Site Team Report

3. Undergraduate Education

Undergraduate education at Michigan Tech is, to a significant degree, in transition. Evolving technology, increasing awareness of alternative approaches to pedagogy, and changing student needs are among the forces for changes that are occurring or are imminent at Michigan Tech. Moreover, as the SWOT analysis of undergraduate education in the self-study points out, several forces in the external environment, such as the emphasis in business and industry on the fundamental skills of communication and teamwork, the national focus on general education, and increased public expectations for accountability in higher education reinforce an impetus for change.

In response to these internal and external forces, Michigan Tech has identified areas for immediate attention, among them being: the academic calendar, general education, assessment, teaching evaluation and rewards, interdisciplinary teaching, and advising. An action plan has been designed to address these areas and is in various stages of implementation. It provides a structure within which to draw upon documentary evidence and input from students, faculty, staff, and administrators in a review of undergraduate education at Michigan Tech.

1. The academic calendar

   The change from the quarter to the semester system, to be implemented in the fall of 2000, is viewed by both faculty and administration as an opportunity for major curricular revision, particularly in the area of general education and in the growing interest in interdisciplinary teaching. Since Michigan Tech is the last remaining Michigan institution of higher education on the quarter system, the change will benefit students by facilitating transfers and accommodating internships in the corporate world.

   While students acknowledge and appreciate the potential benefits of the semester system for future students, the student government felt left out of the process of arriving at the decision to change, and expressed their concern both during the student forum and in the North Central Association team meeting with the student government, as well as in a ‘third party' communication with the North Central Association team. A university task force has been set up to oversee administrative, curricular, and pragmatic exigencies of the changeover. [Suggestion 8]

2. General Education.

   The general education program at Michigan Tech currently requires a total of 64 credit hours in written and oral communication, quantitative knowledge, science, humanities, and the social sciences, and including at least three courses in thematic clusters. These clusters have caused considerable concern among faculty, advisors, and students for many reasons. Some students leave scheduling their clusters until late in their undergraduate career and cannot always take the appropriate class when they require it. Some clusters have many more options than others, and therefore are perceived as lacking in coherence. Moreover, since the thematic clusters are to be comprised of advanced level courses, prerequisites can cause problems.

   There is a general sense among both students and faculty that while the goals of general education are intellectually sound, the structure of general education at Michigan Tech needs to be more coherent. The calendar change and the recent University Senate approval of minors are seen as opportunities for re-structuring general education. Minors may take the place of clusters in general education.

   Potential also exists for general education to be more pervasive throughout the campus. Currently, the move is one way: future engineers take humanities and social science courses to broaden their education. However, now that the College of Sciences and Arts teaches more than 50% of the credit hours on campus, and there are increasing numbers of majors in the humanities and social sciences, their general education might possibly stretch to include a sequence in some form of engineering.

   To facilitate these changes, a new office of Vice Provost for Instruction has been established. Part of the responsibilities of the Vice Provost will be to oversee this restructuring of general education, with continuous assessment of the effectiveness of the program built into the structure. The original goals of general education, designed primarily to appeal to students, were established without consideration to how they might be assessed. New goals have been established, with assessment in mind, and a pilot assessment plan was carried out last spring. The General Education Committee, the Assessment Committee, and the Vice Provost for Instruction will analyze this pilot assessment, which consisted of two main pieces: essays scored holistically for primary traits developed explicitly from the new set of goals; and a standardized test of verbal and quantitative skills. The former is intended to supply information about Michigan Tech's students in relation to Michigan Tech's own goals and plan for general education; the latter is intended to supply information about Michigan Tech's students in relation to other students in comparable universities throughout the country. The essay test showed a positive effect of general education courses on student writing, with room for improvement. The standardized test placed Michigan Tech students' verbal and quantitative skills ahead of all of its comparable universities. However, with the considerable changes imminent in general education, the assessment strategies, and possibly instruments, will need to be revisited as well.[Concern 1]

   While many students see general education as a golden opportunity to expand their undergraduate education experience, many others see it as a requirement they are forced to get through. The attitude of faculty and the presentation of general education in student-oriented documents could go far to inspire a change in student perceptions. The team suggests that the general education task force involve as many faculty as possible in its deliberations.

