University of Minnesota Morris
Criterion III--The institution is accomplishing its purposes
The following section offers evidence that the institutional goals are being met, including data
supporting the quality of teaching and research activity, information on the student body,
evidence of internal and external services, and information on resource allocation and the
adequacy of facilities.
The Accomplishment of Institutional Goals
The Self-Study concluded that beyond the broad purposes of teaching, research and service, the
institution has seven major operational goals: maintaining excellence in teaching; maintaining a
level of research activity expected of a campus of the University of Minnesota; maintaining a
student body appropriate to the mission of UMM; providing service achievement; sustaining
leadership and governance appropriate to a liberal arts campus; allocating funds equitably and
appropriately; and maintaining and improving facilities. These operational goals are
appropriately directed toward the achievement of UMM's official goals, overall mission and
purposes.
UMM maintains a series of regularized processes to assess both the quantity and the quality of its
instructional program. These include: the annual analysis of statistical information, such as
enrollment and student credit hour data; grade distributions by course, discipline, and division;
and retention and graduation figures. Student opinions of the quality of the instruction they
receive is the subject of an intensive Student Evaluation of Teaching which collects and analyzes
course evaluations for every course taught. Student opinions regarding their satisfaction with
various aspects of their university education are collected periodically using standardized survey
instruments. Follow-up information on the occupational and post-graduate educational success of
UMM graduates is collected annually.
The primary responsibility of assessing the quality of student achievement at UMM rests with
the faculty. Until recently, UMM employed no comprehensive examinations or other
standardized system of assessing intellectual, personal, or educational development of the
student body. Each discipline, and indeed each faculty member, was responsible for the
continuing evaluation of the academic progress and completion of performance objectives of
students at the level of the individual course in progress toward completion of the major. Over
the past two years, however, UMM has organized a comprehensive plan to assess student
learning. Further, the Coordinator of the Scholastic Committee and the Registrar monitor
progress toward the entire range of degree requirements and those academic progress
requirements which, if not met, could lead to suspension for low scholarship.
Assessment of the university's success in scholarship and artistic endeavor is, of course,
indicated by the faculty's record of publications, compositions and artistic presentations. Annual
reports of several units, such as University College, Student Activities, and University Relations,
document the many educational and cultural contributions to the area. Finally, the quality of
campus facilities has been judged subjectively by both the faculty and the students in evaluation
surveys; certain professional judgments are available as well.
Maintaining Excellence in Teaching
Whatever may be said about the relative importance of the primary institutional purposes-teaching, research, and service--it is the quality of teaching that is crucial to the long-range
success of UMM as an undergraduate, liberal arts college of the University of Minnesota. For
individual faculty, it is excellence in the classroom which is the most important criterion in the
annual evaluation process which leads to determination of salary, tenure, and promotion.
Student evaluations of each course provide immediate feedback to individual faculty members
and to division chairs on quality of instruction. However, when the results of the evaluations are
aggregated by class size, by division, or for the campus as a whole, they provide the most direct
evidence of teaching effectiveness available from the consumer, i.e. the student. Table 10, which
is the aggregate of the results from the spring 1998 administration of the Student Evaluations of
Teaching Form for classes with 11-30 student enrollments (the most common class size),
provides an example of the format used and a clear indication of the high marks that students
give the UMM faculty for their teaching skill. In conjunction with the Self-Study, UMM
conducted two surveys of all current students and another of former alumni which provide
valuable insight regarding the instructional program. Alumni were asked to rate the level of their
satisfaction with UMM and its impact on their lives. The results of these are discussed later in
this report in Chapters IV and V.
Table 9
Evaluation Table 11-30
Maintaining Research and Scholarship
For the Self-Study, information on faculty achievement in research, scholarship, and artistic
production was collected and tallied from the current vitae of each member of the 1998-99
teaching faculty. The last time a similar compilation took place was in 1989.
Table 10 below shows faculty scholars and artistic productivity in 1998; Table 11 shows similar
activity of faculty in 1989. The analysis includes temporary, tenure-track, and tenured faculty
and was as complete and accurate as the standardized UMM vitae sheets would allow.
