The current self-study continues that tradition. NCSU's previous self-studies were conducted in accordance with SACS guidelines, and the institution responded to SACS recommendations accordingly (see self-study library for previous SACS reports).
Communication with SACS has been through the provost, as the chief academic officer of the University, who has reported activities associated with this and previous self-studies. In addition, the provost is responsible for reporting to SACS any changes that are required under current accreditation guidelines (see self-study library for examples of correspondence).
North Carolina State University's 1994 comprehensive, faculty-directed self-study was conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The self-study began in fall 1991 with basic decisions about organization and philosophy of the self-study and identification of its leaders. In February 1992 the NCSU chancellor appointed a steering committee, which was given the responsibility of organizing the self-study, assessing the activities and reports of the various self-study subcommittees and compiling the final report.
In a document entitled "Proposal for University Self-Study: North Carolina State University," submitted on July 1, 1992, to the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the steering committee for the 1994 self-study stated: "We affirm the importance of regular, periodic self-scrutiny and peer review as essential to the preservation of academic integrity and the promotion of institutional effectiveness. Furthermore, we affirm the value of the self-study process as an appropriate occasion for coming to understand the scope and range of the institution's activities and their effectiveness in fulfilling our mission and our aspirations for educational leadership and institutional development."
NCSU's "Proposal for University Self-Study" was also accompanied by a statement signed by NCSU's chancellor, stating NCSU's affirmation of the importance of periodic self-study and peer review and the University's intent to comply with SACS guidelines for the self-study process.
The twenty-two-member self-study steering committee represented all of NCSU's colleges and schools as well as the Faculty Senate, the Office of Institutional Advancement, the Division of Student Affairs, and the office of University Planning and Analysis. Although the steering committee did not include members of the Board of Governors, the statutory body responsible for The University of North Carolina, it did include representatives of the NCSU Board of Trustees, the statutory body responsible for oversight of NCSU.
Nine principal self-study committees were formed to review institutional compliance in specific areas of the SACS criteria. Each committee consisted of fourteen to eighteen members representing faculty, students, and administrative staff from across the University. Each was assigned to address sections of the Criteria for Accreditation of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1992-93 edition). Altogether approximately 170 faculty, staff, students, and other personnel devoted regular effort toward the self-study for nearly two years.
Each principal committee was charged with assessing whether the University is in compliance with each must statement within the Criteria for Accreditation; determining processes that are being used to assess effectiveness of the University's programswith an emphasis on whether such programs reflect the University's purpose as envisioned by its newly revised Mission Statement; identifying the strengths and weaknesses of programs within each of the designated areas; and identifying the major enabling and inhibiting factors affecting NCSU's goal of becoming a preeminent institution. As the overall goal of the self-study, the steering committee adopted the following statement:
We aspire to preeminence among American research universities in the land-grant tradition, and therefore seek to assess what current policies, practices, resources, and emerging conditions in our institutional environment enable or inhibit our movement toward our goal of serving our state, the nation, and the world through instruction, research and extension.To provide data for the self-study, the Office of University Planning and Analysis conducted five surveys of the University's constituents: undergraduate students (including DVM students), stratified by college; graduate students, stratified by degree level; faculty, including emeriti, agricultural extension faculty and resident faculty at all ranks, stratified by college; lifelong education students; staff, including SPA and EPA, but excluding administrators at department head or above, stratified by college.
In addition, the steering committee conducted a more informal survey of administrators, asking open-ended questions about their sense of institutional strengths and their concerns in each of the areas of inquiry for the self-study. Further surveys were conducted by a number of the principal committees to determine extent of compliance in certain targeted areas (see self-study library for data from all surveys).
North Carolina State University committed substantial resources to assessing all aspects of its current programs. It already has a long-range planning process and has recently begun a Continuous Quality Improvement program to enhance the effectiveness of its programs. It intends to use the results of the self-study to identify and correct deficiencies in its programs, to improve current methods and develop new methods for assessing effectiveness, and to strengthen the long-range planning process of its various units.
