CHAPTER 6: INTELLECTUAL RIGOR Standards 11 and 13

Listing of Standards

Standard 11: Educational OfferingsThe institution’s educational offerings display academic content, rigor, and coherence that are appropriate to its higher education mission. The institution identifies student learning goals and objectives, including knowledge and skills, for its educational offerings.

Standard 13: Related Educational ActivitiesThe institution’s programs or activities that are characterized by particular content, focus, location, mode of delivery, or sponsorship meet appropriate standards.

Overview of Charge and Questions Addressed

Educational offerings that support rigorous standards of achievement are the core of any institution of higher learning. The task of the Intellectual Rigor group is to evaluate the quality and mix of curricular offerings at the undergraduate and graduate levels in light of our mission, goals and aspirations for our students, both on and off-campus, at distant sites, and online.

Standard 11 ● In what ways is SUNY Oswego distinctive? ● Is the mix of types of undergraduate and graduate programs appropriate for our

mission and goals and future success? ● Does the creation of new ways of delivering the curriculum—new pedagogies,

small class sizes, new locations, new types of scheduling, etc.—effectively and appropriately support our mission and goals and student success?

● Is experiential learning integrated in the curriculum in significant ways and amounts?

● Are academic expectations successfully preparing undergraduates and graduate students for the 21st century?

Standard 13 ● Do online courses and programs meet standards for best practices and provide

learning opportunities equivalent to on-campus courses? ● Are the new certificate programs meeting student needs? ● Has assessment resulted in program improvements to the related educational

offerings?

CHAPTER 6: INTELLECTUAL RIGOR

Realizing a Mission: Supporting Quality Academic Programs

The State University of New York at Oswego has a rich tradition of offering a varied and intellectually rewarding educational experience, informing its mission “to contribute to the common good by lighting the path to wisdom and empowering women and men to pursue meaningful lives as productive, responsible citizens.” Since the creation of the College’s Engaging Challenge: Sesquicentennial Plan, in particular, faculty, staff, and administrators have embraced this mission and honored this institution’s academic traditions in numerous substantial ways. Today students benefit from a curriculum that emphasizes global issues and study abroad, project-based learning, interdisciplinary programs (IPAC), Service Learning opportunities, and technology. The school’s graduate offerings continue to expand while several new certificate programs have come to fruition in recent years. New facilities, such as the Metro Center in downtown Syracuse, an extension center that has requested branch campus status for selected programs, as well as innovative distance learning courses have enabled the college to make strides in clearing the often challenging academic path some transfer and non-traditional students face in higher education today. At the same time, the college has created several new institutional structures, for example the Committee on Academic Quality, that continually assesses old and new courses, programs, and initiatives to ensure that our students continue to learn in an environment where intellectual rigor is most prized.

Oswego offers a full range of baccalaureate and master’s programs in four divisions: the School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Communication, Media, and the Arts, and the School of Business. The School of Education, accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, is a major resource for K-12 educators across New York. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences boasts a number of unique offerings and programs in such areas as Creative Writing, Technology, Meteorology and Zoology. Created in 2007, the new School of Communication, Media, and the Arts contains vital programs in such areas as Art, Music and Theatre that are nationally accredited. The School of Business — accredited by AACSB International, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business — is the only public business school in the Central New York region and has appeared yearly in the Princeton Review’s Best Business Schools and our Communication Studies programs have been recognized as among the best by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Furthermore, through the Division of Extended Learning the college offers over 200 courses online using the SUNY Learning Network (SLN).

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The college continues to respond to student interest as well as to our increasingly interconnected world by shaping programs and curriculum that are relevant for the twenty-first century. New courses, programs, and majors must be approved by councils consisting of faculty and professional staff that are overseen by the college’s Faculty Assembly. Examples of this new curriculum, large and small, but all revealing, abound across campus.

