Discussion Draft, April 4, 2005
Outcomes 1 and 6
To the Campus Community:
Please consider this document as a working draft offered to the campus community with
the hope of receiving broad based feedback. Some statements in this draft do not have
consensus among the members of the outcome 1 and 6 committees. However, we have
chosen to err on the side of including these assertions with the expectation that input from
the community may help to clarify our campus’ position for our next draft.
I.
Strategic Charge to Committees for Outcomes 1 and 6.
A. Outcome 1 (2005). In the context of academic excellence, IUN has a shared definition
of love of ideas, and achievement and engagement in learning, scholarship, discovery, creativity,
and service for students, faculty, staff, and administration.
B. Outcome 6 (2005). Within the context of our unique identity, IUN will have shared
understanding of the measurable characteristics that identify excellence in any academic program
or support service.
II.
Love of Ideas. The joint committees of Outcome 1 and Outcome 6 define “love of ideas,”
in the spirit rather than the letter of the phrase, as a commitment to lifelong learning by all
members of the campus community, including a commitment to reflect on one’s own experience
in relation to work and the world. We support John Dewey’s statement, “Education is not
preparation for life. Education is life itself.” (Shared Vision 2000, qtd. from Judith A. Ramaley,
“Embracing Civic Responsibility,” AAHE Bulletin, March 2000)
III. Institutional Excellence. Academic excellence is a “characteristic of an institution where
members are performing” at the level of highest expectations within the institution, “and the
institution is a place where this is both demanded and nurtured” (San Francisco State University
www.sfsu.edu/~acadplan/aeintro.htm). Institutional excellence at IUN is exemplified by:
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The shared ideals, values, purposes, and goals embodied in IUN’s shared vision (2000);
Institutional support of teaching and learning; scholarship, discovery, creativity,
academic service and civic engagement; and of the growth and development of its
members;
Institutional support of our mission as a regional campus committed not only to the
“pursuit of knowledge” and “the value of education,” but also to a collective effort to
engage effectively, wherever appropriate, with the region we serve, as good citizens
(Mission Draft, 11/2/04).
Institutional support of IUN’s Statement of Principles to govern professional conduct,
and the Shared Code of Conduct (Academic Handbook, Student Code, Staff Handbook,
Professional Staff Handbook; Outcome 3, 2004);
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Institutional commitment to Diversity as a Critical Component of Academic Excellence
as embodied in Outcome 4 (2004) and to recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty
and staff (2005);
Institutional support for the IUN Student Centered Principles (Outcome 7, 2004);
Empowerment to assert personal values and beliefs while respecting others’ rights to hold
and express their own values and beliefs;
Institutional commitment to guide academic decisions by their impact on the teaching,
learning, and scholarship environment;
Institutional commitment to an administrative and staff culture that is nurtured to support
the academic mission;
High expectations of students, faculty and staff;
Commitment to encourage and support innovation;
Commitment to facilitating the transformation of students;
Commitment to learning that permeates classrooms and extends beyond campus
boundaries;
Commitment to clearly communicated and shared standards regarding academic policies,
practices, performance, and assessment;
Commitment to communicate IUN’s excellence to public and governmental groups.
IV. Academic Program Excellence. A program demonstrates excellence through a collectivity
of excellence in scholarship, research, creativity, learning, service, and civic engagement; that is,
in any program, some faculty members are excellent teachers, some excellent in scholarship and
creativity, and some in service of various kinds. All are expected to be excellent in at least one
area of scholarship or creativity, teaching, and service and satisfactory in all areas. For purposes
of measuring excellence in programs, IUN supports flexibility within programs to sustain
collective excellence. IUN supports measuring scholarship across all four Boyer domains: the
scholarship of discovery, the scholarship of teaching and learning, the scholarship of integration,
and the scholarship of application. Accrediting bodies for professional schools have additional
criteria for excellence.
