| Writing to the standards and gathering data took well over a year. During this time, each section chair met with the Steering Committee co-chairs when necessary. Drafts of each section of the standards were collected serially, descriptions due in mid-winter, appraisals at semester's end, and projections by end of June 2000. the final document with invaluable review and suggestions from NEASC was assembled and edited during the summer interim. The final draft of the document was then posted on the College website (www.salemstate.edu) beginning of October 2000.
The draft of the document was printed also and distributed to the Steering committee and to the writing teams. Documents were also placed onreserve in the library. The document was available for all segments of the campus community to read and to respond to the editor and writers either directly by campus mail, or e-mail. Even if there was not an overwhelming response, this process once again proved invaluable in getting feedback for the final form of the Self-Study. Throughout the stages of review, self-evaluation, and writing of the document, the process has always been an open one, a process that elicited and encouraged full participation and response. The process, it is hoped, reachedout to the various campus segments. Whether it did or not is another matter.
Given that the academic year 1999/2000 was a difficult one for reasons pertaining to faculty union issues, all segments of the campus worked reasonably well and made a concerted effort to ensure completion and success of this project. There was, and still is, a genuine feeling of cooperation for making this evaluative document direct, objective, and honest in its appraisal of conditions at the institution at this time. An attempt at campus-wide participation went beyond committee meetings; it extended to two Focus Group Roundtable Discussions in mid-spring that brought together randomly selected members from all segments of the community to discuss issues tangent to the standards. The focus groups, fully attended, were responsive and insightful. The ideas that emerged from these meetings have been incorporated into the document. A determined effort was made at the outset of the process to include as wide a representative sample of the community as possible.
The text of the Self-Study Report was, and is, available to everyone in and beyond the community. Every opportunity for the College community to respond and to participate has been taken. The report has been placed before the community. Whether everyone is ultimately satisfied with the final document is difficult to tell; differences of opinion, shared or otherwise, exist. The Steering Committee believes that the document represents the state of the institution at present.
During the late spring and summer of 2000, the Self-Study co-chairs and editor gathered up the standard responses and put together a final draft of the document. The document presents the current status of the Institution in a unified voice. No attempt was made to constrict the various standard reports. Each has its own flavor and emphasis, and the various voices have been respected. The aim of the final document was, and is, to present a unified voice, to clarify the issues of concern, to ensure that each standard was fully developed in its tripartite format, and to reflect on how the institution strives continually to meet the standards established by NEASC.
Salem State College is a comprehensive mid-size public institution of higher learning located approximately 21 miles north of Boston in the city of Salem on the North Shore. It is the major educational institution in the area and draws its students from a wide economic and geographic spectrum in and out of the state as well as from abroad. The physical plant has grown from one historic building in the center of the town to five major sites with 23 major buildings in the South Salem area. It also has satellites in Gloucester and downtown Salem. In the past decade the physical plant has experienced extraordinary growth with the acquisition, for example, of the GTE/Sylvania property, upgrading of student housing, an Aquaculture Center, and a new Public Safety Building. Students currently attend classes at five campus sites: North Campus, Central Campus, Upper Campus, South Campus, and the O'Keefe Sports Complex.
Salem State College is approaching its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary in 2004. Founded in 1854 as one of the first normal schools in the state of Massachusetts, the Institution has continually been engaged in a process of change, renewal, and adaptation to meet the needs of its community and the Commonwealth at large. In 1991, the year of the last full NEASC Accreditation Review, the College was in a period of transition: in 2001 we are still in transition, engaging in structural, programmatic, financial, and physical changes that challenge us to continue providing the level of education and service to the students and to the community.
Growth has been a distinguishing hallmark of the College as it has evolved from a normal school to a teachers college to a multipurpose institution of higher education. Expansion of the physical campus, the faculty, and the student body has brought great strides as well as challenges to an institution of our size. Urged to change or to have the direction of the Institution restructured, we have constantly adapted, enhanced, and moved forward.
Within the College's urban environment, students engage in a rich tradition at Salem State College. Mindful of our mission statement and goals, the Institution serves a wide population of students, almost half of whom are the first generation in their families to attend college. Students can choose from a wide variety of academic and professional programs to achieve their goals. They can participate in a community rich in ethnicities and nationalities. They can be involved with a full student life experience. They can be intellectually challenged by a core curriculum of liberal arts and the sciences that informs the base of all degree programs offered by the Institution.
