STANDARD 3
Developing and Applying Resources and Organizational Structures to Ensure
Quality and Sustainability
The institution sustains its operations and supports the achievement of its educational objectives
through investments in human, physical, fiscal, technological, and information resources and through
an appropriate and effective set of organizational and decision-making structures. These key
resources and organizational structures promote the achievement of institutional purposes and
educational objectives and create a high-quality environment for learning.
Faculty and Staff
Criteria for Review
3.1
The institution employs faculty and staff with substantial and continuing commitment to the
institution. The faculty and staff are sufficient in number, professional qualification, and diversity
and to achieve the institution’s educational objectives, establish and oversee academic policies, and
ensure the integrity and continuity of its academic and co-curricular programs wherever and however
delivered.
GUIDELINES: The institution has a faculty staffing plan that ensures that all faculty roles and
responsibilities are fulfilled and includes a sufficient number of full-time faculty members with
appropriate backgrounds by discipline and degree level.
EVIDENCE:
 Student/faculty ratio
 Vitae for faculty, student life directors, and administrators
 Institutional commitment to minimum of three FT faculty per department
 Faculty hiring process/procedures, which result in hiring qualified faculty
 98% of faculty have terminal degrees
 Faculty committee structure and responsibilities
 Organizational Capacity Task Force report
 No significant changes since 2007 (in curriculum, co-curriculum, or number of faculty)
3.2
Faculty and staff recruitment, hiring, orientation, workload, incentives, and evaluation practices are
aligned with institutional purposes and educational objectives. Evaluation is consistent with best
practices in performance appraisal, including multisource feedback and appropriate peer review.
Faculty evaluation processes are systematic and are used to improve teaching and learning.
EVIDENCE:
 Faculty
o
o
Faculty Openings website describes Westmont and its mission, and summarizes
position openings
Highly qualified faculty hired as result of faculty search process
o
o
o
o
o

Information and resources on webpage for new faculty
New Faculty Orientation through first year; new faculty are given a one course
reduction
Faculty Handbook includes protocols for
 First Year Review
 Tenure Recommendations
 Promotion Recommendations
Mutual mentoring for full professors
Student evaluations of faculty received via the IDEA form (providing benchmark
data)
Staff
o
o
o
o
o
o
Website for applicants emphasizes (and includes links to) Statement of Faith and to
Community Life Statement
Online application includes supplemental questions pertain to college mission
New Employee Orientation
Westmont Institute
Staff performance template based in part on list of expected workplace demeanors
(which flow out of the Community Life Statement)
Annual written performance evaluation, with multi-level review
3.3
The institution maintains appropriate and sufficiently supported faculty and staff development
activities designed to improve teaching, learning, and assessment of learning outcomes.
GUIDELINES: The institution engages full-time, non-tenure-track, adjunct, and part-time faculty
members in such processes as assessment, program review, and faculty development.
EVIDENCE:
 Faculty:
o See Faculty Development webpage
o Faculty retreat
o Faculty Forums
o Faith-learning seminars
o Summer Scholars retreat
o Professional development funding
 For example, sent teams to AAC&U conference and 12-15 other conferences
o Reading groups on areas of teaching, etc.
o New Faculty Orientation program
o Mentors for new faculty
o Workshops and Faculty Forums on assessment
o Library liaison program
 Staff:
o Westmont Institute
o Provost Forums
o Professional development funding in department budgets
o Leadership Roundtable
o Reading Groups
Fiscal, Physical, and Information Resources
Criteria for Review
3.4
The institution is financially stable and has unqualified independent financial audits and resources
sufficient to ensure long-term viability. Resource planning and development include realistic
budgeting, enrollment management, and diversification of revenue sources. Resource planning is
integrated with all other institutional planning. Resources are aligned with educational purposes and
objectives.
GUIDELINES: The institution has functioned without an operational deficit for at least three years.
If the institution has an accumulated deficit, it should provide a detailed explanation and a realistic
plan for eliminating it.
EVIDENCE:
 Unqualified independent financial audits (never had a qualified audit that I am aware of).
 Operating budget finished “in the black” 29 consecutive years (as of June 2013).
 Department of Education Financial Responsibility Ratio – perfect 3.0 score as of most recent
report (2010-11). Westmont estimates scores of 2.20 for 2011-12 and 3.0 for 2012-13.
 Composite Financial Index scores are relatively strong. Can be calculated through June 2013.
 Full compliance with bond covenant ratios.
 Other key financial ratios not already included above.
 Operating budgets are realistic to enrollment expectations - - no mid-year budget cuts to
balance the budget “in a crisis”. Could show actual vs budget for past number of years.
 Diversification of revenue sources is a tough one right now (93% of operating budget
revenue comes from students), although deferred giving pipeline (~ $100 million) will
eventually increase endowment contribution amount, and there are other efforts underway to
diversify (e.g., FrameworkEd).
 We could show change in net assets over time, which is an upward trending line overall.
 We could show change in net tuition revenue, which is an upward trending line overall.