A. Measures of collective excellence for scholarship, research, creativity, learning, and
service in any program include but are not limited to:
 Continuous Program Improvement demonstrated through self-studies, external
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program reviews, sustaining accreditation through professional accrediting associations,
strategic planning processes with quality assessment measures and benchmarking
(Excellence in Higher Education: A Guide to Organizational Self-Assessment, Strategic
Planning and Improvement, Revised; AQIP criteria; IU Academic Handbook).
Students: Undergraduate quality data for measuring excellence in students (recognizing
that IUN is an open enrollment institution serving all students in our region yet attracts
highly qualified students as well) include: number of applicants, admits and newly
enrolled students; admit rate and yield (conversion rate); quality data such as high school
GPAs, SATs and class ranks, if available; diversity of new and/or enrolled students,
including gender and ethnicity; trend data; number of degrees awarded and time to
degree; retention and graduation; placement of graduates; performance on national
examinations; assessment of artistic performances, design portfolios, compositions, etc;
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selection for all-university honors; performances on GREs, MCATs, et al; continuation to
higher degrees and quality of institutions accepting graduates; job placement rates;
surveys of employer satisfaction and assessment of quality of graduates;
Faculty: quality and diversity of faculty, including recent achievements, research
strengths, sponsored research support, patents, performances, service; quality of teaching
and evaluation of educational programs; comparative strengths, distinctiveness, and
weaknesses; understanding of current thought and research in their field; ability, where
appropriate, to integrate information technology into lectures and presentations;
Scholarship: In the context of Boyer’s four domains of scholarship, along with
additional criteria established by professional school accreditation such as NCATE and
AACSB, measures may include citation rate of publications, if appropriate for discipline;
quality and quantity of peer reviewed published and unpublished scholarly outcomes;
average number of publications and unpublished scholarly outcomes per faculty member
or per program; reviews of scholarly or creative work; and aggregated evidence of
individual faculty measures (see faculty excellence);
Sponsored Programs/Grants: total awards past five years; expenditures past five years;
number of proposals submitted/funded by year; major awards, e. g., federally-funded
“center” grants, high prestige grants, young investigator awards;
Relative Stature: Current academic stature of program benchmarked against peer
institutions or national rankings, relative to the norms of the discipline: honors and
awards; membership in national academics;
Creative Work disciplines: rank among peer units at other universities using such
indices as are appropriate to each discipline, such as gallery/museum exhibits for visual
artists, stage productions for theatre artists, screenings for film makers, dance concerts for
dancers/choreographers, and publications for creative writers. Assessment of quality
should be attested to by parties beyond the campus, such as written critiques of creative
activity in regional and national print and online journals. And while rankings by external
agencies are not usually available for units focused on creative work, such units should
be cognizant of any such rankings or comparative indices;
B. Resources and quality of management. Measures for excellent programs include:
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Critical mass of qualified faculty and resources to meet instructional needs;
Sufficient number of students to justify program’s continued existence;
Faculty-student ratios by program;
Faculty teaching loads;
Faculty advisement loads;
Ability to provide well-documented assessments of the quality of research and teaching,
using measures that are credible and verifiable;
Commitment to service to campus, university, profession, and to community engagement
wherever appropriate;
Strategic planning that demonstrates how the program can improve its quality with
additional resources and offers criteria by which such improvements can be assessed;
Demonstrably high standards in recruitment, reappointment, promotion, and tenure; and
Demonstrable success in managing current resources to best advantage;
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Sustained quality in departments that have established high standards in teaching and
scholarship or creative work;
Strategic investments to improve the quality of units that demonstrate exceptional
potential in teaching and scholarship or creative work
Program faculty sharing departmental work equitably; collaborating with colleagues;
helping develop and support program goals; accepting leadership responsibility for some
tasks; guiding junior faculty.