   Additionally, the team suggests a more positive description in the Undergraduate Catalogue. While general education is a foundational experience at Michigan Tech, it is introduced and described at the very end of the bulletin. The heading, "General Education Requirements" both predicates and perpetuates students' attitudes about general education being "a requirement to get through." Moreover, the introduction to general education is bland and perfunctory, with little of the spark and passion of its proponents and purposes reflected. The team recommends moving the section on general education to the front of the undergraduate catalogue and introducing it in a more inspiring manner.

3. Assessment in the major.

   The new Vice Provost for Instruction chairs the Assessment Council, which has published two reports on the status of assessment at Michigan Tech. The campus philosophy for assessment is evident in the title and subtitle of the program document: Ongoing Program Assessment: Disciplinary Skills and Knowledge of Major; Breadth of Understanding and Skills for Life-long Learning; Values and Attitudes Consistent with the Traditions of Scholarship. A second document, Unit Assessment Reports for Academic Year 1996-1997: Material for Review contains the annual reports of each unit on its assessment for each degree program, including each department's use of its findings for curriculum, instruction, and the program of assessment itself. The team's evaluation of assessment in the major is found in Chapter Fourteen.

4. Teaching Evaluation and Rewards.

   The current student evaluation of instruction form has five generic questions that assess student satisfaction with the instructor more than the quality of instruction. With the establishment of the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development, and with renewed interest nationwide in the importance of excellent teaching, new ways of evaluating instruction are being tried. Last year, a self-selected group of 58 faculty members, out of a possible total of 400, agreed to participate in a pilot group to try out the IDEA Diagnostic Evaluation Form, chosen by a Senate committee as the form which might yield the most helpful formative and summative information. These forms reference data with national norms and allow faculty to select and rank those items most salient to their own teaching situations. Currently, faculty may choose whether they wish to be evaluated by the old form or by the IDEA form. Depending upon the results of the pilot project, however, it is likely that all faculty will be required to be evaluated using the IDEA form -- or some other yet to be developed form -- in the near future.

   Student evaluation of instruction is only one measure of quality of instruction. With the establishment of the Center for Teaching and Learning, the opportunity exists to explore additional measures, such as peer review and teaching portfolios. Teaching is recognized by annual Distinguished Teaching Awards which include a monetary stipend. Additionally, for the first time, two faculty were promoted to full professor on the basis of teaching last year, although, to date, no one has been granted tenure on the basis of teaching.

5. Interdisciplinary Teaching and Scholarship.

   Michigan Tech is to be commended for the impressive number of interdisciplinary programs and courses, most of which are related to majors. There are very few interdisciplinary courses in general education. Typically there are two kinds of barriers: financial and disciplinary. In recent years, the financial barriers have been resolved, and the administration has developed a procedure for determining the overhead for interdisciplinary courses and programs prior to implementation, and clearly and equitably distributing funds. With the establishment of environmental programs and international programs, which of necessity are multidisciplinary, as well as the Science, Technology, and Society programs, and many other combinations, faculty are increasingly blending the boundaries of their disciplines to offer more integrated instructional experiences at the undergraduate level. Moreover, the required curriculum for engineers is opening up dramatically in relation to what engineers need to know in order to graduate, opening up many more possibilities for integrated courses. The general education committee is hopeful that the re-organization of general education predicated by the calendar change might provide opportunities for increased interdisciplinary teaching in general education courses.

6. An advising center for first-year students

   Plans are being discussed for establishing an advising center in the Memorial Union so that first-year students receive consistent information from a cadre of trained advisors. This center is still in its earliest stage of being considered. The team suggests that a systematic review, which compares best practices from benchmark institutions, be initiated to provide specific plans.

7. Academic program review

   It is perhaps surprising, but Michigan Tech does not have in place a system whereby individual academic programs (departments, interdisciplinary programs, etc.) are reviewed on a regular basis (other than specific program accreditation reviews) regarding effectiveness and plans for the future. The Graduate school has just begun to review graduate programs, but the team feels that this exercise should be extended to undergraduate programs as well. [Concern 6]

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