DOCUMENT RESUME Southwest Virginia Community College Self-Study Report, INSTITUTION Southwest Virginia Community Coll., Richland
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 433 872 JC 990 586 TITLE Southwest Virginia Community College Self-Study Report, 1993-1995. INSTITUTION Southwest Virginia Community Coll., Richlands, VA. SPONS AGENCY Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Atlanta, GA. Commission on Colleges. PUB DATE 1995-00-00 NOTE 350p. PUB TYPE Reports Research (143) EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PC14 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Accreditation (Institutions); *Accrediting Agencies; Community Colleges; Evaluation Criteria; *Institutional Research; Planning; *Reports; *School Effectiveness; Self Evaluation (Groups); Two Year Colleges IDENTIFIERS Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; Southwest Virginia Community College ABSTRACT Southwest Virginia Community College (SVCC) developed this report in order to improve its effectiveness as an institution and to reaffirmation its accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. To achieve these goals the college attempted to (1) develop greater consensus in the college community about the future of the college; (2) evaluate every aspect of the college's operations;(3) investigate progress on planning priorities;(4) identify strengths and weaknesses of the institution; and (5) produce a report that is useful to the Reaffirmation Committee. The report is divided into the following sections: principles and philosophy of accreditation, institutional purpose, institutional effectiveness, instructional program, educational support services, and administrative resources. The educational program section includes categories on faculty and instruction. The educational support services section includes categories on learning resources, educational support services, and student development services. The administrative resources section includes categories on administrative processed, financial resources and physical resources. A conclusion and a set of recommendations, suggestions and proposals follow each major section. The report summarizes the findings of 2 years of data acquisition and analysis and presents action plans for future success. Contains 30 tables and 18 figures. (RDG) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** (NI 00 7r S PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND EDUCATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS U.S. DEPARTMENT OFand Improvement Office of Educational Research BEEN GRANTED BY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) reproduced as C. King By This document has been received from the person ororganization originating it. Minor changes have beenmade to improve reproduction quality. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) stated in this 1 Points of view or opinions document do not necessarilyrepresent official OERI position orpolicy. Self-Study Report 1 9 9 3-1 995 Submitted to the Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools 0- by It Southwest Virginia Community College Richlands, Virginia 1995 BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 INTRODUCTION ID 1993-1995 SELF-STUDY REPORT In the late 1960's, the Commonwealth of Virginia established a system of community colleges designed for accessibility by all its residents. From the beginning of the Virginia Community College System, the State Board for Community Colleges created comprehensive institutions that included transfer and occupational-technical programs as we!! as developmental course work. In 1967 county officials appointed a Local College Board for Southwest Virginia Community College (SVCC). In the fall of 1968 SVCC opened with an enrollment of 710 students, and in the fall of 1994 enrolled 4,785. The College is located in Tazewell County on Route 19 where Tazewell and Russell counties join. In addition to these two counties, Buchanan and a section of Dickenson form SVCC's designated service area. Southwest Virginia historically has been dependent on the coal industry. Through the 1980s. technological advances led to stable coal production with shrinking labor requirements. Since 1990, demand, prices, and production have also dropped, and mines are closing. In 1994 alone over 600 southwest Virginia miners lost their jobs. Agriculture, trades, government, light manufacturing, and the service sectors of the economy are growing, but the region's almost a exclusive orientation to the coal industry has meant that diversifying and stabilizing the economy have been very slow. Between 1980 and 1990, the four-county area lost 12 percent of its population (from 140,067 to 123,580). In general, all four counties have experienced double-digit unemployment for the past four years, two to three times that of Virginia's average. While the projected 1995 median household income for the Commonwealth of Virginia is $40,203, it stands at $22,780 In the four-county SVCC service area. As might be expected, 22 percent of the region's population lives below the poverty level. The population is aging, and school-age populations are on the decline. The terrain of SVCc's service region varies from mountains over 4,700 feet of elevation to rolling valleys below. The College is located on and around a hill with mountains completely encircling it. Four-lane highways provide access to some of the region, but a two-hour drive is required from remoteareasof the counties to SVCC's campus. Consequently, the College has routinely offered courses in the evenings at public schools and other off-campus sites, and the counties have provided bus service to Increase access. In more recent years, SVCC has added video telecourses and interactive video classes toitsdistance education capabilities. I The College is no doubt making an impact on the education of area citizens. In the tourcounty area, the percentage of the population over age 25 that had some college credits grew .87 of a percent between 1960 and 1970, but between 1970 and 1980, the percent was 2.48, and bet/Veen 1980 and 1990, the percent almost doubled from 8.08 to 16.09. Statewide,SVCC serves a greater percentage of its population than any other community college, a record WCC has achieved each year for the past decade. Itis against such a background that Souihwest Virginia Community College launched the formai processes for the 1993-95 Self-Study. Recognizing the importance of giving more systematic attention to institutional effectiveness, the College had worked for nearly five years to establish planning and evaluation processes to promote a continuous quest for improvement in the face of the region's challenges. In the fall of 1992. as plans were being made for the Self-Study, assessmentof student learning, annual operational planning, and college-wide long-range planning were fully operational. In order to provide continuity with institutional effectiveness efforts, the Steering Committee of the College's Planning Council became the Steering Committee for the Self-Study in February 1993. In the months that followed, the Steering Committee mobilized much of the campus community to participate in the self-study process. To conduct the required research and write up findings and analyses, the Steering Committee appointed committees composed of administration, faculty, and staff. A Data Collection and Processing Committee provided these committees assistance with surveys and other research needs. A member of the Steering Committee served as a liaison with each committee. Students, part-time faculty and staff, and Local Board members were involved primarily through self-study surveys. A Special Arrangements Committee began its work in October 1994 to make local preparations for the Visiting Committee. The Steering Committee invited final campus- wide reaction to the self-study report in November 1994. Through January and February 1995, the Assistant to the Editor merged committee reports into a coherent format and worked with the Editor and others to make final changes. SVCC Staff Services personnel printed the self-study report in early March 1995. 2 Introduction to Self-Study 4 The College's purpose in undertaking the institutional self- study process was to improve its effectiveness as an educational institution and to achieve reaffirmation of its accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In order to achieve this purpose, SVCC attempted: to develop a fuller sense of consensus in the college community about the future of SVCC by mobilizing full- time and part-time employees to conduct a thorough study of the College. to evaluate every aspect of the College's operations, addressing all criteria that define acceptable practice for member institutions of the Commission on Colleges. to investigate SVCC's progress on planning priorities and basic fulfillment of purpose. to identify strengths and weaknesses of the institution and to ensure that action plans are created and carried out by appropriate personnel to address weaknesses and enhance strengths. to produce a report that is useful to the Reaffirmation Committee for its visit to the College and useful to the College to facilitate planning and improvement for the future. As a critical part of their work, committees sought to identify any problem related to their assignment in the Criteria. In addition, as each self-study committee organized its efforts, the Steering Committee emphasized that care should be taken to go beyond an investigation of SVCC's compliance with the Criteria. As such challenges were identified, the committees