C. A Challenging, Demanding Curriculum in an Academic Program. An excellent
curriculum:
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Facilitates and rewards creativity, and independent and critical thinking;
Is intellectually demanding of faculty as demonstrated by knowledge of current thought
in the field and resulting in continuous revision of course materials to reflect synthesis of
current thought into pedagogy;
 Is intellectually demanding of students. This may result both from the quantity of work
expected as well as the type and depth of thinking required to complete tasks;
 Encourages every student to be an active participant in the learning process. This may be
demonstrated by students participating in discussions, doing supplementary reading,
relating material to other contexts, but not simply memorizing material;
 Reflects diverse ways of learning and applying knowledge;
 Respects diversity as a critical component of academic excellence;
 Is based on standards that are appropriate to the level of the work, to the goals of the
university, and/or the goals of the department/discipline;
 Has common goals and expectations that are clearly communicated;
 Moves the student toward independent learning and life-long learning;
 Provides new perspectives and new ways of thinking;
 Uses subject matter as a tool to promote personal and intellectual growth;
 Is cohesive; has been carefully designed to achieve specific purposes that are agreed
upon and valued by the department, and/or university;
 Is structured so that students are placed in classes appropriate to their level of
preparation; course prerequisites and progressions are carefully specified and adhered to.
D. Teaching and Learning in a Program: Characteristics for collective teaching excellence,
that is, measuring all faculty members in a program in aggregate, include:
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Periodic documented peer review of teaching by program faculty;
Disciplinary knowledge demonstrated by peer reviewed scholarship and continuous
professional development;
Cultivation of ethical standards for using that knowledge;
Quality of preparation and presentation of courses;
Integration of diverse methods, materials, and assessments to meet needs of learners;
Ability of the program faculty to define clear learning goals with high standards;
High expectations and commitment to student success;
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Ability of the program faculty to measure whether students have achieved goals or
learning outcomes;
Use of standardized measures, along with other measures, to evaluate student outcomes
and by extension faculty performance in transferring knowledge;
Self-assessment and teaching portfolios;
Supervised original undergraduate research and creative projects;
Success in attracting and retaining majors;
Grade point averages outside the major;
Quality of student evaluations of faculty teaching;
Exit interviews of graduating majors;
Student interviews conducted by professionals in learning assessment;
Success of graduates in employment or admission to graduate and professional schools;
Duration of time required to degrees, though this is of limited use on a regional campus.
(From Universities of Colorado and Southern California, San Francisco State;
www.colorado.edu/ArtsSciences/facultystaff/administration/strategicplan/goal3.html ;
www.usc.edu/admin/progrev/pdf/guidelines.pdf; www.sfsu.edu/~acadplan/aefacult.htm;
www.sfsu.edu/~acadplan/aeugrad.htm.)
V. Administrative Excellence. At IUN administrative excellence is exemplified by an
administration that:
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Demonstrates competence in its collective areas of responsibility;
Gives priority to excellence in learning and scholarship;
Educates the public regarding university affairs, and communicates with the university
community, the external community, and alumni, through honest, competent, and
accurate information;
Provides leadership in developing a central, shared vision and strategic plans from which
emanates a focused direction for the university, fair standards and practices, and strategic
priorities for the academic enterprise;
Values the expertise and resources in the community and endeavors as a good citizen to
meet needs defined by the community;
Works in partnership with the community to develop collaborative initiatives;
Empowers the faculty and staff to participate in the planning, implementation, and
assessment of the vision, strategic plans, and resulting standards and practices;
Provides professional development opportunities for staff and faculty;
Provides honest, competent and accurate performance evaluations;
Provides support for academic endeavors based upon academic soundness and feasibility;
actively supports learning at all levels;
Provides opportunity and commitment to increase cross-level communication and shared
governance;
Provides ongoing mechanisms to keep knowledge current;
Provides the foundation for a learning community that interacts in respectful, creative,
and productive ways to promote learning and continuous improvement;
Vigorously works to implement its commitments to institutional excellence.
