Sustainability

On April 29, I wrote about Periodic Review Report (PRR) outcomes during the last five years. Briefly, Middle States Standards 2, 3, 7, 8, 12, and 14 have been cited most frequently in requests for follow-up reports. Furthermore, the standards should not be viewed in isolation, as there is overlap among them.

During my review of the requests for follow-up reports, I categorized elements related to each standard. There is a degree of subjectivity involved. In my grouping, 89 elements were cited...

At the end of each semester, I provide my students with a closing note about the course. That note seeks to place the course, its content, and its requirements into a larger context. I do so, because I believe it is helpful for students to have one last opportunity to understand why they took the course and perhaps better identify what they gained from the course. Such understanding can perhaps reinforce learning for the long-term.

Below is the note to my spring 2013 students:

With the semester...

On June 1, 2014, Lehman College will submit its Periodic Review Report (PRR) to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). As the College prepares to launch its effort to devise the PRR, it makes sense to highlight the major outcomes following the submission of an institution’s PRR.

Briefly, MSCHE has established the following goals for the PRR:

It has also set forth the following objectives:

During the past 5 years, MSCHE requested follow-up reports (monitoring reports or progress...

During April 8-10, 2013, the Assessment Network of New York(ANNY) held its first annual conference hosted by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. ANNY is a professional network established to assist New York State’s colleges and universities in their efforts to assess student learning and institutional effectiveness. Colleges and universities outside of New York State can participate and have participated in ANNY events. Lehman College’s Assessment Coordinator, Raymond Galinski, played a key...

On this day, the nation remembers one of its greatest visionaries and champions of justice, Dr. Martin Luther King. Regular occasions on which the nation can remember Dr. King, his struggle for justice, and his vision of a better world, are important. The historical experience has demonstrated that there is no “resting place” in the quest for civil rights. Civil rights are secured and preserved only through the sustained effort of each generation. With human nature being what it is, faded...

In December, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) held its annual conference. At that conference, MSCHE Vice Presidents Christy L. Faison and Debra G. Klinman discussed the Periodic Review Report (PRR). The PRR is submitted five years after a higher education institution’s decennial review. Lehman College will be submitting its next PRR in 2014.

Briefly, Middle States lists the five goals for the PRR:

1. To help institutions gauge their progress in achieving their own goals and...

At the end of each semester, I provide my students with a closing note about the course. That note seeks to place the course, its content, and its requirements into a larger context. I do so, because I believe it is helpful for students to have one last opportunity to understand why they took the course and perhaps better identify what they gained from the course. Such understanding can perhaps reinforce learning for the long-term.

Below is the note to my fall 2012 BBA 305 students:

With the Fall...

The November 15, 2012 edition of Library Journal discussed a survey concerning student use and perceptions of academic libraries. The article reported that even as they enjoy high approval ratings, academic libraries could benefit from improved outreach to college students.

Key findings from that survey included:

• 90% of students who used their library said that they would be “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to use the library again.
• Students’ primary uses of the library included study...

The combination of relentlessly rising college tuition that is pushing student debt steadily higher and creating entry barriers for qualified college entrants, a dramatic rise in federal and state government debt in the aftermath of a severe recession, a relative decline in U.S. educational attainment, and the job market challenges currently facing new graduates is increasing pressure for colleges and universities to demonstrate value-added. 

That pressure is not likely to abate anytime soon....

Lehman College will be submitting a Progress Report to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (the College’s Accreditor) on April 1, 2013. The Progress Report will document that the College has maintained the “organized and sustained assessment process to evaluate and improve student learning and institutional effectiveness” that it had documented in its Monitoring Report of April 1, 2011.

Assessment is vital to a college’s ability to maintain its accreditation status. Every unit has...