Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
ACADEMIC & STUDENT AFFAIRS NEWSLETTER
An Electronic Communication
MARCH 2004
4th ANNUAL ACADEMIC AND STUDENT AFFAIRS AWARDS
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System is accepting nominations for the 4th Annual Academic and Student Affairs Awards. The award categories are:
? Innovative Student Affairs Program
? Excellence in Curriculum Programming
? Outstanding Academic and Student Affairs Administrator
? Innovative Partnering and Collaboration (a new award).
Nominations may be submitted by any member of the college or university community, including members of advisory boards or committees. Submission date has been extended to March 22, 2004. For additional information, go to: http://www.academicaffairs.mnscu.edu/divisionhomepage/whatsnew/AcadStudent%20Awards/homepage.html
MINNESOTA ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOUNDATION (MAEF)
Congratulations to Lynette Olson, one of seven appointments to the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation. Lynette Olson, of Cambridge, currently serves as E-Learning Accreditation Project Director for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Office of the Chancellor. She is active in both the Minnesota Council for Quality and the School Improvement Process at the Minnesota Department of Education. A current member of the MAEF Board, Lynette is reappointed to a second
term which ends January 1, 2007.
Congratulations go to the Gamma group of libraries for their Switch To Production! Congratulations also go to the Beta group of libraries for their Switch Back To Production!
The gamma libraries include: Gustavus Adolphus College, Legislative Reference Library, Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Riverland Community College, South Central Technical College, University Center Rochester, and Winona State University. The staff at each library diligently worked on data cleanup, reviewed converted data, worked on their tables, and, due to their preparation had
a fairly smooth switch to production this week.
MINNESOTA ONLINE
OFFERS TRAINING FOR 1ST ROUND OF
PEER REVIEW TEAM MEMBERS
The peer review process for Minnesota Online will have three components to identify campus readiness relating to education delivered via distance education: (1) conduct a peer review, by a peer review team; (2) review an ?Institutional Change Request Report,? prepared by the institution requesting to offer one or more degrees online; (3) make a recommendation for approval, made by the peer review team and Minnesota Online Council, on the basis of the first two components.
Assurance that the team can identify specific standards relating to education delivered via distance selection of a peer review team will be established. The team will consist of HLC/NCA?s Consultants - Evaluators and trained Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, administration, faculty, and staff with different areas of expertise, including individuals with knowledge of distance delivered instruction and assessment methodologies. The first ?pilot? training is set for March 22 and 23, 2004.
On February 23rd, the House Higher Education Finance Committee invited testimony about the Guard Online Project from Chancellor McCormick, Senior Vice Chancellor Linda Baer, and Adjutant General Larry Shellito of the Guard. While the leaders described the evolution of the project and the collaboration between the two systems, another highlight was a video-conferencing link between the committee and two soldiers serving in Bosnia who successfully completed courses. Specialist Carlee Miller and Staff Sargent Lisa Fleck described how the project allowed them to make progress toward their degrees during their deployment.
Fleck is a student in the College of Management at Metropolitan State University, one of the participating institutions in the Guard Online Project and was able to earn credit at her home institution. Miller, who is in her third year at the College of St. Catherine, took a literature course from Lake Superior College that fulfills an elective in her major and a computer course from Alexandria Technical College to improve her skills. Members of the House committee were able to ask the students questions directly and hear their thoughts. Both students credited accommodating instructors for their support and flexibility.
Representative Doug Stang, Chair of the House Higher Education Finance Committee applauded the work of the Guard and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities in developing the courses. ?It?s the least we can do for our troops, said Stang, ?It?s an area we want to be up front in.? Shellito, who was the president of Alexandria Technical College before taking command of the Guard last November, stated that the program is an important new selling point for potential new Guard members. ?We don?t want people not to join the Guard because they are afraid it will disrupt their education. The importance of a homegrown program is that they are taking courses from the colleges they attend. We thought it was important for Minnesota students to take Minnesota courses.?
