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Missouri Western State University participates in the
Academic
Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), a
quality-based, continuous improvement model of institutional accreditation
through
The Higher Learning Commission
(HLC); Member - North Central Association (NCA). AQIP is a quality improvement
program and a quality assurance program for higher education
organizations. It operates by involving institutions in three
distinct cycles that occur simultaneously. Each cycle has a
different duration and sequence of effective processes.
One-year Cycle
The one-year cycle drives continuous improvement by having every
AQIP college or university tackle three or four
Action Projects that it has
chosen, committed to completing in a few months or years, and
published in AQIP’s on-line
Action Project Directory.
Organizations can complete Action Projects and begin new ones at
any time. Each fall, they provide
Action Project Updates to
AQIP on the progress of current projects, and AQIP provides
written feedback on these reports. Improvements in the processes
an institution employs or the performance results it achieves
are incorporated into its published
Systems Portfolio.
Four-year Cycle
This four-year cycle drives improvement by having every AQIP
organization create and maintain an up-to-date
Systems Portfolio
describing key systems and processes the organization
uses to achieve its goals and the performance results it obtains
from them. A
Systems Appraisal of the
Systems Portfolio provides institutions with written, actionable
feedback they can use to create strategies and actions that will
move them quickly toward achievement of their goals.
Participation in a
Strategy Forum drives
organizations to use this feedback in shaping new strategies,
aligning systems, and creating specific Action Projects.
Every 7 Years
This seven-year cycle reviews evidence from both the action
cycles and strategy cycles, evidence that demonstrates that an
AQIP organization continues to comply with the Higher Learning
Commission’s Criteria for Accreditation—and that continuing its
participation in AQIP will result in measurable performance
improvement. A
Check-Up Visit to the
institution a year or two before its
Reaffirmation of Accreditation
review confirms the improvements it is making as well as the
accuracy of the evidence it has provided to AQIP while providing
helpful feedback and consultation on specific issues of its
choosing.
Academic Quality Improvement Project Accreditation Timeline
Western successfully applied for participation in AQIP in June
2003 with what AQIP reviewers described as a “model
application.” A team of Western representatives attended a first
Strategy Forum in November 2003. Shortly after the Forum,
Western submitted three three-year Action Projects. These
Projects were chosen from priority areas of Western’s first
five-year strategic plan
The Western Advantage—Student Engagement
(Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management),
Applied Learning
(Applied Learning and Student Development), and
Communicating
Quality (Image and Advancement). These Projects were funded for
$100,000 for each of three years and received this funding in
the base in the fourth year. They have successfully retired for AQIP but continue in the area of Sustaining Institutional
Accreditation Priorities in Western’s second five-year strategic
plan
Building the New American Regional University.
Western submitted its first
Systems Portfolio in November 2006
and received its
Systems Appraisal in March 2007. Overall, the
Appraisers described Western as a maturing institution in its
continuous improvement quality journey. The
2010 Systems Portfolio was submitted on November 1, 2010 with the Systems Appraisal expected in March 2011.
Western attended its Second Strategy Forum in October 2007 and
launched three new three-year Action Projects emphasizing
priorities identified in its second five-year Strategic Plan.
These Projects are
Building Graduate Programs,
Enhancing
Academic Quality through Critical Thinking, and
Using
Measurement and Assessment. Those AQIP Action Projects were successfully completed and retired in 2009.
Three current (2009-2012) AQIP Action projects are underway: Preserving Gold, Money Matters for Life and Enhancing Learning Through Distance Education.
Western’s first
Quality Checkup visit was on October 29-31,
2008.
Reaffirmation of Accreditation was awarded in 2010. Western will then enter into a second seven-year
cycle of continuous quality improvement and institutional
accreditation.
Continuous Improvement Organization
In its move to a continuous improvement organizational model,
Western has implemented a structure guided by the Strategic
Planning Steering Committee. The Strategic Planning Steering Committee
oversees all strategic planning and implementation activities at
Western. The Council’s responsibilities include:
- Managing the University’s institutional accreditation
processes
- Managing the content and production of the AQIP Systems
Portfolio
- Coordinating Quality Improvement Projects (AQIP) teams
- Serving as a resource for all continuous improvement activities
- Developing Action Project concepts
Strategic Planning, Continuous Improvement and Accreditation
The strategic planning process at Western requires the University to
identify opportunities and to establish goals and objectives that
will move its quality continuous improvement forward. Western has
integrated the AQIP
Nine Categories into its strategic planning
goals and objectives.
When an AQIP institution is asked to provide evidence it meets the
Commission’s Five Criteria, it can reference the same evidence it
provides in answering the AQIP Categories questions. The Higher
Learning Commission Handbook of Accreditation 6.2 provides an
illustration of the alignment between the AQIP Nine Categories and
the Commission’s Five Criteria for accreditation.
Contact: Cindy Heider, Ed.D.
Associate Provost and Associate Vice President
for Academic Affairs
Missouri Western State University
4525 Downs Drive
St. Joseph, MO 64507
Telephone: 816.271.4534; Fax: 816.271.4525
Email:
heider@missouriwestern.edu |
