quality highlights report

QUALITY HIGHLIGHTS REPORT

AQIPprepared for

Comprehensive Quality Review Visit

MARCH 20–22, 2017

NMU’s History as an AQIP University

As NMU celebrates its 118th year of serving the Marquette community and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we also have been taking the opportunity to reflect upon our long-standing relationship with the Higher Learning Commission and our more recent participation in the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP). In 2002 when NMU was admitted to the AQIP pathway, we made a commitment to our faculty, staff, students, and our community to engage in continuous improvement activities, clearly document those activities, and provide data-supported rationale for decisions affecting our stakeholders.

Since becoming an AQIP campus, NMU has successfully completed three Systems Portfolios and has reviewed feedback from three Systems Appraisals. Our faculty and staff have attended four Strategy Forums, completed twenty-five Action Projects (sixteen since our 2009 Quality Checkup visit), and regularly participated in conferences and workshops offered by the Higher Learning Commission.

In preparation for the Comprehensive Quality Review, NMU has been focusing on comments and recommendations included in its most recent Systems Appraisal (2014). Overall, results indicated that considerable progress had been made since submission of our 2010 Systems Portfolio. NMU saw an increase in “S”, or satisfactory responses, with a total of thirty-nine (28%) in 2010 compared to a total of seventy-nine (58%) in 2014. These results led to a decrease in “O”, or unsatisfactory responses, with a total of ninety-eight (72%) in 2010 compared to a total of fifty-eight (42%) in 2014. The most significant gains were made in Category 1: Helping Students Learn. The 2010 Systems Appraisal rated Category 1 with only nine (35%) satisfactory responses and seventeen (65%) unsatisfactory responses. After NMU targeted Category 1 for improvement, 2014 results showed twenty-two (85%) satisfactory responses and only four (15%) unsatisfactory responses.

Major Changes Since Submission of NMU’s Most Recent Systems Portfolio (June 2014)

NMU has undergone senior leadership changes since June 2014, the submission date of our last Systems Portfolio. On July 1, 2014, Dr. Fritz Erickson was named as NMU’s 15th president, replacing an interim president who served NMU for two years. Shortly thereafter, in December 2014, the NMU community experienced the loss of our provost to a brief illness. An NMU faculty member served as interim provost and represented NMU at the 2015 Strategy Forum. Finally, after the completion of a provost search, Dr. Kerri Schuiling was named as NMU’s new Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs in July 2015.

At the time of NMU’s submission of the 2014 Systems Portfolio, our campus was coming to the end of its strategic plan, The Roadmap to 2015. Since that time, campus-wide efforts have been taking place to develop our core values, a five-year strategic plan, and a new mission and vision. With our new president and provost in place, efforts aimed at completing these tasks are currently underway and involve active participation from the entire NMU community.

Northern Michigan University Quality Highlights Report

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Actions Capitalizing on Systems Appraisal Feedback (2014) and AQIP Strategy Forum (2015)

Review of Criteria for Accreditation and Core Components: “Adequate but Could be Improved” Ratings

Core Component 1.A: The institution’s mission is broadly understood within the institution and guides its operations.

The continued development and completion of a new strategic plan was identified as a “high-priority” task by the NMU Board of Trustees when Dr. Fritz Erickson was hired as president of NMU. President Erickson quickly set upon the process of replacing the Road Map to 2015 with a new strategic plan. One of his guiding principles in defining the process was that of collective consensus and shared values. As President Erickson stated in a message to faculty and staff at the onset of the process, “We must have good consensus on what we believe collectively are our core values.”

While the timeline for the plan and delivery of new core values and ultimately a new strategic plan has been aggressive, there have been numerous opportunities for all stakeholders to provide feedback. Students, faculty, staff, senior leaders, alumni, and community members attended “listening sessions” facilitated by one faculty and one staff member. All of the sessions were attended by the president and members of his staff along with other senior leaders. As an example of the extent to which stakeholders were engaged, the president sent the first draft of the core values document to the entire faculty and staff in advance of his investiture ceremony where he intended to reveal the draft. At that time, he also announced his intentions to plan feedback sessions for the first draft, while providing faculty and staff an opportunity for immediate input directly to him via email. In addition to holding listening sessions, project drafts were circulated throughout the campus community and feedback was encouraged from all stakeholders.

Originally, a minimum of five listening sessions were planned with all faculty, staff, students, and community members invited, but ultimately additional sessions were held. Similar listening sessions were held for the university re-branding, core values, and strategic planning efforts. Facilitators reported their findings to senior leaders in various settings throughout campus.

Core Component 1.B: The mission is articulated publically.

A newly established campus-wide advisory group, the Strategic Planning and Budgeting Advisory Committee, recently provided a recommendation that a new mission and vision statement be drafted to replace the existing statements. The goal is to clarify the mission and vision statements within the context of the new university core values and reflect the priorities of current NMU students, faculty, staff, and alumni. This committee serves in an advisory capacity to the president and the senior leadership team regarding issues and opportunities related to the implementation of NMU’s strategic plan. All employee groups, collective bargaining units, staff, and students are represented by at least one member of the committee. NMU plans to have a new mission and vision statement available for review by the Board of Trustees no later than May 2017.