Preliminary planning for The Bold Plan proposed to Governor Pawlenty's Office in November continues to move forward. Chancellor James McCormick and Senior Vice Chancellor Linda Baer provided an update to the Governor on our planning efforts. The four targeted areas, JOBZ, Nursing Online, Teacher Center, and the Online University, continue to be of critical importance to the future workforce needs within the State and thus will influence future planning efforts within the Office of the Chancellor's Academic and Student Affairs area which includes helping to shape the 2004-2005 Work Plan. Senior Vice Chancellor, Linda Baer outlined progress-to-date of the Bold Plan to the Chief Academic Officers at their February meeting. Their input as
well as that of campuses will help guide future planning efforts.
ACADEMIC DESIGN: SHARING LESSONS LEARNED
Academic Design: Sharing Lessons Learned, co-authored by Bill Ammentorp, Bill Warner, Leo Christenson and Todd Harmening is now available from the Society for College and University Planning for $32 for members and $40 for non-members. The book can be ordered at: www.scup.org/pubs/books.
This new book focuses on the elements of academic planning at the institutional, departmental or program level. The principles and processes apply to a wide variety of institutional settings and encourages planning teams to make deliberate choices to design the programs, services and learning experiences they want to offer to students. Many of the examples used in the handbook are drawn from planning conducted by our Minnesota state colleges. This book is organized like a handbook and provides "how-to" instructions about doing academic planning.
If you have questions about the book, contact Leo Christenson at leo.christenson@so.mnscu.edu or 651-297-4575.
ARTICULATION AGREEMENT WITH NORTHLAND COLLEGE
The Office of the Chancellor has established an articulation agreement between Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin and 16 community colleges, technical colleges and community and technical colleges. The agreement was implemented for those colleges that expressed an interest in joining the partnership. The 16 colleges included in this agreement are: Alexandria Technical College, Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Central Lakes College, Century Community and Technical College, Dakota County Technical College, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, Lake Superior College, Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Normandale Community College, Mesabi Range, Rainy River Community College, Ridgewater College, Riverland Community College, Rochester Community and Technical College, St. Cloud Technical College, and Vermilion Community College.
Northland College is four-year private liberal arts college with an environmental emphasis. Northland?s academic programs can be found at http://www.northland.edu
The articulation agreement offers junior status for students completing the Associate in Arts or Associate in Science. In regard to liberal education requirements, Northland College accepts the A.A. as meeting all of their requirements. As for the A.S., additional work may be required and that will need to be determined on a program by program basis as Minnesota State Colleges and Universities A.S. programs are quite varied. Northland College has indicated that they can provide transfer specialists with a breakdown of the A.S. majors and what they would advise students to take prior to transferring. A copy of the agreement can be found at http://www.mntransfer.org/Agreements/ArtAgree/northland_wi/NorthlandCollege.pdf
Questions concerning this agreement should be directed to Jerry Johnson jerry.johnson@so.mnscu.edu or Shelly Heller shelly.heller@so.mnscu.edu.
2003-2004 CURRICULUM UPDATES
The 2003-2004 Curriculum Updates for each of the MnSCU campuses are posted at http://www.dars.mntransfer.org/updates/mntcchanges/mntc_catalog_changes.html.
The updates assist DARS encoders and transfer specialists with identifying new courses, MnTC changes, title changes, credit changes, and dropped courses for the current academic year. A special thanks to the seventeen campuses and DARS encoders who gave direct feedback on their curriculum changes. If you have questions, contact: dars.info@scu.mnscu.edu
AACRAO Letter to U.S. House of Representatives Regarding H.R.3311. Jerome H. Sullivan, Executive Director, AACRAO, has sent a letter to Howard McKeon, U.S. House of Representatives, regarding the ?Affordability in Higher Education Act.? He states that this ?proposed legislation would, for the first time, create a new federal mandate on a fundamentally academic issue, i.e., transfer of credit, and as such, would undermine the ability of institutions to safeguard the integrity of their own credentials.? The letter can be found at: http://www.aacrao.org/federal_relations/position?McKeon_letter.pdf
Federal School Code List is Available at EdPubs.org (U.S. Department of Education). ?This publication contains the unique codes assigned by the U.S. Department of Education to schools participating in the Title IV student aid programs. The list is organized by state and alphabetically by school within each state. Students will use these codes to apply for financial aid using a 2004-2005 Free Application for Federal Student Aid that instructs students to enter the name and Federal School Code for the schools that should receive their information. Use of the Federal School Code will significantly improve the student's ability to communicate college identifications accurately, will avoid errors caused by confusion over similar college names, and speed application processing time.? Go to http://www.edpubs.org/webstore/Content/search.aspand type in EN 0533P in the Publication ID Field to order.