 The annual Capital Improvement Project process connects infrastructure and equipment
funding to strategic and programmatic priorities.
 Growth in the endowment over time, including from gifts as well as from market changes.
 Priorities from the strategic plan influence the operating budget.
 Aligning strategic planning teams of work with faculty governance structure.
3.5
The institution provides access to information and technology resources sufficient in scope, quality,
currency, and kind at physical sites and online, as appropriate, to support its academic offerings and
the research and scholarship of its faculty, staff, and students. These information resources, services,
and facilities are consistent with the institution’s educational objectives and are aligned with student
learning outcomes.
GUIDELINE: The institution provides training and support for faculty members who use technology
in instruction. Institutions offering graduate programs have sufficient fiscal, physical, information,
and technology resources and structures to sustain these programs and to create and maintain a
graduate-level academic culture.
EVIDENCE:
LIBRARY COLLECTIONS AND INFORMATION ACCESS
 The Library’s collections include over 150,000 books, scores, and media; approximately
30,000 print and full-text online journals; and over 100 database collections.
 The Library requested a $100,000 to $200,000 Library operational budget increase to be
implemented over a five-year period, 2012-2013 to 2017-2018. This goal was accomplished
with $40,000 infused to the library operating budget for 2012-2013. Approximately 75% will
be designated for resources.
 In the summer of 2012, the recently hired Web Services / Research and Instruction Librarian
took stock of the library's web presence and made some modifications to the information
organization and navigation on the site ahead of the start of the 2012-13 academic year. Plans
were made at that time for a more substantial overhaul of the site, which took place between
the fall and spring semesters in the 2012-13 academic year.
 Resource borrowing through ILL has significantly increased over the last few years.
 In 2010-11 we created a spreadsheet showing the cost of all the resources being purchased
for every department. This enabled more strategic evaluation of how the budget should be
allocated for the coming year and made sure all liaisons were aware of the resources being
purchased.
INSTRUCTION SERVICES AND LIAISON PROGRAM
 Our liaison program instruction requests continued to increase. In 2011-2012 we taught fiftyfive sessions across the disciplines and intentionally pursued alternatives to the traditional
one-shot model, which was increase from 38 sessions in 2010-2011. Liaisons created
classroom LibGuides, online tutorials, in-class assignments, and arranged group and
individual consultations in lieu of traditional sessions. We received positive feedback from
faculty on these new offerings.
 A new Digitization and Instruction Librarian position was added in August 2013.
 During the 2012-2013 academic year, liaisons were encouraged to transform traditional oneshot instruction sessions into alternative collaborations with faculty. Although most faculty
continued to request 60-minute sessions, several liaisons were able to replace those requests
with a la carte sessions, group and individual research consultations, and assignment redesign
recommendations.
 The Instruction Program has set as a goal of identifying strategic points in the GE and
disciplinary curriculum for embedded librarianship. Two instruction librarians were
embedded in one section of a HIS-10 course in fall 2013 and are embedded in two sections of
a HIS-10 course in Spring 2014.
 The Instructional Services Librarian gained approval from the Academic Senate Review
Committee to revise APP-001 Research Across the Disciplines (RAD). A course proposal
was submitted for the class to become graded rather than Pass/No Credit, 2-units, and
classified under Interdisciplinary Studies (IS) rather than Applied Studies (APP). The
Committee approved the course and RAD was scheduled under its new classifications. This
course differed greatly from the one-unit section taught the previous year. The updated
curriculum was scaffolded, had more robust assignments, required frequent reading and
reflective responses, and incorporated weekly active learning.
 In November 2012 the Instructional Services Librarian attended ACRL’s Immersion
Assessment Track Program for academic librarians. During this weeklong program, she
revised the overall assessment strategy and wrote integrated student learning outcomes.
 In the spring 2012, the Instructional Services Librarian brought a proposal before the
Program Review Committee to update the language of the institutional learning outcome
(ILO) on information literacy. The previous ILO stated: Graduates of Westmont College
will…be able to access, evaluate and communicate information effectively and ethically.
Although this outcome was sufficient, we felt it was important to use language that was more
appropriate for an academic audience. Furthermore, we wanted the structure of the
information literacy ILO to parallel the written and oral communication ILOs. The proposal
was approved in spring 2013. The updated ILO states: Graduates of Westmont College
will…be able to identify, evaluate and integrate sources effectively and ethically in various
contexts. The Instruction Program learning outcomes (PLOs) were updated in the summer of
2013. Students will…
PLO 1: Ask research questions and develop claims that are meaningful and
manageable at an undergraduate level
PLO 2: Find relevant sources for their research needs using effective and appropriate
strategies
PLO 3: Assess the quality of each source through a rhetorical framework (audience,
purpose, genre) and evaluate its relevance to their research claim
PLO 4: Effectively integrate sources into their own writing (summarizing,
paraphrasing, quoting) while acknowledging the ideas and intent of the
original author(s).