The number of science majors continues to grow. In particular, since 2000, SUNY Oswego has witnessed a 47 percent increase in women in our math and physical science programs. At the same time student interest and institutional commitment to service learning over the past 10 years has had a profound impact in many areas of the campus. The number of students engaged in some form of community outreach, from the local to global levels, has increased from 134 in 2000 to 428 in 2009. This 227 percent increase reflects our students’ great interest in making a difference. This same outlook has led a growing number of students to study abroad. The number of SUNY Oswego students studying abroad has doubled over the past decade from 142 to 288 (a 103 percent increase). This growth means that the number of students with international experience at the college is twice the national average. The majority of our students in these and other courses now enjoy smaller class sizes. Over half the courses offered on-campus have 19 or fewer students. Innovation in teaching methods has been a hallmark of SUNY Oswego’s School of Education since our founding as a teacher’s training institution by Edward Austin Sheldon in 1861. This inventive spirit still thrives in our School of Education (SOE), where advanced techniques and early experiences in the classroom help students become teachers ready to meet the expectations of today’s students.

The School of Education: Training Teachers for the 21st Century

We are a national leader in school site establishment for PDS (Professional Development Schools)/PDPS (Professional Development Partnership Schools). The school also has a leading Educational Administration Superintendent program. The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has nationally accredited the School of Education and it was among the first in the region to receive such accreditation.

Weaving a transformative school fabric is the conceptual framework for all professional programs in SUNY Oswego’s School of Education. The six principles central to this framework: authentic learning, knowledge, practice, reflection, collaboration and leadership, and social justice, guide pedagogy and are the essential characteristics of, and performance expectations for, effective educators and successful professionals.

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The School of Education faculty is embracing alternative delivery models as well. There is a new MST (Master of Science in Teaching) fifteen-month program where students commit to a timeline and they are in classes with a cohort of students for the extent of their degree. Some of the SOE classes are held at the Metro Center, some are hybrid courses containing online as well as traditional classroom components, while others offer many online courses such as the Vocational Teacher Preparation (VTP) department.

Experiential learning is integrated in the curriculum in significant and varying ways. All of the programs have an applied component. CPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) has a full year experiential component; the technology management program has a required internship as a laboratory assistant for four credit hours. Each undergraduate student must submit a TWS (teacher work sample), which acts as a portfolio, and they must complete one hundred hours of practicum along with it.

The VTP (Vocational Teacher Preparation) department is an online program. Some nontraditional students find online courses more challenging than face-to-face courses. Currently, we are comparing synchronous, asynchronous and face-to-face models of delivery.

Assessment in the SOEOngoing assessment occurs in the SOE in compliance with its accrediting body, NCATE. Assessments have resulted in program improvements to the related educational offerings. Typically our students do very well on the LAST (Liberal Arts and Sciences Test), the ATSW (Applied Teaching Skills Written) and the NYSTCE (New York State Teacher Certification Exam) with the exception of social studies pre-service teachers and foreign language pre-service teachers. These two subgroups tend to score lower on the NYSCTE than other concentrates. We are working to modify knowledge and skills that they obtain in their courses.

Case Study: Promoting global awareness with Project CLIMBProject CLIMB (Collaborative Link for Instructor Mentoring in Benin) involves seven professors from the School of Education who are collaborating with school inspectors and educational leaders in the West African nation of Benin to improve the educational system. The project provides support to curriculum development; professional development for Beninese teachers and school administrators and has a major focus on encouraging girls to enter and remain in school.

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A course created in 2008 engages SUNY Oswego students in the teacher training program in Benin. Students visit schools in Benin and Paris and participate with faculty members in the professional development activities. A professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department secured 1500 scientific calculators to go to Benin through Mercy Corps, an NGO based in California. These calculators are placed in secondary schools throughout the country of Benin so that students in advanced math and science courses have access to them. The Benin initiative programs continue to be robust and well attended.

The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences: Curricular Strength in Breadth and Depth

The mission of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is to challenge faculty and students to be responsible, thinking, creative members of both the campus and the wider communities. Through in-depth study and general education in the arts and sciences, CLAS prepares students to address complex problems, communicate ideas, and approach the world with a curious and critical spirit. CLAS strives to be a learner-centered community of scholars committed to high intellectual aspiration and the application of the skills and knowledge of a liberal arts education in service of a changing and diverse world.

