Self Study Report for 2015 is available in pdf format for viewing and

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Fond du Lac Tribal and
Community College
Higher Learning Commission
Accreditation Self-Study Report
April 20 – 22, 2015
Preface
In April 2009, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College's (FDLTCC) underwent its decennial visit for
reaccreditation. The college received five years of full accreditation and was placed on-notice by the
Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC) in four
areas: Administrative structure, finances, planning, and teaching and learning. A visit focused on the
sanctioned areas took place on August 29-30, 2011, and the college regained good standing in the areas of
concern with the HLC. This report is submitted, in partial fulfillment of its reporting obligations, in
preparation for the college’s five-year comprehensive site visit for re-accreditation by the HLC.
Note to Readers
FDLTCC’s self-study report is being made available to the public on the college’s website. Readers will
note that the document refers to resources in an electronic resource room, which were made available to
the evaluators from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and
Schools at the time the report was submitted. Due to their volume, such resources have not been posted at
the college’s website; however, FDLTCC will provide them to readers upon request. Please contact Don
Carlson, Vice President of Academic Affairs, via email at [email protected] or by phone at
218.879.0811 to make arrangements.
Herd of Turtles, 2011 fractal artwork by Lyz Jaakola, Music Faculty
Developed by the assessment committee, Turtle (Miskwaadesi) provides a symbolic representation of FDLTCC’s
educational philosophy and demonstrates the vital relationships between core competencies, cultural standards,
values, and institutional organization. The model was designed with the intention (not yet fulfilled) of being
represented on the college’s website as an interactive learning tool. As the user visits the accreditation link, an image
of the turtle will appear. The user could then click on any component (which in and of itself is a small turtle) to link
to any one of the following:
•
•
•
•
•
5 core values
7 cultural standards of the American Indian Studies AA program
21 HLC criteria
4 areas of competencies across the curriculum
9 areas of institutional organization
Each link will appear with another turtle (subcomponent) that illustrates on its back a definition of the component
and its relationship(s) to:
• cultural standards
• specific HLC criteria, etc.
INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY.......................................................................................................................................1
SELF-STUDY OVERVIEW .........................................................................................................................................4
FEDERAL COMPLIANCE ........................................................................................................................................ 16
I. Credits, program length, and tuition .................................................................................................................. 16
II. Student complaints ........................................................................................................................................... 18
III. Transfer policies ............................................................................................................................................. 19
IV. Verification of student identity....................................................................................................................... 21
V. Title IV ............................................................................................................................................................ 21
VI. Institutional disclosures in Advertising/recruitment materials ....................................................................... 28
VII. Relationship with other accrediting agencies and with State regulatory boards ........................................... 29
VIII. Public notice of an evaluation visit/third party comment ............................................................................ 30
CRITERION ONE: MISSION.. .................................................................................................................................. 31
1.A.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 31
1.B.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 40
1.C.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 41
1.D.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 42
CRITERION 2. INTEGRITY: ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT .......................................................... 46
2.A.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 46
2.B.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 46
2.C.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 48
2.D.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 50
2.E. ....................................................................................................................................................................... 50
CRITERION 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING: QUALITY, RESOURCES, AND SUPPORT .............................. 53
3.A.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 53
3.B.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 67
3.C.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 73
3.D.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 86
3.E.. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 97
CRITERION FOUR. TEACHING AND LEARNING: EVALUATION AND IMPROVEMENT ......................... 101
4.A.. .................................................................................................................................................................... 101
4.B.. .................................................................................................................................................................... 110
4.C.. .................................................................................................................................................................... 121
CRITERION FIVE. RESOURCES, PLANNING, AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS ........................... 101
5.A.. .................................................................................................................................................................... 131
5.B.. .................................................................................................................................................................... 142
5.C.. .................................................................................................................................................................... 149
5.D.. .................................................................................................................................................................... 158
Summary
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) began as an idea of the Fond du Lac Reservation
Business Committee in the early 1980s and became a physical reality through the joint efforts of the Fond
du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the State of Minnesota in 1987. Since then, the State of
Minnesota has formed the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU), of which FDLTCC is a
part, and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the MnSCU system continue to work
jointly to deliver a unique model of higher education. FDLTCC is successfully living its mission to offer
higher education opportunities for its communities in a welcoming, culturally diverse environment,
leading the MnSCU system in the number American Indian students it enrolls and graduates.
Since 2009, FDLTCC has been focused on establishing and implementing its evaluation and planning
structures. The evidence in this report draws a continuous line of progress on building and completing the
college’s assessment model of student learning at course-, program-, and institutional- levels. An
assessment bridge has been built between the college’s on-campus practices and those in its dual
enrollment program ahead of schedule. The college’s focus on retention and student success, beginning in
2008, has been successful and maintained. Most notable among the programming are the college’s three
Nandagikendan (Seek to Learn) academies that reach American Indian high school students, entering
college students, and returning students. The college’s 0 – 40 program, an example of “intrusive advising”
since 2008, continues to have a positive impact on the college’s students at greatest risk. The college has
four programs seeking specialized accreditation, with the American Indian Studies program preparing for
a self-study visit from the World Indigenous Higher Education Consortium in 2016.
FDLTCC completed work on its 2009 – 2012 institutional strategic plan and has begun its work on the
2013 – 2016 plan. In fall 2014, the college submitted its pre-design master facilities plan called
Wiidookodaadiwin” (The Place Where We Mutually Help Each Other), focused on expanding the East
wing of the college’s Thunderbird design for STEM-related classrooms and remodeling parts of the
campus for additional Student Services office space. The college’s master IT plan has resulted in
upgraded technology throughout the college. The groundwork for the college’s master Academic Plan
2014 – 2016 was laid in 2014 and will be fully formed across three years. In the spirit of transparency, the
college’s strategic directions continue to be posted in the public hallway near the business office.
Since 2010, FDLTCC’s fiscal health has been stable, with an average CFI of +2.6 and a reserve balance at
seven percent, despite a slight enrollment decline and MnSCU system-wide tuition freeze. The college
continues to practice a broad-based, participatory budget process, which it began in 2009. This fall, the
college’s budget committee won the Chancellor’s Outstanding Service Award for its outstanding
contributions to the college, and in 2011, the college was recognized by the MnSCU system office for its
excellence in financial management. In the spirit of transparency, the college’s operating budget
continues to be posted in the public hallway near the business office and on the website.
In 2013, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the MnSCU system amended its
Memorandum of Understanding for the second time since 2009. It marks the continued evolution and
deepening of a unique relationship between a State and a Tribe to deliver a service that both value and
that continues to reflect the spirit of the college’s vision, which is to honor the past, for those living in the
present and dreaming the future, through a spirit of respect, cooperation, and unity.
INTRODUCTION
Institutional History
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) is a unique institution, created by the Minnesota
Legislature in 1987 and chartered as a tribal college by the Fond du Lac Reservation that same year. The
college’s uniqueness comes from the fact that it is a community college that is a member of the Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system and a tribal college established through a partnership
with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Its commitment to meeting the educational needs
of a diverse population is reflected not only in its mission statement but in State law.
The tribal community college idea gained momentum in the early 1980s as the Fond du Lac Reservation
Business Committee documented a need for higher educational opportunities among the residents of both
Carlton and St. Louis counties in Minnesota. In 1985, Mesabi Community College accepted the
Reservation Business Committee’s invitation to hold college classes at the Ojibwe School site on the
Fond du Lac Reservation. The collaboration was immediately successful, and in 1986, the Minnesota
Legislature funded a feasibility study for a community college operated as a joint venture of the Fond du
Lac Band and the Arrowhead Community Colleges, a regional structure that dissolved in the mid-1990s
when the MnSCU system was created.
FDLTCC opened its doors in the fall quarter of 1987, eight years after the Fond du Lac Reservation
Business Committee first voiced the need for a community college as part of a comprehensive educational
plan for the reservation. That same year, the Bureau of Indian Affairs determined that Fond du Lac Tribal
and Community College was eligible for funding under the Tribally Controlled Community College Act
(Public Law 95471), and the Minnesota Legislature appropriated money for the college’s first two years
of operation. The college utilized classroom and office space in the Garfield Building in Cloquet.
In 1989, the Minnesota Legislature authorized the beginning of design development for a college campus.
A planning committee representing tribal and civic government, business, the Arrowhead Community
Colleges region, college students, faculty, and staff worked with architect Thomas A. Hodne, Jr. to
produce a concept reflecting both American Indian and non-Indian cultural values. The Minnesota
Legislature approved the plan later that year. In addition, FDLTCC became a voting member of the
American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), which represents tribally- and federallychartered colleges and universities across the United States on policy, programming, and other matters
related to the higher education of American Indian students.
Architectural plans completed in 1990 called for a campus built in phases. Construction of the first phase
began in July 1991. Plans included classrooms, library, computer labs, and student services, faculty and
administrative offices. The new campus, able to accommodate the equivalent of 500 full time students,
opened its doors fall quarter 1992.
In 1994, the Bureau of Indian Affairs reconfirmed FDLTCC as a tribal college under the Tribal
Community College Act. Congress passed legislation giving FDLTCC status as a Land Grant Institution,
and in 1995, the Minnesota Legislature designated FDLTCC part of the newly formed Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system (Minnesota Statute 136F.10):
136F.10 DESIGNATION. The following are designated as the Minnesota State Colleges and
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Universities: the state community, technical, and consolidated colleges located at Alexandria, Albert
Lea, Anoka, Austin, Bemidji, Bloomington, Brainerd, Brooklyn Park, Cambridge, Canby, Cloquet,
Coon Rapids, Detroit Lakes, Duluth, East Grand Forks, Eden Prairie, Ely, Eveleth, Faribault, Fergus
Falls, Grand Rapids, Granite Falls, Hibbing, Hutchinson, International Falls, Inver Grove Heights,
Jackson, Mahtomedi, Minneapolis, Moorhead, North Mankato, Owatonna, Pine City, Pipestone, Red
Wing, Rochester, Rosemount, St. Cloud, St. Paul, Staples, Thief River Falls, Virginia, Wadena,
White Bear Lake, Willmar, Winona, and Worthington; and the state universities located at Bemidji,
Mankato, Marshall, Moorhead, St. Cloud, Winona, and the seven-county metropolitan area
(<https://www. revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=136F.10>).
At that time, legislators also wrote Minnesota Statute 136F.12, recognizing the college’s unique mission
as a two-year college with Land Grant status and co-governance by the Fond du Lac Tribal College Board
of Directors and the MnSCU Board of Trustees (Minnesota Statute 136F.12):
136F.12 FOND DU LAC CAMPUS. Subdivision 1.Unique missions. The Fond du Lac campus has a
unique mission among two-year colleges to serve the lower division general education needs in
Carlton and south St. Louis Counties, and the education needs of American Indians throughout the
state and especially in northern Minnesota. The campus has a further unique mission to provide
programs in support of its federal land grant status. Accordingly, while the college is governed by the
board, its governance is accomplished in conjunction with the board of directors of Fond du Lac
Tribal College. . . .(<https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=136F.12>).
The college’s name was changed from Fond du Lac Community College Center to Fond du Lac Tribal
and Community College (FDLTCC) to more accurately capture the mission and governance of the
college. The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the MnSCU Board of Trustees signed a
Memorandum of Understanding which established on paper the co-governance relationship that had
begun years before.
In 1995 - 1996, planning funds were appropriated by the legislature for the development of phase two of
FDLTCC’s facilities development, which included the construction of on-campus student housing. A
satellite uplink was added in 1996, enabling the college to send and receive additional course offerings
via a distance learning network. In 1997, the college celebrated its tenth year of operation.
In 1998, FDLTCC changed from a quarter term system to a semester term system, and groundbreaking
for the student housing facility took place. In May 1999, after an intensive self-study process and site visit
evaluation, the college received its first ten-year accreditation as a stand-alone college by the North
Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and in August, the new residence hall on campus was
completed and the first students moved in. Enrollment reached a then all-time high with 937 students
registered for fall semester classes. As the decade came to a close, FDLTCC’s beginning was solidifying
into a firm foundation, evident in the rapid growth and expansion of the college and its acceptance by
local, state, national, and tribal governing bodies and education boards.
With the growing popularity of the college and an annually increasing enrollment creating extra demand
for classroom and office space, the Minnesota Legislature approved a $4.5 million bonding request to
expand the academic classroom building on campus. Combined with an additional $3 million of privately
raised funds, the expansion project added nearly 40,000 square feet of classrooms, faculty offices, student
meeting and casual space, tutoring center, conference rooms, and storage areas. Groundbreaking occurred
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in August 2002, and the second phase of the college’s facility expansion was completed one year later in
August 2003.
In April 2003, FDLTCC had a successful focus visit on student academic achievement by the Higher
Learning Commission, with a subsequent monitoring report that was submitted and accepted in 2005. The
college also gained approval from the Minnesota Legislature and the MnSCU Board of Trustees to
develop and offer a baccalaureate degree program in elementary education. With this approval, FDLTCC
became the only two-year college in Minnesota with the ability to offer a bachelor’s degree.
In 2006, a plan was set into motion to offer intercollegiate athletics for women and men. The inaugural
football game was celebrated in September 2007, and the first softball game was played in March 2008.
Women’s and men’s basketball, and women’s volleyball programs, were added in the 2008-2009 season,
followed by women’s volleyball in 2009 and baseball in 2011. The FDLTCC Thunder became a member
of the NJCAA, Division III level.
The introduction of intercollegiate athletics on campus coincided with the 2007 groundbreaking held for
the construction of the Lester Jack Briggs Cultural Center and the expansion of the Ruth A. Myers
Library/Ojibwe Archive. Both projects were completed during fall semester 2008, adding nearly 37,000
square feet to the campus infrastructure and completing the college’s third and final phase of the
institution’s original master facilities plan.
