March/April 2005 Update

The month of March included data collection processes and much discussion within committees on how to process the data. All criterion committees formed subcommittees (generally organized around core components) to assist them with managing their work. The on-line Resource Center was introduced to committees on March 1; over 500 documents were made available with additions being made weekly. A decision was made to move administration of the institutional survey to early in the fall semester. This shift in schedule will allow additional time for the creation of appropriate survey questions. In addition to completing the survey, members of the SMU community will have the opportunity to participate in focus groups facilitated by criterion committee members. Some of these focus groups may occur during the August workshop. Focus groups will provide opportunities for the committees to hear directly from community members; we hope that you will consider participating. All criterion committees will meet again in Red Wing on May 18th for three hour meetings to continue their work and to make plans for summer meetings. These meetings also allow for interaction between criterion committees that have overlapping issues.

The university received notice from the Higher Learning Commission in early March that Ms. Diane Nyhammer, SMU’s staff liaison, had accepted a position at Colorado College and would be leaving the Commission at the end of March. Ms. Nyhammer’s replacement will hopefully be named by June 1. This change was somewhat disappointing considering that Ms. Nyhammer had visited our campuses in February to get to know us a bit better. However, we do not foresee that this change will affect our self-study process in any significant way. The Commission confirmed that our comprehensive visit is officially scheduled for October 23-25, 2006. Mark your calendars!

In early April, a group from SMU participated in the HLC annual meeting in Chicago. Participants included: Gena Bilden (co-chair of criterion committee #2), Elizabeth Childs (steering committee member and co-chair of criterion committee #4), Jeff Highland (self-study steering committee chair), Tracy Lehnertz (self-study coordinator), John Pyle (steering committee member and member of criterion committee #2), Valerie Edwards Robeson (steering committee member and co-chair of criterion committee #5), and Kara Wener (co-chair of Resource Team). The group was able to review self-study documents from other institutions who had used the new criteria, heard from representatives from institutions who had completed self-studies using the new criteria, and learned about many related topics in higher education. The conference provided confirmation that our self-study process is on track and that others are having similar challenges.

We are about 10 months into our self-study process and we’re making good progress. A big thank you to everyone who has provided data, answered questions, shared insights, etc. There will be more requests and we hope that you will continue to be responsive.