planning and budgeting

assessment of learning outcomes

program reviews

general education

information systems technology

the four themes

synopsis of theme one

synopsis of theme two

synopsis of theme three

synopsis of theme four

references

The theory behind self-study that is generally accepted is that situated understanding and beneficial critique arise from careful, dispassionate appraisal of all sorts of evidence, collected systematically (cf., e.g., Graham, Lyman and Trow 1995). The broad structure of the report derived from this theoretical architecture is an assessment of background, challenges, and conditions that form the institution's character and context; the set of research findings and analysis that form the new perspective of the study; and the conclusions and recommendations based on the ensemble of challenges, findings, and interpretation. We deliberately chose to orient our study around four themes, all related to the over-arching theme of change at the university and related to each other, as well. Within each theme discussion, the structure of challenges-findings-analysis-recommendations is replicated. The thematic approach precludes a comprehensive, exhaustive, Standards-driven review of offices, programs, or topics. Hence, the reader will not find the nine colleges and schools listed and evaluated individually anywhere, and the WASC Standards of yore (e.g., Standard Five, "Faculty and Staff") do not appear in the Table of Contents, but are summarized in Appendix A9. This does not mean that the subject matter and documentation called for in the Standards are absent. They are addressed throughout the themes. Because we have been engaged in a thematic self-study and have attempted to write a narrative or monograph, the report is not organized into traditional self-contained and discrete units. The reader will not be able to find sections containing, for example, everything we know about the library, budgetary data, or the physical plant. Volume I of "Evolution and Engagement" contains the entire report narrative. Volume II contains the exhibits.

Cal Poly Pomona is a vital, stimulating environment in which to work or study, occupying a beautiful campus and offering abundant academic and co-curricular programs of high caliber. The majority of students, staff, administrators, and faculty believe their own departments, colleges or units and the value of the university in general to be superior to comparable institutions. There are a few critical issues that affect the functioning and community life of the university across all the themes examined in the self-study. This Executive Summary focuses on these, at, perhaps, the expense of more flattering topics, which will be examined in the body of the report.

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The planning and budgeting function of the university, which undergirds its educational purpose, requires the concerted, cooperative attention of all constituencies. A long-range plan, clearly driven by educational priorities, community values, and a reliable, common-sense resource allocation process, will help us solve many of the problems facing us today. There is support for this now at all levels and among all constituencies. Scenario planning and other alternatives to strategic planning, which may be more appropriate for higher education, are being investigated by the administration and faculty. Cal Poly Pomona recognizes that other institutions of higher education and business organizations have experimented with planning models during the past decade, with varying results. We are not exceptional in having experienced difficulties, and for having been, until now, unable to develop broadly-accepted procedures for the formulation and implementation of an academic plan. This may be owing to such matters as: disputes concerning the educational value of the planning function; scarcity of internal and external resources (the first phase of strategic planning coincided with the recession of the early 1990s); personnel discontinuity in some leadership positions; occasionally conflicted relations among and within status groups (notably faculty and administration); and the competitive basis for funding of programs.

The building of community and reinforcement of collaboration and coordination, emphases of the thematic study, strengthen the probability that we will be able to develop a cohesive, compelling vision for the future, embodied in our plan. Other factors supporting this are a strong desire of all parties to eliminate or greatly reduce duplication of effort in the areas of assessment and reportage; the perceived political necessity of negotiating many decisions from zero or forging a new consensus with many actions; the perception of inequity and waste in the general budget while lacking control of most line items; an improved understanding of the importance of academic planning; and, of course, the compulsory accountability program emanating from the Chancellor's Office. Issues surrounding sources, manner of acquisition, and distribution of resources leak into nearly all other dimensions of university behavior; when we solve these issues, we will be in a better position to address our other problems. The self-study finds that giant steps have been taken in this direction, but we need to hold many more conversations on this subject, perhaps through the vehicle of continuous self-study.

With regard to diversity, we note a very wide participation in intercultural sensitivity programs and training, with uneven results. There are varied levels of acceptance of diversity recruitment initiatives, and we have now achieved a highly diverse student population. The success of minority student support programs and the cultural centers is to everyone's credit. Women are more advantageously positioned than they used to be on this campus. Changes in administrative structure and procedures produced uncoordinated activities and sometimes poor communication for a number of years, despite inclusion at all levels. The campus manifests general accord regarding goals and standards for diversity, if not regarding the best methods or most appropriate actors. The administration has sent a clear message regarding the importance of these matters. While the university has many accomplishments in relation to multicultural education and internationalization of the curriculum, we observe a shallow or partial, gradual penetration of these perspectives into some degree programs.

