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After
trying to evaluate itself for far too long, AQIP is ready to do
what it preaches that colleges and universities participating in
AQIP should do. The time has come for AQIP to establish a systemic,
rigorous, impartial set of measures that will verify how well it
performs, achieves its goals, satisfies its stakeholders, and improves
the education its institutions provide their students. AQIP needs
the disciplined feedback that systematic evaluation can provide,
and it needs to present to others (including institutions and government)
an accounting of the evidence needed to determine whether AQIP is
an effective accreditation process.
Fundamentally,
what we want to know is whether an institution's participation in
AQIP influences its performance in doing what it does for those
it serves. And we want to know which AQIP processes and activities
could be improved to better help institutions maximize their performance.
We'll
give what we propose to establish the working name of the "AQIP
Accountability Program," and promise that it will ask tough
questions, gather the data to answer those questions clearly, and
analyze and present what it finds publicly, regardless of whether
the results are flattering or critical. To make this happen, AQIP
wants to recruit a group of experts who can help us design, review,
and approve surveys and other assessment instruments and make certain
we use them on the right people in the right way. We want a group
to oversee how we collect and report data, help us analyze and present
what we find, and certify that we are making public the actual results
without skewing or beautifying them. For now, let's call this group
the "AQIP Accountability Council" — with the understanding
that, once we settle on the actual members, they may come up with
better names for both the process and themselves.
Who
do we need? People:
- with
experience constructing surveys and questionnaires;
-
who understand assessment and evaluation, data analysis and interpretation;
-
who can think creatively through solid research design in practical
terms;
-
who understand the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, and won't let us stray
into planning without doing, or doing without checking; and
-
who are sensitive and responsive to the political currents presently
flowing through the US Department of Education as it criticizes
higher education and accreditation for a lack of transparency
and data that demonstrates accountability.
Members
don't have to work in AQIP or HLC institutions, or even in higher
education. Overall, we need a group who can understand
the diversity of institutions we serve, the diversity of the people
who work for those institutions, and the diversity of the students
and other stakeholders who depend on the higher education establishment
to serve their needs. We would welcome scholars (even graduate students)
interested in helping design this research because they wish to
write about and publish analyses of the data we collect.
More
practically, we need people who can meet at least every two months
(probably monthly) for a telephone conference call of an hour or
so. Members must devote the time to review and comment on evaluating
forms and collected data. We like people who can come to Chicago
(expenses paid & modest honorarium) for a meeting at least once
a year, perhaps in conjunction with the Higher Learning Commission's
Annual Meeting. We'd like to form the "AQIP Accountability
Council" and hold a first conference call in early January,
and get to work on meeting these challenges early in the new year.
One concrete goal is to have a body of evaluative data by the May
2007 deadline for submitting the Higher Learning Commission's (and
AQIP's) application for continued US Department of Education recognition.
Want
to be part of this work? Send an email ("Accountability Council"
as the subject) to AQIP@hlcommission.org
by January 15, and list 5-10 reasons why you should be a member.
Don't be vague or modest, and tell us honestly what talents you
would bring and what interests or ambitions you have that being
on the council would further. Obviously, AQIP wants to get something
from those participating in this effort, but AQIP also wants to
make sure those who participate get something they want in return.
Include phone number(s) where we can reach you in December, and
an email address that you check daily. We would like to invite the
initial group of about 5-8 before the holidays and schedule the
initial phone conference in early January.
| Reaffirmation
of Accreditation Panelists Needed |
In
2007-08, AQIP will celebrate its eighth birthday, and part of its
maturation is that it will begin operating its process for reaffirming
the accreditation of institutions that have participated for seven
years. To prepare for this milestone, AQIP must create a Reaffirmation
of Accreditation Review Panel structure capable of examining the
accumulated evidence relating to the 30+ colleges and universities
scheduled for reaffirmation next year. We need to identify potential
Panelists early so they can help us test and fine-tune the review
procedures, which we intend to support electronically using the
web and virtual conferencing. If you want to become a Panelist,
we'll train you to the procedures and criteria that we will follow.
(Once it is operating, the process won't require Panelists to travel,
but participating in process design and training might. If it does,
AQIP will cover all expenses.) Panelists will receive an honorarium
to recognize their service, and AQIP's eternal gratitude.
One
or more of the Panelists will be invited to take charge of a presentation
at the 2007 Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting explaining
AQIP's reaffirmation process to the world. Experienced AQIP Reviewers
(including Annual Updaters, Systems Appraisers, and Facilitators)
who are interested should send an email to AQIP@hlcommisison.org
before January 10. List "Reaffirmation" as the subject
and briefly explain their interest in being a Reaffirmation Panelist.
