Academic Affairs Office

What is the program’s mission statement or statement of purpose? Why does the program exist?

The Provost’s Office serves as the administrative center for the Division of Academic Affairs, one of the four divisions of the University.  All of the credit-bearing academic activities and some of the non-credit educational programs of the University fall under the supervision, oversight and leadership of this office, and the achievement of the academic elements of the University’s Mission by the various units of the division are the fundamental responsibility of the Office

How does the program mission align with the university mission?

The mission of the office is to ensure achievement of the University’s academic mission[JC1] .

 [JC1]Do you want to include something about a vision in addition to mission (e.g. integrative learning; empowering rigorous teaching learning; creating academic communities of distinction and excellence at a publice masters comprehensive university--an increasingly competitive and accoutable sector of higher education)?

Whom does the program serve?

As noted, the Provost’s Office < http://castle.eiu.edu/acaffair/>[JC1]  provides oversight, enabling administrative support, and leadership of the Division of Academic Affairs which includes all academic units and a number of academic support units.  This includes curricular and program leadership, personnel oversight for approximately 850 University employees, and budget management of the division’s $70M+ budget.

The mission of the office is to ensure achievement of the University’s academic mission[JC2] .

 [JC1]include link to AA webpage? http://castle.eiu.edu/acaffair/

 [JC2]Do you want to include something about a vision in addition to mission (e.g. integrative learning; empowering rigorous teaching learning; creating academic communities of distinction and excellence at a publice masters comprehensive university--an increasingly competitive and accoutable sector of higher education)?

What are the services provided? How do these services align with the university mission and program mission?

See previous response.

Describe the program’s origins (e.g. year established, purpose, expectations).

Since our founding in 1893, there has been an academic oversight unit by some name.  The title of Provost was added to the existing title of Vice President for Academic Affairs in 1971, and the current divisional configuration of the University was established in 1998. [JC1]  In addition to the Provost, the office now includes an Associate Vice President, an Assistant Vice President who is currently responsible for two separate AVP sets of duties, a Budget Officer, and five support staff.  There are 18 direct reports to the Office including the five colleges, the Library, the School of Continuing Education and the Graduate School (including Research and Sponsored Programs, Study Abroad, and International Programs) through which the University’s 68 [JC2] undergraduate degree programs, 29 graduate degree programs, and 9 non-degree programs are offered.  Among the academic support units reporting to the office are Admissions, Financial Aid, Registrar, Minority Affairs, Center for Academic Support  and Assessment (including Academic Advising Center, Student Success Center, and Student Disability Services), Faculty Development, Center for Academic Technology Services, and WEIU TV/FM.

 [JC1]decades ago?

 [JC2]From the current UG catalog: "With forty-seven degree programs, forty-nine degree options, and sixty-seven minors, Eastern offers its students a wide range of opportunities to reach their intellectual, personal, and professional goals."

How has the unit changed or adapted over time?

See previous response.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program’s history and relevance to university mission.

Provide data, if available, on the numbers of students, faculty, staff, or others served by the program during the past four years. If no data are available, please estimate the numbers served annually.

See response in Comment Section below.

Does the program offer any co-curricular opportunities for students (e.g., internships, RSO support, service-learning activities)? Please describe.

See response in Comment Section below.

Does the program contribute to the delivery of academic programs (e.g., providing professional expertise, serving as adjunct faculty)? Please describe.

See response in Comment Section below.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the internal demand for the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., curriculum changes made by another program) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

The Provost’s Office provides academic leadership, enabling administrative support, and visionary planning[JC1]  including:

• Faculty and non-faculty personnel management
  -Hiring authorization for all division personnel
  -Contract management services for the UPI Contract with our faculty and ASPs
  -Oversight of the faculty hiring, promotion and tenure actions
  -Retention, promotion and tenure recommendations to the President
• Manage and plan all aspects of the division’s budget
• Oversee all aspects of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum
• Assist in the preparation of proposals, grants and materials for college programs and initiatives
• Manage the accreditation and reaccreditation for academic programs, including NCA institutional accreditation;
• Interface with the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) on all curricular and degree program matters for which the IBHE has responsibility

The Provost’s Office also interacts with and supports faculty governance instrumentalities on all relevant matters listed above and of interest to the faculty. The Office also is responsible for the academic support services necessary for the recruitment of students, the scheduling of classes, the registration of students in classes, the review and awarding of academic degrees, and a host of other services necessary for the delivery of a high-quality education to our students.  Finally, it serves as an advocate for students and their education. 

In short, the Provost’s Office has ultimately responsibility for all of the “formal” educational activities delivered by the University.

Is the program accredited or approved by a recognized external agency or otherwise certified to meet established professional standards? Provide an executive summary of and link to the program’s most recent accreditation or certification report, if available.

See response in Comment Section below.

Is the program required to meet any regulatory or legal requirements? Is the program subject to any special auditing requirements?

See response in Comment Section below.

