2005 HLC Self-Study Steering Committee
Review of January 13, 2005 Meeting

Members Present: Barbara Bushman, John Catau, Bill Cheek, Tom Dicke, Frank Einhellig, Sue George, Tammy Jahnke, Martha Kirker, Etta Madden, Victor Matthews, Roger Sell, Don Simpson, and GA Linda Rogers.

The steering committee met at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, January 13^th at the ADC Office.

The meeting opened with Chair Bill Cheek extending welcomes both to Victor Matthews who is coming aboard as a new member to the committee, and to Etta Madden who has recently returned from a semester-long stay in London.

The editing committee for the HLC report currently consists of Etta, Bill, Martha, and Linda. Bill announced that we still need one or two more on the committee so volunteers were encouraged. Everyone will be involved in reviewing reports and providing guidance for the self-study but please let Bill know if you are interested in working on the editing committee.

The time is approaching when Bill needs to be notified of all committee members who would like to attend the HLC’s annual meeting to be held in Chicago, April 9^th – 12^th. Saturday’s session (on the 9^th) is a pre-workshop on the new criteria at which Tammy, Jim, and will be presenting a paper. Regular sessions begin Sunday at noon, and the conference ends Tuesday at noon. Funding is available for all Steering Committee members who would like to go, and Bill encouraged everyone who might be available to attend. For convenience, each member should make their own flight and hotel arrangements. As hotel rooms fill quickly, all members who plan on going should probably make those arrangements as soon as possible. Registration forms should be filled out and submitted to Bill by February 1^st.

The vast majority of reports are in and Bill expects most of those remaining to be submitted shortly. The question currently facing the committee is how best to review the large number of reports that have been received. Several options were discussed. As it is difficult for everyone to read all of the submissions, it was decided that the committee will have to divide the reports in some manner, summarize their findings, and submit those summaries to the editing committee. It will be important as the reports are being read to concentrate on noting the examples of evidence that support the criteria and core components. All committee members should reread the section of the HLC Handbook that contains the criteria, core components, and examples of evidence. It will also be important to note specific items that deal with assessment.

It was decided that the best way to get a feel for the job at hand would be to begin by picking one college’s report for all committee members to read, analyze, and summarize. From here, the committee can meet, compare reports, make suggestions on the process, and map out a "plan of action". Bill emphasized that each committee member should adapt whatever process works for them while doing this, not worrying about the final report but just focusing on the examples of evidence that emerge and noting any thoughts on the process that could be shared with the rest of the committee.

It was decided to begin with the College of Humanities and Public Affairs including the Area Studies reports. The homework for each committee member is:

Though the initial read-through may be done college-by-college, the final report will be University wide and will focus on major themes while incorporating the criteria into those themes. A tentative timeline projects that the self-study will be done with a solid, working draft completed by May. There will be multiple drafts along the way, but the final version will be refined and finished over the summer. The final report will be submitted to the HLC in September.

Once assignments have been made, the regularly-scheduled Thursday meeting time may be used to break into the smaller groups. Next week’s meeting will include discussion on how the initial read-through is going. On January 27 the committee will review member’s findings from the first college and develop a plan of action for the remaining reports.

Respectfully submitted,
Linda Chadwick-Rogers