In March 2009, a new Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Fond du Lac Tribal
College Board of Directors and the MnSCU Board of Trustees. The new agreement defined the governing
relationship between the entities over FDLTCC.
While FDLTCC experienced its greatest physical and academic growth during the first decade of the
twenty-first century, it also experienced its greatest institutional challenges, as reported in the FDLTCC
Self Study Report, 2009. Though parts of a stable path were becoming visible to FDLTCC in April 2009,
this was not readily apparent during the college’s comprehensive evaluation for reaccreditation by the
Higher Learning Commission (HLC). In October 2009, FDLTCC was placed on notice by HLC in four
areas: Administrative structure, finances, planning, and teaching and learning. The result of this action
was to focus the college’s attention intently on these primary facets of the college’s infrastructure. In
August 2011, FDLTCC successfully completed a focus visit on the four areas of concern. Since that time,
FDLTCC has received two awards from the MnSCU system recognizing the college’s excellence in
financial management and the administrative leadership and employee teamwork that have contributed to
an increased and sustained efficiency and effectiveness of finances and administrative services throughout
the institution.
The 2012 – 2013 academic year marked FDLTCC’s twenty-fifth anniversary. The college celebrated
twenty-five years of success through a series of events, including a campus open house and a special
premiere of Extraordinary: Celebrating 25 Years, a video commemorating the college’s history through
the voices of those who were among the original “dreamers” and those who were among the college’s
graduates. The 22-minute video received recognition in the national 2013 Collegiate Advertising Awards
program, winning silver in the Special Video Production category, and evaluators can watch the video on
the college’s YouTube page at <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BE1KvQ5CJU>.
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As FDLTCC began the next chapter of its history, it reaffirmed its voting membership as a tribal college
in the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) in spring 2013 and continues to serve its
stakeholders as a Land Grant institution. The college submitted a letter of intent to enter the accreditation
process of the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC) for special
accreditation of its American Indian Studies associate of arts degree program. The letter of intent was
accepted, and the college’s eligibility documents were submitted and approved in spring 2014, with
WINHEC noting that the documents exceeded their requirements. In fall 2014, the college submitted the
pre-design report of its new master facilities plan to the MnSCU system office, proposing future campus
expansion of the East wing and remodeling of existing student services space to better meet student and
staff use.
Self-Study Overview
HLC STEERING COMMITTEE
Volunteers from faculty and staff made a commitment to working together to tell the FDLTCC story. The
college hired Dr. Linda Baer to serve as Chair of the Steering Committee and provide a bridge for the
transition from the Interim vice president of academic affairs, Dr. Marta Mohr, to the new Vice President,
Don Carlson. Starting in fall 2014, Dr. Baer and Don Carlson served as co-chairs of the steering
committee.
SELF-STUDY OVERVIEW
The goals of the Self-Study were as follows:
•
Assess the college’s effectiveness in meeting its mission in every program and at every level.
•
Examine where the college has been, where it is now, and where it is going.
•
Demonstrate that FDLTCC has addressed the concerns raised by the last team of evaluators.
•
Use the HLC accreditation criteria and core components to analyze the college’s strengths,
weaknesses, and opportunities based on quantitative and qualitative data.
•
Engage as much of the college community as possible in the process of celebrating
accomplishments and opportunities, while at the same time recognizing and understanding
challenges.
•
Develop plans of action to address challenges identified during the self-study process.
•
Foster a college-wide understanding that provides sufficient evidence to support reaccreditation is
not an end in itself but that it also provides an opportunity to initiate strategies for improvement.
SELF-STUDY DESIGN
The self-study design developed by the interim vice president of academic affairs and HLC Steering
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Committee chair early in the process contained the following sections:
•
•
•
•
Principles, Themes, and Goals
Timetable
Committee Structure, Roles and Responsibilities, Process, and
Working Outline (which would eventually become the table of contents).
ESTABLISHING COMMITTEES AND WORK GROUPS
Because the vice president of academic affairs was serving as an interim, the college retained an expert
consultant to serve as chair of the HLC Self-Study Steering Committee. The thinking behind this strategy
was that the consultant could provide consistency and serve as a bridge for the transition from the interim
vice president of academic affairs to the new vice president.
Individuals were invited to serve on the Steering Committee and were assigned criterion dependent on
their interest and expertise. The primary purpose of the Steering Committee was to collect evidence to
present in the self-study document. The committee met from January 2014 – May 2014 to report on their
progress and discuss challenges and insights emerging from the self-study process. A draft of all
information was gathered and distributed at the May meeting. The self-study was further developed by
steering committee members through the fall 2014 and went into a final editing stage in December. The
self-study report was completed and sent to HLC in February 2015 along with the document being posted
on the college website for a public comment period.
STEERING COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS:
Dr. Marta Mohr, Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs, spring 2014; Don Carlson, Vice President
of Academic Affairs, fall 2014
Dr. Linda Baer, Consultant, 2014 - 2015
Criterion One “Drivers”:
Dr. Marta Mohr, Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs, spring 2014
Don Carlson, Vice President of Academic Affairs beginning fall 2014
Roxanne DeLille, Speech faculty and Interim Coordinator for American Indian Studies (lead on
WINHEC Accreditation Candidacy application)
Candi Broeffle, Dean of Workforce Development
Tom Urbanski, Director of Public Information
Criterion Two “Drivers”:
Judy Schulz, Center for Academic Achievement (CAA) Coordinator and Reading faculty, spring 2014
Don Carlson, Vice President of Academic Affairs, fall 2014
Ron Gittings, Sociology faculty
Patti Petite, Community member from the Fond du Lac Reservation, fall 2014
Criterion Three “Drivers”:
Keith Turner, Dean of Student Affairs
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Kristin Peterson, Philosophy and Music faculty
Leah Tollefson, Registrar
Criterion Four “Drivers”:
Andy Wold, Assessment Coordinator and Biology faculty
Lyz Jaakola, Music and American Indian Studies faculty, spring 2014
Jay Sandal, Biology faculty
Jan Chronister, English faculty, fall 2014
Roxanne DeLille WINHEC accreditation Interim Coordinator for American Indian Studies and Speech
faculty, fall 2014
Sherry Sanchez Tibbetts, Director of Institutional Research, fall 2014
Criterion Five “Drivers”:
Stephanie Hammitt, Chief Financial Officer
Candi Broeffle, Dean of Workforce Development
Mary Gayle Pucel, Accounting, Business, and Economics faculty
Fran Wendorf, Reading faculty, spring 2014
Sherry Sanchez Tibbetts, Director of Institutional Research, fall 2014
Federal Compliance section: Sherry Sanchez Tibbetts, Director of Institutional Research
Additional Steering Committee members providing assistance to the “Drivers:”
Kevin Maki, Electric Utility Technology faculty
Damien Paulson, College in the Schools coordinator and advisor
Kathie Hill, Financial Aid
Loran Wappes, IT Director
Patricia Grace, Counselor/faculty
Robert “Sonny” Peacock, Director of Fond du Lac Tribal College
DATA COLLECTION
Collection of data to support the HLC criteria was the job of the Steering Committee members with the
assistance of college faculty and staff. Each criterion group handled the distribution of job duties
differently. In some cases, one work group member took responsibility for one component or subcomponent. In others, a collective approach was taken to all.
TECHNOLOGY
Electronic directories were set up in the college’s One Note computer network, with access given to the
HLC Steering Committee chair, criterion group “Drivers,” and administrative support staff. A tab was
created for each criterion, as well as each major section of the self-study. Evidence submitted by the
Drivers was saved in the appropriate directory.
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INTRODUCTION
COMMUNICATION
The HLC Steering Committee co-chairs were primarily responsible for communication of processes
associated with the development of the self-study.
•
The administration dedicated the entire January 9, 2014, Duty Day for the HLC Self-Study kick
off with the HLC Steering Committee chair and vice president of academic affairs, reviewing
basic accreditation information, as well as facilitating an assessment workshop and other
activities related to the self-study.
•
The Self-Study Steering Committee had as two of their responsibilities (a) communication with
faculty, staff and administrators regarding self-study evidence and data requests and (b) serving
as campus resource people on the HLC accreditation criteria and core components. As such, the
Steering Committee became one of the primary communication entities in the self-study process.
•
The administration dedicated the May 14, 2014, Duty Day to a workshop on course and program
assessment and presentation of the draft of the self-study report by the HLC Steering Committee
“Drivers.”
•
The college focused much of its August 20th Duty Day on expanding the outcomes assessment
work faculty have committed to meeting HLC standards and improving academic excellence at
the college. Don Carlson, the new Vice President of Academic Affairs, gave a report on goals for
the academic division particularly related to the HLC self-study and visit.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
HLC Steering Committee Co-Chairs: The college hired an expert consultant to head up the work of the
steering committee and serve as a bridge during the transition from the interim vice president to the new
vice president.
The Steering Committee chair:
•
Coordinated the self-study process and served as co-liaison with the vice president of academic
affairs for the HLC/PEAQ process.
•
Prepared agendas and facilitated Self-Study Steering Committee meetings.
•
In concert with the Self-Study Steering Committee conducted an initial audit of available
evidence for each core competency.
•
Provided support to the Criterion “Drivers” and attended meetings as necessary.
•
Facilitated relevant meetings and forums and made presentations as needed.
•
Served as liaison between criterion groups and institutional research to monitor collection,
analysis, and evaluation of data.
•
Provided editorial questions, comments, and suggested revisions to the self-study document.
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INTRODUCTION
•
Presented periodic progress, as well as the self-study document, to staff and faculty.
•
Met regularly with the president and vice president of academic affairs.
•
Along with the vice president, acted as liaison with the HLC staff.
•
Attended HLC’s Annual Meeting sessions with Steering Committee members.
SELF-STUDY STEERING COMMITTEE:
The Self-Study Steering Committee:
•
Served as a sounding board and decision-making group for any issues related to the self-study,
•
Provided support to Criterion Work Groups,
•
Served as campus-resource people on the HLC accreditation criteria and core components,
•
Monitored the collection of evidence to support the self-study document,
•
Used the HLC criteria and core components as a guide to mediate questions of overlapping
among the criteria,
•
Communicated to their constituent groups regarding self-study and reaccreditation activities,
requests, and progress,
•
Assisted the HLC Steering Committee chair in facilitating and preparing for the HLC
comprehensive visit by arranging and participating in a “mock” visit,
•
Will be serving as resource people for the HLC evaluation team during the site visit, and
•
Will be assisting with the development of plans to implement any recommendations that emerge
from the site visit and with the college’s transition from PEAQ to Pathways.
CRITERION WORK GROUPS
Criterion Work Groups correlated with the five HLC criteria for which the college will be providing
evidence. Membership of these work groups included a representative of the Self-Study Steering
Committee who served as the “Driver” and other members who supported their work. The roles and
responsibilities of the work groups included:
•
Understanding the relationship of the work to the self-study as a whole;
•
Thoroughly reviewing and understanding the core components to be addressed and evaluated;
•
Identifying data that informed the evaluation of the core components;
•
Identifying and utilizing human resources needed to evaluate core components;
•
Assuming responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the assigned criterion;
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•
Gathering and assessing data showing the extent to which the college meets the core components;
and
•
Developing proposed recommendations based on both strengths and challenges.
RESPONSES TO CONCERNS RAISED IN LAST EVALUATION VISIT
Below are the concerns expressed by the 2011 Focus Visit team. The concerns are quoted directly from
the team’s report with page numbers noted at the end of each major point.
Concern
Financial Stability: Evidence that demonstrates that further organizational attention is required in the area
of focus.
a) The Composite Financial Ratios for the college have been corrected to fall within the
recommended guidelines. Conversations with the financial team provided evidence that the
college has implemented strategies to improve their financial viability. It will be important for the
institution to continue to monitor the ratios on an annual basis to ensure the institution’s financial
health. This continued demonstration of careful financial monitoring will provide the foundation
for future financial stability. (10)
b) Meetings with MnSCU financial staff as well as MnSCU internal auditors indicate that the
college has demonstrated a pattern of fiscal management, with an emphasis on maintaining good
ratios per the Higher Learning Commission’s expectations. The college will be expected to
continue these patterns of fiscal management and also maintain the financial reserves as dictated
by MnSCU. The financial ratios have been used by the HLC as a reference to see how a given
institution’s finances compare with minimum expectations. It allows the HLC to see yearly trends
of the institution as a way to safeguard against future issues. As a matter of MnSCU policy, the
institution is expected to maintain a reserve balance of 5% - 7%. Even though the MnSCU policy
was not reviewed, it would be expected that any balance less than 5% would result in the
institution being placed on a fiscal watch situation by MnSCU. (10-11)
c) The college has put into place a financial team to address the audit findings. While the college has
cleared all of the audit findings, if additional findings should occur, then the team will be called
upon to address the concerns and clear any future audit findings as quickly as possible. If the
institution falls back in to a situation in which multiple audits are found, this could negatively
affect potential future grant and endowment funding, as well as, give a State institution negative
publicity regarding financial management. (11)
Institutional Response
The primary evidence is discussed in Criterion 5. Pertinent highlights include:
•
The college has responded to and corrected errors reported as audit findings in FY 2014;
however, due to the final review schedule of the Office of Internal Audit, official confirmation of
this will not be received until June 2015. If updates regarding the status of the findings become
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available prior to the site visit, FDLTCC will provide the information to evaluators when they
arrive on campus.
•
The CFI averaged +2.6 from 2011 – 2014.
•
The college’s reserve averaged 7.1 percent from 2011 – 2014.
•
The college has received two awards from the MnSCU system recognizing excellence in financial
management, and the college’s budget committee received the Outstanding Service award from
the chancellor’s office of the MnSCU system in fall 2014 for their outstanding work and service
to the college.