Under the leadership of NMU’s new president and provost, our current mission and vision statements and our new core values and strategic plan are considered and discussed as a matter of day-to-day


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business. For example, public meetings, campus-wide discussions, and any other decision-making processes require alignment with our mission, vision, core values, and strategic plan. Most leadership presentations to the Board of Trustees begin with a review of the mission and vision statements, the seven core values, and the strategic plan’s four focus areas and four strategic outcomes. Board of Trustees’ meetings are public meetings attended by university stakeholders and our local media. Additionally, many of the university’s internal grant application processes, such as the new Program Investment Fund (PIF) require information regarding how proposals tie directly to the mission or vision, core values, or university strategic plan. These internal grant programs require each proposal to include benchmarks and success indicators, which subsequently serve as support for the mission, vision, core values and strategic plan. In addition, AQIP Action Project declarations and annual assessment reports from academic programs and student support units all include information regarding alignment with core values of our campus.

Core Component 1.D: The institution’s mission demonstrates commitment to the public good.

The university acknowledges that our processes involving data analysis and decision-making lack a fully comprehensive, systematic university approach. Based on comments in our Systems Appraisal, NMU leadership chose to focus on Category 5: Leading and Communicating at our AQIP Strategy Forum. Leadership attendees discussed strategies to create a more systematic decision-making process which will serve our campus community. NMU leadership created the AQIP action project titled Transparency Project: Communication, Collaboration, Process and Procedure in University-Wide Decision-Making. One recommendation from the Transparency Project committee is that a specific process outlined by the committee be adopted by NMU leadership in instances where campus-wide initiatives are under consideration. Specifically, the committee has recommended that all change proposals need a communication, evaluation, and long-term maintenance plan prior to final approval. A guidebook and templates are in design to assist campus decision-makers in developing these plans.

The Transparency Project committee also began the process of launching an “Idea Forum” database where stakeholder suggestions will be posted for university-wide vetting while change proposals impacting more than a single department are under consideration. An additional requirement is an explanation of the decision’s relationship to the university mission, vision, core values, and strategic plan. These will serve for both public planning documentation and historical preservation of processes involved in the decision and its subsequent evaluation over time.

Core Component 2.A: The institution operates with integrity in its financial, academic, personnel, and auxiliary functions; it establishes and follows fair and ethical policies and processes for its governing board, administration, faculty, and staff.

Core Component 2.E: The institution ensures that faculty, students, and staff acquire, discover, and apply knowledge responsibly.

In response to areas identified as needing improvement in Category 4: Valuing People, as well as responding to federal requirements, NMU began investigating opportunities to improve processes in assigning and tracking employee participation in online training programs. Ultimately, the decision was made to utilize a third party vendor. The LawRoom, an on-line compliance training tool, offers several program options. NMU has chosen Intersections: Supervisor Anti-Harassment Program and Intersections: Preventing Discrimination and Harassment Program to be assigned to new supervisors and new employees, respectively. NMU’s sexual misconduct policy is embedded in both programs. Human


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Resources and Equal Opportunity are able to track participation and follow-up with employees who do not complete the programs. The LawRoom also is now being used to track participation in required HIPAA training for Human Resources and NMU Health Center. Health Center employees also participate in Bloodborne Pathogens training through the LawRoom. Human Resources is currently partnering with other departments who provide employee training, such as Public Safety, to determine if there are additional opportunities to leverage the LawRoom courses to track training participation and assessment of program learning objectives.

In addition, Human Resources recently piloted an ethics training program from the LawRoom, Tools for an Ethical Workplace, as a component of the new NMU supervisor training program, The Connected Leader. These online programs are highly interactive and require participants to respond to questions to reinforce the concepts learned. The new supervisor training program includes focused discussion on an ethical decision-making model, including strategies to incorporate NMU’s core values, mission, and vision into our decision-making processes. NMU policies that are also highlighted during the training include 1) Accepting or Granting Gratuities or Special Favors, 2) Computer Network Acceptable Use, 3) Conflicts of Interest, Policy, and Disclosure, 4) Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 5) Fraud Reporting, 6) Scientific Misconduct, and 7) Use of an Employee’s Association with the University for Financial Gain or for Private Interest.

The Connected Leader is an in-house custom training program for NMU leaders, with content based on feedback from the AQIP Action Projects, Developing Leadership Training and Succession Planning and the Transparency Project: Communication, Collaboration, Process and Procedure in University-Wide Decision-Making. Our goal is to have all supervisors participate in the program. There also are current plans to review opportunities to provide online ethics training to all current managers and employees.

Core Component 2.C: The governing board of the institution is sufficiently autonomous to make decisions in the best interest of the institution and to assure its integrity.

