Self-Evaluation Report Standard
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Year Three Self-Evaluation Report Prepared for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Submitted March 1, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Institutional Overview................................................................................................................. 1 Basic Institutional Data Form...................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13 Preface........................................................................................................................................ 14 A. Update on Institutional Changes Since the Last Full Report ................................. 14 B. Response to Topics Requested by the Commission................................................. 18 Chapter One: Mission, Core Themes, and Expectations......................................................... 19 Executive Summary of Eligibility Requirements 2 and 3 ............................................ 19 Standard 1.A Institutional Mission .............................................................................. 22 Mission Statement.............................................................................................. 22 Interpretation of Mission Fulfillment ............................................................... 23 Acceptable Threshold, Extent, or Degree of Mission Fulfillment.................... 23 Standard 1.B Core Themes ............................................................................................ 24 Core Theme #1: Providing the teaching and mentoring and supporting the learning and intellectual growth that are the heart of excellent undergraduate education....................................... 26 Core Theme #2: Preparing future leaders, scholars, and teachers through graduate and professional education.................................... 27 Core Theme #3: Shaping the future through research and artistic creation. 28 Core Theme #4: Providing service to society and humankind........................ 29 Chapter Two: Resources and Capacity.................................................................................... 31 Executive Summary of Eligibility Requirements 4 through 21.................................... 31 Standard 2.A Governance.............................................................................................. 37 Standard 2.B Human Resources.................................................................................... 61 Standard 2.C Education Resources ............................................................................... 64 Standard 2.D Student Support Resources..................................................................... 80 Standard 2.E Library and Information Resources....................................................... 121 Standard 2.F Financial Resources............................................................................... 123 Standard 2.G Physical and Technological Infrastructure .......................................... 127 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 133 Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 134 Organization Charts ..................................................................................................... 134 Letter from Interim President Berdahl........................................................................ 136 Student Orientation Programs..................................................................................... 137 Classroom Construction Project Summaries............................................................... 144 Contributors ................................................................................................................. 149 INSTITUTIONAL OVERVIEW The University of Oregon opened its doors in 1876 on 17 acres with two trees, a single building, five faculty members and 155 students. The university has come far. Now more than 4,000 trees shade the current 295-acre campus, which holds more than 60 major buildings. The UO is now the Oregon University System's flagship research university. The network of seven public universities also includes Oregon State, Portland State, Eastern Oregon, Southern Oregon and Western Oregon universities, and the Oregon Institute of Technology. The University of Oregon is a world-class public teaching and research university that offers tremendous breadth and depth in liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional programs. Students, faculty members and employees from a wide variety of backgrounds share a commitment to preserving the environment and pursuing innovation in nearly 300 comprehensive academic programs that range from Eugene to Portland and from the coast to the mountains. Its UO in Portland, in the historic White Stag building, gives the state's students and professionals hands-on opportunities in subjects including journalism, architecture, digital arts, product design, and law. The Museum of Natural and Cultural History is Oregon’s primary repository for anthropological and paleontological collections and enhances knowledge and encourages stewardship of human and natural history through research, preservation, and education. The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art supports UO’s academic mission and the diverse interests of its off-campus communities by providing a destination for discovery and education centered on artistic expression. The UO's Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, in the coastal town of Charleston, is a living classroom where small numbers of undergraduate and graduate students in biology, marine biology, general science, and environmental science study marine organisms in their natural habitats. And the university's Pine Mountain Observatory, perched at an elevation of 6,300 feet on a remote Central Oregon mountaintop, makes the most of the high desert's dark skies while providing basic and advanced scientific research opportunities. The UO is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Doctoral/Very High Research Activity" in the most recent Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The university was admitted in 1969 into the exclusive membership of the Association of American Universities, an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. The UO is among 62 AAU universities, both public and private, and one of just two in the Pacific Northwest. The quality of the UO's research and teaching is similar to that of its fellow AAU members, but its character is distinctly different: smaller, with a more intimate educational experience and a research profile that has always been highly multidisciplinary. The UO has the oldest four-year honors college in the nation. The university's academic programs are organized into eight degree-granting schools and colleges: the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, School of Law, Lundquist College of Business, School of Journalism and Communication, School of Music and Dance, and Graduate School. 1 The UO is particularly strong in the sciences (biology, chemistry, physics and geoscience), along with the neurosciences, cognitive sciences, materials, education and education research, sustainable architecture, journalism, entrepreneurship and sports business, environmental law, and East Asian languages and literatures. The university is well known for interdisciplinary programs such as environmental studies and comparative literature. Our university's outstanding national reputation continues on its upward trajectory. In the past year, the UO has been named one of Forbes Magazine's 100 best research universities, one of Kiplinger's 100 best values in public colleges and was listed among the top 8 percent of national universities according to U.S. News and World Reports. The two most recent freshman classes at the UO were the most academically prepared in the institution's history. Its current freshman class has a record number of 402 international students, illustrating the international appeal of the UO campus, and this year's is overall more diverse than any previous class. Total enrollment has reached nearly 25,000 students, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories and more than 85 countries. Seven Oregon governors are UO alumni, as are two Nobel laureates and nine Pulitzer Prize winners. 2 NORTHWEST COMMISSION ON COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES BASIC INSTITUTIONAL DATA FORM Information and data provided in the institutional self-evaluation are usually for the academic and fiscal year preceding the year of the evaluation committee visit. The purpose of this form is to provide Commissioners and evaluators with current data for the year of the visit. After the self-evaluation report has been finalized, complete this form to ensure the information is current for the time of the evaluation committee visit. Please provide a completed copy of this form with each copy of the self-evaluation report sent to the Commission office and to each evaluator. To enable consistency of reporting, please refer to the glossary in the 2003 Accreditation Handbook for definitions