What are the most important outreach or public service activities supported by the program?

See response in Comment Section below.

How do the local community and the region benefit from the program?

See response in Comment Section below.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the external demand for the program.

The Provost’s Office conduct of direct outreach[JC1]  efforts[JC2]  is rather limited as will be explained below.  More importantly, it supports and oversees those which occur within the colleges.  As will be seen in the responses from the other various academic units, students are engaged in the community through internships, student teaching, service learning and a host of similar activities.  These provide a complement to the volunteer service activities managed by the Office of Community Service in the Division of Student Affairs.

As noted previously, there are many disciplinary accreditations held by academic programs in those fields having accreditation.  These occur through the initiative of the respective departments and are coordinated by the Provost’s Office.  The institutional accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association is subject to affirmation every ten years with the next visit scheduled for October 2014.  The self-study process used to prepare for this visit is subject to the direct leadership of the Office of Academic Affairs.  The previously NCA Self Study is sufficiently dated that it is no longer posted on the website, but drafts of the upcoming Self Study will appear at < http://eiu.edu/nca2014/ >.

External fund raising is important for any university with the Provost’s Office having two significant roles.  The first is through direct leadership and management of extramural funds secured to support faculty research, scholarship and creative activity.  More about this can be found on the template for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.  The second role is that of partnering with the Division of University Advancement in securing direct financial support for the University[JC3] .  Where donations are solicited in direct support of the academic mission and units, the Provost’s Office collaborates with Advancement and assists in working with the relevant academic units -- the colleges, departments, advisory committees, etc. -- in preparing for the solicitation.

 [JC1]What about collaboration with community colleges (articulation) and with senior institutions (longitudinal data base, various IBHE initiatives, etc.)?

 [JC2]providing testimony to General Assembly budget and oher committees in support of the University's educational programs, budget inititives, and capital needs.

 [JC3]Expand on fund raising role(s) of deans, department chairs, college development directors, and program and college advisory committees.

What are the two or three more important measureable outcomes tracked to assess program quality? Does the program conduct an outcomes assessment, and if so, what has been the impact?

See response in Comment Section below.

What are the two or three most effective best practices that the program has implemented? What benefits have been gained from implementing these best practices?

See response in Comment Section below.

What external recognitions (e.g., awards, accommodations, professional certifications, references in trade publications) have the program and its staff received in the past three years?

See response in Comment Section below.

Is the program active with any regional, national, or international professional organizations?

See response in Comment Section below.

Note any presentations, publications, or offices held in the last three years.

See response in Comment Section below.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the quality of program outcomes.

A significant responsibility of the Provost’s Office is to ensure the quality of the academic programs.  In recent years, the language has been adjusted periodically to meet the conditions of the day.  Six overarching goals were articulated beginning with the call to offer “first choice” programs in each discipline for students interested in studying at an institution like Eastern.  The organizing principle of Integrative Learning was next offered to help focus our programs on having students reflect on their educational experiences and make personal meaning for themselves.  More recently, the academic units were called upon to concentrate on recruitment, retention and rigor to meet the needs of our current environment.   Finally and most recently, a faculty-led initiative to re-examine the University Learning goals and our students achievement of them is underway.  In each case, the underlying motivation is to focus on enhancing the quality of the education we provide our students.

Under the leadership of CASA and the Graduate School, the University also conducts intentional assessment of our degree programs aimed at continuous improvement.  More information on these activities can be found under the Program Analysis information of the relevant unit.

Note any special benefits (e.g., personnel support, equipment, permanent improvements) that the program has received in the past three years from its grants and other sponsored programs.

The Provost’s Office does not engage in a great deal of direct resource development, but assists academic units in this and the University in general in the following ways:

Fundraising –

Direct solicitation from potential donors occurs in all academic units under the general guidance of the Division of University Advancement.  The Provost’s Office works directly both with Advancement and the colleges in setting fundraising priorities for this ongoing work.

Extramural grants from governmental and private sources also are an important source of funding for academic units.  These initiatives are supported by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and represent a significant source of additional funds for the research, scholarly and creative efforts of the faculty and for contracted outreach and service.  This unit reports to the Graduate School, and its program analysis template contains more information on these initiatives which again are subject to the leadership and oversight of the Office.

How does the program benefit from donor gifts (e.g., scholarships, endowed chairs)? Does donor support provide a significant percentage of the program’s overall funding?

See other responses in this section.

List two or three key relationships that the program maintains with external constituencies (e.g., community colleges, other universities, government bodies). How do these relationships advance the university mission or otherwise benefit the university?

See other responses in this section.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the resources generated by the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., revenue pass-throughs) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Curriculum Development –

As competitive pressures for students increase, the need to refine the program offerings of the University to remain attractive to prospective students has become ever more critical.  Studying, evaluating and honing this menu of program offerings is the specific responsibility of the Office, specifically the AVP of Enrollment Management who is leading the Strategic Enrollment Planning initiative with the assistance of Noel-Levitz. 

