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Index
Site Diagragm
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Preparatory Review
SECTION III: THEMATIC FEATURES |
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A. Opportunity—"Access to Quality Programs
for Diverse Populations" |
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Intrinsic to the character of the university is the principle that
a quality education should be available to all eligible students
as evidenced by an existing strong commitment to equity that ensures
the lowering of barriers to entry and retention for all groups
of learners.
Diversity has become a hallmark of our university.
The commitment to an inclusive campus is firmly integrated into
campus policies and practices, as multiply illustrated
in the President’s Statement on Campus Climate and Diversity, campus human
resource policies, the Equal
Employment and Educational Opportunity (EEEO) Plan,and the widely diverse
array of courses, programs of study, and administrative support programs to facilitate
the success of all students. Both the university’s Mission
Statement and its strategic
planning goals clearly evidence the university's
commitment to embracing ethnic and gender diversity across a wide spectrum, in
its population makeup—its students, faculty, and staff—and in its
ideological bent. Opportunity as a theme encompasses both equity and quality
in education, and depends on the capacity of the university to achieve, encourage,
and maintain each of these elements in a mutually supportive, responsible, and
responsive manner. In exploring the Opportunity theme, two major representative
features addressing the campus commitment to quality education for diverse students
are (1) the expansion of outreach and academic support services, and (2) the
implementation of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Planning (SOAP) as a
means
to
assessing
quality in educational programs.
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CFR
1.5 |
Expansion of Outreach and Academic Support Services
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Outreach Services
With the strategic priority of developing an engaged
and diverse student learning community, the university has diligently
undertaken
the challenge of developing the goals, policies, programs and structures
necessary to support equal access to higher education for all students.
A large number of programs currently operative at Fresno State illustrate
this commitment, bringing together the various components that foster
the achievement of equity and of quality within that equity. The
following paragraphs offer a necessarily brief selection from the
available pool. Further examples may be found in the supportive “Opportunity” evidentiary
essay.
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| The University Outreach
Services Department, under the Division
of Student Affairs, is a primary vehicle for furthering the university's
opportunity enterprise. In July 1998, in response to the university’s
need to increase the enrollment and diversity of qualified undergraduate
students, the department established the Recruitment and Communication
Plan. Basic elements of the plan include analysis of data (enrollment
by source code), College Board name buys employing geodemographic
analysis, multi-step written communications to prospects, telecounselling
prospects, and utilization of a school-based recruitment model. This
approach, plus the implementation of such special programs as the
two described below and professional recruiting staff visits, has
resulted in double digit (17.6 percent) enrollment increases for
first-time freshmen and transfer students in the last five years. |
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| A highly significant outreach program implemented by this campus
to reach students from low-income and underrepresented groups is
the College Ambassador Program. The program was established on the
premise that students from underrepresented groups would be motivated
and encouraged to consider a college education by being exposed to
successful college students with similar backgrounds. Thus university
students who come from local and rural high schools with low participation
rates are hired and trained to return to their schools to inform
their fellow students about the advantages of a college education
and the road to achieving it, college admissions requirements, preparatory
courses, possible majors, and future career opportunities. The ambassadors
serve as role models and mentors and provide a variety of services
during their visits to the schools, including practical assistance
with completion of applications for admission and financial aid.
They also provide pre-admission assistance to 9th and 10th graders.
This program appears to have significantly helped to raise the aspiration
of students and increase the number of students who apply to Fresno
State and to other universities. An annual report assesses its activities,
with already positive results beginning to show. The true benchmark
of its success, however, will be found in the expected long-term improvement
in overall college-going rate of students from these previously underserved
schools. |
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| A second outreach program, College Making
It Happen, is specifically
directed toward increasing the involvement of parents in their child’s
education. Involving parents in their child’s preparation for
college while still in middle school is expected to result in increasing
the college-going rate at participating schools. The College Making
It Happen program is jointly planned with other segments of higher
education in collaboration with K-12 representatives. This inter-institutional
approach results in extensive collaboration in the planning of workshops,
training of presenters, and development of materials, videos, and
college planning guides. The schools selected are those that have
a Title 1 profile and have large populations of targeted low income
and underrepresented students. Materials are provided in English
and Spanish, and materials for the Southeast Asian population are
planned. Participation and feedback from parents and educators have
been very positive. A longitudinal study of these students would
be helpful in determining the effectiveness of this program. |
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| At the graduate level, the university's diversity figures are impressive.
Currently, more than 46 percent of enrolled graduate students at
Fresno State are from underrepresented groups, far above the national
figure of 22 percent and the regional figure of 27 percent. In 1994,
Fresno State won the first Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) /Peterson’s
Award for Innovation in Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Community.
