Michigan Tech will receive another ten-year reaccreditation, if NCA follows the recommendations of its evaluation team.
The University hosted a nine-member evaluation team appointed by the North Central Association-Commission on Institutions of Higher Education during a three-day campus visit this week. The team, consisting of faculty and administrators from universities throughout the Midwest, met with numerous University constituencies and reviewed the University Self-Study before issuing their findings during an exit interview January 14.
Phillip Certain, dean of the College of Letters and Science and a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, chaired the team and presented its findings to a good-sized crowd of faculty, staff, students, and administrators. The team's recommendations, which will be considered by NCA as it deliberates MTU's reaccreditation, include the following:
* The University's next evaluation should be in 2007-08.
* MTU should submit two reports in 2001, a progress report on academic program review and a monitoring report on the development of distance education programs; and, in 2003, a progress report on a revised general education program.
* MTU's distance education programs in Michigan, as well as its campus-approved programs and courses offered to companies and their subsidiaries at remote sites, should not require NCA approval.
The team advised that
* the Board of Control and administration give high priority to improving the salary structure for faculty and professional staff
* the administration develop an economic plan to deal with operating new buildings, improving salaries, converting to semesters, and increasing research
* the Board of Control establish financial policies that preserve MTU's debt rating and long-term financial strength
* the Board of Control open its agenda more to input from students, faculty, and staff, and that it explore other avenues, such as a Web page, to improve communication
* MTU review the practice of transferring auxiliary fund balances to the general fund to assure that improvements can be made in auxiliary operations
* a plan be developed to increase the size of the Memorial Union and its programs
* a senior administrator receive regular input from students, especially about policy issues of student concern
* a plan be developed to increase the size and scope of library resources
* academic and financial planning be further linked to shared governance via University Senate committees
* a broader range of faculty be involved in distance education, and that protocols should be developed for approving distance-ed courses and degrees
* MTU expand and coordinate its efforts in international education and environmental programs
* Michigan Tech develop a plan to promote diversity
* MTU continue periodic reviews of academic programs and research institutes
* Michigan Tech try to bring appropriate industry to the Houghton area
Areas of concern include the following:
* MTU has not addressed concerns raised at its last NCA review, in 1988, regarding the library, and current plans are inadequate.
* The general education program is in flux because of the change to semesters and can't currently be reviewed.
* MTU may not appreciate the implications of attaining Research II status in terms of grants monitoring, environmental monitoring, and additional demands placed on the library.
* The Memorial Union is not large enough and the scope of its student programs is inadequate.
* Delays by the Board of Control in implementing University policies frustrate those who have worked to prepare materials for Board approval.
The team also had some very nice things to say. They commended the University for
* recruiting and retaining a talented and committed faculty who have expanded graduate education and research while remaining dedicated to undergraduate education
* attracting bright, articulate, industrious, and fair-minded students who are concerned both for their own intellectual development and the welfare of the institution
* the leadership of senior administration in its commitment to linking academic and financial planning and in major development efforts
* developing shared governance among students, faculty, staff, and administration
* its attractive and well-maintained physical plant
* linking its Self-Study to the strategic plan. "It is both informative and comprehensive about strengths and weaknesses of the institution."
* developing innovative ways to meet the distance-education needs of Michigan's corporations
And they also noted MTU's "warm and healthy community--both internal and external."
President Curt Tompkins was gratified by the team's conclusions. "We're very pleased to receive the recommendation for ten-year reaccreditation," he said. "Most of the team's advice and concerns reflect issues that were raised in our own Self-Study, so there were no real surprises. And it's been very useful to have representatives from other institutions give us a fresh perspective on Michigan Tech."
Tompkins credited the many members of the University community who have been involved in the reaccreditation effort. "This has been a massive project and it wouldn't have been nearly so successful without the commitment of hundreds of faculty, staff, and students," he said. Tompkins also commended the community for the great turnout at the open forums with the team. "They were very impressed," he said.
Next, the team will submit their report to MTU for comments and corrections, and then turn in the final report to NCA, according to Professor Christa Walck (SBE), the self-study coordinator. NCA will send Michigan Tech a copy of the team's final report, to which the University can respond. MTU will then choose a review process, probably a readers panel. Under the readers panel process, NCA sends the report to several readers, who will make recommendations to NCA. Lastly, NCA takes action.
Walck praised the evaluation team's work. "I think they've done a good job," she said. "They were right on target."
"I'm relieved that it's over and that we did a good job," she added. "Because we did the work up front, that set the stage for a very positive visit." The team was looking for consistency between the report and what they discovered during their campus visit, and that consistency was evident because campus involvement was so extensive, she said.