Tuition and Fees –

Students recruited, admitted, and enrolled in programs of study generate tuition revenue. As state support for higher educations continues a decades-long decline, tuition revenue has increased as a percentage of current funds revenue making the University enterprise increasingly enrollment driven across the board. As reflected in other aspects of the program analysis, the Division of Academic Affairs has redoubled its efforts to enroll new students and to retain existing students to graduation while promoting rigorous, high-quality educational outcomes.

The search for alternative sources of revenue and support is an ongoing requirement and initiative of the Office and the University generally.

Provide an executive summary of and link to any metrics or benchmarks that the program tracks to measure productivity.

N/A.

What initiatives has the program implemented to enhance staff productivity (e.g., access to training, workflow improvements)? Briefly describe the costs and benefits of these initiatives.

See response in Comment Section below.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the productivity of the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., accreditation requirements, curricular changes, program restructuring) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

The Provost’s Office makes every effort to pursue and implement creative efficiencies both within the Office and across the Division of Academic Affairs.  Within the Office itself, creative engagement of technology to improve the handling and management of budget materials, personnel processing, and curriculum approval processes have been implemented wherever practicable.  The staff also seeks constantly to eliminate processing steps in all of our business processes, again to the extent permitted by University policy and State laws and regulations.  In terms of direct use of resources, the Office’s human complement has remained constant for many years, even in the face of expanded demands.  The most notable of these is the assumption of the duties assigned to a new position of Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management which was not filled.  This has put additional stress on several staff members and especially on Dr. Herrington-Perry.

More generally across the Division, the Office plays a leadership role in encouraging productivity improvements related to effective integration of technology for business processes and for teaching and learning. It also monitors instructional productivity of the faculty and works with the college deans to manage workloads and to adjust the faculty complement to meet changes in enrollment levels.

Finally, the Office has provided leadership in assessing the University’s degree program portfolio and looking at program offerings which would attract new student populations.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the costs associated with the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., expenditures made centrally or externally, expenditures made on behalf of other units) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

As noted previously, creativity and resourcefulness are important in the Provost’s Office operations because of the limited budget for office personnel and operations.

The one noteworthy budgetary change in the FY12 and FY13 budgets is the substantial increase in “contractual services” in these two years.  This increase reflects the cost to support the Noel-Levitz enrollment/retention consulting contract.

How does the program seek to distinguish itself from similar programs at other institutions?

Because the Provost’s Office is purely an administrative office, distinctiveness of the Office itself is not terribly relevant.  What is important is for the Office to foster and communicate the distinctiveness of our academic programs, the educational experience Eastern offers its students, the contributions of the faculty, and in general the uniqueness of Eastern Illinois University.  All this occurs through the leadership and direction provided by the Office to the academic units.  This would include strategic planning and analysis of programmatic opportunities, facilitating achievement of these plans, working with Marketing and Communications to present the University effectively to our varied constituencies, and assuring the infrastructural support to realize these plans and objectives.

Note any unique and/or essential contributions that the program makes to the university.

See previous response.

Provide any program-specific metrics that help to document program contributions or program quality. Examples of some commonly used program-specific metrics may be found here.

See Distinctive and Unique Aspects section.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program impact on the university mission.

Provide a link to or listing of the program’s goals and/or strategic plan.

Much of relevance to this Section has been covered in previous responses.  As noted in other Sections, over the years, the Provost has posted several statements of overarching goals and objectives for the Division.  A planning document from 2008 – 2009 can be accessed at < http://castle.eiu.edu/~acaffair/Planning/2008VPAAPlan.pdf> and set of documents focused on the Integrative Learning Initiative can be found at < http://castle.eiu.edu/~acaffair/IntegrativeLearning/EIUIntegrativeLearning.php>.  Recently, the Office has provided leadership with the University’s Strategic Enrollment Planning effort, and current information on this can be accessed at < http://castle.eiu.edu/strategicenrollment/>.

What role will the program have in the implementation of the university’s strategic plan (provide link to strategic plan)?

One of the six planks in the University’s Strategic Plan is Academic Excellence.  This plank has been assigned in its entirety to the Divisions of Academic Affairs under the supervision of the Provost.  Elements of other planks in the Plan also have been assigned to the Office. 

In the next two or three years, what best practices, improvements in operations, or other opportunities to advance the university’s mission are likely to be implemented?

Again, responses in previous Sections have largely responded to the matter addressed in this question.  The overarching responsibility to lead and oversee activities throughout the Division offer abundant opportunities to work on new pursuits, best practices and the setting of our institutional direction over the next several years.  Among the items being directly lead and managed by the Office is the previously mentioned Strategic Enrollment Planning initiative for which comprehensive information can be found at the web addressed listed above.  Adjusting the programmatic profile of the University is ongoing and is becoming ever more critical as environmental conditions change.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand future opportunities for the program.