We also encourage those who are not yet AQIP Reviewers who would
like to volunteer for this work to fill out an application immediately
(Available from the Peer
Review Corps section of the Commission's website), noting that
they wish to serve in AQIP's Reaffirmation of Accreditation process.
| Send
AQIP a Link to Your Quality Webpage by April 15, 2007 |
The
community of colleges and universities committed to continuous quality
improvement through participation in AQIP represent the forefront
of creative innovation in higher education. To help these institutions
network to share their ideas and approaches, AQIP wants every participating
institution to provide the address of a webpage that is the virtual
home of its quality program — or, if it doesn't have such
a webpage yet, to create one and share the address with AQIP.
By
April 15, 2007, AQIP will publish these links to institutions' quality
efforts on its website, thereby allowing higher educators worldwide
to view the activities and initiatives of U.S. institutions at the
cutting edge of continuous improvement.
To
view examples of the kind of website links AQIP wants, go to the
AQIP homepage, select Links
at the bottom left, and then see the Quality Websites hosted
by AQIP colleges and universities category.
Use
this stimulus from AQIP to put together and publicize a lively,
informative website for your quality program, one that builds internal
enthusiasm and generates external appreciation for all you are doing.
An effective institutional quality program webpage should help insiders
and outsiders get answers to some of these questions:
- What
are our current Action Projects? Who can someone talk with to
get involved?
-
Where are we with our Systems Portfolio? How does someone volunteer
to help? Where can people find, read, and study our Systems Portfolio?
Where do those to whom we have given access find and read our
Systems Appraisal Feedback Report?
-
What person, group or office is responsible for the quality initiative
and infrastructure, and how does someone contact it/them (email,
phone, fax, campus location)?
-
Who are the administrators, faculty, and staff participating directly
in our quality program?
-
How can people — both faculty and staff as well as outsiders
— learn what sort of progress our quality improvement program
is making?
- What
achievements or measures illustrate our program is working effectively
for our institution?
-
How can people see that our institution is improving its performance
and meeting the needs of its students and other stakeholders?
- What
measures, dashboards, scorecards, or other "hard" data
show that our quality program is helping our institution achieve
our mission and goals and live our values?
-
What are some of the activities and programs connected with our
quality improvement efforts? Can we view reports and accounts
of recent past activities? Can we get information on upcoming
activities — discussions, training, demonstrations, etc.?
- How
is our continuous quality improvement program or activities integrated
or aligned with our other planning and priority-setting processes?
| The
Role and Responsibilities of the AQIP Liaison |
One
of the elemental requirements of participation in AQIP is that every
institution name an official AQIP Liaison. The AQIP Liaison performs
an integral role in the institution's quality journey by providing
the security of a second line of communication. AQIP understands
that presidents are often too busy to keep up with daily email and
so we send important notices regarding pending deadlines, changes
in relationship and changes to our AQIP processes to both the president
and the liaison. The liaison could be the Academic VP, or the head
of the institution's quality improvement program. The responsibility
of communicating with AQIP remains with the institution's president
and the one person officially designated as the AQIP Liaison.
AQIP
expects the liaison to:
-
report annually to AQIP progress on all Action Projects through
the Annual Update process;
-
make sure there are always three current, active Action Projects;
-
communicate to AQIP changes in your president, chief academic
officer, and AQIP liaison;
-
communicate to AQIP problems in meeting AQIP obligations, questions
about your institution or its commitment to AQIP;
-
respond to communications from AQIP; and
-
maintain contact with the person completing the Higher Learning
Commission's Annual Data Report (due at the beginning of every
year), ensuring that the information reported there matches the
information reported to AQIP.
Once
you designate an AQIP Liaison and communicate their contact information
to AQIP, that person should contact Mary Green and request to be
added to AQIP's electronic newsletter distribution list. The newsletter,
News to Use, is often the first place that proposed changes
in the AQIP processes are discussed. News to Use also carries
information about other AQIP institutions as well as upcoming events
and deadlines. News to Use provides a collective resource
for AQIP institutions and others interested in quality higher education.
As such, you are encouraged to submit news and stories relating
to your quality initiatives and AQIP activities.
