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Index
Site Diagragm
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Preparatory Review
SECTION III: THEMATIC FEATURES |
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B. Exploration—"Discovery of Knowledge, Self, and
Society through Expanding Horizons" |
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The theme "exploration" refers both to the expansion
of an individual's understanding and to the expansion of the frontiers
of knowledge through research and creative activities. Clearly, deepening
students' understanding is at the heart of the university's mission
and will be a major component of the educational effectiveness review.
This essay will focus narrowly on the institutional support for service-learning,
a pedagogical approach widely acknowledged to provide educational
benefits related to the "discovery of knowledge, self, and society
through expanding horizons." Service-learning is an important
feature of the institution, cutting across the themes of exploration
and interaction.
Expansion of the frontiers of knowledge will be addressed through
an analysis of support for research. As described previously,
the transformation of the
faculty with a stronger emphasis on research and creative activity
is one of the major
changes seen since the last accreditation self-study. Like service-learning,
research cuts across themes and has an enormous impact on the character of
the institution. |
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Service-Learning: Encouraging Exploration, Delivery,
and Exchange of Knowledge by Faculty and Staff
According to the National
Service-Learning Clearinghouse, “service-learning
combines service objectives with learning objectives with the intent
that the activity change both the recipient and the provider of the
service. This is accomplished by combining service tasks with structured
opportunities that link the task to self-reflection, self-discovery,
and the acquisition and comprehension of values, skills, and knowledge
content.
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CFR
2.2a
SPG
2 |
| Service-learning is one of the primary ways in which the university “provides
an environment that encourages exploration, delivery, and exchange
of knowledge by faculty and staff.” The pedagogical effectiveness
of service-learning is well-documented. In a major study by Astin,
published in 1996, service-learning and community service positively
impacted all thirty-four outcome measures in the areas of civic responsibility,
academic development, and life skills development. And clearly, service-learning
is a good match for California State University, Fresno. As early
as 1993, the university was committed to engaging students in community
service-learning. A goal of the university’s strategic plan,
Vision for the 21st Century: A Plan for Excellence, was to “work
toward integrating a significant service-learning component into
the educational experience of each student.” This is consistent
with the campus vision of being “one of the nation’s
premier interactive universities,” and its strategic priorities
to “develop an engaged and diverse student learning community
with graduates who value lifelong learning, possess a broad general
education, communicate effectively, are mathematically literate,
appreciate the fine arts, are committed to the principles of tolerance
and freedom, and are concerned about the welfare of others and society,” and
to “play a major role in transforming our region by employing
the university’s resources for the solution of problems and
improvement of the lives and livelihoods of its citizens." |
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| According to the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, “service-learning
combines service objectives with learning objectives with the intent
that the activity change both the recipient and the provider of the
service. This is accomplished by combining service tasks with structured
opportunities that link the task to self-reflection, self-discovery,
and the acquisition and comprehension of values, skills, and knowledge
content.” |
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| Service-learning is one of the primary ways in which the university “provides
an environment that encourages exploration, delivery, and exchange
of knowledge by faculty and staff.” The pedagogical effectiveness
of service-learning is well-documented. In a major study by Astin,
published in 1996, service-learning and community service positively
impacted all thirty-four outcome measures in the areas of civic responsibility,
academic development, and life skills development. And clearly, service-learning
is a good match for California State University, Fresno. As early
as 1993, the university was committed to engaging students in community
service-learning. A goal of the university’s strategic plan,
Vision for the 21st Century: A Plan for Excellence, was to “work
toward integrating a significant service-learning component into
the educational experience of each student.” This is consistent
with the campus vision of being “one of the nation’s
premier interactive universities,” and its strategic priorities
to “develop an engaged and diverse student learning community
with graduates who value lifelong learning, possess a broad general
education, communicate effectively, are mathematically literate,
appreciate the fine arts, are committed to the principles of tolerance
and freedom, and are concerned about the welfare of others and society,” and
to “play a major role in transforming our region by employing
the university’s resources for the solution of problems and
improvement of the lives and livelihoods of its citizens." |
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EXEMPLAR
Service
Learning:
Child and Family Sciences 133 |
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| In spring 1999, the Academic Senate approved guidelines by which
courses may obtain recognition as a service-learning course. These
university policies, along with a commitment by university administrators,
faculty members and staff, have helped propel our university into
the role of a state and national leader in community service and
service-learning. |
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| In 2000-01 and 2001-02, the CSU, with funding from the Governor’s
Call to Service initiative, provided Fresno State with $55,000
to support the development of service-learning courses across the
curriculum.