New Appointment at the University of North Dakota
Brian Steenerson is now the Assistant Registrar for Transfer and Articulation at University of North Dakota. He can be reached at 701-777-2148 and at Brian.Steenerson@mail.und.nodak.edu.
Degree/Diploma and Accreditation Mills
Information on these topics, prepared by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, has been added to MnTransfer.org at http://www.mntransfer.org/hotlinks/accreditationmills.html
New Questions and Answers for Transfer Specialists FAQs
The following questions and answers have been added to MnTransfer.org: International Credits, AICE Exams, Repeated Courses, Credits from Canadian Institutions. For additional information go to: http://www.mntransfer.org/tsinfo/faqs_ts.html
Computer Science Articulation Agreements added to MnTransfer.org
Metropolitan State University ? with Anoka-Ramsey, Anoka Technical, Minneapolis, and St. Paul. http://www.mntransfer.org/agreements/institution/metrosu.html
Transfer Guides Updated on MnTransfer.org
Bethel College ? for Lake Superior College. http://www.mntransfer.org/tables/bethel/guides/guideindex.html
Course Equivalency Tables Updated on MnTransfer.org
Anoka-Ramsey Community College ? credits from Central Lakes; Century; Lake Superior; Normandale; Pine TC; St. Cloud SU; University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse; University of Wisconsin-Stout; Winona SU.
http://www.mntransfer.org/tables/anokaramsey/anokaramseyindex.html
Hibbing Community College ? credits from Alexandria TC; Anoka TC; Century; Lake Superior; Minnesota State CTC Fergus Falls; North Dakota SU; Northland CTC; Saint Paul College; University of Minnesota Morris; Vermilion.
http://www.mntransfer.org/tables/hibbingcc/hibbing.html
Normandale College ? credits from Anoka-Ramsey; Anoka TC; Century; College of St. Catherine; Dakota County TC; Hennepin TC; Inver Hills CC; Metropolitan SU; MSU, Mankato; MSU Moorhead; Minnesota State CTC (Northwest TC); Pine TC; Saint Paul College; St. Cloud TC; South Central TC; Southwest MSU; University of St. Thomas; University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, University of Wisconsin-River Falls; Winona SU.
http://www.mntransfer.org/tables/normandale/normandaleindex.html
ITEACH 2004
April 15-17, 2004
The ITeach 2004 Conference will be held April 15-17, 2004. The conference this year is intended to reflect the cycle of designing and delivering educational opportunities. For conference information go to: http://www.oit.mnscu.edu/iteach2004
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE CONFERENCE
APRIL 23-27, 2004, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
The 84th Annual Convention of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) will be held at the convention center in Minneapolis, during April 23-27, 2004; and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, as a System is the co-host organization for this event. For conference information go to: http://www.aacc@nche.edu
NATIONAL TECH PREP NETWORK CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 13-16, 2004
MINNEAPOLIS CONVENTION CENTER
Minnesota has the privilege of hosting the annual National Tech Prep Network Conference, which will be October 13-16, 2004, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. If you work with high school to college/university transitions, this conference is for you. Participants will have an opportunity to:
- Work with high school colleagues and partners to improve Tech Prep student academic readiness for college.
- Learn what other states are doing to improve student transitions to college.
- Learn how high schools are succeeding in reaching more students with rigorous academics.
- Learn how Minnesota and other states are working with business to emphasize the importance of learning academic and technical skills in high school and college.
- Learn how industry is involved in preparing students for rewarding careers in high-demand fields.
- Minnesota State Colleges and Universities academic faculty (especially in English, math and science), technical faculty, counselors, admissions and recruiting staff, registrars and administrators will benefit from attending and/or presenting at the conference
For additional information contact: