q how nothing matters much unless quality matters a lot

Q

How Nothing Matters MuchUnless Quality Matters a Lot

OR

Academicallyadroit

At

My Losing Battle

1980 “Quality is a noun, not an adjective. You can have a program of high quality, but you can’t have a ‘quality program.’”

My Losing Battle

1980 “Quality is a noun, not an adjective. You can have a program of high quality, but you can’t have a ‘quality program.’”

1990 Quality CircleQuality ManagementQuality TimeQuality ControlQuality Assurance

What better authority?

• “The [Washington] Post is a quality newspaper.” (1917) Washington Post

• “Britain’s biggest selling daily quality paper” Guardian (2006)

Winning by Losing

2000 “Let’s develop a quality curriculum.”

Qualiflower

QUALIBEAR

A QUALA BEVERAGE

YOUR TURN

Off the top of your head, what does exceptional quality in higher education look like?

YOUR TURN

Off the top of your head, what does exceptional quality in higher education look like?

An image

YOUR TURN

Off the top of your head, what does exceptional quality in higher education look like?

An imageAn individual

YOUR TURN

Off the top of your head, what does exceptional quality in higher education look like?

An imageAn individualAn experience

YOUR TURN

Off the top of your head, what does exceptional quality in higher education look like?

An imageAn individualAn experienceA principle

Any qualms so far?

So—is there an issue?

Changing contexts in higher education

At SDSU, you’re getting there faster

College Students

YESTERDAY• College populations: men

(and a few “coeds”) from well-to-do families

• Traditional age: 18-22• Residential predominantly• Usually a commitment to a

single institution• Very limited diversity

College Students

YESTERDAY• College populations: men

(and a few “coeds”) from well-to-do families

• Traditional age: 18-22• Residential predominantly• Usually a commitment to a

single institution• Very limited diversity

TODAY• More women than men• Many non-traditional

students– Older– More responsibilities– Often part-time– Usually commuting– Often highly mobile

• Increasing diversity

College Students TOMORROW

• Even fewer traditional (18-22) students• More students of color (by 2020, 46%)• More low income students• More first-generation college students• More nonnative students for whom English is a

second language• More mobile students, with less institutional loyalty• More part-time students• More students studying through distance education

Our Competition

• Continued growth in for-profit academic competitors

• Expansion of (narrowly) career-focused competitors

• Sustained increase in online learning– Students choosing online learning instead of– Students choosing online learning in addition to

• Introduction of surrogate credentials

And now, MOOCs . . .

Perhaps the most rapidly developing and far reaching change in the higher education landscape is the emergence of online courses, open (so far) to all, without (so far) tuition charges or credit. They are usually taught by a world-renowned expert in a field to tens of thousands of students of all ages and nationalities.

–W. Robert Connor, November 27, 2012

Perhaps worth keeping in mind . . . .

Higher Employer Expectations

• 91% are “asking employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past”

• 90% say that their “employees are expected to work harder to coordinate with other departments than in the past.”

• 88% say that “the challenges their employees face are more complex than they were in the past.”

• 88% agree that “to succeed in their companies, employees need higher levels of learning and knowledge than they did in the past”

“Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn”

(AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2010)

YOUR TURN

Are there other internal factors influencing the direction of undergraduate and graduate education at SDSU?

E.g.Better (or worse) preparedness of entering students?Better (or worse) student motivation?More (or less) narrow pragmatism?

Changing contexts for curricular discussions

Same Coin, Two Sides

Applied Curricula Should Be More Liberal

“I hear frequently from technical schools . . . that their students need a broader and more multi-faceted education.”

• Carol Geary SchneiderPresident, AAC&U, November 28, 2012

Liberal Curricula Should Be More Applied

“The drumbeat to bring applied learning into the liberal arts degrees grows ever louder.”

• Carol Geary SchneiderPresident, AAC&U, November 28, 2012

Other contexts

Having to do more with less?Legislative mandates?Changes in accreditation?

YOUR TURN

Are there other external factors influencing the direction of undergraduate and graduate education at SDSU?

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change• AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change• AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes• The “Tuning” Process

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change• AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes• The “Tuning” Process• System reforms and initiatives

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change• AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes• The “Tuning” Process• System reforms and initiatives• Changes in accreditation

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change• AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes• The “Tuning” Process• System reforms and initiatives• Changes in accreditation• Heightened emphasis on assessment

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change• AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes• The “Tuning” Process• System reforms and initiatives• Changes in accreditation• Heightened emphasis on assessment• And the Degree Qualifications Profile

Is there ANYTHINGthat ties EVERYTHING

together?

A commitment to quality

So . . .

The DQP?

It’s not

A Dairy Queen Parfait

It’s not

A Dan Quayle Potatoe

It’s not

A Daily Quorum Protocol

The Degree Qualifications Profile

What is it?An effort to define in explicit terms what degrees should mean, irrespective of disciplineWho’s responsible?(1) Higher education(2) Four drafters(3) Lumina Foundation for Education

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Assumptions behind the Profile

• The Profile should “describe concretely what is meant by each of the degrees addressed.”

• The Profile should “illustrate how students should be expected to perform at progressively more challenging levels.”

• The outcomes expressed in the Profile should be summative—and should be approachable by multiple paths

• The outcomes should be illustrative, as no profile can be comprehensive

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Organization of the Profile

Five areas of learning• Integrative Knowledge• Specialized Knowledge• Intellectual Skills• Applied Learning• Civic Learningshown as interrelated, not discrete

Why is there a DQP?

Prompts for the Profile 1

• An increased emphasis on accountability – Declining state support, rising tuition– Student loan defaults

• A corresponding emphasis on assessment– An increasing priority on the part of accreditors– Rise of “performance funding”

Prompts for the Profile 2

• Europe’s “Bologna Process”– A coordinated effort to secure European

ascendency through higher education reform– An “accountability loop” assuming European and

national learning outcomes frameworks• Strong examples of learning outcomes

frameworks (UK, Scandinavia, Australia)

Prompts for the Profile 3

Degree completion goals in the US– President Obama’s declared intent to

restore US leadership in the percentage of citizens with college degrees

– Lumina Foundation’s 20/25 goal: to increase the percentage of Americans with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by the year 2025

Prompts for the Profile 4

– Arum/Roksa: Academically Adrift– Derek Bok, Our Underachieving Colleges– Employer reports of graduates’

inadequacies– Faculty members’ impressions

concerning student skills

Prompts for the Profile 5

• Policy makers increasingly critical of higher education—and inclined to intrude– Spellings Commission recommendations– Department of Education concerns about

accreditation– NACIQI recommendations

• Approaching debate regarding reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (2013-14)

Behind the DQP, 3 Principles

1 Higher education must tell its story more effectively—or others may write our story for us

2 Increasing the number of degrees awarded is meaningless unless there is a guarantee of quality

3 A degree qualifications profile should address these concerns in ways that institutions, faculty members, students, and many others can USE

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What a Profile Is Intended To Do Offer reference points for students, faculty,

advisors, accreditation

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What a Profile Is Intended To Do Offer reference points for students, faculty,

advisors, accreditation Create expectation for a curriculum that is

clearly intentional, coherent, cumulative

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What a Profile Is Intended To Do Offer reference points for students, faculty,

advisors, accreditation Create expectation for a curriculum that is

clearly intentional, coherent, cumulative Encourage assessment

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What a Profile Is Intended To Do Offer reference points for students, faculty,

advisors, accreditation Create expectation for a curriculum that is

clearly intentional, coherent, cumulative Encourage assessment Support institutional alignment with accreditors’

expectations

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What a Profile Is Intended To Do Offer reference points for students, faculty,

advisors, accreditation Create expectation for a curriculum that is

clearly intentional, coherent, cumulative Encourage assessment Support institutional alignment with accreditors’

expectations Provide a baseline for institutions seeking to

clarify their distinctiveness

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What a Profile Is Intended To Do Offer reference points for students, faculty,

advisors, accreditation Create expectation for a curriculum that is

clearly intentional, coherent, cumulative Encourage assessment Support institutional alignment with accreditors’

expectations Provide a baseline for institutions seeking to

clarify their distinctiveness Clarify the incremental nature of degree levels,

thereby encouraging progression

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What a Profile Is NOT Intended To Do

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What a Profile Is NOT Intended To Do

Standardize degrees

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What a Profile Is NOT Intended To Do

Standardize degrees Define what should be taught

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What a Profile Is NOT Intended To Do

Standardize degrees Define what should be taught Prescribe pedagogy

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What a Profile Is NOT Intended To Do

Standardize degrees Define what should be taught Prescribe pedagogy Encourage rankings, internally or externally

What’s going on?

• Regional accreditation initiatives (WASC, HLC, SACS)

• Sector association pilots (AASCU)• Innovative implementations (CIC)• Institutional adaptations• Further announcements pending

Some uses of the DQP under way—possible future directions?

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1

The Profile is being used as a rubric for identifying gaps in outcomes statements

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2

The Profile is being used as a standard for measuring specificity and measurability of outcomes—for both internal use and external reporting.

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3Students might use the Profile as a CPS (curricular positioning system) for under-standing and navigating their degree paths

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4

When learning objectives of degrees are clear and widely understood . . .

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4

When learning objectives of degrees are clear and widely understood the curricula can be more clearly aligned with them.

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4

When learning objectives of degrees are clear and widely understood the curricula can be more clearly aligned with them. Then students, faculty, other stakeholders (including employers) will understand more clearly why we do what we do . . .

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4

When learning objectives of degrees are clear and widely understood the curricula can be more clearly aligned with them. Then students, faculty, other stakeholders (including employers) will understand more clearly why we do what we do and why they do what they do.

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5A

Students studying at the associate level may understand more clearly the incremental learning offered by the baccalaureate and be able to make a more fully informed decision about further study.

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5B

Students studying at the baccalaureate level may understand more clearly the incremental learning offered by the master’s and be able to make a more fully informed decision about further study.

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6

Degree recipients will be better able to interpret their credentials to potential employers and graduate programs—and to offer assurance of their readiness.

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7

Institutions could share a common platform for interpreting accreditation results to their publics.

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8-∞

The projects, initiatives, mappings, alignments, and explorations that SDSU might develop

Finally . . . .

• Questions about the DQP you wish I had answered?

Finally . . . .

• Questions about the DQP you wish I had answered?

• Anything I have said that gave you cause for concern—

Finally . . . .

• Questions about the DQP you wish I had answered?

• Anything I have said that gave you cause for concern—or really got under your skin?

Finally . . . .

• Questions about the DQP you wish I had answered?

• Anything I have said that gave you cause for concern—or that really got under your skin?

• Advice you have for my colleagues and me on presentations and discussions like this one?

Thank You