A central component of the NMU Board of Trustees’ annual retreat is taking the opportunity to determine what “focus discussion” topics are a high priority for Board members, the campus community, and the public to address in the upcoming year. These focus discussions are in-depth presentations which take place during the public sessions of Board meetings. Presenters are campus leaders, faculty, staff, and students who have the opportunity to lead in-depth discussions regarding the progress our campus is making in serving our community. Additionally, campus leaders can propose focus discussion topics for the Board to consider. Based upon these presentations and the discussions which follow, the Board sets direction for our campus in a manner which aligns with our core values, mission, vision, and strategic plan.

Core Component 3.D: The institution provides support for student learning and effective teaching.

The process by which NMU staff make referrals for student support services begins with the Academic and Career Advising Center (ACAC). ACAC advisers make referrals after meeting with students one-on-one. Student transcripts and placement scores are reviewed. Teaching faculty make referrals after communicating with students, reviewing academic progress and observing students in the classroom environment. Based upon the referrals from staff and faculty, students have access to several types of learning support programs. Students also have the ability to self-refer to receive services.


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NMU also conducts research on various student subpopulations to assess learning support needs. For example, the Office of Institutional Research recently conducted a study of Pell Grant recipients, students of color, and first-generation students. Data suggested that services for first-generation students needed to be enhanced and, therefore, the Dean of Students Office developed a first-generation program to better meet the needs of these students. Baseline data is being collected to determine the effectiveness of this new initiative. Additional projects designed to better understand the educational support needs of subpopulations of students are in development.

Each student support program submits an annual assessment report and plan. Both documents are reviewed by the Service Unit Assessment Committee and posted on NMU’s intranet.

Core Component 5.A: The institution’s resource base supports its current educational programs and its plans for maintaining and strengthening their quality in the future.

As part of the Transparency Action Project, a series of step-by-step guides that outline how change proposals are selected, developed, and funded was recently developed. The goal of these guidelines is to provide university stakeholders, as well as the general public, a detailed outline of the steps generally taken in NMU’s decision-making process. The series includes information on the steps for campus-wide general university decisions, as well as academic-related, financial, purchasing, personnel, space allocation, and construction and renovation decisions. This information has been added to the new “Decision-Making at NMU” website, another tool created as part of the Transparency Action Project. Most decisions develop from campus stakeholders, move to campus leaders through discussion, and then proceed to approval by the appropriate departmental committees or supervisors. Then, the proposal is taken to the next level, such as a college, or a division, for approval until it becomes an approved recommendation of the leader of the unit who approves its funding. Decisions that are broad-based and not designated to a department, college or division, are brought to the appropriate leadership group for vetting and recommendation. If the proposal is developed by campus leadership, the decision proposal goes to one or more of the appropriate leadership groups for consideration, and those group members are charged with sharing it with the campus stakeholders whom they represent.

Core Component 5.B: The institution’s governance and administrative structures promote effective leadership and support collaborative processes that enable the institution to fulfill its mission.

NMU leadership take the opportunity to share knowledge, skills, and best practices during university-wide forums. During the forum discussions, leadership and the campus community discuss a wide range of topics of interest to the campus community. In NMU’s recent past, forum discussions have been somewhat sporadic, with one forum being held in an entire academic year to having two to three in one semester. To remedy this lack of consistency in holding campus forums, the Transparency Project Committee has recommended that NMU leadership commit to holding a minimum of one university forum each fall and winter semester, and add more if needed. Currently, the president and vice presidents are following this schedule.

Other recent examples of NMU leadership sharing knowledge include the president and vice president attending a faculty and staff meeting for each academic department and several service departments to provide budget overview presentations and discussion. The provost and assistant provost visited each academic department during 2015-2016 and intend to follow up with each academic department again in 2016-2017. In addition, the president and vice presidents all provide information and updates on a monthly basis at President’s Council meetings and include the opportunity for questions and discussion.


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The president’s direct reports meet weekly to share leadership knowledge and to discuss topics relevant to our campus.

In winter 2016, the president created the new Strategic Planning and Budgeting Advisory Committee as a component of the new strategic plan. This committee will provide the president and vice presidents feedback and insight on major university strategic initiatives and budget issues. This committee has chosen to keep all of its meetings open and provide a galley area for campus community members who wish to observe the discussions.

Core Component 5.C: The institution engages in systematic and integrated planning.

Per the response to Core Component 5.B, many routinely scheduled opportunities exist for NMU’s leaders and campus community to engage in knowledge and idea sharing, including university-wide forums, Strategic Planning and Budgeting Advisory Committee meetings, “Let’s Chat” sessions with students (student-focused forums), and meetings between academic and service departments with NMU’s president, provost and vice presidents. Information, feedback, questions, and reaction generated from various engagement opportunities is brought to the appropriate leadership group. These groups are responsible for reviewing the extent to which a decision or change proposal aligns with the university’s mission, vision, and core values, and make decisions based upon that shared information.