This money was used primarily for department mini-grants, faculty
grants, and faculty training. Approximately 61 new service-learning
course sections were developed out of this funding.
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| During 2002-03, the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs
provided 3 WTU assigned time per semester for a Faculty Service-Learning
Mentor, costing approximately $8,300 for the year. Also, $5,000 was
provided to cover costs of travel and faculty training expenses related
to service-learning. The Director of Students for Community Service
and the Community Partnership Coordinator each contribute approximately
50% of their time to fostering service-learning at Fresno State.
This equates to approximately $47,500 in employee time per year. |
CFR
3.4
SPG
12 |
| Direct financial support and the commitment of employee time
have been key to our ability to foster new service-learning courses,
sustain
faculty involvement and increase the quality of service-learning
courses on our campus. One significant challenge will be to sustain
a reasonable level of fiscal and employee resource support given
the challenging fiscal outlook for the CSU in the coming years.
Students
for Community Service (SCS) is the central office charged
with developing, promoting and fostering the university’s
service-learning efforts. Housed in Academic Affairs, SCS links
with departments and programs across campus
to provide connections between and support for the many diverse service-learning
efforts around the campus. While SCS provides central support, it is understaffed
and office space is inadequate to support the wide range of service-learning
and related functions.
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| Service-learning is guided by two committees. The Service-Learning
Development Committee, consisting of representatives from each of
the eight undergraduate schools/colleges, staff and students, helps
to set policies and procedures for service-learning coursework, including
the approval of “S” (service-learning) designation of
courses. The Community Service-Learning Advisory Council (CSLAC)
helps provide guidance to SCS regarding numerous issues, including
input on service-learning’s role in the university’s
overall service efforts. CSLAC has equal representation from the
university community, community based organizations and students. |
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| One important piece of the infrastructure is missing. There is
no single university program to coordinate the huge potential of
student, staff, and faculty members who could significantly assist
the 1,500 nonprofit organizations in California's Central Valley.
Annually, 4,700 of the 20,000 California State University, Fresno
students provide in excess of 192,000 hours of service. The financial
influence on the community is significant: these hours convert to
an estimated $3.2 million in economic impact on the region. The lack
of a central node connecting the diverse community service, service-learning,
internship, and other experiential learning efforts creates multiple
internal and external challenges. |
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Conclusions and Implications for Educational Effectiveness
In
short, our strengths include a rich history of supporting service-learning;
wide-ranging support among faculty, administrators and within
our
guiding documents; the development and availability of large
numbers of service-learning courses across the curriculum; guidance
provided
by existing committees and an experienced Faculty Service-Learning
Mentor; and support from and strong links to the university’s
community service-learning office, Students for Community Service. In
addition, President Welty serves on a number of community service
organizations such as GoServe, Campus Compact, American Humanics,
and the American Association of State Universities and Colleges American
Democracy Project. This demonstration of presidential involvement
signals the level of all campus commitment to service and community-based
learning.
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| The major challenges for continued development of service-learning
are resource related: sustaining fiscal resources necessary to ensure
continued high quality service-learning course offerings; maintaining
staffing of SCS; and accessing a centralized office capable of housing
the necessary staff and faculty members to maintain one of the leading
service-learning programs in the state and nation.
As a substantial body of research supports the pedagogical effectiveness
of service-learning, questions for the educational effectiveness
review should relate to the effectiveness
of the Fresno State structure for supporting service-learning. For example,
we might explore the extent of our success in preparing faculty
members to incorporate
service-learning into their courses, or the quality of the infrastructure
for finding and maintaining service-learning placement opportunities.
California
State University, Fresno’s commitment to service-learning
provides an excellent working example of the extent to which it
meets both WASC Standard
1 (“…clear and conscious sense of its essential values and character,
its distinctive elements, its place in the higher education community, and
its relationship to society at large”) and Standard 2 (“core
functions of teaching and learning”). |
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Research: "Providing an Environment that Encourages
Exploration, Delivery,
and Exchange of Knowledge by Faculty and Staff"
This section addresses the mechanisms to “provide an environment
that encourages exploration, delivery, and exchange of knowledge
by faculty and staff,” and will focus primarily on faculty
research. Research at California State University, Fresno is broadly
defined to include various scholarly and creative activities. Applied
research is especially noted in the university’s priorities,
and as discussed elsewhere, the scholarship of teaching and learned
has recently gained prominence. The importance of research is emphasized
by the strategic priority to “engage in high quality research
and creative activity in all disciplines, with particular emphasis
on applications that support the region.” A strong research
program is also instrumental in helping the campus meet other strategic
priorities related to transforming our region and developing high-quality
graduate programs while pursuing the university's goal of achieving
the Carnegie classification “Doctoral/Research University-Intensive.” |
CFR
2.8
SPG
33
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| California State University, Fresno's grant program has expanded
its capacity enormously in recent years. By the close of fiscal year
2002-03, sponsored program support will approach $50 million, nearly
quadrupling fiscal year 1996-97 levels. These increases have translated
into significantly more research opportunities for faculty. Figure
2 illustrates the dramatic growth in each successive
year. |
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| Several factors contributed to this rapid increase in externally
funded research activity. Research, especially applied research,
appears prominently in the last two strategic plans, internal resources
have been directed to seed research activities, and the University
Grants and Research Office (UGRO) has developed a much stronger,
proactive approach to proposal planning, development, and management.