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VI. Staff Excellence. In an academic context, excellent staff:
 Are given sufficient opportunities for professional development and perform expected
tasks well;
 Further the mission of the university and the responsibilities of the unit;
 Support the completion and/or presentation of high quality research or education
programs as well as service to the college or university;
 Demonstrate innovative approaches, thereby improving productivity and the quality of the
work assigned;
 Strive to improve a work process or system;
 Accurately complete an appropriate amount of work;
 Are knowledgeable about their work and understand its various phases;
 Demonstrate ability through performance and willingness to manage changes in work
priorities, procedures, and organization;
 Demonstrate reliability when working alone and require little supervision;
 Consistently and substantially demonstrate ability and willingness to work positively and
effectively with others;
 Demonstrate efforts to expand work responsibilities;
 Remain open to feedback concerning performance.
(University of Wisconsin, Madison, University of Wisconsin, B (branch campus), University of
Texas, Austin, University of Maryland)
VII. Student Excellence. At IUN, Student Excellence is defined in Outcome 1 (2004) Student
Profile of Academic Excellence. Students, upon graduation, are prepared to perform well in their
work and as citizens.
VIII. Faculty Excellence: Excellence in Achievement and Engagement in Learning,
Scholarship, Discovery, Creativity, and Service for Faculty. With consideration for IUN’s
broad commitment to excellence, unique identity, and campus climate, academic excellence at
the faculty level is fundamental to our campus’ mission. Academic excellence for faculty
requires satisfactory active participation in all general areas of scholarship, teaching, and service
(teaching and service only for clinical appointments and lecturers), and superior performance in
one area. Since faculty members have unique talents and operate within a departmental
environment, departments should consider their blend of faculty abilities and contributions and
consider scholarly activities accordingly. Clinical appointments and lecturers follow the same
guidelines for teaching and service, but will not be evaluated on scholarship/discovery.
A. Individual Excellence in Teaching/Learning and the Scholarship of Teaching
and Learning. The baseline for effective teaching is pedagogic skill and competency in the
faculty member’s subject matter, coupled with an active program of scholarship, discovery or
creativity. Effective teaching further requires demonstration that the professor transfers his or her
knowledge of the subject to students. Excellence in teaching requires high-level publicly
evaluated scholarly outcomes and publications. As stated in the IU Academic Handbook, IU
ranks teaching among its highest priorities: “The faculty of the University, in keeping faith with
the founders of the institution, has always accepted as a primary responsibility the effective
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teaching of the men and women who enroll as students in the institution…. [T]he individual
teacher continuously studies the effectiveness of teaching methods and devices with a view to
increasing the effectiveness of his or her effort. ... Through the years of the institution’s history,
those who have guided the destinies of the University have accepted as their philosophy the basic
principle that a university is not merely an association of teachers but, rather, that the faculty of a
university must be composed of scholars who are effective teachers” (2001, 13). Thus, excellent
teachers engage in the scholarship of teaching to improve the quality of instruction and
successful student outcomes, and in service that connects them to local, state, national, and
international educational communities as global citizens. Additionally, excellent teachers are
committed to and facilitate student achievement of learning outcomes; they
Care about and have a positive effect on student learning;
Know their subject areas and the current research and thinking in their discipline;
Clearly state the objectives of the course;
Are well prepared for each class session;
Explain the course material clearly and to the point;
Are enthusiastic about teaching the subject and make the course stimulating;
Summarize or emphasize major points in the lecture, demonstration or discussion;
Are readily available for consultation with students;
Encourage students to ask questions and express their ideas or opinions;
Clearly explain how students will be evaluated in the course;
Give exams or assigns papers which reflect the important aspects of the course;
Relate the subject matter to other academic disciplines or real world situations;
Periodically provide opportunities for students to assess their program’s progress in the
course;
 Maintain a clear connection between the advance course description and the actual
content of each course taught to facilitate efficient subject selection by students;
 Remain available to students; publish and keep liberal office hours at times convenient to
students;
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Develop and maintain an atmosphere of mutual respect;
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Continuously reflect on teaching; evaluate courses and make adjustments as needed;
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Continuously develop professionally;
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Develop courses and curriculum;
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Share expertise with colleagues.