One recent example of this process in motion includes NMU’s new “no-mow” areas. Based upon conversations with students interested in sustainability and environmental efforts on campus, a proposal was brought to the attention of campus leaders. The proposal addressed the possibility of creating “no-mow” areas throughout many parts of campus as an option to reduce the university’s carbon footprint and increase native plant growth on campus. Because this initiative aligned with NMU’s core value of Environment, a pilot project was put in place in summer 2016. Students and faculty worked with facilities staff to establish the no-mow areas, and with marketing and communication staff to develop signage to explain the no-mow areas to campus visitors.

A second example includes the development of a new residence hall complex where university leaders strategically offered opportunities for students to be involved in the project. This included student charette sessions attended by hundreds to give input on the design of the room types, desired gathering spaces, and interior design palettes. The university engaged in lengthy discussions with students and faculty regarding the protection and expansion of the Outdoor Learning Area despite having to relocate a portion of this area to accommodate the requirements of the construction site. Additionally, the university brought forward a proposal by the construction management faculty to create a formal agreement for construction management and other facility-related majors with the contracting company. Students in these programs have the opportunity to participate in actual planning, scheduling, and construction of the complex, giving students real-world, on-site experience on a major facility project prior to graduation.

Finally, the sharing of NMU’s wireless network across the Upper Peninsula fits the university mission as a regional comprehensive university, as well as the core values of Connections, Community and Opportunity. This is an example of simultaneous resource-sharing and strategic planning, and is the result of several years of feedback from on- and off-campus stakeholders regarding the limited high-speed wireless broadband access in much of the Upper Peninsula. Based on that input, NMU made the decision to provide LTE to every K-12 student in the Upper Peninsula as a part of the process of upgrading from WiMAX to LTE.


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Core Component 5.D: The institution works systematically to improve its performance.

Although results of NMU’s Systems Appraisal showed an “S” rating for both Systems Portfolio questions (7P2 and 7P4) associated with this core component, NMU has continued to invest in technology and information management systems. In addition, a campus-wide assessment Action Project will lead NMU’s efforts to coordinate and disseminate valuable information from our academic programs and service support areas on campus.

Review of Strategic Challenges

The 2014 Systems Appraisal identified the following four strategic challenges:

1. Performance results at NMU are often in the form of student satisfaction surveys and attendance records. More efficiency measures along the lines of processing time, response time, incidence reduction, and caseload per individual would help inform decision making.

NMU recognizes the fact that our campus has relied upon faculty, staff, and student satisfaction surveys and attendance records, especially in our Student Support areas of campus. However, in the last two years, there has been an effort made to move toward more sophisticated data collection techniques. The following are recent examples:

• NMU Help Desk has been investigating factors associated with specific types and rates of requests from stakeholders.

• Counseling and Consultative Services has targeted review of crisis resource materials with clients and is measuring awareness of services upon termination of services.

• Grants and Contracts is interested in activities leading to improved quality of submissions from NMU faculty and staff.

• The Center for Student Enrichment began assessing the developmental impact of international service experience by administering the Global Perspectives Inventory.

The adoption of an assessment management system is an objective in the current Action Project Integrating and Advancing Campus-Wide Assessment of Student Learning. It is expected that this system will enhance the ability of NMU’s student support units to focus their efforts on setting performance targets, collecting meaningful data, and establishing clear processes for improving upon unit activities. In addition, the assessment management system will provide NMU the opportunity to compare performance objectives between the support units on campus, an opportunity for improvement identified in the 2014 Systems Appraisal.

2. While NMU has discrete strengths in the area of technology and technology services, it is difficult to identify if their processes are systematic and comprehensive for measuring effectiveness. In this regard, NMU has an opportunity to better describe how technologies are integrated into actual decision-making and information gathering/analysis. In addition to addressing systems, utilizing data appropriately and performing meaningful analyses are vital.

3. NMU has made some process changes that have resulted in higher ratios of full-year equated students to the following: a) full time equivalent administrators, b) faculty and c) service personnel. These changes have resulted in reduced costs but it is unclear if they have resulted


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in improved services. Looking at trends, in terms of student satisfaction along with these productivity ratios, would confirm that NMU is achieving the overall goal.

