from VCCA Journal, Volume 8, Number 2, Fall/Winter 1993, 17-20
© Copyright 1993 VCCA Journal
Preparing a two-year self-study calendar, forming SACS criteria committees, writing job descriptions for committee chairs and editors, developing a Procedures Manual, preparing a two-year self-study budget--these and similar tasks seemed overwhelming to me in 1992 as I began directing the self-study process at Central Virginia Community College. Little in my twenty-three year teaching career at CVCC had prepared me for this assignment. Nor was the previous (1984) self-study useful as a guide for the 1994 report, with its emphasis on institutional effectiveness, use of criterion rather than standards, and requirement to be analytical rather than descriptive. The SACS annual meeting I had attended the previous fall had offered only a few general guidelines on directing an institutional self-study.
I became dependent upon others in the VCCS--such as Becky Farrow at John Tyler, Lib Payne at Virginia Western, Beverly Beck at J. Sargeant Reynolds--for information, sample documents, and advice. As other new self-study directors in the VCCS shared mutual uncertainty, I realized how beneficial it would be to have a conference for and to develop a network of VCCS self-study personnel. To do so would require limited funding to pay for the duplication of materials and for transportation and lodging costs for the conference.
In June of 1992, Dr. Arnold Oliver approved a $2,500 mini-grant, written by me and submitted by Dr. Belle Wheelen, president of CVCC, with the goals of (1) establishing a network of self-study directors within the VCCS; (2) improving communication about the self-study process among colleges; (3) sharing written materials and information; (4) decreasing time and effort required to complete the self-study process at individual colleges; (5) reducing the cost of sending VCCS self-study personnel to out-of-state training sessions, such as the annual SACS meeting; and (6) establishing resources for newly appointed self-study directors.
As I formulated plans for a conference of VCCS self-study personnel, I found out that "Institutional Effectiveness" was the theme of the fall meeting of VCCS deans, provosts, and division chairs. The featured speakers were to be Dr. Jack Sites from SACS and Dr. Kay McClenney, Executive Director of Policy and Programs, Education Commission of the States. Since the theme was so appropriate for VCCS self-study personnel, the program planners had agreed to include them as conference participants. After Dr. McClenney's opening session on "Institutional Effectiveness," a session with Dr. McClenney and self-study personnel was scheduled. In addition, Dr. Jack Sites included hints for self-study directors as part of his closing presentation. At a breakout session held for self-study personnel, topics ranging from early planning documents to visiting committee schedules were discussed by those in the VCCS who had recently been through institutional self-studies, those who were currently awaiting peer review, and those who were just beginning the self-study process. At the close of the session, plans were made to hold a one-day conference for VCCS self-study personnel at CVCC during the 1993 spring semester.
The Conference of VCCS Self-Study Personnel was held at CVCC in February of 1993. Attending were 31 representatives from 15 colleges and from the System office, including self-study directors, editors, and committee chairs; assessment and institutional research personnel; and college administrators. The session was videotaped. The featured speaker for the morning was Dr. Jack Sites from SACS, who discussed what makes reports effective and visits successful, provided hints on making self-study reports both college and user friendly, stressed the importance of addressing institutional effectiveness throughout the report, and answered questions from those attending. The afternoon session consisted of presentations made by VCCS personnel: Marge Carte, DLCC; Lib Payne, VWCC; Sallie Branscom, VWCC; Houston Lynch, BRCC; Wendell Armstrong, CVCC; and Roy Flores, VCCS. The three-part afternoon session included discussion of the following, with the distribution of corresponding packets of materials:
I. Preparation and Planning
II. The Report
III. The Committee Visit
Regarding a recent SACS guideline requiring systems of higher education to define the relationship between the system and its institutional units, Dr. Roy Flores described plans to distribute to colleges a report prepared by his office that would define this relationship and provide SACS visiting teams with background information on the establishment and operation of the Virginia community colleges. This VCCS report might be included as part of a college's self-study introduction, incorporated into a section of the self-study, or mailed separately to visiting committee members with other self-study materials. Five of those attending the conference volunteered to serve as reviewers for the draft of this report.
The following are selected comments from VCCS self-study personnel who attended:
What a wonderful idea to share with other Self-Study Directors the vast knowledge of those who have been through the process of a self-study... As we prepare our Self-Study Manual, the guidance given [by] the speakers, as well as viewing their documents, has given us a running start at the right pace. (Dr. Bobbie Wright, TNCC, visitation date 1996).
All of those [attending] are going to look back many times and thank you for what you have done for them. They really don't realize right now how much help this has been - but they will. (Dr. Lib Payne, VWCC, visitation date 1993).
Your Self-Study network launch was well-done, extremely useful, and a generous effort... (Ms. Sally Harrell, TCC, visitation date 1996).
After the February conference, I distributed copies of the videotaped session and disks of the complete SACS 1992-1993 "Must" and "Should" statements from the Criteria, as well as a list of the conference attenders. When the VCCS report, "The Establishment and Operation of Virginia's Comprehensive Community Colleges" was finalized in April of 1993, copies were sent out to the network. Additional materials, such as the plans of DLCC's Hospitality Committee, have since been distributed.
The mini-grant funded by Dr. Oliver provided VCCS self-study personnel with an opportunity to attend two relevant conferences. In addition, a network of VCCS self-study personnel has been established: self-study personnel know who in the VCCS to contact for information, sample documents, and advice. The increased communication among VCCS self-study personnel should result in improved self-study reports, more successful peer committee visits, and decreased time and effort for those involved in the institutional self-study process. As Jack Sites from SACS observed:
No matter how much we do at the Commission (SACS), uncertainties and questions remain on the part of those who are implementing the self-study process. This fact was clearly demonstrated during the conference. Consequently, this conference not only provided excellent information concerning the accreditation and institutional effectiveness processes, it responded to a definite need evidenced and expressed by the representatives of the Colleges attending the meeting.
Those who would like to receive a list of VCCS self-study personnel and/or a copy of the videotape of the February 1993 Conference of Self-Study Personnel and the packets of related printed materials should contact Susan Coffey at CVCC, (804) 386-4687.
Susan O. Coffey is a professor at Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she has been teaching English and oral communications since 1971. The Chancellor's Fellow in 1989, she received her doctorate in the administration of higher education from the University of Virginia in 1992. She is presently directing the college's self-study.