Concern
Demonstrating implementation and continued engagement of the college community with the Strategic
Plan: Evidence that demonstrates that further organizational attention is required in the area of focus.
a) The college has only demonstrated two complete planning cycles, therefore they were not able to
demonstrate an ongoing implementation of strategic planning. To fully implement the strategic
plan, the college must finish, implement and incorporate the results into the college operations
and show a systemic application of the planning process. To accomplish this objective, all of the
planning processes that have been developed will need to run through several cycles, become
institutionalized and the results incorporated into the strategic plan. (12)
The primary evidence is discussed in Criterion 5. Pertinent highlights include:
•
Celebrated the completion of FDLTCC’s 2008 – 2012 strategic plan.
•
Developed and finalized FDLTCC’s 2013 – 2016 strategic plan, aligned with MnSCU system
strategic work plan and incorporating initial goals of FDLTCC’s academic plan.
•
Developed and finalized new master facilities plan during 2012 – 2014 that is aligned with
future academic development and existing student services needs. Submitted pre-design to
MnSCU system for consideration during fall 2014.
•
Developed a new academic planning process during the 2014-15 academic year that
incorporates the college’s strategic plan, budget process, and the assessment process.
•
Continued process for short- and long-term budget planning.
Concern
Development of a plan for the assessment of student learning and demonstrated progress of full
implementation, data collection, and appropriate attention to instructional and college decisionmaking based on assessed outcomes and that the college has embraced the value of assessment of
student learning and has integrated it into its overall curriculum and instructional process. Evidence
10
INTRODUCTION
that demonstrates that further organizational attention is required in the area of focus.
a) The visiting team found evidence that the assessment of student learning outcomes exists at
multiple levels through implementation of the CAC questionnaire, course rubrics and Perkins
data, however, the college has more work to accomplish, particularly in the CTE areas, to assure
that direct learning outcomes are aggregated across the campus and analyzed to inform
continuous improvement. (16)
b) Although faculty and administrators confirmed that assessment results were shared at the spring
2011 Duty Day, there is, as yet, no annual report summarizing assessment outcomes, findings,
and plans for curricular improvement. Development of a format for an annual report and
strategies for sharing results and recommendations with all constituencies will provide a vehicle
for sharing results with all constituencies. (16)
c) Much attention has been given to the refinement and assessment of CAC measures over the past
two years as evidenced by the revision of the document for 2010 administration, but assessment
of CTE courses appears to rely heavily upon Perkins program measures. These efforts could be
strengthened by engagement of advisory committees and alumni in the refinement of student
learning goals and measures in the CTE domain at the course and program levels to ensure CTE
programs meet the needs of business/industry in the service area. (16)
d) The revised program review guidelines will strengthen program-level assessment by including
attention to direct measures of student learning. However, due to the short time frame the faculty
will need to repeat the process and demonstrate that the process has been systematized by
completing at least two to three reviews before the next comprehensive visit, and show that the
results are shared with key constituencies including advisory committees whose input is
important to program improvement. (17)
e) Faculty shared with the team that many of them have developed rubrics for measuring student
learning in their courses, development is individual so there is not necessarily consistency in
focus across different sections of the same or similar course. Achieving consensus for standard
rubrics would make data collection and analyses easier to manage and more information about
student academic achievement. (17)
f) The team did not find goals and outcomes for four CTE programs, nor clear distinctions between
expectations for certificate and associate degree programs. It is important that faculty ensure that
goals and outcomes are documented for all CTE programs so that students are clearly informed
about learning expectations and so that advisory committees can help identify appropriate
assessment that address business/industry needs. (17)
g) At the time of the focus visit, most, but not all, CTE programs had developed and documented
program level goals. The college is encouraged to ensure that all programs have published
learning goals and outcomes and to demonstrate how CTE goals and outcomes are measured
through a continuum of course and program-level measures. (17)
11
INTRODUCTION
h) Currently program level learning goals and outcomes are not included in catalog and program
brochures. The college will review all current documents and make revisions to better inform
students about those goals and outcomes. Transparency about expectations and sharing of results
with constituencies are elements of a mature assessment program. (17)
i)
Interviews with faculty confirm that the college has just begun expanding assessment strategies
and measures to off-site locations, including high schools. To ensure consistent programming
across sites, faculty will need to implement assessment strategies across all sites and include these
assessment results as a component of the college’s performance data. (17)
The primary evidence is discussed in Criteria 3 and 4. Pertinent highlights include:
•
Adopted TracDat assessment reporting software to streamline and simplify data collection,
reporting, and storage of course- and program-level assessment results.
•
Retained faculty consultant experienced with successful implementation of TracDat to assist with
redesigning FDLTCC’s approach due to significant problems with the previous design.
•
Assigned assessment coordination responsibilities to a single faculty person who worked in
concert with the consultant.
•
Completed course-level and program-level reporting structure in TracDat.
•
Created a bridge for CITS faculty to begin assessment reporting of the college’s four
competencies, as well as outcomes specific to individual courses, by providing 1) global access to
the college’s Desire2Learn (D2L) online course software and 2) a link to the TracDat assessment
reporting software.
•
Engaged program coordinators to define coordination responsibilities, review and revision of
program learning outcomes, schedule for program reviews, and revision of the college program
review policies.
•
All programs have program-level goals and outcomes.
•
Reviewed and updated policies for program advisory committees with a team of faculty and
administration.
•
Created a new advisory committee for the Elementary Education program which has been in
suspension, with the goal of revitalizing this program on campus and offering it again.
•
Conducted a Nursing Program review in 2013 – 2014 that revealed the need for organizational
structure and curriculum changes in order to meet national and state accreditation standards and
recommended hiring a Nursing Director with full supervisory responsibilities.
•
Retained Nursing Program consultant in 2013 – 2014 to analyze the program and prescribe
changes to the curriculum, admission criteria, student orientation, policies and procedures.
12
INTRODUCTION
•
Implemented changes recommended for the Nursing Program that demonstrated significant
increase in pass rates for students passing the State licensing exam. The pass rates have now
exceeded the requirement of 75% of graduates from spring 2014 passing the exam.
•
Through the development of the college’s new American Indian Studies associate of arts degree
program, the college formed a template for academic program development consisting of the
following primary facets :
1. creation of a program advisory board with clearly defined oversight roles and duties,
2. creation of program mission and values aligned with institutional mission and values,
3. development of program outcomes aligned with program (and institutional) mission and
values, and
4. collaborative development with general education faculty of course-level outcomes
appropriate to the program’s general education offerings.
Concern
Full integration of general education and program outcomes into program development and demonstrating
the evaluation of programs is driven by data-informed decisions: Evidence that demonstrates that further
organizational attention is required in the area of focus.
a) Faculty expressed some concern in finding effective ways of aggregating meaningful
performance data related to the measure of the CACs across the curriculum, They found
that using the D2L system was too time consuming for faculty entering the data and that
the program did not provide a good mechanism for aggregating data. The recent purchase
of TracDat will help facilitate aggregate reporting to key constituencies regarding student
performance. Faculty are encouraged to consider strategies to use results to continue
discussions across the curriculum about expected outcomes and needed refinements to
ensure that data provide the most meaningful input for modifying curriculum to improve
student learning. (19)
b) With just two years of data collection accomplished since the last comprehensive visit,
the college is encouraged to continue its efforts to ensure a pattern of annual evaluations
of general education learning outcomes and to document findings and recommendations
each year so that a continuum of information can provide an improved context to inform
decision-making and budget allocations over time. (19)
c) The college may wish to consider incorporating a “value-added” component to its
assessment of general education. At present, administration of the CAC includes students
new to the institution as well as those who have completed multiple semesters. Although
this strategy has confirmed that students who have completed core courses perform better
than those who have not, the college may wish to investigate the comparison of entrylevel performances on CAC competencies with the performance of the same students in
their final semester of enrollment to evaluate achievements effected over time for
students who complete their programs of study at FDLTCC. (20)
13
INTRODUCTION
d) The college is encouraged to continue to refine the program review process and data
indicators to assure that programs are current and competitive to meet the needs of its
communities. Program reviews provide an analysis of programs over time, thus providing
contexts for direct measures of student learning in relation to graduation, transfer, and
placement data. (20)
The primary evidence is discussed in Criteria 3 and 4. Pertinent highlights include:
•
Adopted TracDat assessment reporting software to streamline and simplify data collection,
reporting, and storage of course- and program-level assessment.
•
Retained faculty consultant in 2013 – 2014 experienced with successful implementation of
TracDat to assist with redesigning FDLTCC’s approach due to significant problems with the
previous design.
•
Assigned assessment coordination responsibilities to a single faculty person who worked in
concert with the consultant.
•
Continued to run local instrument to measure Competencies across the Curriculum (CACs) while
TracDat was redesigned.
•
Continued work on common classroom rubrics.
•
Developed common rubric for Information Literacy competency assessment.
•
Collected assessment data for Communication competency based on a common rubric.
•
Engaged faculty in review and revision of course outlines including updates in course learning
outcomes.
•
Held two faculty development activities focused on assessment of teaching and learning including
a Predictive Analytics (PAR) presentation by national expert, Dr. Linda Baer.
•
Engaged program coordinators in defining coordination responsibilities, review, and revision of
program learning outcomes, schedule for program reviews, and revision of the college program
review policies.
OTHER RECENT DEVELOPMENTS (2013-15)
•
Reviewed and implemented changes in processes and timelines for College Catalog changes and
development of class schedules to more effectively meet all constituents’ needs.
•
Updated the college website during fall 2014 to meet the needs of college constituents more
effectively.
•
Incorporated changes in the Academic Affairs organizational structure that includes moving the
14
INTRODUCTION
workforce development program into the division and changing the duties of the dean in that
department to also work with Career and Technical Education programs in the division. In
addition, all staff members that support the division now report to the administrators in the
division for a clearer chain of command.
•
Implemented Core Values in the college including discussion of the values at the administrative
duty day in August, 2014, and holding its first “All-In” Respect Feast on October 29, 2014.
•
Revitalized the Center for Teaching and Learning committee during fall 2014 to review training
needs for all faculty and staff at the college and review processes for distance education training
on campus.
•
Invited by the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC) in May 2014
to complete a self-study for accreditation by the organization. The college will complete the selfstudy during the 2015-16 year.
•
In addition to the required attendance by administrators, have consistently sent at least three
faculty to the HLC Annual Meeting since 2011 and required the entire Self-Study Steering
Committee to attend the HLC 2014 Annual Meeting with focused attention on tribal colleges and
assessment.
•
Reviewed diversity and equity policies and programming in the organization and formed a new
committee during the 2014-15 year.
•
Overall, the college has dedicated resources to more effectively meet and sustain HLC standards
in the past two years.
15
FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
Federal Compliance
I. CREDITS, PROGRAM LENGTH, AND TUITION
Higher Learning Commission Policy and Expectations
The Commission expects an affiliated institution to be able to equate its learning experiences with
semester or quarter credit hours using practices common to institutions of higher education, to justify the
lengths of its programs in comparison to similar programs found in accredited institutions of higher
education, and to justify any program-specific tuition in terms of program costs, program length, and
program objectives. Affiliated institutions notify the Commission of any significant changes in the
relationships among credits, program length, and tuition.
The institution demonstrates that it has credit hour assignments for each class it offers, overall credit hour
requirements for each degree program, and that its credit hour allocations and requirements are within the
range of good practice in higher education. The institution sets its tuition consistently across its programs,
avoiding program-specific charges unless such charges are justified. The institution must justify any
program-specific tuition it charges based on the costs and expenses for offering that particular degree
program.
Credits and Program Length
The lengths of academic programs at FDLTCC are similar to programs in other accredited institutions and
comply with MnSCU Board Policy 3.36 (see MnSCU Board PoliciesER in the electronic resource room),
including the use of the semester credit system as a basic measure of learning experiences and a systemwide common calendar of term lengths and starting dates. A semester in the MnSCU system comprises at
least sixteen weeks, with allowance for exceptions as long as credit hours are met. For example, FDLTCC
has accelerated most offerings of its two-credit developmental English courses by reducing them from
sixteen-week to eight-week courses; thus, rather than meeting two hours per week across sixteen weeks,
the courses meet four hours per week for eight weeks. All courses, including online courses, must meet
the same goals, outcomes, and levels of rigor as those delivered in the traditional classroom environment.
All Associate of Arts degrees in the MnSCU system are capped at 60 credits. Associate of Science and
Associate of Applied Science degrees vary in the system from 60 credits to over 70; those over 60 credits,
such as FDLTCC’s law enforcement program, applied for and were granted waivers through a MnSCU
system-wide and system-led negotiation process that took place during 2011 - 2013. The process
streamlined the credits of same-discipline A.S. and A.A.S. degree programs across the system in order to
provide students a consistent experience in their disciplines, particularly when transferring; thus, all law
enforcement programs at MnSCU colleges are 68 credits, for example.
Similar to its MnSCU peer institutions, FDLTCC’s courses primarily run on a three-credit backbone, with
the primary exceptions occurring in specialized courses, such as program-specific courses and courses
that must comply with agency-regulated training hours. The college’s course proposal and approval
process (see Course Proposal ProcessER in the Teaching and Learning folder in the electronic resource
16
FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
room) requires, among other things, faculty to determine and discuss course content, credits, delivery
methods, and course goals and outcomes. It also requires a demonstrated review of similar courses at
other institutions, particularly those to which FDLTCC students are most likely to transfer.
Information regarding the lengths and course requirements of FDLTCC’s degree programs is found in the
College Catalog (see pages 76 - 96), on the college’s website (see <http://fdltcc.edu/academics/degreeand-certificate-programs/>), and, most thoroughly, on the program planners used with students to map
their academic plans <http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/academic-support/program-planner-checklists/>).