NMU has been making progress toward addressing strategic challenges two and three. Technology and Decision-Making Results from the use of technology are systematically tracked, both from an asset management perspective as well as a user perspective. For example, every email, phone, or in-person request made to the NMU Help Desk is documented in two ways; the first being the specific issue requiring attention and the second is customer satisfaction with the service and equipment. The data for both is analyzed on a monthly basis to aid technical staff in identifying trends in technology use, success/failure rates, equipment issues, and customer relations. As opportunities for improvement are identified, they are discussed first by the technology staff, then by the Technology, Learning and Communication (TLC) Steering Committee, and if necessary, with the Vice President of Finance and Administration. All of the information plays an integral role in decisions made each spring related to technology equipment choices, service options, and financial planning for university-wide technology for the upcoming academic year. Technology that has been implemented for business operations and customer service is monitored systematically through monthly reporting to the Vice President of Finance and Administration. The comprehensiveness of NMU’s campus-wide technology program has helped to streamline business operations and many customer services. Where technology is used to enhance a university procedure or process, staff are asked to monitor efficiency and effectiveness and report results at regularly scheduled meetings with vice presidents and other divisional leaders. Technology that has been implemented solely for academic purposes may be the least formally monitored, as it is often a faculty member’s choice to use and measure effectiveness. However, the Center for Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) have engaged in some data collection and analysis of their initiatives regarding faculty technology use, especially faculty teaching and classroom needs when considering new technology devices. One new objective of the Office of Institutional Research is to improve upon stakeholder access to university data. The expected result is an increase in the use of data for campus-wide decision making purposes. An online self-serve fact book will provide institutional data in an easy-to-locate format. Additional analyses will be available and placed behind a login system allowing information utilized by specific user groups to further their decision-making processes. This process is expected to reduce inefficiencies and increase stakeholder satisfaction. Further, a reduction in stakeholder requests is expected to result in staff having more time for detailed analyses requests. Determining Success of Achieving Performance Goals The addition of a data analyst to the Office of Institutional Research will provide opportunities for detailed analyses to support continuous improvement efforts. For example, the new data analyst will be tasked with conducting one- and five-year alumni surveys designed to better understand the experiences and placement of our graduates. This information can be used at various levels throughout campus to better inform program development, program accreditation, and new student enrollment.


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Periodic training sessions also will be held to increase faculty and staff capacity to use existing tools such as Qualtrics survey design and analysis software.

4. Targets for performance at NMU are often vague or missing. Targets provided often involve qualitative goals, emphasize general improvement of performance, but clear benchmarks and specific quantitative goals are lacking especially in the areas of Planning Continuous Improvement and Building Collaborative Relationships. For most categories, NMU has an opportunity to answer I2 questions more fully, explaining in more detail how the institution’s culture and infrastructure are used to select specific processes and targets for improved performance.

Service Support Unit Targets Since October 2014, the Director of Institutional Accreditation and Assessment has been holding one-on-one meetings with service unit support staff. In addition, the Service Unit Assessment Committee has held at least one workshop per year for service unit assessment submitters. In both instances, the topics of setting targets and “closing the assessment loop” have been a high priority. As a result, there has been significant improvement in service unit assessment report and plan submissions in the last two years. Submitters are providing more details regarding the processes utilized to identify targets. In addition, performance goals are more clearly identified in report and plan submissions.

Building Collaborative Relationships An examination of the process used to create the Manufacturing Production Technician Certificate provides insight into the culture and infrastructure of how the university builds and maintains collaborative relationships. As a result of direct conversations between employers throughout the region and the Office of Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD), leaders in the manufacturing industry indicated a need for a short-term credential to help graduating high school students who had not planned to attend college and who know little about manufacturing to secure an entry-level position within their industry. Manufacturing representatives in the Upper Peninsula indicated that they were experiencing difficulty hiring interested individuals due to a “skills gap”. Representatives specifically asked for a short, quick, focused, and applied program that was based in assessment best practices. The president and provost assembled a group which included leaders of both credit and non-credit departments to discuss the best solution. The president added a requirement that the credential be “stackable” so that if students decided to return to college in the future, they would have credit for their earlier efforts.

The Director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD), working with the academic dean and department heads, reviewed several options and developed a one-semester program with existing classes from two departments and the addition of one new class, again based on expressed industry needs. This draft program was then “shopped” back to six manufacturers representing a broad and diverse group of companies in the Upper Peninsula. The academic dean and Director of CEWD met with Human Resources staff and leaders within the companies to discuss the program and receive their feedback on the proposed curriculum before moving the idea through the administrative processes required to launch new programs. A budget, marketing plan, and return on investment criteria were developed to help determine student break-even numbers and acceptable risk for the initial classes. The


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initial program ran in summer 2016 below minimums with only two students attending; however, results were positive. One student was paid to attend and was funded by an original “sponsor” company and the other was immediately employed upon graduation by another original participant. While companies see the continued need for this program, student interest is lacking; the reasons appear complex and difficult to measure. The program is being discussed with industry partners in the original location as well as a potential new location to determine future potential.

Invent@NMU, an entrepreneurial-focused program launched two years ago, provides NMU students with real-world experiences as they actively develop physical products from concept to market as a service for innovators, start-ups, and existing companies. Utilizing a five-step process, students enhance their classroom experiences and develop the innovative and entrepreneurial skills needed to design, engineer, manufacture, and bring physical products to market.

The Marquette SmartZone Satellite (Innovate Marquette) was created to assist in the accelerated creation and growth of technology-based businesses and jobs in Marquette County. Created in partnership with the Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation (MTEC), the Marquette SmartZone is designed to help facilitate the commercialization of technology ideas from inventors, researchers in university partners, and in private companies. Technology is mined from universities, with private enterprises assisting entrepreneurs and companies in building business structures around the technology, assisting in product development strategies, business development efforts, and helping early-stage companies secure necessary start-up funding.

