1	In the Loop: Self-Study Team and Campus Communication Strategies John Adams, John Benson, David Crouse & Mary Helms University of Nebraska Medical Center Higher Learning Commission April 1, 2006
2	Session Objectives Self-study communications strategies Promoting team communication and collaboration Informing the campus community Learning from faculty, staff and students
3	What Are You Planning (Doing)? How will you keep the entire self-study team up to date? How will you tell the campus community about your work? How will you learn what faculty, staff and students think about the self-study criteria?
4	University of Nebraska Medical Center State-wide, public academic health science center Medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health and graduate programs Extensive research and patient care 3,000 students 900 faculty and 3,200 staff $416 million operating budget
5	OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLE UNMC will benefit from its self-study for the NCA We will: Become even more learning-centered Enhance our quality indicators Strengthen strategic planning Deepen our understanding of ourselves Expand institutional data sets and analysis Achieve re-accreditation with no qualifications
6	UNMC’s Self-Study Team Coordinator Executive Committee – 4 Steering Committee – 17 Task Forces – 7 with 89 members Data, IT and Communications teams Professional writer, editor, graphic artist and support staff
7	Team Communications Executive Committee – meets “weekly”, minutes, email, collective decisions (trust & confidence) Steering Committee – meets monthly, minutes, scheduling, reports, strategy decisions Task forces – lots of variations Teams – face-to-face and virtual meetings
8	Blackboard® High Expectations Team communications and collaboration Task force work areas Evidence folders Actual Practice Mailing lists & document storage Minimal discussion
9	Informing the Campus UNMC Today articles Website Reports to Chancellor’s Council and Chancellor’s staff meetings Open forum – Dr. Appleson’s visit Faculty, staff and student opinion surveys re: Self-Study Criteria Reports to Faculty Senate
10	NCA-HLC Website Reaccreditation Process Reaccreditation home Criteria for accreditation Data resources room Committees Task forces and teams Vision, mission and values
11	NCA-HLC Website Reaccreditation Process Frequently asked questions Timeline In the news Contact us Higher Learning Commission North Central Association
12	Surveys Faculty, staff and student surveys 23 opinion questions re: Self-Study Criteria and demographics Independent (professional) design, administration, analysis and reporting Self-Study team use of findings Reports to campus and leadership
13	Examples of Survey Questions Criterion 1 – Mission and Integrity: The organization operates with integrity to ensure the fulfillment of its mission through structures and processes that involve the board, administration, faculty, staff and students 1. UNMC’s mission is clear.
14	Examples of Survey Questions 2. The UNMC mission statement recognizes the diversity of its learners, other constituencies and the greater society it serves. 3. UNMC’s internal decision-making processes promote participation and support collaboration that enables my unit to fulfill its mission. Possible responses to questions: strongly agree; (2) agree; (3); neither disagree nor agree; (4) disagree; (5) strongly disagree
15	Survey Response Rates Faculty – 77.4% Staff – 70% Students – 60.8%
16	Survey Results – So What? Include results in Self-Study Share with faculty, staff and students Inform campus and unit leaders and encourage leaders to respond UNMC will celebrate 11 strengths UNMC will follow-up on 6 items that did not meet our expectations of ourselves
17	What We’ve Learned Establish and communicate your guiding principles: Why complete a Self-Study? Learn from others, customize and expect surprises Be clear about expectations and accept differences in task force/team execution Keep the leadership and campus informed Think about how you’ll use survey results Produce ongoing products and benefits
18	What We’ve Learned Stay Engaged with your CEO What they expect What role they’ll play UNMC’s Chancellor Boundless energy Driven to excel Very accessible
19	Where to Find Us UNMC Accreditation home page: http://www.unmc.edu/nca/ Self-Study Team Executive Committee jadams@unmc.edu jabenson@unmc.edu dcrouse@unmc.edu mhelms@unmc.edu
20	Discussion What’s working for your team? How are you informing your campus? What are your challenges? Where do we start? Anybody solve the “survey dilemma” – what do you do with what you’ve learned?