In terms of disciplines and associated disciplinary norms, the College of Liberal Arts andSciences (CLAS) is the most diverse of all the academic units at SUNY Oswego. Thereare currently forty-six undergraduate major programs of study and five graduate programs that fall under the jurisdiction of CLAS. Of these, thirteen clearly have an interdisciplinary focus, including the presence of a well-established university-wide Honors Program. In several departments there are honors “tracks” in which talented students can add a research-oriented focus to their studies. The presence of a relatively large number of interdisciplinary programs is a critical feature of the curriculum at SUNY Oswego. This particular strength in our offerings is being enhanced through several new initiatives in the College such as the new degree program in software engineering as well as certificate programs in areas such as health information technology, integrated health systems, and gerontology.

Assessment in the CLASUnlike degree programs in the Schools of Business, Education, and the Communication, Media and the Arts, most programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are not required to undergo an accreditation review by a national organization. All of the departments and programs, however, are subject to program reviews on a 5-7 year cycle

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as mandated by the SUNY system administration. Areas addressed include current curriculum and any proposed changes to it, learning outcomes and assessment procedures, faculty and personnel, characteristics of the student population in the major, and institutional support and resources for the program of study. This structured self-study system provides a uniform method to ensure that learning outcomes are articulated, periodically reexamined for appropriateness, and linked to proper assessment mechanisms. This assessment system and its results are discussion in greater detail in Chapter 8: A Culture of Continuous Improvement.

The School of Communication, Media and the Arts: Fostering Creativity and Scholarship

The School of Communication, Media and the Arts (SCMA) is the newest school at SUNY Oswego, formed in 2008 with the departments of Communication Studies, Art, Theatre and Music. The school provides students with opportunities to study both traditional and contemporary areas related to fields encompassed by the four departments.

The mission of The School of Communication, Media and the Arts is to foster innovative thinking, dynamic collaboration, and scholarly and artistic achievement through a balanced study of history, theory and application.

In addition to its BA and BFA programs in each field, the School strongly believes in interdisciplinary study and co-sponsors programs in Information Science, Cinema and Screen Studies, and Women’s Studies. A new interdisciplinary degree in Digital Media is currently being developed. The School offers numerous interdisciplinary minor options for students in diverse areas such as Expressive Art Therapy, Audio Recording and Sound Design, Museum Studies, and Arts Management along with many discipline specific minors. Students in Music and Theatre can double major in Vocational Technical Education and earn teaching certification if they have qualifying work experiences in appropriate areas. SCMA and the School of Education also cosponsor an Arts Concentration for Childhood Education majors.

Many of the specific disciplines within the school are undergoing change as technology, social expectations and economic changes impact the industries that typically employ our graduates. As a result, faculty members are engaged in serious discussions about appropriate changes to curriculum so as to remain current and vital. Just as external pressures affect faculty perception about what is appropriate for the curriculum, students within the school often express their desire to move between disciplines to study themes that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries.

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The School hosts most of the College’s cultural programs. Every year three main stage and several smaller theatrical productions are produced by the Theatre Department. The Music Department sponsors many faculty and student recitals, co-sponsors a chamber music series and collaborates with Artswego to produce other musical events. The Art Department hosts a series of gallery openings with faculty and student exhibits along with a wide variety of traveling shows. In the past two years, the Art Department has also mounted faculty displays and shows at the College’s Metro Center in Syracuse. The Communication Studies Department hosts a nationally televised Media Summit every fall, bringing to campus recognized experts in their fields to discuss issues related to media.