Due to the culture of innovation at the university and within the community, the two programs were created almost simultaneously but through different organizational processes and stakeholders. Their missions and metrics differ, but the two organizations are complementary in that they assist individuals at different stages in their entrepreneurial experiences. After two years in existence, both organizations are examining the potential to become one, new organization which leverages both of the groups strengths. This is being done strategically as the university reviews its initial investment into the program and weighs the advantages and disadvantages of the merger based on initial metrics focused primarily on student experiences, and secondarily on having a positive local economic impact.

NMU Center for Native American Studies (CNAS) responds to tribal student needs in the areas of tribal health, wellness, and social services. In doing so, CNAS has relationships with several tribal and state agencies. In addition, CNAS has relationships with the five federally recognized tribal nations in the Upper Peninsula, all of whom have inherent rights of sovereignty and treaty rights protected by the U.S. Constitution. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa (SSMTC) are geographically situated closest to NMU, and therefore the CNAS works most frequently with these two tribes.

For nearly ten years, the CNAS has annually reported to KBIC tribal council. These reports may include, but are not limited to, community-based learning activities (e.g. class field trips to KBIC Department of Natural Resources), and culturally-inclusive programming and research projects (e.g. Decolonizing Diet Project). This relationship is considered a priority for the CNAS for multiple reasons: 1) a significant number of KBIC tribal citizens attend NMU; 2) the KBIC has granted 2% monies to the CNAS for enhanced learning and programming opportunities for over ten years; 3) KBIC oversees and operates the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College, the closet tribal community college to NMU; and 4) KBIC has trust land with forty residences within twenty minutes of the NMU campus.


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http://www.kbic-nsn.gov/

http://www.saulttribe.com/

In 2011, the NMU CNAS received two key endorsements by the Tribal Education Departments National Assembly (TEDNA) for an undergraduate certification in American Indian Education and for two Native American Studies courses that contribute to the Master’s program in Educational Administration: American Indian Education Administration and Supervision. TEDNA is the only national organization representing tribal sovereignty in education and serves as a link to tribal citizens seeking to obtain a degree in higher education.

Faculty of the CNAS have direct ties with the Michigan Indian Education Council (MIEC) with an associate professor of CNAS currently serving as president. The CNAS will host the 2017 MIEC annual Critical Issues in Indian Education Conference in March 2017 on NMU’s campus. MIEC is the only statewide organization representing American Indian students and American Indian issues in K-16 education and also provides direct ties to tribal citizens seeking to obtain a degree in higher education.

CNAS partnerships with tribal nations as well as state and federal agencies provide the CNAS with the opportunity to fulfill the mission of the CNAS, as well as the mission of the CNAS’s local, state and federal partners.

NMU Action Projects and Continuous Quality Improvement Efforts

NMU has become increasingly aware of the benefits that Action Projects bring to our quality improvement initiatives. In an effort to increase campus-wide awareness of the value of Action Projects and participation from the campus community, the Director of Institutional Accreditation and Assessment established a process whereby any stakeholder with internet access can now propose ideas for Action Projects. In addition, Action Project sponsors are invited to attend Accreditation Steering Committee meetings where Action Project ideas are vetted. Making the process transparent, inviting opinion and recommendations from our campus community, and following through with recommendations have resulted in Action Projects leading to more positive results for NMU. Examples of NMU’s current and most recent Action Projects are described below. A complete list can be found on the NMU AQIP web site.

Integrating and Advancing Campus-Wide Assessment of Student Learning

Although NMU received favorable responses in the 2014 Systems Appraisal regarding student learning assessment practices, the Director of Institutional Accreditation and Assessment assembled a team of two faculty members and one department head to attend the HLC Student Learning Assessment Workshop. The result of the workshop was the development of an Action Project which currently is underway. The Action Project team is interested in streamlining assessment practices across campus and making valuable assessment results more accessible to stakeholders.

Understanding and Addressing the Student Mental Health Needs of our Students

In an effort to respond to the mental health needs of our students, as well as the White House recommendation to review student mental health needs, NMU launched an Action Project designed to answer specific questions regarding the mental health of our students. Understanding that NMU is in a position to engage in “more meaningful” analyses of data (see strategic challenge #2), the Director of Counseling and Consultation Services will lead NMU’s participation in the Healthy Minds Study offered by the University of Michigan.


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http://www.nmu.edu/aqip/completed-action-projects

Enhancing Employee Retention and Engagement

Employee retention and engagement was identified as an area in need of improvement at NMU’s Strategy Forum. This project, led by NMU’s Human Resources, will address key programs and processes intended to support greater employee retention and engagement on campus. Specifically, the development and implementation of a new employee orientation and on-boarding process, an enhanced employee recognition and reward program, and revised performance evaluation processes for staff employees.

Transparency Project: Communication, Collaboration, Process and Procedure in University-Wide Decision-Making

Launched as a result of NMU’s participation in the Strategy Forum, “The Transparency Project” resulted in campus-wide discussion and participation regarding decision-making processes at NMU. A number of recommendations were proposed upon completion of the Action Project, several of which have been successfully incorporated into NMU’s policy; others are in development and moving toward implementation.