FDLTCC does not offer any degree programs or certificates in clock hours.
Tuition and Fees
FDLTCC complies with MnSCU Board Policy 5.11 and 5.11.1 (see MnSCU Board PoliciesER in the
electronic resource room) in establishing tuition and fees. For academic year 2014-2015, tuition at
FDLTCC is approximately $5,200 per year for a full-time student. Some courses that incur equipment or
supply costs and site fees have higher tuition costs than the base tuition rate (currently $158.90). The cost
differential rates are determined annually by FDLTCC’s CFO and relevant faculty and are approved by
the MnSCU Board of Trustees. Tuition information about courses with a differential rate are provided
annually to students via hard copy available in the Student Services and Business offices and on the
college website (<http://fdltcc.edu/wp-lib/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Tuition-Rate-Sheet-20142015.pdf>). Data regarding cost differential rates across the MnSCU system are made available to all
CFOs, and FDLTCC’s CFO and relevant faculty review such data in the annual process of determining
differential rates.
The schedule of fees at FDLTCC is established by the MnSCU Board of Trustees and follows MnSCU
Board policy 5.11 and 5.11.1, which stipulates mandatory fees (5.11.1 Part 4) and regulates optional fees
(5.11.1 Part 5). FDLTCC’s primary fee structure is detailed below.
Type of Fee
Amount
Application Fee
$20 for each credit seeking application
Technology Fee
$8 per credit is charged to advance the technological status
of the campus, including acquisition of computer hardware,
software, and other equipment to enhance student learning
Parking Fee (does not apply to online courses)
$1 per credit hour is charged for standard upkeep and
maintenance of parking facilities
Student Life Fee
7.00 per credit each semester
Minnesota Community College Student Association Fee
$0.31 per credit each semester
Senior Citizens (persons over 62 years)
$15.00 fee in lieu of tuition
General information regarding tuition and fees is available in hard copy form at FDLTCC’s admissions,
business, and advising offices and, electronically, on the college’s website (<http://fdltcc.edu/paying-forcollege/tuition-and-fee-payments/>) and in the College Catalog (see pages 34 - 41).
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
II. STUDENT COMPLAINTS
Department of Education and Higher Learning Commission Expectations
The Department of Education expects evaluation teams to be aware of major complaints or categories of
student concerns. To comply with federal regulations, the Commission expects an affiliated organization
to provide a comprehensive evaluation team with an organizational account of the student complaints it
has received and their disposition. This account should cover the two years of operation preceding the
comprehensive evaluation.
All MnSCU Board policies noted in this section can be found in the MnSCU Board PoliciesER folder in
the electronic resource room. FDLTCC’s student complaints and grievances procedures are governed by
MnSCU Board 3.8 and 3.8.1 and fall into the following general categories: A) MnSCU Board Policy 1.B1
and 1.B1.1 Discrimination and Harassment, B) MnSCU Board Policy 1.B3 and 1.B3.1 Sexual Violence,
and C). MnSCU Board Policy 3.6 and 3.6.1 Student Conduct. Consistent with Board Policy 3.8, FDLTCC
has an institutional policy to resolve grade disputes (see Grading PolicyER in the FDLTCC Policies folder
in the electronic resource room). Complaint and grievance processes are outlined for students on the
college’s website (<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policies-reports/academic-campus-policies/complaintsgrievances-petitions/>) and in the Student Handbook (p. 35). The college also responds to student
complaints on an as-needed basis when complaints fall outside primary policy-related dimensions.
Discrimination and harassment complaint procedures flow from MnSCU Board policies 1.B1
(Nondiscrimination in Employment and Education) and 1.B1.1 (Report/Complaint of Discrimination/
Harassment Investigation and Resolution). The procedures cover students and employees. For most
student-against-student complaints, FDLTCC has a designated officer in charge of listening to and
investigating any harassment/discrimination claims. A designated officer interviews the complainant and
any witnesses involved in the situation. Once all parties have been interviewed and factual information
gathered, the officer writes a report, which is then forwarded to the dean of student services, the vice
president of academic affairs, or designee who makes a final decision on the matter. FDLTCC, like other
MnSCU colleges, uses the services of an outside harassment/discrimination officer when necessary, such
as when a conflict of interest is present, to investigate claims made by students against faculty or staff or
claims made between employees. In the event that a student or employee has a complaint against an
FDLTCC employee, the outside officer investigates the situation and provides their report to the dean of
student services, the vice president of academic affairs, or a designee who then determines final actions.
Student complaints related to academics, such as complaints about grades, instruction, and other
classroom-based situations, are handled by the vice president of academic affairs. The vice president
works with the student(s) and any instructor(s) involved to resolve the situation. If there is no resolution,
the student follows the formal complaint process. If the situation involves a dispute about grades, the vice
president seeks resolution by working with the instructor and student; if resolution is not found, the
student is files a petition. If aspects of an academic-related problem might involve some dimension of
harassing or discriminatory behavior, the vice president informs and works as necessary with the
college’s designated officer (see Grading PolicyER in FDLTCC Policies folder; Student Handbook, p. 19).
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
Complaints regarding possible violations of FDLTCC’s Student Code of Conduct are handled by the dean
of student affairs at FDLTCC and are governed by MnSCU Board policies 3.6 and 3.6.1. This policy and
related procedures are outlined on the college’s website (<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policiesreports/academic-campus-policies/student-conduct-code/>) and in the Student Handbook (p. 32 - 33), and
the college practices these procedures for student conduct-related complaints. Related to the Student Code
of Conduct, FDLTCC has the following policies Academic Honesty and Classroom Conduct, Zero
Tolerance of Campus Violence, and Drug and Alcohol policies (see Student Handbook, p. 33-38).
FDLTCC’s student-athletes must adhere to the Student Athlete Code of Conduct (<http://fdltcc.edu/wplib/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/AthleteHandbook.pdf>).
In addition to the official processes, FDLTCC has the benefit of being a small campus and is responsive
to student complaints that fall outside the bounds of harassment/discrimination, academics, and student
conduct, such as concerns about scheduling, parking, food service, and recycling. Through the Student
Life committee, students are free to raise issues before the administrators, faculty, and other students who
sit at the table. Such problems are heard and acted on as needed. Students also consult faculty and staff
and the college’s administrators, including the president, if they feel they are not being heard.
Tangential to complaints are requests by students for waivers of a college rule or regulation. Students are
able to petition for a waiver through the petition process and have their request heard by the Student
Petitions Committee, which meets regularly.
Records of complaints, which are confidential, will be made available to the HLC evaluating team during
their visit to our campus. Forms related to complaints and petitions have been included in the electronic
resource room (see Complaints and PetitionsER in the FDLTCC Policies folder).
III. TRANSFER POLICIES
Higher Learning Commission Policy and Expectation
The institution must demonstrate that it appropriately discloses its transfer policies to students and to the
public. Transfer policies contain information about the criteria the institution uses to make transfer
decisions.
Transfer-related policies and procedures are governed by MnSCU Board policies 3.39 (Transfer Rights
and Responsibilities), 3.21 (Undergraduate Course Credit Transfer), and 3.37 (Minnesota Transfer
Curriculum). FDLTCC discloses its transfer policies to students and to the public, posting information on
its website (<http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/graduation-transfer/transfer-information/>) and in its
College Catalog (see pages 60 - 63) that includes information about the evaluation process for incoming
students, evaluation criteria, the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC), and rights to appeal decisions.
As an open enrollment institution, FDLTCC accepts all transfer students who are in good standing. Those
seeking transfer admission must complete an application and provide official transcripts from every
institution they attended, including high school or GED information. Transcripts from students
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
transferring to FDLTCC from another MnSCU institution are automatically available to FDLTCC’s
admissions office via the system’s e-transcript services. The college considers all transcripts, including
those from non-regionally accredited institutions, and evaluation criteria include academic standing,
credit life, credit for prior learning, CLEP, MnTC criteria, and credit for military training. If questions
arise during a transcript evaluation, the college’s registrar will work with a given faculty member, often
one who teaches a course similar to the one in question or is at least in the field, and with the vice
president of academic affairs to determine how to proceed; oftentimes, more information is requested
from the incoming student or from the sending institution. After a student’s transcripts are reviewed, the
college notifies the student of the evaluation results.
If a student finds the transcript evaluation unfavorable, the student has the right to appeal the evaluation
within one month through FDLTCC’s petition process. The college’s Student Petitions Committee meets
regularly and is composed of faculty representatives, the registrar, the vice president of academic affairs,
and student services representatives. Students are informed of the committee’s decision by the registrar.
Consistent with MnSCU Board Policy 3.21, if the decision is unfavorable, the student has the right to
make a MnSCU system-level appeal.
The college’s record of credit transfer success is monitored on the MnSCU system’s Strategic Framework
Measures, which FDLTCC makes public on its website (see the final performance measure on the list at
<http://fdltcc.edu/wp-lib/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Accountability-Dashboard-September-2014.pdf>).
FDLTCC utilizes the “Minnesota Transfer Curriculum” (MnTC) as the hub of its lower division general
education requirements across all of the college’s degree programs. The MnTC, governed by MnSCU
Board Policy 3.37 and 3.37.1, consists of courses in ten goal areas: 1) Communication, 2) Critical
Thinking, 3) Natural Sciences, 4) Mathematical and Logical Reasoning, 5) History, Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 6) Humanities and Fine Arts, 7) Human Diversity, 8) Global Perspective, 9) Civic and Ethical
Responsibility, and 10) People and the Environment. These goal areas form the bulk of FDLTCC’s
associate of arts (AA) degrees; a completed 60-credit AA transfers as a package to universities in the
MnSCU system, as well as to the University of Minnesota, and the student enters university having
completed all lower division general education requirements. FDLTCC’s associate of science (AS) and
associate of applied science (AAS) degrees contain portions of the MnTC, which is specified on
FDLTCC’s program planners, along with information about the MnTC goal areas the student would need
to complete to attain an AA degree.
The MnTC-designated courses in FDLTCC’s curriculum pass through the college’s course proposal and
approval process (discussed in core component 3B) and conform to the review practices outlined in
MnSCU Board Policy 3.37.1. The college’s MnTC curriculum is also reviewed on a regular basis by the
MnSCU system office (see MnTC ReviewER folder under Teaching and Learning for an example of a
review and the college’s response in the electronic resource room). The vice president of academic affairs
is given the results of the review, and any concerns about specific courses are addressed with faculty and
through the college’s curriculum review process. Information about MnTC and its guidelines, goal areas,
learning goals and outcomes, and the transferability of credits is available at <www.mntransfer.org> and in
Criterion 3 of this document.
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
FDLTCC offers a variety of resources for students who are planning to transfer to or from FDLTCC to
map or monitor their academic path. Students can directly work with the college’s advisors; they can
access FDLTCC’s program planner checklists via hard copy in advising offices or online (see
<http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/academic-support/program-planner-checklists/>) and utilize the
information with other transfer resources, such <https://www.transferology. com/state/mn> or at as
<www.mntransfer.org>; and they can request at any time, or receive upon application for graduation,
Degree Audit Reports (DARS), which indicate the MnTC courses a student has completed and needs to
complete (see Associate of Arts DARS ExampleER under Teaching and Learning in the electronic resource
room). Finally, students who participate in the college’s Nandagikendan (Seek to Learn) Academy for
Returning Students participate in a week-long seminar focused on preparing for transfer to a university.
FDLTCC’s AS degree programs have articulations with a variety of institutions, focused especially on
area universities to which most FDLTCC students transfer. In addition to individual agreements, the
college has broad field agreements in the health sciences and a statewide agreement in nursing (see
Articulation AgreementsER under Teaching and Learning in the electronic resource room). The college
provides information to students about articulation agreements through advising, program-specific
brochures, and online (see <http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/graduation-transfer/transfer-information/>).
IV. VERIFICATION OF STUDENT IDENTITY
The institution will demonstrate that it verifies the identity of students who participate in courses or
programs provided to the student through distance or correspondence education.
Each student registered at FDLTCC receives a “StarID,” an identification number that follows a student
throughout his or her tenure in the MnSCU system. Students use their StarID, with their personalized
passwords, to access their student account information, email accounts, and the Desire2Learn (D2L)
learning management system. Additionally, each student is issued an identification card.
FDLTCC’s online course offerings are limited relative to other institutions; yet, the topic of verification
of identity is of significant concern to the college’s faculty. Although not yet mandatory, some faculty
who teach online courses may require students to take proctored examinations on-site; no fee has been
charged. Some faculty will require video meetings. Some faculty will arrange their assignments and other
course activities in a manner that reduces the risk of dishonesty. For example, a writing instructor will
provide a variety of non-essay assignments, as well as online “discussion” activities, in order to “see the
same voice,” and some will give “surprise” assignments that are time-sensitive and reduce the possibility
of someone else completing the work.
V. TITLE IV
The institution will present evidence on the required components of the Title IV Program, including
general program requirements, financial responsibility requirements, default rates, campus crime
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
information, athletic participation, students right to know, satisfactory academic progress, contractual
relationships, and consortial arrangements.
General Program
FDLTCC participates in the following Title IV programs:
•
•
•
•
Federal Pell Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
Federal Work-Study program
Direct Loan Stafford Loan Programs
As an institution with Program Participation Agreements, FDLTCC complies with its reporting
obligations to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) as required. This process is
predominantly handled by the MnSCU system via data draw-downs from FDLTCC through MnSCU’s
Integrated Student Records System (ISRS). Personnel in the system office work with the FDLTCC
Institutional Research Director, Financial Aid Director, the registrar, and FDLTCC administrators to
confirm the data and resolve any questions.