Assessment in the SCMAThe school’s Art Department is accredited by NASAD, Music is accredited by NASM, and Theatre is accredited by NAST. Communication Studies degree programs in human communication follow the guidelines for programs provided by the National Communication Association but there is no accrediting organization for this area. Broadcasting and mass communication is an institutional member of the Broadcast Education Association. The Public Relations major has developed its core course requirements to be consistent with the recommendations of the Public Relations Society of America, and journalism follows the core recommendations of the Association for Education of Journalism and Mass Communication

Because three of the four departments for the School of Communication, Media and the Arts are accredited by national accrediting organizations, these departments regularly develop plans to evaluate and assess the strengths of their programs. Communication Studies follows the SUNY guidelines for program review used by most programs in the CLAS. (See their case study in Chapter 8: A Culture of Continuous Improvement.) In 2010-2011, both the Art Department and Communication Studies have undertaken self-assessments of degree curriculum and courses offered. In 2010 both the Music and Theatre departments underwent a self-assessment in anticipation of accreditation visits in 2011.

The School of Business: Teaching Tomorrow’s Business Leaders

The mission of the School of Business is to prepare students as competent and ethical professionals; to produce scholarly research that advances knowledge and contributes to learning and the practice of business and its related disciplines; and to serve as a resource for the local, regional, and global community.

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All programs of the School of Business are accredited by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). In 2010 the SUNY Oswego School of Business was among the fewer than 500 schools worldwide that have AACSB accreditation for both undergraduate and graduate programs.

To fulfill its mission the school offers a variety of graduate and undergraduate programs. The school offers traditional courses at the main campus and the Metro Center in downtown Syracuse, while the online courses are offered through ANGEL. The school also implemented a laptop program in fall 2004. Classes are also being offered that follow a hybrid approach, supplementing the classroom contact with online resources in ANGEL. In spring 2010, the New York State Department of Education approved registration of the MBA program as a fully online degree program.

The school’s offerings include eight undergraduate majors and three minors and three graduate degrees. The BS in Risk Management and Insurance is the newest undergraduate program that was started in 2009. The minor in Arts Management is an interdisciplinary program and allows students to also look at the business side of the Arts. The school also an International Business minor for non-business students.

Assessment in the SOBThe School evaluates and assesses its programs on a regular basis for its accreditation cycle with the AACSB. The school uses the ETS Major Field Test to assess its programs. The results on the test illustrate the rigor of the programs, with Oswego students ranked in the 80th percentile of all test takers.

Two new graduate degrees are being developed. One will target broadcast majors and offers an opportunity for a combined BA/MBA degree while the focuses on the health industry in the Syracuse area at the Metro Center.

Keeping in mind the need for improving our offerings and continuous improvement the school is in the process of reviewing and revising the Business Administration major (the school’s largest major). The revisions under consideration are based on assessment results and benchmarking with programs at similar institutions across the country. The changes under consideration include more emphasis on organizational behavior, international business and decision making.

The School of Business has also implemented an ethics program that includes Standards for Professional and Ethical Behavior, a primer on ethics, and ethics coverage across the

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curriculum. The ethics program was developed in consultation with faculty, students and advisory board members and is being infused throughout the curriculum.

In support of its research mission the school faculty maintain an active research agenda. The school has established two centers of excellence (Accounting and HRM) to further the school’s research agenda and also to increase involvement with local businesses and the community.

Case Study: Building leaders beyond the classroom with co-curricular opportunities In addition to its academic programs the school provides opportunities for co-curricular activities. There are opportunities for experiential learning through projects and firm audits. Students are also active in internships and a variety of clubs that provide them with opportunities to work with groups on-campus and in the community. Furthermore, these organizations provide the students opportunities for experiential learning by working with local businesses.

The Oswego chapter of Beta Alpha Psi provides free tax services through the VITA program. In 2009, 57 students worked on over 355 tax returns for members of the Oswego community.

The Oswego chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) chapter was recognized the last two years with a national merit award. SHRM provides opportunities for its members for internships and shadowing HR executives among other activities.

The Oswego chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) allows students to work on projects in the local community and on-campus. In the past these students have provided consultancy services to local businesses and financial literacy education for the Oswego community through Pathfinder Bank’s Money Smart.