Since 1998, Academic Affairs has provided 3 WTU of assigned time
to first-year tenure-track faculty. With a match from the new faculty
member’s school or college, this year-long one-course reduction
in teaching load helps new faculty members’ transition into
the university and establishes their programs of scholarship. Schools
and colleges have also developed mini-grant programs that supplement
the established California State University program which provides
assigned time for creative and scholarly activities (6 WTU maximum). |
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| UGRO has provided substantial financial support from indirect
cost recovery to underwrite special project development
and research needs, particularly in the sciences and student affairs.
It has also increased the number of grant workshops, meetings with
faculty, visits to federal and state offices, and other activities
designed to stimulate more active grantsmanship. Finally, in 1997
the university became eligible for funding as an Hispanic-Serving
Institution (HSI), which provided somewhat more opportunity for federal
support. |
SPG
11
12
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EXEMPLAR:
Minority Biomedical Research Support Program |
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| Library facilities are key to research, and a university strategic
goal addresses this need: “In support of graduate programs,
the university will increase library journal holdings and access
to other relevant materials and resources.” The Henry Madden
Library includes over 1,000,000 volumes, 5,000 ebooks, 10,000 electronic
journals, and 100 research databases. It maintains an active and
responsive acquisition program, and provides carefully updated technological
support for faculty and student research. |
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| In some ways, the explosive growth of research has strained the
campus infrastructure. Space, facilities, and funds for equipment
maintenance are in short supply. Structures such as specialized research
centers (e.g., California Agricultural Technology Institute, Engineering
Research Laboratory, and Center for Educational Research and Services),
as well as collaborations with external partners (NASA, Department
of Energy, Central California Crime Lab) serve to relieve some of
the stress. However, these collaborations address only some of the
important challenges. For example, as grants have increased in volume
and complexity, so have the considerable costs of administering them.
Thus, only a fraction of indirect costs are returned to Academic
Affairs for use in infrastructure support. The Task Force on the
Administration of Grants and Contracts, put in place in 2002 by the
president to address this and other grants and research issues, recently
completed a detailed analysis of alternative administrative models
that have the potential to generate institutional efficiencies without
sacrificing research productivity. Changes will likely include consolidation
of pre-award and post-award operations under Academic Affairs, separation
of grant and research activity from other fund raising operations,
and other changes designed to provide colleges, departments and principal
investigators with more funds to conduct and sustain research. A
key recommendation is that governance of grant and contract activity
reside with academic administrators and staff. |
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| The institution is also impacted by the demands on their teaching
time felt by faculty who are successful in attracting research support.
This is a problem for a relatively few colleges or departments whose
faculty who have received large, multi-year grants that require significant
time commitments. For Fresno State, the Department of Biology has
been particularly impacted in recent years because many faculty have
competed successfully for federal and state research awards. On balance,
this same department will certainly be strengthened in the long term,
as its faculty becomes more knowledgeable in critical and emerging
fields of study. In addition, the College of Science and Mathematics
benefits from the relatively high indirect cost recovery provided
by federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and
the National Science Foundation. The key to addressing situations
such as this is achieving a delicate balance between active research
and involved teaching and mentoring. |
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| The recent emphasis on faculty research arose from three goals:
to maintain the vitality and currency of the teaching faculty, to
serve the needs of the region through applied research, and to strengthen
the education of our students through involvement in research at
both the graduate and undergraduate level. While the structures in
place appear to serve the first two goals reasonably well, it is
less clear that they effectively foster student involvement in research,
particularly at the undergraduate level. Indeed, it may be that the
policies and demands on faculty, with, for example, the pressure
for publications in refereed journals, work against the involvement
of undergraduate students to some degree. This is an area of Institutional
Capacity that warrants investigation. |
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| Faculty demographics have favored the rapid shift in priorities
towards an increased emphasis on research productivity and quality.