Library Instruction: Assessment of Student Learning, Persistence and Retention

The project was led by a faculty member from Lydia M. Olson Library who was interested in investigating the relationship between library instruction in English courses and various factors associated with persistence and retention. Results were reviewed as the library developed its strategic plan. Mindful of NMU’s need to perform “more sophisticated” analyses of data, (see strategic challenge #2) statistical analyses resulted in valuable information for library stakeholders.

Review of Strategy Forum Participation

In late 2014, shortly after our new president and acting provost assumed their positions, the NMU Strategy Forum team began its work to identify the most significant areas in need of improvement. Unanimously, the team chose to target Category 5: Leading and Communicating. Our new president and acting provost were interested in providing more transparency in decision-making processes and were supportive of the efforts discussed at the Strategy Forum. Central to our discussions at the Forum were AQIP reviewers’ comments made in NMU’s 2014 Systems Appraisal as well as comments from the 2010 Systems Appraisal which addressed a need to clearly identify how NMU’s mission guides day-to-day operations, how information is communicated between campus leaders and our NMU community, and how leadership knowledge is shared across campus. The Strategy Forum Team also identified a need to develop a mechanism for our campus community to share input with university leadership, an “idea forum” type of database to track communication from stakeholders. Upon returning to campus, an Acton Project declaration was completed and the “Transparency Project” was launched in June of 2015.

Review of Institutional Priorities The Division of Extended Learning and Community Engagement (ELCE)

In 2014, NMU’s president created the Division of Extended Learning and Community Engagement (ELCE). The new division was established to expand the reach and resources of the university beyond its main campus to meet the educational needs of the city, the region, and beyond. The areas involved in


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ELCE are distance education (online and off-campus education), dual and concurrent enrollment, continuing education and workforce development, community and alumni engagement, innovation and economic development, and the newly created College of Technical and Occupational Sciences.

Online Education

Consistent with its designation as one of the nation’s first “laptop campuses,” NMU has offered online courses for a number of years from academic departments across campus. Until recently, however, the vision, strategy, and implementation of online programming (credit and non-credit) has been unclear as online courses were developed sporadically and inconsistently across campus. Since 2014, ELCE has launched key initiatives designed to increase NMU’s online presence while simultaneously developing quality processes which meet the needs of our stakeholders.

The Educational Access Network (EAN)

In November 2016, the Educational Access Network (EAN) was launched to provide online learning opportunities for residents of the Upper Peninsula who cannot come to campus and who might not have access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet service. This unique program was developed in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission and the State of Michigan. The EAN provides online credit coursework through its newly developed Global Campus to Upper Peninsula residents who are interested in pursuing an academic credential. A service of low/no cost personal and professional development courses are available through the EAN for those interested. Finally, the EAN provides affordable educational wireless broadband service (NMU LTE) to those who engage in educational offerings. The NMU LTE allows students to access the internet (and their coursework) wirelessly from anywhere in the Upper Peninsula. For those residents who have limited internet service, the NMU LTE will provide much needed access to education content.

The Global Campus

In order to streamline processes, consolidate services, and more effectively serve online students, the NMU Global Campus was developed and launched in the fall of 2016. The Global Campus contains a virtual space for online students with systems and services tailored specifically for online students.

The Global Campus admissions process was developed from the ground up and is streamlined to provide a clear path to application. The Global Campus website provides students links to information about online courses and programs, financial aid, cost, online enrollment and orientation, and will soon have degree/transfer credit services, an online learning readiness instrument. Although the website also contains an enrollment guide, a “concierge” was added in October 2016 to help students through the application and enrollment process. Once students are admitted, academic advising is performed by the Academic and Career Advising Center and the academic department out of which the online program is sponsored.

When ELCE division was created, there were five online degree programs: Criminal Justice (Associate), Loss Prevention Management (Bachelor’s), Education (Master’s with five emphasis options), Public Administration (Master’s and certificate), and Clinical Molecular Genetics (Master’s). In the spring of 2016, a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice was added. Two additional online Bachelor’s degree programs, Applied Workforce Leadership and an RN to BSN program, are slated to be launched in fall


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2016. During that same period, while enrollment in online programs has remained relatively flat, overall online enrollment has increased modestly.

The Global Campus is currently staffed by a vice president, the online “concierge”, and an administrative support staff member. There are plans to add one additional staff member for marketing purposes before the end of the academic year.

Instructional Design

In order to maintain and improve the academic rigor of NMU’s online offerings, an internal Online Teaching Fellows initiative was developed in summer 2016. The purpose of the program is to develop faculty expertise in the design, development, and delivery of online courses in order to build and enhance online programs.

There are two laddered, intensive Teaching Fellows programs. Program One is a foundational program, covering basic instructional design principals. During the ten-week hybrid program, fifteen participants spend approximately sixty hours (twenty hours synchronous and forty hours asynchronous) completing the Applying the Quality Matters Rubric training. Participants develop a statement of strategy and philosophy for online teaching based on research within his or her discipline, create a partial course outline, build at least one full content module in the NMU Moodle-based learning management system (EduCat), and prepare to design and build an entire online course. Program Two is currently being offered and results in participants being prepared to provide guidance to members of their departments and provide course reviews. Participants also prepare a complete online course in Program Two.