The Division of Graduate Studies: Diverse Programs Offering a Transformative Experience

The Division of Graduate Studies (DGS) learner-centered approach embedded in an instructional culture stresses quality education and a real-world experience through assistantships, fellowships and scholarship programs as well as study abroad programs. By maximizing access while at the same time maintaining selective admission standards,

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the Division of Graduate Studies advances the university’s mission to empower our students to become productive citizens.

Over the past five years DGS has served regional constituencies of both students and employers by streamlining the application process, improving lines of communication, and developing and/or revising programs. Outreach through graduate fairs, business shows, and international programs have increased. At the same time, DGS provides accurate and comprehensive information regarding graduate assistantships, diversity scholarships, Festa Fellowships, and financial aid. Mirroring similar initiatives elsewhere on campus, DGS is developing an assessment regime that evaluates the match between the attributes of admitted students and the institution’s mission and programs and reflects its findings in its admissions, remediation, and related policies.

Case Study: Program development to meet workforce needsThe Chemistry Department has extended its degree options during the last two years to include the emerging PSM “Professional Science Master” degree, which was approved and registered with CGS. The MS-Professional track was designed to serve students who would like to continue their career in the field as well as acquire some business skills through MBA courses. The new track keeps the depth of the existing tracks with the added MBA courses already offered by the School of Business.

Case Study: Interdisciplinary certificate programsIn the SCMA, a newly instituted graduate certificate in Integrated Media and Social Networks provides individuals with an opportunity to study in an area that integrates media, graphic design, and information science. The school is currently working on new graduate initiatives, including a new certificate and masters program in Health Communication, an interdisciplinary graduate program in Integrated Media and a redesigned program in graphic design.

Profiles in Student Support and Education: University-Wide Divisions, Co-Curricular Programs, Institutions, and other Related Educational Activities

Several divisions, programs, and institutions at the College offer or shape curriculum and learning goals in substantive ways. They assist in promoting the university’s mission and are often critical in sustaining the university’s community outreach efforts. A brief overview of some notable examples of these programs follows.

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The Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment ManagementThe Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management along with the Division of Academic Affairs engages in many activities to broadly support the college’s mission, vision and views; especially as it relates to the development of our students. Included are activities supporting our students’ transition to Oswego, development while enrolled at Oswego, and to assist with their transition into the larger world following completion of their Oswego studies. The Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management is responsible for many activities that fall within or complement the university’s curriculum, for example, Career Services, Service Learning and Community Service . The following two case studies illustrate how this important division assists our students with their transition to and from college, as well as in their personal development.

Case Study: Service Learning and Community Service Opportunities Data from the Student Opinion Survey support student satisfaction with learning opportunities. Since 2000, students have rated Oswego first or second among the 12 comparable SUNY colleges in response to questions about “Opportunities for Community Service” and “Availability of Internships.” graduation, 72 percent of Oswego students report being “Engaged in Community Service" and "Engaged in the Community" through internships, field experiences, practica, volunteer work, or service/service-learning. More than 81 percent of seniors report contributing to the welfare of the community during their college career and feel strongly that these experiences had, in turn, enhanced their own educational and personal growth.

Library and Information Literacy ProgramsPenfield Library is a major college center for academic pursuits. The librarians and other staff are dedicated to working as partners in the teaching/learning process by creating physical, online and social places where ideas, learning and innovation connect. Our information resources include over 470,000 physical volumes with access to over 100 electronic databases, over 40,000 e-journals, and over 60,000 e-books. We are effectively making the connections among our students, our staff, our resources and our physical and online spaces with attendance of 2.48 per week per FTE, circulation of 15 items per year per FTE, attendance at library instruction of 0.86 per year per FTE, reference at 1.82 transactions per year per FTE, and 157 web site page views per year per FTE. Data from the 2008 IPEDS Academic Library Survey confirms that we are at or above average among our benchmark colleges on these measures.