As an institution participating in a Student Financial Aid (SFA) Program and also having an
intercollegiate athletic program, FDLTCC must comply with the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act
(EADA). In compliance with the Act, FDLTCC submits an EADA report to the U.S. Department of
Education (DOE) annually. FDLTCC’s EADA report provides the DOE with information about the
college’s intercollegiate athletic participation, staffing, and revenues and expenses by its men’s and
women’s teams. Because the Act is designed to make prospective students aware of the college’s
commitment to providing equitable athletic opportunities to its students, the Act requires schools to make
the report available on request to students, potential students, and the public. FDLTCC notifies the public
about the report’s availability on its website (<http://fdltcc.edu/campus-life/thunder-athletics/>).
Financial Aid Auditing
The most recent Department of Education Federal Program Review of the college’s financial aid program
occurred during September 2008. Evaluators were present on campus for four of five scheduled
evaluation days, leaving one day early because the program was found to be in very good order. The
findings noted only the necessity to correct a small number of clerical errors.
The Minnesota Office of Higher Education (MOHE) audits the Minnesota state financial aid programs
(Minnesota State Grant, Minnesota State Work Study, Minnesota Postsecondary Child Care Grant,
Student Education Loan Fund, Safety Officer Survivor Program, Minnesota GI Bill, Minnesota Achieve
Scholarship, and Tuition Reciprocity) either annually or biennially, whichever they choose. MOHE
auditors select a random sample of recipients from FDLTCC’s disbursement reporting and conduct onsite audits. The college has not received any programmatic or systemic citations.
22
FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
Institutional Financial Auditing
FDLTCC’s finances are monitored in a variety of ways, including its reserve fund and composite
financial index, which are discussed in greater detail in Criterion 5 of this document. In addition to
system-level and institution-level monitoring, FDLTCC is part of system-wide audits conducted by an
independent auditing firm. The Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) may also conduct certain reviews
on the MnSCU system as a whole or on individual projects. MnSCU’s Internal Audit Department also
performs reviews, as approved by the Board of Trustees, of certain operations. The objective of those
reviews are to review internal controls over financial operations in order to ensure the college has
safeguarded college assets, properly earned and expended public funds, and accurately recorded
transactions in the accounting and personnel systems. In addition, they provide assurance that the college
has complied with material finance-related legal requirements, MnSCU policies and procedures, and
management’s authorized college policies. Internal audit also follows up to determine whether or not the
college has resolved any audit findings arising from the reviews.
Each year, the MnSCU Board of Trustees approves an audit plan submitted by Internal Audit and the
Audit Committee of the Board on specific topics of interest. The sample of colleges audited is determined
based on that plan. For instance, late in 2014, Internal Audit reviewed grant processes. Because FDLTCC
has a high dollar volume of grants, the college was one of seven selected for audit. The grants that
FDLTCC receives are accounted for through the MnSCU system office and fall under system
review/audit requirements. Occasionally the funding agencies may also perform a program audit or
review. The audit was done in late November/early December, and at the time of this writing, the college
has not yet received a report or recommendations. The Department of Internal Audit also conducts
periodic reviews of certain procedures and processes performed at all colleges in the MnSCU system.
The MnSCU system as a whole received an audit finding during summer 2013 because the State did not
complete and submit to the Department of Education (DOE) its A133 audit in a timely manner. As a
result, the DOE imposed some sanctions on the system as a whole. Although the issue has been resolved,
FDLTCC, like all of the colleges and universities in the system, currently cannot request financial aid
funds until after disbursement to the students. Although the students remain unaffected, system business
offices are a bit challenged. For more information, see FAQs Financial Aid SanctionER under Budget and
Finances in the electronic resource room; for a general overview of the 2014 audit plans in the MnSCU
system, see 2014 Audit PlanER.
Copies of FDLTCC’s audit reports will be uploaded to the HLC website and related materials are also
included in the Budgets and Finances folder in the electronic resource room. The college has responded to
and corrected errors reported as audit findings in FY 2014; however, due to the final review schedule of
the Office of Internal Audit, official confirmation of this will not be received until June 2015 (see Internal
Audits Letter 1/9/15). If updates regarding the status of the findings become available prior to the site
visit, FDLTCC will provide the information to evaluators when they arrive on campus.
Default Rates
FDLTCC’s 3-year cohort default rate for the past three years has been 21.5 (2009), 29 (2010), and 22.9
(2011) percent and is in compliance with DOE guidelines.
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
In an effort to reduce the number of students who default on their student loans, FDLTCC practices the
following in its default management plan:
1) Prints total loan debt on student award letters (current as of the date of their award letter), and
includes a paragraph about responsible borrowing on both the award letter and the email notification;
2) Requires Entrance Counseling (www.studentloans.gov) for every student before their first loan, even
if they have borrowed at another college before transferring to FDLTCC;
3) Requires Exit Counseling (www.studentloans.gov) after the second disbursement of their last loan.
We will mail:
a) Loan History list from ISRS
b) Exit Counseling Letter
c) Student Loan Information sheet
4) Evaluates SAP at the end of every term and discusses bad terms with students each term, even if they
are not suspended;
5) Presents a Default Prevention Seminar using the “What to do when you can’t make your student loan
payment?” flyer at all Suspension Petition Learning Seminars;
6) Administers the 0 to 40 Academic Advising program, teaching time management and study skills;
7) Promptly responds to any and all Skip-tracing requests from lenders and servicers;
8) Sends informational emails to all students regarding default, contacting their lender, forbearance, and
income-based repayment every term;
9) Posts messages to campus message boards regarding default, contacting their lender, forbearance, and
income-based repayment every term;
10) Emails, calls and/or holds an information meeting each term for those graduating;
11) Informs students about debt and staying out of default when processing Total Withdrawals and
Return to Title IV in person or on the phone, if the student contacts us, as well as creating and mailing
the following packet:
a) Print an AR0395CB from MnSCU’s Integrated Student Records System (ISRS)
b) On the AR0395CB, highlight the Sub, Unsub, SELF, and PLUS totals, and write “Total loan
borrowed at FDLTCC”
c) Write a notification letter (“letter”: “Letter - Return to Title IV refund – DL” on the Shared drive)
to the student.
d) Mail to student: 1) the original letter, 2) highlighted AR0395CB, and 3) Student Loan
Information Sheet.
e) Email forbearance and income-based repayment info to Return to Title IV students
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
12) Uses NSLDS to identify borrowers who are delinquent on payments, then calls and emails them
offering assistance via a conference call with their lender to setup:
a) Forbearance
b) Income Based Repayment
13) Uses Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation’s and ED’s online Default Management tools, and
every three months mails out notification letters to all students who are late (early, mid and late
stages) on their payments;
14) Educates and informs students regarding loans and their related responsibilities through our consumer
information contained in the following:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
GLHEC’s website, www.mygreatlakes.com
DL’s website, www.studentloans.gov and https://www.nsldsfap.ed.gov
FINAID.org, www.finaid.org
Student Guide: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/publications.jsp
Entrance and Exit Counseling guides and letters;
FDLTCC Student Handbook (pages 21 – 30);
FDLTCC College Catalog (pages 38 – 41);
“Award Information Sheet” and “Online Loan Application Guide”
The effectiveness of this effort is closely monitored by the financial aid director and reported to FDLTCC
administration.
Athletics
In accordance with MnSCU Board Policy 2.6 Intercollegiate Athletics (see MnSCU Board Policies
folderER in the electronic resource room), Part 1, the MnSCU Board of Trustees granted unanimous
approval of FDLTCC’s request to begin an athletic program in January 2007. Consistent with MnSCU
Board Policy 2.6, Part 2, regarding gender equity, FDLTCC offers athletic programs for men and women:
Men’s football (since fall 2007), women’s volleyball (since fall 2009), men and women’s basketball
(since fall 2008), and women’s softball (since spring 2008) (for an overview of Thunder athletics, see
<http://fdltcc.edu/campus-life/thunder-athletics/>).
The FDLTCC Thunder teams compete at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)
Division III level and adheres to the philosophy of NJCAA Division III mission to create and provide
opportunities for student participation in athletic activities. Athletic scholarships are not awarded at the
NJCAA Division III level. FDLTCC’s teams play in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC)
(formerly known as the Minnesota Community College Conference).
FDLTCC pays fees to the NJCAA for each of its men’s and women’s teams. FDLTCC adheres to the
NJCAA Rules of Eligibility, which require student-athletes to meet the eligibility requirements of the
NJCAA and FDLTCC in order to participate in intercollegiate athletics. The NJCAA requires member
institutions to submit information related to student-athletes and eligibility in an online format prior to the
start of each season of competition. Student-athletes are verified by the online eligibility website as
eligible or ineligible. FDLTCC follows this procedure for each athlete in each sport. The registrar, athletic
25
FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
director, and student-athlete must sign a hard-copy form declaring the student-athlete eligible for play and
retain on file such forms for each athlete.
The NJCAA randomly audits a minimum of five percent of the programs in each certified sport each year.
If a college is selected for audit, the athletic director and college president are notified and given
approximately forty-eight hours to submit documents. Thus, as required by NJCAA, FDLTCC retains the
following documents in its student-athlete eligibility files: 1) The submitted copy of the eligibility form
complete with the college seal and signatures from the student-athlete, athletic director, and registrar; 2)
all college transcripts (past and present), 3) transfer waivers, where applicable, and current student-athlete
class schedules; 4) proof of GED or high school diploma; 5) signed copy of the Letter of Intent for each
student-athlete where applicable; 6) Delay and Break of Enrollment statements where applicable; and 7)
copy of sport schedule and team roster.
In addition to NJCAA-required documents, FDLTCC coaches and athletic director also retain the
following documents: 1) copies of physical exams signed by a recognized health care provider; 2) copies
of proof of insurance; 3) all correspondence related to a student-athlete; 4) all correspondence with
agencies and organizations related to athletics, particularly eligibility; 5) permission forms for taking
pictures of a student-athlete; 6) permission forms for sharing information with other institutions regarding
a student athlete; and 7) signed forms indicating that the student-athlete has received, read, and otherwise
been made aware of all conduct codes to which the student-athlete must adhere.
FDLTCC is free to enhance NJCAA eligibility requirements as long as such enhancements are not lower
than or interfere with established NJCAA guidelines. FDLTCC, along with the NJCAA, requires a 2.0
GPA requirement for its entering student-athletes. This policy is consistent with the faculty’s and
administration’s desire to put the emphasis on the student experience of FDLTCC for student-athletes.
Entering students who do not meet the 2.0 standard are encouraged to enroll at the college and work
toward achieving eligibility status for the next season of participation. (Academic highlights of FDLTCC
Thunder some student athletes are discussed in greater detail in core component 4C.)
In addition to its NJCAA membership, FDLTCC is a member of the Minnesota College Athletic
Conference (MCAC) and pays fees to the conference for each sport. The MCAC follows the philosophy,
code of conduct, and policies set forth in the NJCAA Handbook except as noted. Each MCAC sport has
its own handbook of operating codes, and each sport notes the exceptions to NJCAA rules identified in
sections. The NJCAA Rules of Eligibility are used for all competitions, and they represent the minimum
rules of the MCAC. The MCAC follows the Sportsmanship Code of Conduct policy in Article XVIII of
the NJCAA Handbook. FDLTCC student-athletes are made aware of conduct policies of NJCAA and
MCAC through team meetings led by coaches and in the FDLTCC Student-Athlete Handbook.
Under both the NJCAA and MCAC, FDLTCC is free to establish conduct policies and codes as long as
they encompass and do not interfere with the policies and codes of the larger governing bodies. In
addition to the NJCAA Sportsmanship Code of Conduct, FDLTCC’s student-athletes must comply with
the college’s Student Conduct Code (see FDLTCC Student-Athlete Handbook <http://fdltcc.edu/wplib/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/AthleteHandbook.pdf>) and all other policies that apply to the general
student body.
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
Student Right to Know/Campus Safety Information
Pursuant to the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act, FDLTCC reports its campus crime
statistics to the public on its website (<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policies-reports/campus-securitypolicies-reports/>) and informs students through the College Catalog of the report’s availability (see page
68). The 2014 report on the college’s website provides data from 2011 through 2013 beginning on page
21 of the document; the report also contains related policy and procedural information.
Satisfactory Academic Progress and Attendance
FDLTCC complies with MnSCU Board Policy 2.9 and 2.9.1 Academic Standing and Financial Aid
Satisfactory Academic Progress (see MnSCU Board Polices folderER), and students are provided with
information about FDLTCC’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy and procedures via the
College Catalog (pages 41 and 57 - 59), the Student Handbook (pages 23 - 29), the college’s website
(<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policies-reports/academic-campus-policies/satisfactory-academic-progresspolicy/>), the financial aid office, and during orientation and advising sessions.
While FDLTCC follows the all procedures stipulated by MnSCU Board Policy 2.9 and 2.9.1, the college
received permission from the system office to additionally continue its decade-long practice of being
more “intrusive” with students immediately upon their first semester of falling below SAP guidelines.
FDLTCC attempts to reduce the risk of academic failure by directly intercepting students (in addition to
sending them a letter) and requires the students to attend a learning seminar, complete a petition
discussing their circumstances and improvement path, and meet individually with a member of a team
composed of the dean of student services, the vice president of academic affairs, and the financial aid
director.
The team collectively reviews and discusses their individual meetings with students and determines a
course of action for each student. The course of action becomes progressively more limiting if the student
continues to fall below the guidelines. Thus, a student who falls below the guidelines for the first time
will receive a warning letter but also attend the learning seminar, present their petition, discuss their
circumstances with a team member, and will likely receive direction in the form of a 2.3 GPA goal for the
next semester with no F’s or W’s. In circumstances where a first-time situation results in a 0.0 GPA for
the semester, the student might be placed in the college’s 0 – 40 program, which is a mandatory two-hour
session two-days per week in which students acquire time management instruction, study skills
instruction, career counseling, and structured study time (the 0-40 program is discussed in greater detail in
core component 4C). If the student falls below guidelines during another semester and enters probationary
status, they repeat the process but will likely receive direction from the team in the form of limited credits
and, possibly, holding financial aid until satisfactory mid-term progress is reported. If the problems
continue, credits will likely be significantly reduced and access to financial aid will become more difficult
or completely withheld, and in some cases, the student will be suspended.
