Collegiate Structures Initiative Gains More Ground In April

There were several key developments in April as the Collegiate Structures Initiative moved forward full steam.

A university-wide committee was first charged in fall 2001 with evaluating UC’s collegiate structure and with examining how UC could better serve undergraduate students. In a January 2003 letter of review, Provost Anthony J. Perzigian explained the top priority of the initiative was to “make the University of Cincinnati more responsive to all of our students—the under prepared and the well prepared, the evening and daytime students, the undecided and the honors, the traditional and the nontraditional—and to help all of those students succeed.”

The resulting proposal led to the most comprehensive reorganization of UC’s colleges and academic programs in nearly a century and was first announced last May.

As the initiative moved forward, the College of Evening and Continuing Education was closed, with programs moving to other colleges where they could be better supported and coordinated, explained Perzigian. In January, a task force report recommended the creation of a new continuing education and outreach unit to provide non-credit, lifelong learning enrichment courses and to serve as a gateway to the community. The task force also recommended that courses that provided college credit for nontraditional students should be offered by related colleges, in addition to non-credit programs that provide professional development opportunities. An interim director was named to the unit in March -- Linda Cain, associate provost and interim director of continuing education.

In February, the Center for Exploratory Studies opened in the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences to address the needs of undeclared students. Tara Stopfel was named director of the center, which is located in Room 149, McMicken Hall.

An April open house drew visitors to the new Adult Learning Center in Room 2441 French Hall-West. The center assists nontraditional students who have not declared a degree program. Brenda LeMaster was named interim director last September.

Also in April, a report was issued from the Summer Session Task Force, charged by the provost with developing a plan to better coordinate and manage summer session to serve the learning needs of students. Among those recommendations were that summer courses would be administered by their colleges and overseen by the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost for Baccalaureate and Graduate Education. Under the pilot program, courses will be taught on a contingency basis, resulting in more efficient funding. The report stated that performance-based incentive summer programs for colleges will actually lead to savings over the former summer sessions that had a regular budget.

Another development in April came from a committee that reported on the Collegiate Structures Initiative in relation to the mission of University College and its articulation with the baccalaureate colleges. When the university-wide reorganization was first launched last spring, the provost announced that one of the key goals of the initiative was to make University College the gateway for under prepared students with the mission to provide support for their pathway to academic success. “The other goal is to have similar programs administered in fewer places so that we can better oversee, better coordinate and better support these programs,” said Perzigian.

The Collegiate Structures Initiative Committee concentrated on two areas: building pathways for University College students to transfer to the baccalaureate colleges and creating links between U-College’s technical programs and related programs in the baccalaureate colleges.

Multi-college partnerships were recommended to achieve these goals. Individual transition teams representing specific programs of study in the baccalaureate colleges and corresponding programs at U-College would work together on creating these pathways, keeping in mind the needs of under-prepared students. Baccalaureate programs would develop clear descriptions, requirements and skills necessary to graduate. University College would take the lead in helping under-prepared students build their skills to successfully transfer to a bachelor’s degree program. Academic advising would be coordinated between University College and the baccalaureate programs. A retreat to further examine this goal of the initiative is planned for May.

Teams with representatives from the seven technical programs at University College and the corresponding programs in the baccalaureate colleges are considering whether some of the technical programs would be a better fit if moved into corresponding baccalaureate colleges. The teams are expected to issue recommendations to the Provost and Collegiate Structures Initiative Committee by the end of spring quarter.

The Collegiate Structures Initiative Committee report also recommended the formation of a subcommittee to examine the development of preparatory programs and services that will build on the mission of University College in supporting under-prepared students, including what identifies a student as “under prepared.”  The subcommittee will also explore the expansion of U College programs into K-12 education.

Collegiate Structures Initiative Milestones

• Fall 2001: Collegiate Structures Committee begins study of the organization of undergraduate education on the Clifton campus
• March 2002: Collegiate Structures Committee issues final report to the provost
• May 2002: Comprehensive reorganization formally announced
• June 2002: College of Evening and Continuing Education is closed. Programs are moved to other colleges where they can be better supported and coordinated.
• September 2002: Interim director named for the new Adult Learning Center
• January 2003: Report of the Continuing Education Task Force
• February 2003: Opening of the Center for Exploratory Studies
• March 2003: Interim director named to continuing education
• April 2003: Report from the Summer Session Task Force
• April 2003: Collegiate Structures Initiative Committee Report