The Division of Graduate
Studies continues to recruit students from
diverse backgrounds that represent the make-up of the university’s
service area. Among its active strategies is participation in the
Central Valley Women’s Conference, the Hispanic Business Conference,
the State Center Professional Development Conference (for community
college employees), and the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate
Education Recruitment Fair, designed to meet the needs of advanced
undergraduates and master’s candidates from institutions in
California who belong to groups that have been or are underrepresented
in graduate programs. |
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Academic Support Services
The university has also realized that
access is only a beginning. To ensure the success of a heavily
recruited diverse population
within the educational setting, consistent with Goal 5 of the
Plan for Excellence II, policies, programs, and structures are
also
needed. As a result, Fresno State has developed a wide array
of courses and quality programs of study as well as a comprehensive
range of services to support the academic, personal, and social
development of all students. The mission of the Office
of Advising Services is to empower undergraduate students
by helping them take
responsibility for achieving their academic and personal goals,
and to support the university advising community. The Office
of Advising Services assists students with undeclared major advising,
General Education advising, academic petition procedures, special
major advising, academic problem solving, and interpretation
of
university policies and procedures. |
SPG
5
CFR
2.12
CFR
2.13 |
| Administrative responsibility for new student orientation was returned
to the Office of Advising Services from University Outreach Services
in February 2002, and the name of the program was changed from Advising
Days to DOG
DAYS: New Student Orientation at Fresno State. An advisory
committee that includes a cross-section of the university community
was formed to assist with program planning and development. The program
was refreshed to be more responsive to the changing needs of new
students. Printed publications were updated to appeal to entering
students, and on-line registration for the program was available
to students. The academic advising component was strengthened to
assist students with academic planning, scheduling, and registration.
A diverse group of orientation leaders was trained to assist with
all facets of the orientation process. The sessions for parents were
redesigned to provide answers to questions about academic planning,
financial issues, and co-curricular opportunities. In the program
evaluations that were conducted, high marks were accorded to program
structure, agenda topics, the resource information fair, major department
advising, and assistance with general problem solving. However, evaluations
indicated that the credit card session needed to be modified, and
this portion has therefore been revised to make it more practical
and interactive. |
SPG
6 |
EXEMPLAR:
Dog Days
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| There is an ongoing need to establish a systematic assessment to
measure the impact of new student orientation on retention at Fresno
State. The research literature clearly suggests that new students
who have an orientation experience and receive academic advising
are more likely to persist through to graduation than are similar
students who do not. Only 45 percent of new first-time freshmen and
33 percent of new transfer students participated in the 2002 program.
Therefore, the university must make a concerted effort to attract
a greater number of entering students to a new student orientation
experience. |
SPG
6
CFR
2.10 |
Consistent with the Plan for Excellence
II, Goal 6, to offer
orientation in a variety of delivery formats to assure that students’ transition
is successful and positive, an on-line orientation experience has
been developed and will be
available in summer 2003 for students in selected majors who cannot attend
the on-campus program. The staff continues to explore the use of
technology to offer
alternatives to students who are unable to attend the campus program.
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| Advising for transfer students is a major challenge. Preadmission
advising is available through University
Outreach Services that include
information on transfer course requirements and assistance with the
university application process. Transfer students who participate
in new student orientation are connected with major advisers and
are guided through class scheduling and the registration process.
Bulldog
B.A.R.K. for Transfer Students, an advising handbook, is
a valuable resource for academic planning. Nevertheless, transfer
students must wait several semesters to receive an official evaluation
of course credits and the implementation of the PeopleSoft Student
Administration system has created additional challenges to providing
quality advising services to transfer students. |
CFR
2.14
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| In keeping with Goal 7 of the Plan for Excellence
II, the university
has a wide array of special programs designed to support the academic,
personal, and social development of target populations. Student services
such as the College Assistance Migrant Program, University Migrant
Services, Services for Students with Disabilities, and the Reentry
Program provide services that are essential to helping student participants
realize their academic, personal, and career goals. |
SPG
7
CFR
2.13 |
| One critical program has made a significant impact. California
State University, Fresno first began offering a summer orientation
experience in 1968 for entering minority students admitted through
the Educational
Opportunity Program. The program was one of the first
summer orientation programs in the California State University system
and became a system-wide model, renamed Summer
Bridge, in 1985. This
program grew out of a desire to improve the representation and retention
of minority students by helping them bridge the academic and environmental
gap between high school/community college and the university, to
meet the demands of college instruction. Recognizing the essential
quality of its services and the strength of the needs it addressed,
the Summer Bridge Program was institutionalized in 1994-95 as a permanent
feature in the Fresno State curriculum, with a permanent allocation
to the budget. |
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| During the early years (1985-94), the effectiveness of the
Summer Bridge Program on student performance and retention was
closely monitored
by the CSU. Initial results seem positive, and periodic retention
studies have been conducted; however, a systematic assessment plan
to evaluate program effectiveness is not in place. Students are
asked to complete an evaluation of the program each year. By working
with
the Office of Institutional Research to develop a more comprehensive
assessment plan, the program should be able to more consistently
measure its impact on student retention and graduation.
