Along with the ratification of the 16th Amendment and the first crossword puzzle, the year 1913 brought about Ohio University's first university-wide accreditation.
The North Central Association (NCA), which accredits universities in 19 states, sent a committee to OU last week to evaluate the entire university as part of a checkup, which occurs every seven years.
The checkup, the first for OU since switching to the Academic Quality Improvement Program from another NCA accreditation program, will decide whether or not to reaccredit OU. During the visit, the committee discussed the benefits of OU continuing AQIP, which requires universities to create self-improvement projects.
AQIP allows OU to actively evaluate itself rather than look into the past for ways to improve, said Martin Tuck, associate provost for Academic Affairs. -
strengthening graduate education diversity national prominence
Tuck said. What we're trying to do is craft our AQIP action projects to achieve those goals.
As part of the project, OU merged its Vision Ohio Steering Committee with the AQIP advisory group, which consists ofOU faculty and administrators, Tuck said. The new committee will recommend specific goals for OU to work on as well as select AQIP projects.
The (project) maybe does not fit neatly into a Vision Ohio goal
but if we want to continue with AQIP and if we want AQIP to be a success for us
we've got to figure out a way to integrate it with the strategic plan
said Tuck, adding that OU wants the strategic plan to drive its AQIP projects.
The second project, which began in January 2007, will examine OU's tiered general education system and
recommend improvements.
OU created a committee to recommend general-education changes. The project update OU submitted to AQIP did not detail suggestions made by the committee but listed standardized testing, alumni surveys and student interviews as methods of assessing general education.
University Curriculum Council will approve any changes to general education.
The third project, which strengthens the graduate program and increases national prominence, allows OU to more effectively evaluate and fund select graduate research programs, Tuck said.
The provost appointed the Graduate Education and Research Board to manage graduate program evaluations and review graduate applications for funding, which is redistributed from the university budget.
The projected completion date for both projects is January 1, 2009.
Action projects are very much the baby steps in helping you achieve your long-term goals
said Tuck. They have to be very narrowly focused and completed in a short period of time.
Kent State University and Eastern Michigan University are the only other Mid-American Conference schools that participate in AQIP.-
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