The university community does believe that VCSU is accomplishing its educational and
other purposes as defined by the SBHE, NDUS, and the university's mission statement.
Demonstrating this is now the task of the faculty and staff through the strategic plan.
Since the 1995-96 focused visit, a number of major changes have occurred in the SBHE,
the NDUS, and Valley City State and Mayville State
The shared Vice-President for Academic Affairs has been changed to two resident
officers--one at each partnership campus; the workload and stress on one shared officer
proved too much for one person to manage. The workload and stress levels among the
faculty and staff noted as "Concerns" at the end of the 1996 visit document are still
present and are a problem when combined with the NCA self study and the changes
noted below that have occurred this year at the SBHE and NDUS levels.
The mission of VCSU has been approved by the NDUS and the SBHE as it was proposed
at the time of 1995-96 visit, but has been shortened and combined with the results of a
statewide legislative/SBHE/citizen investigation into educational and technological
needs for the state in the new century called the Roundtable. This requires VCSU to reexamine the strategic plan that was to be in place by now to ensure than the six
"Cornerstones" identified by the Roundtable group become part of the plan.[see
Roundtable report, 200-2001 Strategic plan and 1999-2000 Plan Progress Report]. Each
Cornerstone has a group of "accountabilities" that now must become part of the
university's self assessment processes.
The primary assessment tool VCSU intends to utilize to determine whether our academic
program goals are reached for each student is the required CDROM portfolio that must be
completed by the end of the senior year. The methods for assessing and evaluating the
CDROM for each student are in the process of development and testing by each academic
department and by the CIO for technical matters. If the faculty are sure that the CDROM
portfolio is, in fact, an accurate method for assessing student success, then the university
is achieving its primary educational purpose. Since this testing process will take several
graduating classes, we assume that a follow-up focus visit will be needed to examine this
on-going activity. Other more traditional assessment methods will also be used to
determine the success rate of our departmental programs and the students enrolled in
them, and are developed in the sections of the discussion of Criterion 3 below.