Table 10
Tabulation of Faculty Research and Scholarship 1998 (120 Faculty)
DIVISION
Professional
articles,
chapters in
books
Education
Elementary
Secondary
Total
14
27
41
0
9
9
3
3
6
0
0
0
58
96
154
Humanities
Art History
Art Studio
English
French
German
Music
Philosophy
Spanish
Speech
Theatre
Total
20
1
74
65
7
26
50
60
13
1
317
3
0
6
5
1
0
25
10
1
0
51
12
13
11
16
1
0
10
10
5
3
81
46
292
0
0
2
106
0
0
0
123
569
33
12
80
72
27
4
59
61
52
10
410
Science & Math
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Geology
Mathematics
Physics
Total
90
39
25
39
90
39
322
1
0
0
0
4
0
5
9
0
0
2
7
0
18
0
0
0
0
44
0
44
84
39
19
101
85
23
351
Social Sciences
Econ/Mgmt
History
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology/Anthro
Total
43
105
39
130
47
364
4
13
1
4
6
28
1
50
3
15
18
87
0
0
0
0
0
0
86
147
34
149
101
517
P&A
26
6
8
34
43
1070
99
200
647
1475
All Campus
Authored
Monographs,
Exhibitions, pubConference
or edited manuals, published lic performance Presentations and
books
reviews, videos of creative work
Papers
Table 11
Tabulation of Faculty Research and Scholarship 1989 (116.5 faculty)
DIVISION
Professional Authored
Monographs,
Exhibitions, pubConference
articles, chap- or edited manuals, published lic performance Presentations and
ters in books
books
reviews, videos of creative work
Papers
Education
Elementary
Health
Physical
Secondary
Total
5
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
11
0
0
9
20
Humanities
Art History
Art Studio
English
French
German
Music
Philosophy
Spanish
Speech/Theatre
Total
3
1
3
2
1
14
4
1
5
34
0
0
4
2
2
0
5
3
0
16
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
2
0
6
9
75
0
0
0
36
0
1
60
181
5
0
3
9
8
2
10
16
42
95
Science & Math
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Geology
Mathematics
Physics
Total
11
3
2
11
2
3
32
1
1
0
1
0
0
3
5
2
0
10
0
0
17
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
15
7
1
19
7
3
52
Social Sciences
Business-Econ
Economics
History
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology/Anthro
Total
2
13
23
10
40
10
98
0
1
6
1
0
1
9
0
1
14
1
4
6
26
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
19
27
14
35
33
135
All Campus
169
29
50
181
302
The statistical tabulation above does not accurately reflect the full range and richness of faculty
contributions. To obtain a more complete picture, the work of the individual faculty member
must be examined in some detail. The curriculum vitae of the faculty will be available for
inspection by the NCA visiting team.
The mission of UMM as an undergraduate liberal arts campus of a major university clearly
includes the role of research and scholarly activity. The UMM faculty is a professionally active
faculty, composed of people who often are among the leading scholars in their particular area or
who are active in composing, performing, directing, and sculpting. And what makes the campus
an especially exciting one is that such faculty involve students directly in their professional work
in all sorts of ways. If one adds to that the friendly and informal atmosphere in which the
student-faculty collaboration takes place, it is clear why the UMM experience has had a lasting
impact on many of its graduates.
Profile of the student body
In the fall of 1998, the student body was made up of mostly traditionally-aged students, though
7% were over the age of 25. 60% are women, 40% are men. Most are full time students. 82% are
Minnesota residents. 18% come from out of state and foreign countries. It should be noted that in
the last 10 years, there has been a gradual decline in the number of international students,
although efforts are now underway to increase that number. In fall 1999, there are nine
international students on campus. Some students are commuters, but most live on campus or in
rooms in the nearby community. The majority of students receive substantial financial aid; 94%
received some form of financial assistance in 1997-98 (see Table 2 above). UMM has a minority
enrollment of 16%, the largest in the University of Minnesota.
Most students are academically able; Table 3 shows that in the fall of 1998, the high school rank
of entering freshmen stood at the 87 percentile with 43% coming from the top 10% of their high
school class. In the fall of 1998, the composite ACT was 24. While this is a strong showing,
there has been a gradual decline since the last NCA study when the student profile stood at an
ACT composite of 25 and the entering freshmen percentile at 92%, with over 62% coming from
the top 10% of their high school class. In the intervening 10 years, the competition for top
students is becoming increasingly intense.
Table 12
p. 18 Data Book
The educational objectives of the UMM student body are appropriate to the liberal arts, with the
majority having the objective of a four-year baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate degree in
traditional academic disciplines or other professions. UMM has a substantial population of preprofessional students who also transfer to the professional schools of the University of
Minnesota, or to other institutions. Table 4 shows the distribution of majors at UMM from 199498.
Table 13
pp. 35 Data Book
p. 36 Data Book
Providing University Services
The University of Minnesota, Morris is meeting institutional goals of providing effective
academic student and campus support services. The academic support services include advising,
academic assistance and tutoring, and library, audio-visual, and computing services; the student
services include admissions and financial aid, the registrar, counseling, placement, minority
support services, student activities, athletics and recreation, international programs and housing;
other campus services include business office, food service, transportation, printing and
bookstore, and campus security. These services function at a level appropriate to a campus of our
size and mission. Details of the function and resources of the units have been provided in the
preceding section. There are shortcomings and resource shortages to be sure, but most units
provide service of high quality.
Providing services for the Community
The mission and planning documents make clear that commitment to public service is a general
goal of the university. Without a doubt, UMM's public service function is more directly
expressed through the activity of the University College unit described here. These activities
range from evening and summer courses to special centers, conferences and economic
development initiatives. The new Center for Small Towns provides an important link between
the university and the small communities of western Minnesota. Projects associated with city
planning, economic surveys, and Y2K compliance are made possible through this program.