This process enables the college to:
•
•
better serve the student more immediately and with more focused resources,
attempt to reduce the risk of a student falling into greater debt with “nothing to show for it”;
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
•
•
attempt to increase the chances of retention and student success; and
reduce the risk of the student developing deep GPA and completion rate problems, which make
persistence and success even greater challenges.
Contractual Relationships
FDLTCC has no contractual relationships at this time.
Consortial Relationships
FDLTCC has no consortial relationships at this time.
Limits, Sanctions, or Terminations
No limiting, sanctioning, or terminating actions have been taken by the Department of Education (DOE)
against FDLTCC.
VI. INSTITUTIONAL DISCLOSURES, ADVERTISING/RECRUITMENT MATERIALS, AND
OTHER PUBLIC INFORMATION
The institution should be able to document that it provides accurate, timely and appropriately detailed
information to current and prospective students and the public about its accreditation status with the
Commission and other agencies, as well as about its programs, locations and policies.
FDLTCC complies with the Higher Learning Commission’s requirements to provide information about
its status and ongoing affiliation with the Higher Learning Commission. The college’s affiliation with the
Higher Learning Commission, including the Commission’s contact information, is on the FDLTCC
website (<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/accreditation/>) and is included in the College Catalog (see page 11),
Student Handbook (p. 2), and other information pieces as appropriate.
FDLTCC posts a variety of information available to the public on its website, including its
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
primary policies and procedures (<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policies-reports/academic-campuspolicies/>),
academic calendar (<http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/records-office/important-dates/>),
admissions and application process (<http://fdltcc.edu/admissions/apply-here/>),
academic degree and certificate programs and links to associated requirements
(<http://fdltcc.edu/academics/degree-and-certificate-programs/degree-programs/),
tuition and fees (<http://fdltcc.edu/faculty-staff/business-services/tuition-and-fee-payments/>),
course outlines (the public version of syllabi) (<http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/graduationtransfer/course-outlines/>),
graduation application process (<http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/graduationtransfer/graduation-application-process/>),
support services (<http://fdltcc.edu/student-support/>),
28
FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
satisfactory academic progress (<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policies-reports/academic-campuspolicies/satisfactory-academic-progress-policy/>),
net cost calculator (<http://fdltcc.edu/paying-for-college/financial-aid-forms/>),
advice and process for paying for college (<http://fdltcc.edu/paying-for-college/>),
campus life, student activities, and related opportunities (<http://fdltcc.edu/campus-life/>),
hiring practices and collective bargaining unit agreements (<http://fdltcc.edu/faculty-staff/humanresources/current-employees/>),
campus directory (<http://fdltcc.edu/directory/>),
budget (<http://fdltcc.edu/faculty-staff/business-services/>), and
links to videos about campus life and activities, as well as the college’s TV advertisements, on the
college’s YouTube page (<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv0-JScBq3CpAE91X_lhe1w>).
FDLTCC also discloses Gainful Employment information at each of its program-specific websites for
programs and certificates that have enrollments large enough to maintain student confidentiality, such as:
•
•
•
Law Enforcement: (<http://www.mnscu.edu/admissions/ge/fonddulac/031291-43.0107/gedt031291-43.0107.htm>)
Nursing: (<http://www.mnscu.edu/admissions/ge/fonddulac/031291-51.3901/gedt-03129151.3901.htm>)
Human Services: (<http://www.mnscu.edu/admissions/ge/fonddulac/031291-51.1501/gedt031291-51.1501.htm>)
The college publishes brochures and information sheets that are available to the public from on-campus
kiosks and distributed at recruiting and other events, hard copies of which will be available to the
evaluators during the visit. The college’s public relations department received the Gold Medallion of
Excellence in the Brochure Series category in the 2014 National Council for Marketing and Public
Relations (NCMPR) District Five Medallion Awards competition for its program brochures about the
college’s Electric Utility Technology, Child Development, and Environmental Science programs. The
college also received the Silver Medallion of Excellence in the Wild Card category of the 2014 NCMPR
District Five Medallion Awards competition for the new graphics installed on the college’s vehicles,
which essentially create mobile billboards for a very cost-effective price.
FDLTCC’s operating budget has been posted annually since 2010 in the public hallway next to the
business office window, as have been the primary directions of the college’s institutional strategic plan;
the budget is also posted online on the college’s website at < http://fdltcc.edu/faculty-staff/businessservices/budget/>. The college’s mission is posted in almost every room of the college, a tradition since
before the turn of the century.
VII. RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER ACCREDITING AGENCIES AND WITH STATE
REGULATORY BOARDS
The institution should be able to document that it discloses its relationship with any other specialized
accreditation with which the institution may have a presence.
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FEDERAL COMPLIANCE
FDLTCC includes specific language on its website regarding its accreditation affiliation with the Higher
Learning Commission. The college’s relationships and status with other regulating boards are posted at
the same link (<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/accreditation>).
Currently, the college has two programs certified or approved by State regulatory boards, as noted below.
As discussed in core component 4A, the college has three degree programs seeking specialized
accreditation, as well as its College in the Schools (CITS) program, as noted below.
Program
Regulatory/Accrediting Agency
Law Enforcement
Certified by the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST)
Nursing Program
Approved by the Minnesota Board of Nursing
Nursing Program
Working toward candidacy (2018) with National League of Nursing
Accreditation Commission
American Indian Studies Program
Candidate for accreditation by the World Indigenous Higher Education
Consortium (WINHEC)
Business
Candidate for accreditation by the Accreditation Council of Business
Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
College in the Schools
Application for accreditation slated for 2016 with National Alliance of
Concurrent Enrollment Programs (NACEP)
VIII. PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF AN EVALUATION VISIT/THIRD PARTY COMMENT
Higher Learning Commission Policy and Expectations
The institution should make an appropriate and timely effort to solicit third party comments.
FDLTCC gave public notification of the comprehensive evaluation visit and invited third party comments
by posting a press release on its website (<http://fdltcc.edu/public-comment-invited/>) and in the Duluth
News Tribune, the region’s largest newspaper, the Cloquet Pine Journal, and Nagachiwanong
Dibajimowinnan, the newspaper of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The invitation was
released on February 2, 2015, which met the comment deadline required by HLC (see Third Party
CommentER under Public Media in the electronic resource room). Copies of the announcements in the
publications will be on file in the Resource Room.
30
CRITERION 1: MISSION
Criterion One: Mission. The institution’s mission is clear and articulated publicly; it guides
the institution’s operations.
Vision: Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College offers a postsecondary education to honor the past,
for those living in the present and dreaming the future, through a spirit of respect, cooperation, and unity.
Values: Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College has established five College Values which include
the following:
•
Respect (Manaaji’idiwin)
•
Integrity (Gwayakwaadiziwin)
•
Stewardship (Ganawenjigewin)
•
Innovation (Maamamiikaajinendamowin)
•
Compassion (Zhawenjigewin)
Mission and Goals: The mission of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is to provide higher
education opportunities for its communities in a welcoming, culturally diverse environment. To achieve
this mission we will:
•
Promote scholarship and academic excellence through transfer and career education, and to
provide access to higher education by offering developmental education.
•
Respectfully promote the language, culture and history of the Anishinaabeg.
•
Provide programs which will celebrate the cultural diversity of our community and promote
global understanding.
•
Promote a sense of personal respect and wellness.
•
Provide technological opportunities and experience, preparing students for the future.
•
Provide programs and baccalaureate degrees that fulfill our commitment to American Indian
communities, our land grant status, and the union of cultures.
1.A. THE INSTITUTION’S MISSION IS BROADLY UNDERSTOOD WITHIN THE INSTITUTION AND GUIDES
ITS OPERATIONS.
Subcomponent 1: The mission statement is developed through a process suited to the nature and culture
of the institution and is adopted by the governing board.
Subcomponent 2: The institution’s academic programs, student support services, and enrollment profile
are consistent with its stated mission.
Subcomponent 3: The institution’s planning and budgeting priorities align with and support the mission
31
FDLTCC complies with Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) Policy 3.24 System and
College and University Missions (see MnSCU Board PoliciesER in the electronic resource room) the
purpose of which is to establish the review process of missions within the system’s colleges and
universities. College mission and vision statements are reviewed and require MnSCU Board of Trustees
approval at least once every five years. In addition, the MnSCU Chancellor has the authority to approve
minor revisions to an approved mission and vision statement.
The college’s vision statement was approved on December 16, 2005 by the college’s Academic Affairs
and Standards Committee (AASC) after being created through a campus-wide process, held during fall
semester 2005. The college’s values were identified through a semester long process that culminated on
the January 2014 Duty Day with the selection of five values that the campus community (students,
faculty, staff, and administration) could commit “living into.” These values are posted throughout the
campus and have been distributed publically in brochures. The college president has held focused
discussions with college faculty and staff regarding the college’s values, including August 2014 and
January 2015 (see ValuesER in the electronic resource room).
The college’s initial mission statement including the first five goals stated above, was approved by the
FDLTCC Tribal College Board of Directors on March 11, 1998 and by the MnSCU Board of Trustees on
May 20, 1998.The sixth goal was added following MnSCU Board approval in July 2003 after discussion
by FDLTCC’s faculty and student representatives. This addition reflected the Minnesota legislature’s
permission for the college to develop a baccalaureate degree in teacher training, focusing specifically on
training American Indian elementary school teachers (Minnesota Statute 136F, section 136F.12 subd. 2):
136F.12 FOND DU LAC CAMPUS
Subdivision 1.Unique missions.
The Fond du Lac campus has a unique mission among two-year colleges to serve the lower division
general education needs in Carlton and south St. Louis Counties, and the education needs of
American Indians throughout the state and especially in northern Minnesota. The campus has a
further unique mission to provide programs in support of its federal land grant status. Accordingly,
while the college is governed by the board, its governance is accomplished in conjunction with the
board of directors of Fond du Lac Tribal College.
Subd. 2. Selected programs.
Notwithstanding section 135A.052, subdivision 1, to better meet the education needs of Minnesota’s
American Indian students, and in furtherance of the unique missions provided in subdivision 1, Fond
du Lac Tribal and Community College may offer a baccalaureate program in elementary education, as
approved by the board, and the board of directors of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College.
Subd. 3. Bargaining unit assignment.
Notwithstanding section 179A.10, subdivision 2, the state university instructional unit shall include
faculty who teach upper division courses at the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College.
(<https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=136F.12>)
The mission and goals of the college are posted throughout the campus facility in almost all rooms,
including hallways, classrooms, and offices. In addition, they are posted at the college’s website
32
(<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/mission/>), are included in all major publications of the institution, and
inform the decision-making and planning processes of the college, including facility development,
planning, budgeting, hiring, evaluation, and curriculum development.
The mission of FDLTCC is a central understanding among the college’s employees, the majority of
whom have been a part of the campus community much of the college’s life and have experienced the
college’s successes and challenges. The understanding of FDLTCC’s mission is most recently reflected in
the college’s four-part survey done by the National Initiative for Leadership and Institutional
Effectiveness (NILIE) (see NILIE SurveysER in the electronic resource room). The results below are
based on a rating of climate factors from 1 (low) to 5 (high):
Supervisor
Staff
Table 1: 2014 NILIE Institutional Structure Survey Results: Mission
Faculty
Mission
1
The extent to which employees in this institution share a common definition of its mission
4.00
3.89
4.19
2
3
4
The extent to which employees are supportive of the mission of this institution
The extent to which employees take action to fulfill the mission of this institution
The extent to which there is consensus among employees about the goals of the institution
4.13
4.13
4.05
4.00
3.89
3.78
4.16
4.13
3.77
5
6
The extent to which the curriculum at this institution reflects its mission
The extent to which budgetary decisions at this institution are aligned with the mission of the
institution
4.19
4.00
3.89
4.11
3.97
3.83
Consistent with its mission and goals, FDLTCC provides liberal arts and sciences and career and
technical education at the associate degree level. The college offers nine career programs that respond to
the community, business and industry needs in the region: 1) law enforcement; 2) nursing; 3) human
services; 4) business; 5) early childhood education; 6) electric utility technology; 7) Geographic
Information Systems and Visualization ; 8) environmental science; and 9) corrections. The curriculum
includes developmental education in reading, math, and English and a full array of support resources to
assist students in their academic pursuits at the college.
FY2010
Table 2. Enrollment by Admission Status, FY 2010 - 2014
FY2011
FY2012
FY2013
FY2014
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
1,236.
43.5%
1,265.
44.4%
1,250.
43.3%
1,313.
46.2%
1,336.
49.0%
Undergrad Regular
759.
26.7%
692.
24.3%
686.
23.8%
576.
20.3%
552.
20.2%
Undergrad Transfer
676.
23.8%
764.
26.8%
794.
27.5%
791.
27.9%
697.
25.6%
High School
Undergrad Other
Total
171.
6.0%
127.
4.5%
158.
5.5%
160.
5.6%
142.
5.2%
2,842.
100.0%
2,848.
100.0%
2,888.
100.0%
2,840.
100.0%
2,727.
100.0%
CENSUS TERM: Fiscal Year - End Of Year CREDIT STUDENTS: Yes EPM 11 Enrollment Analytic
The college’s enrollment reflects its mission and indicates a student population diverse in ethnicity
gender, and age, as tables 2 – 9 indicate.
33
Although FDLTCC has consistently served an ethnically diverse student population due to its primary
relationship with American Indian communities, the overall student population is increasingly more
ethnically diverse.