We judge the impact of demographic shifts in the region and student population to have been the greatest of all of the factors we have examined, along with economics, and to have had a causal relationship with most of the other features of the university undergoing change. Increased access of ethnic minorities, women, and sexual minorities to resources, improved representation of some of these groups in faculty, administration, and staff positions have made the university a very different place from the campus of ten years ago. There is some question about whether we have achieved equal access for disabled students. The representation of women and minorities among students increasingly reflects the general population, with the exception of Native Americans/American Indians and African-Americans.

With regard to assessment of learning outcomes, there has been a wide exposure to outcomes assessment across departments. All schools and colleges are requiring revision of courses and major curricula consonant with the assessment model. There is disagreement as to what things should be measured, how to measure them, and the management of measurement (i.e., coordinating structures for assessment). Nor does the population agree as to what constitutes quality or excellence, but this seems to be a healthy academic debate. Actively shared governance guarantees continued discussion.

Major programs are slowly adopting an outcomes format within the strictures of the CSU five-year cycle for their program reviews. At the same time, many programs have been for years involved in assessment of outcomes efforts required by professional accrediting agencies. Other programs are developing assessment plans in preparation for their next accreditation cycle or in response to CSU accountability indicators. The dissimilarities among programs in content, objectives, and methodology (more so than at most universities) constitute a hindrance to the development of a single model for institutional effectiveness assessment. Multiple models of a Cal Poly Pomona graduate do not always complement one another (as though DeVry and Stanford occupied the same educational space), but seem to co-exist happily enough. There is also a vigorous debate about how to integrate data-based academic program management and learning-centered pedagogy into departmental routine. There has been a recent growth of knowledge concerning new approaches in higher education, which some people resist, not necessarily because these people are unable to change, but because they are not convinced that all the changes are good.

Concerning general education, the effort to implement an inter-disciplinary, highly sequenced GE model (the former Track A) to supplement and eventually replace the smorgasbord model (Track B) failed for various reasons. On the other hand, the less restrictive Inter-disciplinary General Education (IGE) program continues to thrive, serving a segment of our student population. We have high hopes for a new GE proposal, now before the Academic Senate. It builds on gained experiences, includes an assessment cycle, meets the requirements of EO 595, emphasizes the multicultural perspectives requirement, adds an inter-disciplinary capstone, and promises to put to rest WASC's concerns from 1990. The Deans and Academic Affairs officers are wrestling with the resource issues, resolution of which is the sine qua non of success for the program.

The new GE program is also more embedded in the polytechnic experience through the capstone courses, as well as providing fully articulated preparatory course work to facilitate transfer into the institution. Cal Poly Pomona, with its learn-by-doing tradition, should be in an excellent position to offer an inviting lower division menu that complements and prepares for specialization in the majors, minors, and upper division elective work. The university has also developed several unique cross-disciplinary programs, such as Regenerative Studies, Geographic Information Systems, and Integrated Science General Education, in addition to IGE. The many Centers of Excellence on campus reflect the enterprise, creativity, and initiative of a faculty whose main devotion is to teaching, but who also do many, many other things well.

Extensive training in use of information systems technology to supplement traditional pedagogy has been made available through Institutional Technology and Academic Computing and the Faculty Computing Support Center. A long-term, comprehensive, needs-based technology plan is being developed by the Division of Instructional and Information Technology. The technological transformation of the university has naturally created social and cultural disruption, but perhaps not to as painful a degree as has been experienced on campuses of a less technical bent. To paraphrase one consultant, technology and diversity are the two inevitable forces of change in society today, which must be faced by all institutions (Cortes 2000). Cal Poly Pomona is adapting rapidly to both. The university has supported development of a sizable distance learning menu. Service-learning and other variations on the classroom experience are also well implanted.

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The next section of this Summary presents salient points from each of the four themes of the self-study. The Self-Study Steering Committee adopted an experimental format that will lend itself to the proposed revision of WASC's accreditation process and standards. The over-riding concern of the self-study is the assessment of change (or things unchanging) that has taken place in the recent era. The basic idea of the themes is in response to the questions:

• What are the most significant aspects of the historical and cultural context of the university that shape its ability to develop according to its stated goals? (Institutional Culture Theme)
• To what degree has Cal Poly Pomona been successful in focusing teaching strategies and educational programs on the needs and characteristics of its learners? (Teaching and Learning Theme)

• How has Cal Poly responded to the changing material demands and constraints that apply to public higher education in the current epoch? (Management and Enhancement of Resources Theme)
• In what directions is the university growing into the future? (New Directions Theme)

The most powerful, general observations we have made during the course of the self-study are the following:

The Administration and Faculty should establish continuous self-study in such a form as to:

• generate data for accreditation, accountability, program reviews, and other evaluation/monitoring/assessments,
• provide a forum for discussion of any matters related to the administration of educational programs,
• reduce duplication or parallelism of reportage,
• enhance interaction between different elements of the campus,
• smooth a path for academic planning and institutional educational effectiveness assessment.