Students under a major service learning initiative provide the staffing of most of the community
projects. Other current public service activities include a speakers bureau of faculty and staff; the
office of Student Activities and the academic disciplines offer dozens of theater performances,
art exhibits, concerts, films and convocations each year--all open to the public. Intercollegiate
athletic events and summer camps in basketball, wrestling and swimming afford the community
enriched opportunities in sports.
Beyond this, UMM serves as a resource for improving telecommunications technology in the
area. Media Services assists in the production of programs and broadcast over the local public
television station. The Computing Services staff has provided assistance to local businesses in
computer applications. A microcomputer lab is available to the clients of the Small Business
Resource Center. The Briggs Library is available to the public. Individual faculty and staff also
contribute their time and expertise to community projects--as speakers, as judges in science,
speech and theater, and music contests, as consultants to government or public service agencies.
One faculty member in political science, for example, has written the strategic plan for a local
community. Others in mathematics have done survey research for communities. UMM's
contributions to the community at large reveal that, given its size, mission and rural setting, a
quite comprehensive service program is being carried out.
Sustaining Leadership and Governance
Within the University of Minnesota system, UMM has a long-standing reputation as a well-run
campus. On balance there has been a minimum of internal controversy or disruptive shifts in
educational policy. There is a shared understanding of the primary goals and objectives of the
institution which sustains the leadership across the campus and has done so for three decades.
Campus leadership has been provided not only by the Chancellor and Vice Chancellors, but by
many unit administrators, ranging from the division chairs to the Registrar and the core of
experienced faculty and staff who believe they can and should make a lasting contribution to the
policies of the institution. Among the campus executive officers, key unit administrators, and
senior faculty and staff, there has been a history of stability and modest turnover.
Resource Allocation
The principal revenue for the campus comes from a combination of tuition and legislative
appropriations, which is treated as a single source of funds under the university's funding system.
For fiscal year 1998-99, UMM received over $19,737,997 from this source, called the General
Operations and Maintenance Funds. Room and Board, student fees and receipts from the
bookstore and other enterprises make up the second largest source of revenue - in 1998-99 about
$5,459,690. Income from various service units such as printing, transportation, and business
services which rely on charges for other campus units, and occasional cash sales to employees
and students make up a third source of funds (about $194,771 in 1998-99). Gifts from alumni
and friends constitute several university-wide endowment funds and provide an important source
of funds for the UMM Scholarship program. Funding for capital construction comes almost
exclusively from specific legislative appropriations for that purpose. They vary from year to
year.
Trends in the resources available to the campus during the past decade are shown in the Data
Book. Table 11 shows total expenditures which include both compensation and supply, expense
and equipment funds for the educational and support service programs of the campus.
Expenditures for the auxiliary enterprises are not included. Growth is evident over the ten year
period in all major categories--$1,743,486 in the support services, $450,048 in academic services
and 1,372,937 in the academic divisions.
The increase in legislative funds and tuition has been insufficient to fully fund salary increases
for academic personnel, civil service, or unionized employees, or to provide reasonable and
needed increase in supplies, expenses and equipment budgets for campus units. This has been
true at the University of Minnesota as a whole. Indeed in the early part of the decade, when the
state was under severe financial retrenchment, there were virtually no salary increases. In the
later part of this decade, with the state more prosperous, salary increases have been considerably
better for faculty and to a lesser degree for staff, but still insufficient to keep up with our peer
institutions.
Fiscal control, which was criticized in the last NCA report, has improved university-wide since
the last NCA study. Now the College and University Finance System (CUFS) provides greater
control over the entire budgetary and record keeping process. While CUFS itself has been
criticized as a system only for specialists in accounting, it is credited with giving the institution a
better grip on its income and expenditures.
Table 14
Data Book p. 2
Maintaining and Improving Facilities
Campus opinion regarding the quality of facilities varies. The Science Building, the Physical
Education Center, the Library, the Humanities Fine Arts
Center, most of the residence halls, Food Service, and the Heating Plant are good or adequate
facilities by any standard. The new construction needed to complete the development of the
campus is underway in the 1990's; long-range plans for a new Science Building, the University
Student Center, and a Fitness Center have been achieved as will a major renovation of the
Humanities Fine Arts Center. The faculty, on the other hand, as they expressed their opinions in
1999, are critical of some of the classrooms and special purpose facilities.
Initiatives that depend more clearly upon legislative funding, and thus on the central
administration of the university, include improving essential non-academic services, increasing
faculty salaries, replacing outdated instructional equipment, adding needed facilities, meeting the
increasing demand for computer access, improving library holdings, increasing the tenure lines
to alleviate understaffing in some disciplines, and obtaining research funds for faculty.
The essential conclusion of the Self-Study is that there is strong evidence that the institution is
accomplishing its purposes. The present institutional strengths will be preserved by maintaining
the priority of academic funding, the emphasis of teaching excellence and academic freedom, the
commitment to scholarship, the responsibility of service as a cultural resource for west central
Minnesota, the accessibility of administration, a participatory process of governance, the high
quality of entering students, and the excellence of our graduates.