Update on Institutional
Reaccreditation and the
Foundations of Excellence
Fall Faculty In-Service
August 19, 2010
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Foundations of Excellence®
(FoE)
• Customized self-study for HLC
reaccreditation site visit
• Developed by the Policy Center on the First
College Year (now called the Gardner
Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate
Education)
• Institution-wide assessment of first year
using nine dimensions
• Goal is to produce plan to improve student
learning and engagement
• www.uni.edu/foe
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Foundations of Excellence® (FoE)
Recommendations
1. Create a First-Year Council charged with
the oversight of first-year programs.
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Charge with setting strategic direction of 1st year
programs and for the assessment, monitoring, and
reporting of specified first-year initiatives
Joint leadership among Academic and Student
Affairs
2. Develop a first-year philosophy statement
and first-year learning outcomes.
Foundations of Excellence® (FoE)
Recommendations
3. Develop a comprehensive plan for faculty
development.
4. Task the First-Year Council to develop a firstyear cornerstone experience for all first-year
students.
5. Develop a systematic process to define,
identify, and assess the needs of first-year
students, especially underserved populations.
Foundations of Excellence® (FoE)
Recommendations
6. Incorporate the findings of the Foundations of
Excellence® process into other institutional
improvement efforts that impact first-year
students.
• Liberal Arts Core (LAC) Task Force
• Diversity Council
• Academic Advising Council
7. Develop and implement a comprehensive plan
for assessing and improving first-year
programs.
First-Year Council Work:
http://www.uni.edu/foe/council1.shtml
Downloadable PDFs
• First-Year Council Membership & Charge
• First-Year Council Subcommittees
• First-Year Learning Goals: Draft
First-Year Council Meeting Minutes
• February 15, 2010
• March 29, 2010
• April 19, 2010
Cornerstone Course
• April 2010, First Year Council approved
development of cornerstone course
– 3 credit hour academic inquiry (academic focus)
– Course developed by faculty in partnership with
student affairs
– Assignments and activities include focus on
transition issues in the context of an
interdisciplinary critical inquiry topic chosen by the
faculty member
– Consider as part of the Liberal Arts Core (LAC)
Cornerstone Development
• Approval granted by Provost and VP Student
Affairs to begin cornerstone course development
• Committee of faculty (representing all colleges),
student affairs staff, and students are developing
curriculum proposal
• Course must gain acceptance through regular
curricular approval process
• Committee to use learning outcomes, assessment,
and best practices research in development
•Early identification of first year student concerns
•Transition survey completed after week 3
•Students receive immediate, customized feedback
•Faculty and staff with professional connections to
each student (direct connects) also obtain access to
individual reports
•Direct connects offer encouragement, support,
information, and referrals to students who need it
most
Foundations of Excellence® –
Transfer Focus (FoE-TF)
• John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in
Undergraduate Excellence
• Steering Committee and Nine Dimension
Committees similar process as used in
previous FoE self-study
• 33% of new students to UNI are transfer
students and 2/3 of those are from two-year
colleges
FoE Transfer Steering Committee
• Mary Christ (CBA)
• Kerri Clopton, Co-Chair
(CoE)
• Melissa Heston (CoE)
• Christie Kangas, Co-Chair
(Admissions)
• Cherin Lee (CNS)
• Drake Martin (Residence)
• Gene Morales (Student)
• Kristin Moser (Institutional
Research)
• Phil Patton (Registrar)
• Gayle Rhineberger-Dunn
(CSBS)
• Jake Rudy (NISG)
• Colice Sanders (Student
Support Services)
• Paul Sapp (Admissions)
• Marilyn Shaw (CHFA)
• Tony Smothers (Academic
Advising)
• Malcom Thomas (Graduate
Student)
• Kristin Woods (New Student
Programs)
Involvement in FoE Transfer SelfStudy
• Faculty/Staff Survey
– Available through MyUNIverse August 23rd
through September 10th
• Dimension Committees
– Faculty interested in serving on a committee
should contact Kerri Clopton
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