( above from IUN Trustee Teaching Award committee Criteria)
 Are professionally active—including scholarship, research, publication, curriculum
development, teaching development, teaching enhancement, and/or community outreach
 Teach in interactive ways; are partners in the learning experience;
 Respect individuals and individual differences and diversity of opinion;
 Are able to adapt teaching methods to a variety of student backgrounds and learning
styles;
 Effectively utilize technology, where appropriate, to enhance the learning experience;
 Inspire love of and desire for learning;
 Are knowledgeable about a variety of resources; serve as models of intellectual and
ethical behavior; are genuinely interested in student development;
 Use multiple and fair measures to arrive at final evaluation of students’ work;
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Provide ongoing, clear feedback to students (both on the form and content of their work
and on the overall success of what they attempt;
Earns teaching awards, honors, and/or grants.
B. Individual Excellence in the Scholarship of Discovery and Creativity, Integration,
and Application. To be adequate, all faculty must be engaged in peer reviewed scholarship that
contributes to, integrates or applies the body of knowledge in one’s field through unpublished
scholarly outcomes and widely-disseminated publications/exhibitions and/or presented at state,
regional, national, or international professional meetings. Quality of publications is more
important than mere quantity. Individual excellence in scholarship requires high-level
scholarship exemplified by, but not limited to, the following:
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Comparison to faculty achievement at peer universities;
Research funding;
Publication rate;
Citation rate of publications, where appropriate;
Other quantitative evidence of distinction in research;
Honors and awards;
Reviews of scholarly or creative work;
Creative Work disciplines: rank among peer units at other universities using such indices
as are appropriate to each discipline, such as gallery/museum exhibits for visual artists,
stage productions for theatre artists, screenings for film makers, dance concerts for
dancers/choreographers, and publications for creative writers. Assessment of quality
should be attested to by parties beyond the campus. And while rankings by external
agencies are not usually available for units focused on creative work, such units should
be cognizant of any such rankings or comparative studies (U Colorado).
C. Scholarship of Application or Engagement, community service or civic
Engagement. Scholarly outcomes and scholarly activity in professional or public service or
engagement must involve a high level of skill in communicating and applying the knowledge of
one’s professional competence to the university, the profession or community. Service may be
both inside and outside the university and may be rendered to the department, university,
community, professional organizations, governmental bodies and other institutions. Adequacy
requires consistent activity, and helpful citizenry; however, such scholarly activities are not
sufficient for excellence as “scholarship” unless they lead to published scholarship of application
or engagement or unpublished scholarly outcomes that are publicly observable and peer
reviewable. For tenure and promotion, excellence in service requires publications under
Scholarship of Application or Engagement, and high-level contributions (Boyer).
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Strategic Outcome 1 Committee
on definitions of academic excellence
David Klamen, Chair
Patti Lundberg, Support
Chuck Gallmeier, Support
Donald Coffin
Linda Delunas
Raymond Fontaine
Helen M Harmon
Sally J Kiser
Stephen McShane
Dorothy Dragic Mokry
Jacqueline M Mullany
Cynthia O’Dell
Catherine E Tallos
James Tolhuizen
Robert E Weiler
Stanley Wigle
Roberta Wollons
Strategic Outcome 6 Committee on
characteristics that exemplify excellence
in academic programs and support
services
Patricia Lundberg (Chair)
Linda Delunas (Support)
Raymond Fontaine (Support)
Diana Chen-Lin
Don Coffin
Audrea Davis
Gaylin Dorris
Tameka M. Edwards-Chihota
Tanice Foltz
Neil Goodman
Barbara Gunn
Barry Johnston
Richard Hug
Vesna Kilibarda
Kim Kintz
David Klamen
Stephen Mc Shane
Jose Mejia
Henrietta Moore
Manoj Pardasani
Scooter Pegram
Charlotte Reed
Kenneth Schoon
Timothy Sutherland
Atilla Tuncay
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