In the past five years, XX tenured faculty members have retired,
and YY new tenure-track faculty members have been hired. Personnel
policies allow the campus to respond to shifts in emphasis. Thus,
expectations for research and creative activity are clearly specified
in the probationary plans drafted by first-year tenure-track faculty
members. While survey data and anecdotal evidence suggest that the
environment for our junior faculty members is less stressful than
at campuses where expectations are less clearly articulated, and
assigned time for research provides some relief, workload remains
high. It is not yet clear that the policies, resources, and demands
on faculty are such as to sustain active research activity over the
professional life of these new faculty members. We need to be sure
that policies and resources are aligned to ensure that success as
a research institution does not come at the cost of lower quality
teaching programs and reduced student-faculty contact. Concomitantly,
we look to active research to stimulate faculty and student inquiry. |
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| The university encourages undergraduate and graduate research as
part of the students' broad learning experience. In addition to research
conducted in conjunction with course assignments, students participate
actively in annual competitions. The Central California Research
Symposium, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2004, is
an annual forum for students and faculty to present research findings.
Over 100 students presented in 2003, most of whom worked with faculty
mentors to develop and implement their research methodologies. The
winning presenter went on to receive first-place in the Biological
and Agricultural category of the CSU Student Research Competition—a
system-wide competition implemented by Fresno State, over 20 years
ago. The Division of Graduate Studies, the McNair Program, and the
Honors Program also provide valuable forums for student research. |
CFR
2.2b |
EXEMPLAR:
Central California Research Symposium |
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Conclusions and Implications for Educational Effectiveness
Assessing
the educational effectiveness of a research program for university
is a daunting task requiring complex analysis over time.
Purely quantitative measures — the number of proposals submitted,
the rate of success relative to comparable institutions, the number
of faculty and students involved, etc. — clearly indicate
that Fresno State has achieved marked improvement and growth
in recent years. Likewise, the quality of research is reflected
in
the adjudication of peer review panels that have recommended
awards for university researchers in an increasing number of
departments.
The university has devoted significant time and energy to assessing
overall research effectiveness, and it has reached a number of
primary conclusions.
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| First, the general direction and growth of the university's grants
and research program are beneficial to faculty and students. The
overwhelming majority of activities are linked in important ways
to specific educational goals, including faculty development, student
learning and community service. Because of Fresno State's recent
success, deep reductions in state funding will probably have relatively
less impact on the institution's overall effectiveness than they
will on comparable state institutions that have not developed their
capacities for external support. |
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| Second, the institution needs to continue to focus on providing
quality research opportunities for its students, graduate and undergraduate
alike. In addition to the forums described above, special attention
needs to be paid to involving students in sponsored programs that
will enhance their practical experience in research activities while
simultaneously providing them with stepping-stones to advanced study
or professional employment. A question for the Educational Effectiveness
self-study will be the impact on student research of the raised priority
of research productivity. Do more undergraduates have the opportunity
to work with faculty as student assistants or through independent
studies? Or has research become so “high stakes” that
faculty members are focusing their attention on graduate students
to the exclusion of undergraduates? A related area for examination
is the impact of research participation on the students – both
graduate and undergraduate. Are those who participate better prepared
for subsequent employment and/or further study? |
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| Third, the institution needs to adopt a new grants administration
structure that would be governed by academic administrators and research
faculty. A new governing configuration of this sort, whether under
the university or a new foundation devoted exclusively to grants
and contracts, would align the university's activities more closely
with the institution's broad mission. It would also be more likely
to lead to cost efficiencies, which, in turn, could provide more
funding for research activities. |
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| Fourth, the institution should consider providing more infrastructure
support for grants and research activities through regular state
funding. Currently, the university provides about 15 percent of the
costs of grant and contract administration. The remainder is generated
from grant funds. Changing this support structure would have significant
long-range implications for the university's continued growth in
external support which, in turn, would allow the university to attract
highly qualified faculty and students, to foster a learning community
on campus, to provide needed outreach to the region, and to build
the infrastructure needed for broad institutional growth. |
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| The recent successes in increasing research activity at California
State University, Fresno resulted from intentional decisions based
upon the needs of the region served by the campus. The structures,
policies, procedures, and resources supporting research demonstrate
our commitment to Standard
1 (“clear and conscious sense of … essential
values and character… and relationship to society at large… search
for truth, and the dissemination of knowledge”) and Standard
2 (“core functions of teaching and learning, scholarship and
creative activity, and support for student learning”). |
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Section III: Thematic Features—Interaction> |
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