Salem State College offers a supportive and intellectually challenging environment for its students. It is one that is constantly reviewed and examined to maintain our level of commitment. Salem State College has continually pursued accreditation for its programs from a variety of regional and national sources. With the NEASC Accreditation Visit this March, we are committed to the continued achievement of excellence.
Since the last review by NEASC, Salem State College has engaged in and developed new programs, reorganized under constraining conditions, and set about the process of self-examination. In preparing the Self Study Report, wide areas of the College have been subject to scrutiny and reflection on how well what is working or not. The Institution has been repeatedly challenged to demonstrate its effectiveness and purpose. It is clear that we have done that in the face of uncertain budgetary concerns, the demands of expansion, a changing dynamic for student enrollment, required certification procedures from professional organizations, increased demands on allocating space and monies, and new expectations and responsibilities place on faculty. In this environment, the College has sought to build upon and put into action the findings from the NEASC Five Year Interim Report of 1996. The suggested changes and recommendations have been acted upon in a timely
fashion.
Salem State College periodically evaluates the content and relevance of its Mission Statement and Purpose. Sensitive to the growing needs of the student body, the campus community at large, and a future student body from changing surrounding urban communities, the College is acutely aware of its role in assisting its student population to achieve a meaningful and rewarding educational experience.
Since the Interim Report of May 1996, strategic planning activities and procedures have been inaugurated and put into place to better maximize the College's goals and mission. The Institution has diligently worked on the recommendation for an improved strategic planning process. Evidence of that commitment began when the Strategic Planning Council was created in order to "initiate a planning process, to steer the implementation of the process, and to provide the College with a written strategic plan." Since its implementation, the Council which is broad-based has asked for and received strategic plans from the various schools and departments across the campus. These strategic plans articulate the directions the College, the Schools within the College, and the departments wish to proceed.
Capital plans for the Library have constantly been an issue of deep concern for the College. The Library, level funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 1994, has managed in the face of great obstacles to be brought up to standard for Internet services, computerization of the collection, and smart classrooms. Even with the addition of more assistance, staff, computer labs, and the Library Renovation Project, the Library continues to be in need of enhanced fundings to meet the expanding demands for technological and student services.
The faculty and staff have increased in number across the five campus sites to meet as effectively as possible the requirements of fulfilling the College's educational objectives and policies. Appropriate funding levels are needed to meet the demands of rapid growth. For instance, the past several years have seen the rapid expansion and development of IT support on campus. To accomplish this growth in technology, funding has not always been consistent. Given the funding situation, the current installment, for example, of the PeopleSoft program for all levels of the campus community, the continual growth of IT, and the unprecedented use of the computer in and out of the classroom offer evidence of the College's struggle, commitment and strong desire to better serve the technological and educational needs of faculty, staff, and students.
Further, since the last Interim Report, deferred maintenance issues have been resolved: for example the Administration Building and the Sullivan Building have been completely renovated, the Ellison Campus Center is currently undergoing major changes in structure and function, a new Public Safety Building opened last year, and the GTE/Sylvania Site, now Central Campus, is being developed along with the new Aquaculture Center at Cat Cove in Salem Harbor. Landscape architecture has enhanced the grounds and produced a pleasant visual environment in the midst of an urban area; once gain, maintenance of the five campus sites is a constant source of concern in terms of financial output.
Space needs are universal problems for all institutions of higher learning; Salem State College is no different. Space is always precious, always needed, and always requested. Faculty space needs vie with institutional space needs. Of course, space needs always need to be addressed then as now in an institution evolving as rapidly as this one.
As mentioned earlier, the College is in a period of transition: the issues immediately addressed are ever present: governance and its articulation to the enhancement of the College's purpose, strategic planning in terms of long range plans and goals, the importance of assessment as a key tool to assist the College’s commitment to its students and programs, capital outlay for all major areas, especially in Academic Affairs, the bringing of a faculty contract to a fair and equitable resolution, and the needs and requirements of the student body.
Though a great deal has been accomplished, much still needs to be done as this Self Study reminds us of what is, how well it is working, and what needs to be done to bring about effective and meaningful changes.
Today, the challenges before an institution of public higher education continue. Proceeding through the Self Study Report, a number of themes, similar in content and tone to those previously noted, emerge. These themes are of concern to the Institution and are continually given deep consideration and attention. Several of these key areas are presented here because we are cognizant of them, know that they illuminate the conditions and circumstances under which we operate, and illustrate how we as an institution and a community deal with issues and challenges confronting us. Here, then, are several key issues.
|