Dual/Concurrent Enrollment

In response to the educational needs of Upper Peninsula school districts, NMU developed the Northern Promise in 2015. The Northern Promise is a series of programs that formalize and expand opportunities for high school students to begin to transition to college-level work before graduation. It consists of three major components: a dual enrollment program, a concurrent enrollment program, and a “middle college”. Although NMU dual enrollment opportunities have been available to local high schools for decades, concurrent enrollment opportunities were scarce. In spring 2015, NMU began formalizing and expanding the concurrent enrollment program following the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnership’s guidelines and will apply for accreditation in the future. In the past year, the Northern Promise concurrent enrollment program has grown exponentially from one high school with three courses and less than forty enrollees to seven high schools and over 200 enrollees projected for the 2016-17 academic year (139 students enrolled in fall 2016). The Middle College, which allows students to earn up to fifty university credits by staying for a fifth year of high school and engaging in dual and concurrent enrollment, was developed in conjunction with the Marquette Alger Regional Educational Service Agency and has existed for three years. Presently, there are forty-one students in the Middle College program.

NMU is mindful of the changes to the Higher Learning Commission guidelines on Determining Faculty Credentials and we will be applying for an extension to be fully compliant by 2020. On average, the Northern Promise concurrent enrollment program engages less than twelve high school instructors per year in the concurrent enrollment program, some of whom currently have faculty credentials. For those


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http://www.nmu.edu/ctl/online-teaching-fellows-initiative

http://www.nmu.edu/ctl/online-teaching-fellows-initiative

who do not, we are developing graduate certificates in the content areas in which we offer concurrent enrollment courses.

Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI)

Under the leadership of NMU’s inaugural Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, NMU will develop and implement a directed recruitment plan to broaden the university’s outreach to communities that have not been fully served by NMU. Per President Erickson’s Strategic Plan, NMU will seek to enroll 120 diverse domestic students within the next five years through its recruitment and retention initiatives. Initiatives include campus and site visits, as well as targeted, community-driven enrollment outreach activities designed to leverage NMU partnerships.

The ODI will continue hosting culturally relevant campus visits as well as supporting visits to diverse communities. For instance, the ODI and the Black Student Union coordinated BSU on Wheels in 2016. BSU on Wheels was designed to have students visit high schools in their home areas near Chicago and Detroit, and share their experiences with high school students. In this way, presence and visibility are established, relationships maintained, and trust earned in communities throughout the region.

The ODI plans to launch a community summer program which will support students in the transition from high school to college by establishing place-based, community-driven parental and student cohorts. The program will engage parents while enrolling degree-seeking students in NMU courses geared towards general education requirements during the summer immediately following high school graduation. Program courses will be offered as separate sections in the home community (e.g., Detroit, Chicago) and will overlap with summer orientation to help students prepare for their first semester at NMU. The program represents a place-based, community-driven launch into life as a college student designed to ease the transition to university life for underrepresented students, and it will leverage already existing initiatives on campus.

With a $299,941 grant from the National Science Foundation INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science), the Center for Native American Studies and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion will implement the Indigenous Women Working in the Sciences (IWWS); a two year pilot project, which will apply indigenous epistemologies and American Indian teaching methods within K-16 STEM education curricula and increase STEM educational opportunities for students. IWWS will host an American Indian Inclusive STEM Educators Summer Institute in which up to forty K-16 STEM educators will enroll in a Native American Studies course. The IWWS will also provide an American Indian Inclusive Summer Academy for up to ninety-six high school students, offering opportunities to expand their experience with inclusive STEM practices. IWWS will also provide American Indian and Alaska Native female high school students with educational mentors to create meaningful relationships as these students transition from high school to college.

Conclusion

NMU has been actively engaged in activities committed to strengthening our continuous improvement processes campus-wide and throughout our local and regional communities. Guided by our seven core values and our mission and vision, we look forward to improving upon the gains we have made and strengthening our ability to serve our stakeholders. We look forward to the opportunity to provide further details during our Comprehensive Quality Review.


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Links to institutional documents

1. Student Handbook: https://www.nmu.edu/dso/studenthandbook 2. 2016-2017 Undergraduate Bulletin: http://www.nmu.edu/bulletin1617/ 3. 2016-2017 Graduate Bulletin: https://www.nmu.edu/gradbulletin1617/ 4. Non-Represented Employee Handbook: http://www.nmu.edu/policies?p=1047&type=Policy 5. Collective Bargaining Contracts: https://www.nmu.edu/hr/contracts


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https://www.nmu.edu/dso/studenthandbook

http://www.nmu.edu/bulletin1617/

https://www.nmu.edu/gradbulletin1617/

http://www.nmu.edu/policies?p=1047&type=Policy

https://www.nmu.edu/hr/contracts

quality highlights report

Documents