These points are revisited as Recommendations in the Conclusion (Chapter IX). Following is a Synopsis of the Themes. A Reader's Guide to the Self-Study presenting an overview of each chapter is provided following the synopsis. The Portfolio (Annexes and Appendices, Volume II) is described in Chapter X.

overview

objective of theme

what the theme contains

summary of descriptions

major programs assessed / discussed

major findings

needs / recommendations

importance of study

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THEME ONE: INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE

Overview

This theme is the context and history of the university during the self-study period. It is the baseline from which all aspects of the functioning of the university can be understood. This shows our readiness for innovation, our ability to meet challenges, our divided nature, and our critical attitude toward some tendencies in higher education. The theme is quite close in spirit to WASC's new Standard One, "Defining Institutional Purposes and Educational Objectives". The 1990 WASC review criticisms focused on several Theme One matters: uneven response to diversity, lack of coordinated planning for change and growth, gap between some policies and their implementation (e.g., sexual harassment, disability), over-centralization, uneven leadership, lack of a culture of evidence. This theme addresses these and other challenges.

Objective of Theme

• To establish the importance of the impact of demographic change on a polytechnic, conservative campus such as ours.
• To show the relationship between sociopolitical matters such as leadership and governance structure to climate and culture.
• To identify the traditional and new values we want to promulgate.

What the Theme Contains

• Definitions and discussions of concepts such as culture, climate, community, change, integrity, and continuity.
• Issues explored: diversity, multicultural curriculum, communications technology, leadership pattern, decentralization, student-as-consumer, workplace and study environment.

Summary of Descriptions

• Demographic transition data.
• Campus climate studies (Student Affairs surveys, etc.).
• Patterns of governance (organizational charts, changing roles, etc.).
• Research data:

1. Campus Climate Survey.
2. Student focus groups.
3. Faculty/staff/administrator focus groups.
4. Input from student government, faculty senate, staff leaders, etc.

Major Programs Assessed/Discussed (Sources of Data and Documentation)

• Cultural centers, The Center ("Women's Center").
• Diversity programs.
• Academic Senate.
• Executive branches.
• Labor Council.

Major Findings

• General enthusiasm toward diversity of student body, some programmatic success in supporting it (mentoring programs, cultural centers, etc.).
• Sense of community derived from local interaction and identity (within departments and other units), (not unusual for a commuter campus).
• Reported relative discontinuity of leadership (at some upper levels), leading to lack of institutional memory, insecurity among mid-level managers and officers, changes of course in mid-stream; balanced to some extent by great continuity below deans and directors.
• Perceived inadequate and inconsistent application of technological and budgetary resources to diversity and climate issues.

Needs/Recommendations

• Maintain benchmarking data relative to campus climate, plan for on-going monitoring (based on results of Campus Climate Survey).
• Diversity plan, including staffing, training, management, student services, programs (in progress).
• Cooperative process (improvement noted). Enhance student participation in governance.
• Increased support for cultural centers (including The Center) and activities.
• More attention to staff orientation and development (progress noted).
• Study and develop all sorts of community-building and validation activities.

Importance of study

• Educational effectiveness: retention, advising, multicultural curriculum, post-graduate success.
• Diversity programming.
• Baseline data on campus climate.
• Workplace morale.
• Ability to meet future exigencies and accomplish goals is a function of our understanding of our culture and our sense of community.

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THEME TWO: TEACHING AND LEARNING

Overview

This is the theme that adumbrates the case we want to make for educational effectiveness. It addresses student learning at Cal Poly Pomona, our most important activity. It locates the responsibility for this activity with the faculty. It closely parallels the WASC new Standard Two, "Achieving Educational Objectives through Core Functions". This theme addresses the previous WASC review criticism of general education.

Objective of Theme

• To show the degree to which we are successful in meeting our educational goals.
• To articulate the difficulties in creating a curriculum and learning atmosphere in which all students can perform.
• To suggest means of enhancing the learning-centered vision of the university.

What the Theme Contains

• Definition and discussion of learning-centeredness, learning-by-doing, and assessment.
• Discussion of competencies, polytechnic education, and liberal arts.
• Overview of general education.
• Impact of the CSU Cornerstones initiative: accountability indicators.
• Discussion of student performance in remediation, retention rates, the advising process, and co-curricular support programs.

