May - July 2005 Update

On May 18th, all self-study committees once again met in Red Wing to continue their evaluation work. Participants were eager to get to the writing process, although committees continue to seek and review the data in some areas, as they begin the drafting process in others. Some committees requested additional data in response to gaps in their initial review of data. Part of each meeting involved planning summer activities; some participants were not under contract for the summer, but work continued which meant working around vacations and additional correspondence by email and conference call. In June, the HLC notified the institution that Dr. Ingrid Walker was appointed as the institution’s new staff liaison. Committees submitted their questions for the institutional survey that will be administered this fall. The self-study coordinator provided co-chairs with a suggested format for each committee’s document. The format should assist with the editing process, which will include putting all of the committee’s findings into a single voice for the final document. As of the end of July, the Resource Center contained over 1100 documents that were accessible for committee review. The Self-Study Resource Team, chaired by Kara Wener, did a wonderful job identifying, collecting, and formatting data. This will make the work of the committees much more efficient. Committees will meet again on August 22 in Red Wing to gear up for the fall semester. A big thanks from the Self-Study Steering Committee to everyone for their work this summer.