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The library at SUNY Oswego is noted for an extensive liaison librarian program in which every librarian is assigned to one or more departments or interdisciplinary programs. The liaison or subject librarian duties include collection management, instruction in the use of library and information resources, and specialized reference work, all in collaboration with the classroom faculty, and all to address the needs of the students in their major programs.

With a hundred student workstations, 30 laptops for use in the building, the largest and busiest computer lab on campus, wireless throughout the building and a variety of furnishings and spaces to accommodate student preferences, Penfield offers network, hardware and physical facilities for this century. And in our planning for a learning commons, we aim to develop a 21st century workspace with all the new technology and facilities for collaboration as well as quiet reflection.

Case Study: Developing information literacyThe information literacy program at Oswego is based on a conceptual framework that is both developmental and forward-looking. First year students have multiple opportunities to practice information literacy, including library instruction and library research assignments in ENG 102, CSC 101, FirstChoice courses, and in many Gateway courses.

The Lake Effect Research Challenge is a tutorial for basic level information literacy. The Challenge was selected for the PRIMO (Peer Reviewed Instructional Materials Online) project and was featured as the Site of the Month in July 2009. Assessment of learning at this basic level is conducted on a three-year cycle and the results are used to improve the tutorial and other instruction. The instruction program at Penfield Library is also notable for annual attendance of at 86 percent of our FTE, compared to an average of 52 percent of FTE among our benchmark colleges (2008 IPEDS). Besides the Research Challenge, we are developing a number of ways to deliver instruction online and to off-campus locations. We have librarians who contribute to online courses and other course spaces in ANGEL, including the capacity to publish learning objects in any course. In addition to simple web pages and Word documents, we are using Camtasia, Flash, and Lib Guides to develop a growing collection of learning objects that can be used in a number of ways.

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The Office of International Education and ProgramsThe Office of International Education and Programs (OIEP) is responsible for education abroad and international student/scholar services.  OIEP supports international activities of the college’s academic departments, provides support for faculty members and departments to internationalize, and encourages a vibrant international campus culture.

Oswego’s OIEP manages a large and complex portfolio of education abroad programs that consistently rank among the most highly enrolled in the SUNY system. During the previous decade, the focus of OIEP’s education abroad programming has evolved from that of a traditional study abroad office to one which is richer and more varied in its offerings.  In academic year 2002-03, 104 Oswego students studied abroad on traditional semester and some summer programs. By 2007-08 that number had risen to 335, including many on faculty-led short-term programs embedded in the Oswego curriculum. There are three main categories of education abroad offering at SUNY Oswego: university exchange partnerships /study abroad centers, student teaching/practicum and internships abroad, and faculty-led programs abroad.

Case Study: Quarter Courses with International Travel to expand the accessibility of study abroad Beginning in 2004, SUNY Oswego embarked on a deliberate strategy to expand education abroad opportunities as well as better integrate international experiences into the curriculum.  The goal was to build a new model of education abroad that fit better into students’ curricular plans, that leveraged faculty expertise, and that provided a way for students unable to devote a longer period of time (due to time, financial, or other constraints) for study abroad.

The Quarter Course with International Travel program began with one on-campus course offering (entitled “GLS 100, London: A Global City”) during quarter 3 of 2004 and followed by a one-week faculty-led education abroad study in London during spring recess. The same instructor taught the on-campus class and led the study abroad experience in London. The course was taught from the interdisciplinary Global & International Studies (GLS) program and the study abroad program was administered by the Office of International Education and Programs (OIEP). By 2009-2010, twenty short-term education abroad programs were led by Oswego faculty members in all four schools and colleges.

Continual assessment is built in to OIEP activities in multiple ways, including: campus oversight committees, by the OIEP director, program evaluations completed by

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participating students, course evaluations, and overseas site visits/reports by faculty, administrators, and staff.