Summary of Descriptions

• Our educational philosophy, our pedagogy are to be found in RTP documents, Strategic Plans, brochures, catalog, and other documents.
• Many departments have tracking data available or displays of new instruments, such as portfolios, interviews, and assessment tools that exhibit their changing approaches to students.
• Faculty Center for Professional Development materials.
• Academic program review procedures.
• Data from Institutional Research and Planning.

Major Programs Assessed/Discussed (Sources of Data/Documentation)

• Remedial programs and EO 665.
• Focus groups, interviews, documents and meetings.
• General Education Committee, EO 595.
• Program review and learning outcomes assessment.
• Inter-disciplinary, outreach, and applied programs.
• Faculty development programs.
• Advising and retention.

Major Findings

• Growing consensus on general education (revision before Senate).
• Ambivalent response to evolving nature of student body, including consumerism, disengagement, under-preparedness, and diversity, with attendant lack of coordination between academic and co-curricular programs (though showing improvement).
• Measured response to pressure for greater accountability.
• General high caliber of academic programs as reflected in focus groups, retention and graduation rates, indication of post-graduate performance.

Recommendations

• Resolve, through collaboration between Academic Affairs and Deans, resource problem related to GE, then implement latest GE proposal from Academic Senate Committee.
• Establish mechanism for coordinating and managing GE, preferably through an alliance of the Academic Senate (appropriate committee), the Deans, and the Office of Academic Programs.
• Closer communication and joint administration of some programs and initiatives, such as remediation, advising, and regional articulation, between Academic Affairs, Academic Senate and Student Affairs (in general).
• Place program review on the same terms of assessment as accreditation, divisional assessments, and institutional self-study (important step taken in 2000).
• Discuss freshman year and transfer student orientation activities throughout year; hold focus groups on possible freshman experience course.

Importance of Study

• Begins process of defining educational effectiveness in the Cal Poly Pomona context.
• Provides systematic review, and therefore baseline data, of academic feedback.
• Responds to WASC criticism of GE.

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THEME THREE: MANAGEMENT AND ENHANCEMENT OF RESOURCES

Overview

This theme establishes the institutional capability for providing education to the number of students enrolled (and future students). It examines the nature, source and number of inputs. In a sense, this is the compliance theme. It resembles WASC's new Standard Three, "Developing and Deploying Resources and Organizational Structures to Assure Sustainability". WASC criticisms in 1990 of the status of institutional and instructional technology (lack of planning), of enrollment planning and management, and of the culture of evidence are addressed in this theme.

Objective of Theme

• To relate community problems to withdrawal of state support, where appropriate.
• To delineate the tension between doing things for pedagogical and pecuniary reasons (e.g., outreach programs).
• To provoke a general discussion of planning and self-study.

What the Theme Contains

• Discussion of technology vis-à-vis resources.
• Presentation of resource acquisition record beginning in the early 1990s.
• Definitions of resources and budget problems.
• Alternative planning models.

Summary of Descriptions

• Planning, budgeting and re-organizing: a little history.
• Physical plant and resources.
• Human resources.
• Advancement as a result of state withdrawal.
• Conversion to FTES-based budgeting (by target).
• Enrollment trends.

Major Programs Assessed/Discussed (Sources of Data/Documentation)

• Budget advisory committees.
• University Advancement and Development.
• Budget Office.
• Cal Poly Pomona Foundation.
• Administrative Affairs re-structuring.
• Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
• College of the Extended University.
• Joint Review process.

Major Findings

• Resource allocation needs to be further discussed and de-mystified.
• Significant accomplishments vis-à-vis enhancement of resources.
• Budget committees constitute progress.
• Need a coherent technology plan (improvement noted).
• Competition between units may not always produce gains.
• Lack of shared vision leads to unsuccessful planning and assessment.

Recommendations

• Improve academic planning process through linking program review, accountability measurements, learning outcomes assessment.
• Establish continuous self-study, as an integrative, comprehensive, feedback-based process of planning, assessment, resource management, and improvement that reflects consensual institutional vision.
• Work toward clear expression of roles and responsibilities of various constituents.

Importance of Study

• Suggests approaches to continuous self-study so as to eliminate redundant assessment and reportage.
• Offers alternative models to strategic planning.
• Provides basic budget history.
• Assesses enrollment planning (progress noted).

overview

objective of theme

what the theme contains

summary of descriptions

major programs assessed / discussed

major findings

needs / recommendations

importance of study

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