Another
resource for important information is the AQIP
Website. AQIP expects Liaisons to make use of the Website to
stay current on changes to AQIP policies and processes. The Website
includes a database of all current versions of
official AQIP documents. Before using information from any AQIP
document, institutions are urged to go to the Document Downloads
section of the AQIP site and check to make certain it is a current
version and that it is still in use. If a document you are seeking
is not there, you should contact AQIP as its content may have changed
drastically or it may have been "retired" from use.
AQIP
Liaisons are important to successful participation and the AQIP
staff know many on a first-name basis. They are a valuable resource
to AQIP, often providing the ideas and suggestions that spur change,
and the foundations of successful programming at the Higher Learning
Commission's Annual Meeting. AQIP strives for and encourages a supportive
and mutually beneficial relationship with all of its AQIP Liaisons.
•
In response to questions received by AQIP staff, we would like to
make clearer the difference of costs related to AQIP participation,
and costs associated with maintaining membership in The Higher Learning
Commission of the North Central Association.
Every
institution participating in AQIP is responsible for the Application
fee; fees associated yearly for the fall Annual Update Reviews (currently
$150 per each Action Project Annual Update reviewed); Strategy Forum
registration fees (once every four years); Systems Appraisal fee
(once every three-four years); Quality Checkup visit fee (once every
seven years) Reaffirmation of Accreditation fee (once every seven
years).
In
addition to the fees associated with AQIP participation listed above,
each accredited institution pays yearly dues to the Higher Learning
Commission; a fee for each change request; fees for any required
visits (in addition to and separate from the Quality Checkup visit);
staff visits; and a fee for the use of the Higher Learning Commission's
Mark of Affiliation.
For
information on the amount of each of the fees listed above, please
see the 2006 Dues and Fees for Member Institutions available from
the Member Resource section of The Higher Learning Commission Website
at www.ncahlc.org.
• National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in
Higher Education
Eighth Annual National Conference
New Orleans, Louisiana
July 26-28, 2007
Call for Proposals
The
NCCI Annual Conference Program Committee invites your contribution
to "Solutions: Today's Challenge, Tomorrow's Promise"…the
theme of our 2007 conference and the key to organizational and academic
excellence in higher education! We are looking for people willing
to share their knowledge and experience, drawn from successful projects,
seasoned approaches, innovative organization design, successful
case studies and/or valuable lessons learned.
Any
stage of an improvement effort is appropriate -- planning, implementation,
or assessment -- as is the role of leadership in promoting collaboration
and excellence in higher education. Examples of topics of interest
include:
-
Improvement projects engaging multiple units within a university
or within a System;
-
Collaborative efforts among universities, such as the Boston Consortium
or the Big 10's Committee on Institutional Cooperation;
-
Efforts to engage students/faculty/alumni within and beyond the
campus;
-
Academic Affairs and Instructional Technology continuous improvement
models;
-
Innovation in student life interventions, such as campaigns to
address substance abuse or to enhance learning outside the classroom;
-
Implementation of student and/or faculty feedback programs; and
-
Building bridges and collaborations between academic and administrative
units.
The
NCCI Annual Conference Program Committee will review all submissions
and give preference for submissions from NCCI member institutions
and multiple institution presenters. NCCI encourages and promotes
diversity among presenters and the institutions they represent.
For
more information about NCCI and this conference, go to www.ncci-cu.org.
• An idea whose time has come! The AQIP Limerick
Contest
Write
a humorous "quality" poem
Mention Crosby. Or Deming. (You know 'em.)
You'll be published! And famous!
And you won't get to blame us
'Cause we'll send a cool gift to your home.
Authors
of the best limericks received will have their limericks appear
in the AQIP newsletter.
Is
performance unsuitably weak?
Joining AQIP may do what you seek.
As you retool each process
Achieve more, even with less,
People's interest in progress will peak.
Limericks
can poke fun at quality improvement, AQIP, systems thinking, resistance
to quality improvement:
At
a tedious Strategy Forum
Even AQIP could not keep a quorum.
Folks used every guile
To get out of Lisle.
We'll improve things and next time "We'll floor 'em!"
Send
your entry to AQIP@hlcommission.org
Their
Systems Portfolio stank
So their Systems Appraisal was rank.
But they took all the O's
and new processes chose
Performance soon soared (to be frank).
If
you can't get started, begin by finishing one of these:
An
earnest young Systems Appraiser…
With metrics that chart our performance…
Our Quality Checkup was awesome…
We can plan, but can't do, check,
or act…
A gung-ho Black Belt breathed Six Sigma…
The staff in Chicago at AQIP…
Continual quality improvement…
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