The program
design continues to focus on helping students to build personal,
academic, and social skills critical to success at the college
level. Program
activities and curricula are continuously reviewed to meet the changing needs
of students and university requirements. The program offers a unique opportunity
to pilot innovative strategies to facilitate student transition, learning,
and personal development. In response to Executive Order 665, which
requires students
to remediate deficiencies in mathematics and English by the end of their first
year, the academic curriculum was restructured in the summer of 1999 to place
more emphasis on helping students strengthen skills in these areas. The curriculum
in mathematics was redesigned to provide more instruction and tutorial time.
Additionally, the writing curriculum was modified to align it with the English
department’s remedial course and a supplemental instruction component
was added. These changes have resulted in remarkable success in helping students
complete remediation in mathematics, and significant progress has been made
in
improving their writing skills.
EXEMPLAR:
Summer Bridge
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| The Faculty
Mentoring Program (FMP) and University 1 constitute
two examples of student support service programs provided by this
campus to help traditionally underrepresented students toward a successful
college experience. Effectiveness was recently maximized after consultation
with the two former directors, the associate provost, instructors,
faculty mentors, and FMP alumni recommended the merging of these
two programs to streamline administrative duties and operating costs.
Both now have the same director, staff, marketing materials, and
Web site. Recent success of this program in augmenting retention and
graduation rates was dramatically demonstrated by findings of the Task
Force on Student Success, appointed by the president in January 2003
to review and make recommendations on enhancing student success from
entry through graduation. Their study figures showed a second-year
drop-out rate 40% below that for non FMP students; a higher first-year
GPA, with over half scoring in the upper two quintiles; and an eight-term
persistence rate 12% over that for non-FMP students. |
CFR
2.13
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EXEMPLAR:
Faculty Mentoring Program
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| The Division of
Graduate Studies administers several fellowship
programs that foster the mentoring relationships between faculty
members and graduate students. One such program is the California
Graduate Equity Fellowship Program, which seeks to increase the diversity
of students completing graduate degree programs on the campus and
encourages continuation on to doctoral programs and consideration
of university faculty careers. Fellowships are provided for economically
disadvantaged graduate students, especially from groups that are
underrepresented among graduate degree recipients in their areas
of study, and faculty mentoring and research opportunities are actively
promoted. |
SPG
1
8 |
| The Ronald
E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program is a grant-supported
national program that has been successfully operative at Fresno
State for nine years; it has currently been awarded funding for
a multiyear period starting in 2005. The program is a paradigmatic
example of an effort to support student success both now and in
their academic future. Specifically, the McNair Program is designed
to prepare talented college students for graduate study through
their participation in an extensive program intended to acquaint
them with advanced-level research under the mentorship of a faculty
member. |
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| Over its years at Fresno State, the program has evolved proactively
to meet the demands of an ever-changing university environment. Refinements
and augmentations in the current proposal reflect the perspective
of experience regarding needed mechanisms of student support. In
this latest proposal, based on multiple evaluations of earlier grant
cycles, several key existing components were enhanced and many new
developments were instituted. Program length was extended from 12
months to 16 months; GRE preparation was intensified to ensure closer
monitoring of scholar performance; and the graduate portfolio was
redefined and reviewed differently. Faculty and Advisory Board recommendations,
periodic student evaluations, and focus group discussions led to
the addition of new program components that included institutes to
cover advanced research methodology and the theory and practice of
teaching in the academy, and the development of a research proposal
that would serve as an early evaluative tool to monitor student performance
and as a component in the selection of scholars for participation
in the paid summer research internship. |
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EXEMPLAR:
The McNair Program |
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| The Task Force on Student Success appointed
by President Welty in early 2003 was charged with thinking broadly
and looking at the big picture on how
the campus
systematically affects students. Their work continued throughout
the spring term and is in the process of finalizing several recommendations.
These include establishing learning communities and a mentor institute;
developing four-, five-, and six-year Road Maps to Graduation guides;
implementing instructive advising strategies; and requiring mandatory
student orientation for new students. These measures have the potential
for dramatic impact on student success. |
CFR
2.13 |
Implementation of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Planning
Quality Assurance and Assessment
A variety of mechanisms are in place to assess the quality of the
student instructional experience and to support faculty in their
efforts to strengthen and broaden their skills. Both graduate
and undergraduate program reviews, begun in 1978 and 1990 respectively,
are conducted periodically on an ongoing basis. In addition, the
university is committed to a student learning focus and has established
policies, structures, and programs to ensure the implementation
of student learning outcomes assessment.
