Overview of the Self Study Process

Throughout these notes, which are distilled from the directions and guidance provided by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MS), are references to two reports. First is the "design for the self-study" report (DSS report) which tells the Middles States Commission how we intend to conduct our self-study. The second report referred to here is the actual self-study report (SSR), the big one, which we will submit in February 2003. This year (2001-2002) will be spent doing the self-study.

Steps in the Self-Study Process

The point of the self-study is for Juniata to

  • examine its educational programs and services
  • determine how well our programs and services achieve our institutional goals
  • evaluate how well they fulfill our mission
  • and demonstrate how they meet the Middles States Commission's standards. [MS identifies "primary standards" (things like mission, goals, objectives, students, faculty, staff, financial resources, educational programs and so on) which assessment must measure.]

Here is a quick overview of the steps we must follow and their order:

  1. JC prepares and submits a report detailing how it will undertake to do the self-study. This report is the "design for the self study," hereafter called the DSS.
  2. We are visited by our Middle States liaison on October 3 where our DSS is discussed. Soon after the visit we submit our plan, it is evaluated by our liaison, and, we hope, approved.
  3. We spend the year studying ourselves. During this time, we investigate how we examine our programs and services in order to verify that we, in fact, do what we say we do.
  4. We write and ask for feedback on the draft of the self study report.
  5. We submit the final self-study report to the Middles States evaluation team.
  6. The Middle States team visits campus as part of their peer review of the College.
  7. The Middle States team reports back to us with follow-up for items that we must correct.

Overview of "Design for Self-Study" (DSS)

The point of the DSS report is to describe how the self-study will be accomplished. Determining how the self-study will be accomplished is the duty of the steering committee. The DSS report would typically include a

  • Rationale
  • Scope
  • Expected outcomes
  • Identification of participants
  • Timetable for the self-study process

Report Guidelines

  1. The nature and scope of the self-study:
    • Which model of study has the institution chosen?
    • What is the rationale for the model that was chosen?
  2. Specific goals and objectives
    • That is, statements of outcomes that describe what the institution hopes to accomplish.
    • They are looking for provisions to do detailed analyses of major programs, services, resources, and activities.
  3. Organizational structure of the steering committee and subcommittees
  4. Charges to subcommittees
  5. Outcomes assessment
    This requirement is concerned with plans to collect and use data in order to inform the institution about whether it is meeting its goals as well as the standards of the Middle States Commission
    The report should:
    • Explain how findings from assessment activities will be used
    • Define our expectations for collecting data, analyzing and reporting
    • Anticipate using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
    • The design for self-study should contain
    • Clear, concise descriptions of the procedures that were used or will be used to collect and analyze data
    • Annotated lists of any questionnaires, surveys, or other instruments
  6. Inventory of support documents
    This section should include an annotated inventory of
    • Recent and current self-studies
    • Reports
    • Collections of data
    • Assessment instruments
    • Other relevant resources
  7. Timetable
  8. Format and editorial style
    Reports should
    • Be useful, organized, and clear.
    • Describe the organization and structure of the report.
    • Include an annotated outline of the self-study report.
  9. Profile of evaluation team
    We are encouraged to recommend the "types" of evaluators we desire to visit the campus to evaluate us. By "type" the Middles States Commission seems to mean requests about things like matching the process the institution used to do the self study with the experience of evaluators of that method.