celebrating Learning teams.  It is the responsibility of the Academic Administrative Team to assure consistency across modalities.

Southeast Tech relies on multiple measures to determine and ensure the quality of its academic programs. These include:

  • Internal Program Review (1R 3 )
  • State Program Review (1R 3 )
  • National Program Accreditations
  • National Licensures/Certifications and Benchmarking (1R 2 )
  • Employer Surveys
  • Employment Rates



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