RESEARCH SERVICES
 In 2011-2012, Research Services extended the Research Help Desk hours and it is now open
until 10pm. Librarians also began to staff the Research Help Desk on Sunday evenings.
 The chat service was streamlined and a chat window was embedded on the library’s
homepage and was staffed by the librarian working on the desk. This resulted in more
consistent service hours.
 Due to outreach initiatives, Research Services saw an increase in traffic at the Research Help
Desk in 2012-2013. There was a 35% increase in research transactions in fall 2012 compared
to fall 2011, in spite of the fact that Research Help Desk hours were reduced by 13 hours a
week. The Research Help Desk hours were reduced based on usage data with the purpose of
more efficiently using librarians’ time.
LIBRARY FACILITIES
 After the renovation of the library in 2010, the popularity of the library continues to remain
steady. Headcounts in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 show consistently high numbers usually
ranging well over 100 people in the library on weekdays, particularly in the evening. The
Director of the Library is developing a plan for a Library extension with the Strategic
Planning Committee.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
 Training and project partnering available on pedagogical integration with technology
o User services
o Academic technology
 Eureka used by more than 50% of faculty on a regular basis.
 Complete end-to-end support for virtually all college-owned technology (except some
research items)
 Help Desk
Organizational Structures and Decision-Making Processes
Criteria for Review
3.6
The institution’s leadership, at all levels, is characterized by integrity, high performance, appropriate
responsibility, and accountability.
EVIDENCE:
 Board of Trustees retreat in 2010 focused on governance, facilitated by a consultant
 Board Policy Manual was adopted in 2011
 Annual Conflict of Interest certification by all trustees, faculty and staff
 Other annual affirmations by trustees
 Annual Executive Team Covenant, which includes a commitment to nurturing a culture of
integrity, care and respect
 President’s annual goals shared with Board, Faculty and Staff
o President reports back to Board on extent to which goals were accomplished
o Provost reports back to Faculty Council on his goal achievement
 Strategic planning website
 Annual written evaluations of staff performance
 President’s Council
 Faculty committees
 Staff Forums
 Monthly faculty meetings with president’s report; opportunity to ask questions
 President’s Report at one Faculty Forum each semester; opportunity to ask questions
 Executive sessions of faculty at one Faculty Forum per semester to identify concerns and
bring them to President’s attention
 Policy on Unlawful Harassment and Discrimination
 Resolving Conflicts Policy
 “Whistleblower” policy
3.7
The institution’s organizational structures and decision-making processes are clear and consistent
with its purposes, support effective decision making, and place priority on sustaining institutional
capacity and educational effectiveness.
GUIDELINE: The institution establishes clear roles, responsibilities, and lines of authority.
EVIDENCE:
 President’s Webpage
o Organizational Chart
o Decision Making at Westmont College
o Strategic Planning website
o President’s Council Roles and Responsibilities and Members
 List of current and former Capital Improvement Projects
 Faculty Handbook and Employee Handbook
 Process for developing and assessing the Student Life Educational Plan
 Executive Team mentoring of direct reports
3.8
The institution has a full-time chief executive officer and a chief financial officer whose primary or
full-time responsibilities are to the institution. In addition, the institution has a sufficient number of
other qualified administrators to provide effective educational leadership and management.
EVIDENCE:
 Gayle/Doug - - each at Westmont in respective roles 7 years as of summer 2014. Each in
respective roles 14 years as of summer 2014 at Spring Arbor University & Westmont.
 Executive Team bios
 Organizational Chart
 Addition of Vice Provost and of Dean of Curriculum and Educational Effectiveness positions
 IPEDS comparative data on “Executive, Administrative and Managerial” staff
 Job descriptions of those defined as “administrators”
 Strategic map cells connected to a division/area; tracks of work led by administrators
 (Full-time, non-interim Provost now in place.)
3.9
The institution has an independent governing board or similar authority that, consistent with its legal
and fiduciary authority, exercises appropriate oversight over institutional integrity, policies, and
ongoing operations, including hiring and evaluating the chief executive officer.
GUIDELINE: The governing body comprises members with the diverse qualifications required to
govern an institution of higher learning. It regularly engages in Self-review and training to enhance
its effectiveness.
EVIDENCE:
 2010 Trustee Retreat focused on governance
 Board Policy Manual, with executive parameters, adopted in 2011
 Annual Affirmations, including Conflict of Interest Statement
 Trustee Board and Trustee Committee minutes and actions
 For trustees whose terms are expiring:
o Self-evaluation
o Evaluation by Trusteeship Committee
3.10
The institution’s faculty exercises effective academic leadership and acts consistently to ensure that
both academic quality and the institution’s educational purposes and character are sustained.
GUIDELINE: The institution clearly defines the governance roles, rights, and responsibilities of all
categories of full- and part-time faculty.
EVIDENCE:
 Faculty Handbook
o Distribution of authority among various committees
o Recent changes to faculty committee responsibilities and membership
 Minutes of Faculty and Faculty committee meetings