Division of Extended LearningThe Division of Extended Learning is often the first point of contact for adult students and members of the community. The Division is responsible for facilitating part-time programs delivered primarily in the evening and the college's online initiative. Staffing in the division includes professional staff with experience in working with adult (non-traditional) students, instructional design, off-campus facility management, contract and customized training, and marketing. SUNY Oswego's part-time programs include Accounting, Business Administration, Information Science, and Public Justice, along with courses to complete a minor in Economics. Online programs include Broadcast and Mass Communications, Public Justice, and Vocational-Teacher Preparation. In addition, staff from Extended Learning provide support for faculty interested in developing hybrid courses.

During the past five years approximately 100 new courses were developed for online delivery. This includes both new courses and courses that were re-developed to accommodate significant changes in content and curriculum revisions.

The college also provides course work at additional locations. The Phoenix Center has been operating since 1994. The Center offers graduate courses in the evening and on weekends. During the day it is used for training and professional development. Staff from this facility manage a large training contract with the Oswego County Department of Social Services.

Oswego's newest learning location is the Metro Center in downtown Syracuse. This facility is about 12,000 square feet and provides classroom space, offices, and a large training room with wireless access throughout. We are offering many graduate courses in Business and Education along with a few select courses in the Liberal Arts. Similar to Phoenix, the Metro Center offers coursework in the evenings and on weekends. In the spring of 2010, the college received approval from New York State Department of Education to officially recognize the facility as an extension center. We are currently preparing the documentation to request branch campus status for several graduate programs and a small group of undergraduate degree completion programs.

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Staff from Extended Learning also travel regularly to Fort Drum. SUNY Oswego has been a member of a consortium of SUNY colleges for about 25 years. At Fort Drum, staff provided academic advisement and assist soldiers and their families with information about SUNY Oswego programs. In addition, they often meet with members of the North Country communities interested in the college. The Division also coordinates Safe Schools, Healthy Students which is a non-credit, pre-service program for aspiring teachers. This online course provides students with the necessary training and competencies to be considered for certification. SUNY Oswego is a licensed provider for SAVE. Extended Learning regularly collaborates with many other divisions in the college to offer programs and services. One program of note is a language support program for international students. During the fall and spring semesters, the division supports courses for English for Academic Purposes and during the summer offers a residential Intensive English program for non-native speakers.

McNair Scholars ProgramThe Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program is a national program funded by the United States Department of Education that aims to increase the number of historically underrepresented students in graduate school, doctoral programs, and the professoriate. The McNair Program receives $231,000 per year to support 26 talented junior and senior students.

Through the McNair Scholars Program, SUNY Oswego seeks to promote graduate study to those from groups traditionally underrepresented at the post-baccalaureate level. The program encourages its scholars to pursue careers in academia, specifically those involving teaching and research. This is achieved by preparing eligible students through an extensive and in-depth research project and other scholarly activities designed to groom scholars for graduate study. Between 2004 and 2010, 80 percent of our McNair scholars have gone on to graduate study.

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Chapter Findings

SUNY Oswego boasts a distinctive curriculum borne out of our mission and values that has expanded in several areas over the past several years in order to meet the changing needs and demands of our students.

The growing curriculum offered through Extended Learning, the Office of International Education, and other related educational offerings largely reflects our strategic plan and thus far seems to be serving the future needs of our students and the broader community as well.

In order to reflect the best national practices, assessment of our curriculum, both in the College’s four Schools as well as in Extended Learning and Student Services has been greatly enhanced over the past five years. Analysis conducted as part of this Middle States review suggests that a culture of continuous assessment exists across the campus.

Chapter Recommendations

Evaluate the suitability and viability of our current mix of majors/programs. This investigation is important for the college to remain responsive to the future needs of students, the region and the changing needs of a dynamic society.

Develop more comprehensive and ongoing assessment practices in the Division of Graduate Studies. Focus on curriculum, programs, placement, and clear mission statement is critical. This impact of changing demographics, along with retention and placement of graduate students, need further study.

Implement richer assessment of the placement of our graduates. Previous follow up studies have been discontinued, suffering from poor response rates, leaving a gap in data collection for program improvement. An institution-wide plan, customized for specific programs is needed.

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