Accreditation 101 - Insight into your self-study process. 

February 2009 

NEWSFLASH:  Mark your calendars for November 15-17, 2010! 

These are the dates for Ozarka's Self Study Visit.

As a new semester begins so does a new chapter in self-study process for Ozarka College.

Fridays are still days to meet, but for the steering committee, it is once per month (every third Friday at 1PM) now instead of every Friday. 

The subcommittees had their first meetings on February 6th, and will also meet once per month (first Fridays).  The purpose for these meetings is so the co-chairs can begin educating each committee member on their responsibilities; as well as gathering and organizing evidence.

A list of the committees and their chairs and members can be found on the College Effectiveness Website under Steering Committee, then Self-Study Steering Committee.

Ozarka will have the opportunity for professional development in the area of assessment and college effectiveness this week when a consultant recommended by the HLC will be on campus.  Dr. Neil Pagano, Associate Dean of the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois will be on the Ozarka College main campus on February 12 and 13 to meet with faculty, staff and administration.

Dr. Pagano will spend an hour with staff and administration each on Thursday and 75 minutes with each division on Friday. He will speak for about 15 minutes in each session and then answer any questions.

Dr. Pagano said, " These conversations would be focused on the six fundamental questions the HLC uses as a basis for discussing assessment practices (attached to this email) and I would also respond to specific questions from participants.  All of this would focus on working towards assisting Ozarka on having a clearer picture about assessment practice so its efforts will become more effective."

In addition to his work at the Columbia, Dr. Pagano is a Consultant/Evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission's Program to Evaluate and Advance Quality (PEAQ) and has consulted with more than 60 institutions, primarily on assessment of student learning. His approach to assessment is pragmatic and focuses on functional ways of improving student learning and college effectiveness.

Before he joined Columbia, Pagano was a member of the faculty in the Department of Languages and Literature at St. Augustine College in Chicago. He received a BA from the University of Wisconsin (English), a Masters in Education from the University of Illinois-Chicago, and the PhD in Higher Education from Loyola University Chicago.  

It is important that EVERYONE attend their planned session.  Please note that this activity supersedes the meeting schedule for the day.  If there is an important meeting that should not be missed and members are in professional development at that time, please reschedule.

If for some reason you cannot attend, please contact Dr. DeLong at ext 2004 or email mdelong@ozarka.edu.

Thursday February 12
2-3 Administrative Council
3-4 Staff

Friday February 13
9-10:15    Allied Health
10:15-11:30 Arts and Humanities
11:30-12    Lunch
12-1:15    Science, Math and
1:15-2:30   Applied Science Technology
2:45-3:30    Administrative Council debrief