Table 3: FDLTCC Enrollment by Ethnicity, 2010 – 2014
Ethnicity
American
Indian
Asian
African
American
Hispanic
Hawaiian
/
Pacific
Caucasian
Unkno
wn
2721
251
2593
125
2624
277
2450
434
2010540
37
79
25
7
2011
2011460
33
90
65
5
2012
2012347
28
106
82
5
2013
2013340
30
117
76
5
2014
Annual enrollment, unduplicated headcount, EPM 11, including dual enrollment
Most significant is the count of American Indian students at the college. When viewed against the
backdrop of numbers of American Indian students at other colleges and universities, FDLTCC’s
American Indian student enrollment represents an unequaled success.
Table 4: American Indian Student Enrollment, Northeast Region Colleges and Universities, 2010 - 2014
2010 – 2011
2011 – 2012
2012 – 2013
2013 - 2014
Hibbing CC
166
104
130
162
Itasca CC
93
62
57
49
Lake Superior CC
215
159
151
176
Mesabi CC
153
121
90
52
Northland CTC
237
185
177
156
Rainy River CC
33
17
14
4
Vermilion CC
19
22
1
18
Bemidji State Univ.
262
182
198
217
FDLTCC
540*
460*
347*
340*
*The drop in numbers reflects FDLTCC’s closing of its outreach sites at the Red Lake and Mille Lacs reservations.
Unduplicated headcount. EPM 11.
Table 4 above illustrates the significance of FDLTCC’s American Indian student enrollment in the
Northeast Region, which includes seven Anishinaabe/Ojibwe reservations, the largest number of
reservations in a Minnesota region. FDLTCC serves the highest number of America Indian students in the
MnSCU system.
34
Table 5: Undergraduate American Indian Student Enrollment,
University of Minnesota System, 2014
2014
Crookston
17
Duluth
134
Morris
317
Rochester
3
Twin Cities
372
Total American Indian Enrollment
843
43,413
Total UM System Undergraduate Enrollment
http://www.oir.umn.edu/student/enrollment/term/1149/current/12875
FDLTCC’s American Indian student population also exceeds or is on par with enrollment across the
University of Minnesota five-campus system, as Table 5 indicates. In 2014, the American Indian students
at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus, composed 372 undergraduates out of a total
undergraduate student population of 30,135, roughly one percent of the university’s student population;
the 340 American Indian students at FDLTCC represented approximately twenty-five percent of its oncampus/college enrollment. Unlike the other colleges and universities in these comparisons, FDLTCC’s
Indian student count is based on actual tribal enrollees and not on self-identified reports.
The college leads the MnSCU system in American Indian graduates. Between 2012 and 2014, FDLTCC
conferred over 140 degrees and certificates to American Indian graduates, representing 9.3% of the total
awards in the MnSCU system. Table 6 below shows student awards by ethnicity for fiscal years 2010 –
2014:
Table 6. Academic Awards by Degree Count, FY 2010-2014
Fy
Ethnic Code
Unduplicated Headcount
Tech Id
Degree Count
Major Count
2010
Am Ind/Alask
45
45
55
55
Asian
1
1
1
1
Black
7
7
8
8
Hispanic
1
1
1
1
Uncoded
2
2
4
4
White
296
296
355
355
Total
352
352
424
424
Fy
Ethnic Code
Tech Id
Degree Count
Major Count
2011
Am Ind/Alask
51
51
57
57
Asian
4
4
4
4
Black
3
3
3
3
Hawaii/Pac
2
2
3
3
Hispanic
2
2
2
2
Uncoded
8
8
8
8
White
259
259
314
314
Total
329
329
391
391
35
Table 6 cont. Academic Awards by Degree Count, FY 2010-2014
Fy
Ethnic Code
Tech Id
Degree Count
Major Count
2012
Am Ind/Alask
50
50
57
57
Asian
6
6
7
7
Black
19
19
21
21
Hawaii/Pac
1
1
1
1
Hispanic
2
2
3
3
Uncoded
4
4
4
4
Unknown
1
1
1
1
282
282
345
345
White
365
365
439
439
Fy
Ethnic Code
Total
Tech Id
Degree Count
Major Count
2013
Am Ind/Alask
40
40
46
46
Asian
5
5
5
5
7
Black
5
5
7
Hawaii/Pac
2
2
2
2
Hispanic
6
6
7
7
1
1
1
1
White
Uncoded
269
269
333
333
Total
328
328
401
401
Fy
Ethnic Code
Tech Id
Degree Count
Major Count
2014
Am Ind/Alask
55
55
65
65
Asian
3
3
4
4
Black
20
20
21
21
Hispanic
4
4
4
4
Uncoded
6
6
6
6
Unknown
2
2
2
2
296
296
328
328
Total
386
EPM 11/Student Academic Awards 1/16/15
386
430
430
White
The consistent presence of a large American Indian student population demonstrates that the college is
effectively fulfilling its mission and commitment to serving American Indian students and that its unique
model as a tribal and community college is a meaningful and important postsecondary option to American
Indian communities. American Indian students feel welcome at the college; they choose FDLTCC as their
primary entrance point into postsecondary education despite the presence of other institutions only short
distances away from their communities; and the college serves them in a manner consistent with and tied
to its history, vision, values, mission, and goals. This was reflected in the results of the 2014 NILIE the
Racial Diversity survey, which are based on a rating of climate factors from 1 (low) to 5 (high):
36
Staff
Supervisor
Student Focus
1 The extent to which my institution promotes an educational environment that incorporates the
experiences and voices of students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds
2 The extent to which students services reflect the needs and interests of students from diverse
racial/ethnic backgrounds
3 The extent to which faculty pedagogical decisions integrate the experiences and voices of
students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds
4 The extent to which students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds believe that policies
incorporate their perspectives
5 The extent to which my institution advances the educational persistence of students from diverse
racial/ethnic backgrounds
6 The extent to which students from diverse racial /ethnic backgrounds are satisfied with their
educational experience at my institution
Faculty
Table 7: 2014 NILIE Racial Diversity Survey Results: Student Focus
4.31
4.22
4.25
4.43
4.33
4.13
4.07
3.86
3.70
4.00
4.13
3.63
4.40
4.44
4.13
4.08
4.33
3.91
FDLTCC serves the educational needs of students in Minnesota, and most students served by FDLTCC
live within 75 miles of the campus. Table 8 below shows the residency of students nineteen years of age
or older and does not include the college’s dual enrollment student population, which is exclusively based
within the state.
Table 8. Residency, FY2010 – FY 2014
FY2011
FY2012
FY2010
FY2013
FY2014
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
1,953.
89.6%
1,911.
87.0%
1,737.
86.2%
1,846.
87.9%
1,893.
89.4%
Non-Resident
124.
5.7%
152.
6.9%
201.
10.0%
170.
8.1%
180.
8.5%
Unknown
103.
4.7%
134.
6.1%
78.
3.9%
85.
4.0%
44.
2.1%
Resident
Total
2,180. 100.0%
2,197. 100.0%
2,016. 100.0%
2,101. 100.0%
2,117.
100.0%
CENSUS TERM: Fiscal Year - End Of Year AGE CATEGORY: 19 - 20, 21 - 24, 25 - 34, 35 - 44, 45 - 54, 55 or greater, Unknown
EPM 11 Enrollment Analytic
As Tables 9 and 10 below indicates, the age and gender of the college’s student population is evenly
distributed but is weighted to a non-traditional and female student population. FDLTCC attempts to make
higher education accessible through a variety of programming options, including a schedule of daytime
and evening courses in traditional classrooms, as well as blended and on-line courses using the
Desire2Learn (D2L) learning management system, which is used throughout the MnSCU system.
37
Table 9. Enrollment by Age
FY2011
FY2012
FY2010
FY2013
FY2014
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
19 - 20
361.
16.6%
354.
16.1%
340.
16.9%
332.
15.8%
286.
13.5%
21 - 24
396.
18.2%
428.
19.5%
461.
22.9%
431.
20.5%
421.
19.9%
25 - 34
489.
22.4%
547.
24.9%
558.
27.7%
488.
23.2%
510.
24.1%
35 - 44
305.
14.0%
270.
12.3%
265.
13.1%
262.
12.5%
297.
14.0%
45 - 54
267.
12.2%
236.
10.7%
183.
9.1%
219.
10.4%
259.
12.2%
55 +
183.
8.4%
182.
8.3%
125.
6.2%
206.
9.8%
246.
11.6%
Unknown
179.
8.2%
180.
8.2%
84.
4.2%
163.
7.8%
98.
4.6%
2,180.
100.0%
2,197.
100.0%
2,016.
100.0%
2,101.
100.0%
2,117.
100.0%
Total
CENSUS TERM: Fiscal Year - End Of Year EPM 11 Enrollment Analytic
Table 10. Enrollment by Gender
FY2011
FY2012
FY2010
FY2013
FY2014
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Female
696.
51.3%
758.
54.3%
787.
55.7%
728.
54.7%
664.
54.4%
Male
657.
48.5%
634.
45.4%
621.
43.9%
601.
45.1%
554.
45.4%
3.
0.2%
5.
0.4%
6.
0.4%
3.
0.2%
3.
0.2%
Unknown
Total
1,356. 100.0%
1,397. 100.0%
1,414.
100.0%
1,332. 100.0%
1,221.
100.0%
CENSUS TERM: Fiscal Year - End Of Year AGE CATEGORY: 19 - 20, 21 - 24, 25 - 34, 35 - 44, 45 - 54, 55 or greater, Unknown
EPM 11 Enrollment Analytic
Beginning in fall 2002, FDLTCC added the Weekend College program designed to serve students with
family and work commitments that are a barrier to attending classes during business hours on week days.
Weekend College is a sequence of integrated college courses offered using a learning community model
that meets on Friday evenings and Saturdays, on alternating weekends, starting in September, with a
break in December, resuming in January and concluding in June for two years. Between 2002 – 2011, the
program enrolled eighty-two students; forty-four graduated directly from the program, and six left the
program but graduated from FDLTCC, for an overall graduation rate was sixty-one percent (a fifty-four
percent graduation rate by the students’ fourth semester for those who graduated directly from the
program).
Due in part to the success of Weekend College in retaining and graduating students, DegreeMe, a day
school learning community, was introduced in fall 2014 after one year of planning and organizing the
program. DegreeMe offers day students “a pre-packaged AA” with the courses for the breadth of the
program already selected and a consistent meeting schedule of 9:00 to 2:00 Monday through Thursday.
Thus, the student’s academic plan is focused and certain, and the student has a reliable schedule for two
years on which employers, daycare providers, and families can rely. Following the Weekend College
learning community model, courses in DegreeMe are integrated, with instructors working together on
aligning assignments, readings, and activities. Unlike Weekend College, tutoring and counseling are also
integrated directly into the class meeting times so academic assistance is immediate and not “down the
hall.” Students who stay with the program will graduate with an AA degree in two years.
38
The most recently developed academic program at the college is the AA with an emphasis in American
Indian Studies (AIS AA), which received college and system office approval in 2011 after a year-long
planning and development process, including a 30-day public comment period on the system-wide
program website. The AIS AA is now in the self-study stage of the World Indigenous Higher Education
Consortium’s (WINHEC) accreditation process and has passed the eligibility phase (see AIS AAER under
Specialized Accreditation in the electronic resource room).
Although all degree-seeking students at FDLTCC are required to take the college’s cornerstone course,
AMIN 1050 Anishinaabeg of Lake Superior, the AIS AA is a deeper statement about the college’s
commitment to its mission and values. The AIS AA is a 60-credit liberal arts transfer degree that was
formed completely from FDLTCC’s existing general education curriculum, primarily from courses
satisfying Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC) goal areas. The degree achieves the purpose of “a
regular AA,” but it does so from a different direction, illustrating that an educational path can be created
from an indigenous worldview that has just as much practical and intellectual value as the traditional
Western path. The AIS AA gets a student to the same place as the traditional AA but differently.
In alignment with the college’s institutional mission, the mission of Student Support Services “is to
provide multi-faceted support programs for our diverse student population in a respectful, welcoming
learning environment that can be measured by a safe campus and high graduation, retention and transfer
rate of students.” Student Services offers career counseling, individual counseling, grief counseling, IT
support services, Disability Services, TRIO programming, and the Young Student Parent program. The
Center for Academic Achievement (CAA) is dedicated to offering students tutoring in all courses,
particularly reading, writing, science, and mathematics, where both professional and peer tutoring is
available. Students may form study groups as needed, and faculty may use the CAA for test proctoring. In
2011, the English department faculty realized a decade-long dream and created a dedicated writing lab,
The Write Place, which is staffed by English faculty. At The Write Place, students in any course can
receive assistance from English faculty on their written work. Since 2009 – 2010, improving student
success has been a campus-wide priority, and Student Services has played a primary role in the endeavor,
which is discussed in more detail in criteria 3 and 4.
Among the general student population, approximately forty percent of the college’s graduates transfer to
other institutions to continue their education. Gainful Employment data indicate a ninety percent job
placement rate in the college’s nursing program, sixty-six percent in the law enforcement program, and
ninety-four percent in the human services program.
Attention to the college’s mission documents form the foundation of planning activities and budgeting
priorities. The college’s planning activities and budget process is discussed in greater detail in Criterion 5.
Most recently, the college established an institutional planning committee in fall 2014 which evolved
from the HLC steering committee and the self-study process. The goal of the committee is to assist the
college in a more focused manner with the review of its planning processes across all divisions and link
assessment processes with planning and budgeting more directly.
39
1.B. THE MISSION IS ARTICULATED PUBLICLY.
Subcomponent 1: The institution clearly articulates its mission through one or more public documents,
such as statements of purpose, vision, values, goals, plans, or institutional priorities.