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CFR
2.3
CFR
2.4 |
| The outcomes assessment initiative began March 1998 with a conference
on “Assessing Student Learning.” Faculty members gave
presentations on assessment, and breakout groups discussed questions
regarding outcomes assessment, campus policies, and faculty motivation. |
SPG
20 |
| Following this, a strategy was devised for implementing assessment.
In fall 1998, it was proposed to department chairs that development
of an assessment plan could serve as a one-time replacement for five-year
program review, and that, in addition, departments would receive
one-course assigned time for an assessment coordinator. This proposal
was so well received that 20 departments asked to begin the process
immediately in spring 1999 rather than waiting until the following
fall. Within three years, all departments had participated in the
assessment planning process. Unlike many institutions that began
with or limited assessment planning to undergraduate programs, this
campus included assessment planning for graduate programs from the
onset. |
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| Support for assessment planning included regular meetings of assessment
coordinators, continued workshops related to assessment, the development
of a “Guide to Outcomes Assessment at California State University,
Fresno,” allocation of resources, and organizational support
from the associate provost, the associate dean of Graduate Studies,
the director of Institutional Research, and the director of the Center
for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Academic year 2001-02 saw
the development of an assessment plan for General Education. Continuing
investment for implementation includes a mini-grant program and ongoing
professional development activities, including assessment-related
conferences. |
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| The provision of learning opportunities and the recognition of
faculty workloads through the provision of assigned time and the
replacement of one task (program review) with another (development
of assessment plans) were key elements of the assessment initiative.
The assessment planning process was modeled on that for program review
and achieved many of the same ends. Because participation was voluntary,
plan components could be required without prior policy modifications.
However, drafting a policy on the use of assessment data was a key
early step. |
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| The Policy
on Student Outcomes Assessment Data and Information states
that the purpose of assessment is improvement. To encourage programs
to ask hard questions, assessment data are the property
of the assessing unit and are not to be used for personnel decisions.
Assessment plans are reviewed through a formative process modeled
on that for evaluation of program review self-studies. The department
selects a team including an outside member from the discipline,
one member from the school or college, and a third from elsewhere
on campus. Through a one-day site visit, team members meet with the
department faculty and provide written feedback on the plan. Plans
may then be revised prior to review by the appropriate university-level
committee (the Undergraduate Curriculum or the Graduate
Committee). Even the university-level feedback is advisory. “Finalized” assessment
plans are published online to provide an additional level of quality
control as well as models for use by other programs. |
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| To encourage ongoing assessment activities and the use of assessment
data, department chairs are asked to respond in their annual reports
to the questions, “What assessment activities have you carried
out in the past year?” and “What changes have you made
as a result of what you learned from assessment?” For the past
two years, the provost has provided written comments on these responses.
Although outcomes assessment has been incorporated into revised guidelines
for program review, real institutionalization of the process may
require a continuing campaign and investment of resources. |
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EXEMPLAR:
Student Outcomes Assessment Planning
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Conclusions and Implications for Educational Effectiveness
In reflection, Fresno State's outreach capacity and the programs
it has established to support students prior to and during
their admission to college, are many and varied and seem to be
effective.
A Task Force on Student Success was appointed in spring 2003
to evaluate the larger picture of how the campus systematically
affects
students from entry through graduation. It would be logical
for this task force to also develop an evaluation plan for outreach
and support services in order to determine our effectiveness
in reaching and supporting our diverse populations and identifying
underserved
groups. Coordination and increased communication among these
multiple
programs with similar goals and efforts could possibly conserve
resources.
To understand fully how effectively our outreach and
support services have been in their efforts to increase the
graduation rates of diverse
students, the university needs to be able to determine the
relationship between the various services and retention. In addition,
the focus
of outreach and student services on this campus continues
to be the undergraduate population, with the graduate students
being
left to their own devices or with the sole support of their
graduate
coordinator or faculty adviser. The campus needs to discover
ways to facilitate the development of a visible graduate culture
that
includes increased graduate student recognition and support
services. The university also needs to assess the services provided
to distance
learners and determine whether their educational needs are
being equally addressed.
Our campus has been a leader in the CSU in student outcomes
assessment planning and implementation. been a leader in the CSU
in student outcomes assessment planning and implementation. Good
strategic plans are living documents and, similar to other campuses,
we see the necessity of revising and updating them regularly. The
goal of assessment on this campus is the improvement of student
learning: results are used to improve academic programs and administrative
units in support of a quality education. To ensure continuous assessment
and review, student outcomes have been folded into the program
review process. While the full effects on student learning are
not yet evident, it is clearly important that the university take
the necessary steps to determine whether existing plans to facilitate
and assess student learning are appropriate and have been implemented
as designed. |
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Section III: Thematic Features—Exploration> |
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