Subcomponent 2: The mission document or documents are current and explain the extent of the
institution’s emphasis on the various aspects of its mission, such as instruction, scholarship, research,
application of research, creative works, clinical service, public service, economic development, and
religious or cultural purpose.
Subcomponent 3: The mission document or documents identify the nature, scope, and intended
constituents of the higher education programs and services the institution provides.
As discussed earlier in this section and elsewhere in this document, the college mission statement is
posted in almost every room of the college. Since 2010, its strategic plan and operating budget have been
posted in the public hallway outside of the business window. The college’s primary public documents,
such as the College Catalog, promotional brochures, and website, clearly indicate the college’s mission,
and additional brochures have been published and made available to college constituents regarding the
values of the college. Evidence in the electronic resource room has been previously stipulated and will be
demonstrated additionally during the campus visit.
The scope and extent of the college’s mission is also evident in the institution’s planning processes. The
college’s 2013 – 2016 Strategic Plan (discussed in greater detail in Criterion 5) is aligned with the
mission, which is evident in the plan’s foundation statements:
The FOUNDATIONS - Continue our “extraordinary” history by implementing our MISSION:
A. Maintain a positive learning environment
Meet a range of backgrounds and differences - generational, cultural, learning styles
Foster the value of respect
Provide a physical facility that support learning and college values
B. Support success for students that are traditionally unsuccessful
Student-centered
Keep the default rate low
C. Contribute to the communities we serve
Quality tribal partnership
K-12 partnerships
Workforce partnerships
D. Sustain a unique Tribal and Community College
Assure financial viability
Maintain HLC accreditation
Practice accountability as a way of life - do what we say we will do and show it
The plan’s five Strategic Directions also address aspects of the mission and the constituents served by the
college:
40
Strategy A: Create paths of success for all students
Intent: Provide multi-faceted support programs for our diverse student population in a respectful,
welcoming learning environment that can be measured by a safe campus and high graduation,
retention and transfer rates of students.
Strategy B: Enhance campus learning facilities
Intent: Enhance campus learning spaces, technology support and other facilities to meet current and
long-term education needs.
Strategy C: Offer academic programs to meet diverse learner needs
Intent: Attract and retain students; be responsive to the communities we serve; and balance the duality
of students’ backgrounds with external performance requirements.
Strategy D: Expand community partnerships in learning and education
Intent: Educate to meet community needs.
Strategy E: Assure college longevity, continuity, capacity and accountability
Intent: Assure college continuity, survivability, growth and development. Ensure the embedded
institutional accountability by making data-driven decisions.
The college’s strategic directions, as well as the college’s operating budget, are posted in the welltravelled public hallway near the college’s business office. Its mission and values are distributed
publicly and reaffirmed publicly at many campus gatherings, from small pipe ceremonies to the
college’s large commencement activities. In addition, they form the foundation of the college’s major
planning processes, as well as curriculum oversight.
1.C. THE INSTITUTION UNDERSTANDS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ITS MISSION AND THE
DIVERSITY OF SOCIETY.
Subcomponent 1: The institution addresses its role in a multicultural society.
Subcomponent 2: The institution’s processes and activities reflect attention to human diversity as
appropriate within its mission and for the constituencies it serves.
FDLTCC recognizes that human diversity extends beyond racial and ethnic diversity to diversity in
socioeconomic background, religion, education, life experience, lifestyle, gender, gender identity,
personality, cognitive style or ability, age, and a multitude of other characteristics. Following are
examples of FDLTCC’s understanding of and attention to human diversity in serving its constituents:
●
The college offers services for veterans, service members, reservists and families, including career
exploration, enrollment and success coaching, program advising, registration support, military
benefits assistance, financial aid assistance, and peer tutoring and mentoring.
41
●
Consistent with MnSCU Board Policy 5.11.1, senior citizens (persons over 62 years of age) can
attend FDLTCC for a fee of $15.00 per credit plus fees rather paying full tuition.
●
Students come to FDLTCC with varying degrees of academic ability and preparation. The college
offers college preparatory/developmental courses in reading, writing, math, and study skills. Since
2011, the college has Adult Basic Education and GED services co-located on campus.
●
The college’s general education curriculum includes a wide variety of courses that focus on human
diversity, including American Indian Literature, African American Literature, Literature by Women,
Native Skywatchers, and Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies, to name only a few.
•
The Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC), which was discussed in the compliance section of this
document and is discussed in greater detail in Criterion 3, includes two goal areas focused on human
diversity: Human Diversity and Global Perspective.
•
Culture is one of the college’s four Competencies across the Curriculum (discussed in greater detail
in Criterion 4), and most courses in FDLTCC’s curriculum contain goals and outcomes related to
culture.
•
The Ojibwemowining Resource Center houses not only a resource library, computers, recording
study area, and meeting spaces, but also the largest collection of contemporary Anishinaabe art in
the region, if not the state. In addition, the high-quality recording studio and the college’s central
location has been a pivotal tool in creating The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary, a web-based Ojibwe
language dictionary created by linguist John Nichols of the University of Minnesota (see
<http://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/>).
Other evidence indicating that FDLTCC addresses its role in a multicultural society and demonstrates
attention to human diversity is discussed throughout this document.
1.D. THE INSTITUTION’S MISSION DEMONSTRATES COMMITMENT TO THE PUBLIC GOOD.
Subcomponent 1: Actions and decisions reflect an understanding that in its educational role the institution
serves the public, not solely the institution, and thus entails a public obligation.
Subcomponent 2: The institution’s educational responsibilities take primacy over other purposes, such as
generating financial returns for investors, contributing to a related or parent organization, or supporting
external interests.
Subcomponent 3: The institution engages with its identified external constituencies and communities of
interest and responds to their needs as its mission and capacity allow
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College’s mission statement specifically addresses its desire to
"provide programs which will celebrate the cultural diversity of our community and promote global
understanding.” Community engagement and service are an integral part of daily operations and priorities
of the college and will be evident throughout this document. In short form, the college’s community
commitment can be illustrated by citing a few examples:
42
•
Students in the college’s Business program offer free tax preparation and e-filing to students and
low-income community members each year through the VITA program.
•
The college annually hosts the Employer Job Fair, Career Awareness and College Fair, and Law
Enforcement Career Expo events to provide internship, employment, and career-seeking
opportunities to recent graduates and the general public. These events create links between local
and regional industries and FDLTCC.
•
Each fall, the college hosts Minnesota Explorers, a program attended by junior high and high
school students (usually 800+) from across the state who are interested in law enforcement.
•
The Hot Summer Nights Concert Series celebrated its 16th season of community concerts during
July 2014. On average, the seven outdoor concerts held during July in our amphitheater attract
between 1,200 to 1,500 concertgoers each year. Admission is free, and the concerts engage
community members with a positive experience on campus, and add to the overall fabric of the
communities we serve.
•
FDLTCC conducts a series of Campus Visit Days to offer prospective students and their families,
as well as community members, the opportunity to visit campus and learn more about the college.
•
The annual Giving Thanks Feast in November has been a staple within the communities we serve
for nearly 20 years, annually dishing up a dinner of thanks for between 300 to 400 community
members (see a video clip at <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO7QMFLSbBQ>). It is
sometimes combined with the colleges Veteran’s Feast (see a video clip at <
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFUPRoa1dio >) to honor military service veterans from the
college and community, during which the Fond du Lac Reservation Color Guard present the Staff
and Flags.
•
Our Human Services Club organizes and presents an annual Community Holiday Celebration in
December, hosting several hundred young family members from throughout the communities the
college serves. Most of the attendees are clients of the social service agencies where our Human
Services students are completing practicum course hours and internships.
•
The annual Pumpkin Run & Walk 5K race quickly became a community engagement success as a
healthy, family-oriented event that annually brings more than 300 people to campus each
October. Most of the race participants are community members and not students or employees;
thus, the event provides an opportunity for many people to be on our campus who would not have
a recurring reason.
•
Since 2011, the college has delivered a week-long Nandagikendan (Seek to Learn) Summer
Academy for High School Students, which is focused on attracting young American Indian
students and giving them “a college experience”; thereafter, the students take part in nine
activities throughout the school year to keep a college education on these young people’s minds.
•
For almost a decade, the college has opened its meeting rooms to SAPPI (South African Paper
Products Incorporated) for their labor contract negotiations. This simple demonstration of
43
community engagement has evolved into a close relationship with the college’s Electrical
Utilities Technology program and related curriculum development.
•
FDLTCC offers Adult Basic Education (ABE) free of charge for the purpose of helping students
become more proficient in the English language, brush up on basic skills, get ready for placement
testing, or prepare for college-level courses.
•
In August 2014, we hosted a group of 75 bicyclists from across Minnesota who were on a multiday tour organized by the Minnesota Bike Trails & Waterways Division of the Department of
Natural Resources and led by retired U.S. Congressman David Minge. FDLTCC was selected as
an educational stop on the tour, hosted by the college’s Public Information director who shared
college history and general information to the visitors.
•
College faculty, staff, and students have participated in numerous Spirit Runs with the Leech
Lake, Red Lake, and Fond du Lac Reservation communities and with members of the American
Indian community in the Twin Cities; such runs are dedicated to restoring the health of the people
and usually cover between 110 and 400 miles at a time.
Information about the college’s outreach activities along with additional examples of community events
that reflect the rich diversity of the college and community will be made available in the resources room.
In fiscal year 2014, instruction, instructional support and academic support comprise the largest
percentage of the total expenditures for the college. Instruction was 45.08 percent of the budget,
institutional support was 15.62 percent of the budget, and academic support was 17.24 percent of the
budget for the year for a total of roughly 77.94 percent of the total college budget. This meets the standard
of educational primacy over other purposes. Additional information regarding the budget is addressed in
Criterion 5.
FDLTCC engages with many external constituents to fulfill its mission as a tribal and community college.
Several examples are listed below:
•
Advisory Committees. Employers have a strong self-interest in helping college programs improve
and help students succeed. One of the most effective ways of providing a link between the
community and the college is through program advisory committees. They play an important role
in guiding, strengthening, and improving existing programs. Business, industry and labor
representatives have a wealth of expertise, personnel, and technologies to offer education
systems. FDLTCC program advisory committees advise educators on the design, development,
implementation, evaluation, maintenance, and revision of degree programs. Each program has an
advisory committee made up primarily of community/industry representatives, program faculty,
Fond du Lac community representatives, as well as students in most cases.
•
Foundation. The FDLTCC Foundation maintains strong relationships with area business and
industry. The Foundation Board, comprised of local business and industry representatives, meets
every other month. The Foundation’s purpose is to obtain and distribute the resources necessary
to support the students, faculty, programs and vision of the college. They provide support to the
44
college in a variety of ways, including scholarships and program support.
•
Professional and Workforce Training (PWT). The non-credit arm of the college, collaborates with
the regional business community by offering customized training, as well as workforce
development and continuing education options, in the areas of Compliance/OSHA, Health and
Wellness, Computer Applications, Personal Interest, and Professional and Organizational
Development.
•
Employers. FDLTCC has close relationships with its regional business partners through their
involvement with the technical programs and through Customized Workforce Training. These
partners support the college by hiring FDLTCC graduates, serving on program advisory
committees, and sponsoring and/or participating in college events throughout the year.
•
Internship and Clinical Sites. A variety of regional business, industry, and health care employers
serve as sites where students complete paid or unpaid internships, as well as clinical components
in programs that require these experiences as part of the curriculum. This close relationship with
college programs affords the businesses a comfort level and familiarity with the program that
often results in the hiring of these students once the students’ educational programs are
completed. Information on programs such as nursing and human services that require internships
will be made available in the resources room.
•
Atomic Learning. Through its Desire2Learn (D2L) learning management system, the college
provides its College in the Schools program, as well as its on-campus community, with free
access to thousands of hours of training in a wide array of technologies, from basic word
processing to high-end graphics tools.
FDLTCC offers a postsecondary education to honor the past, for those living in the present and dreaming
the future, through a spirit of respect, cooperation, and unity. The mission documents of FDLTCC form
its core and lead the college in all its endeavors, be it planning, allocating resources, or engaging in
community partnerships. The college’s student body, campus community, academic offerings, and
student services reflect its mission, and the college engages its constituencies in a manner consistent with
its mission and consistent with its legislative mandate to serve the students of southern St. Louis and
Carlton counties and American Indian communities throughout Minnesota.
45
CRITERION 2 INTEGRITY: ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT
Criterion 2. Integrity: Ethical and Responsible Conduct
FDLTCC strives to promote an atmosphere of openness and transparency throughout the institution.
Guidelines for all of the college’s operations are readily accessible on the college’s website, including
links to MnSCU policies that govern the college. All college staff are encouraged to contact the
appropriate position when questions arise regarding the operations of the college.
2.A. THE INSTITUTION OPERATES WITH INTEGRITY IN ITS FINANCIAL, ACADEMIC, PERSONNEL, AND
AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS; IT ESTABLISHES AND FOLLOWS POLICIES AND PROCESSES FOR FAIR
AND ETHICAL BEHAVIOR ON THE PART OF ITS GOVERNING BOARD, ADMINISTRATION, FACULTY,
AND STAFF.
2.B. THE INSTITUTION PRESENTS ITSELF CLEARLY AND COMPLETELY TO ITS STUDENTS AND TO THE
PUBLIC WITH REGARD TO ITS PROGRAMS, REQUIREMENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF, COSTS TO
STUDENTS, CONTROL, AND ACCREDITATION RELATIONSHIPS.
FDLTCC is governed by the fifteen-member MnSCU Board of Trustees, as defined by Minnesota State
Statute 136F.06 (www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=136F.06). The MnSCU Board is appointed by the
Governor of the State of Minnesota and has policy responsibility for system planning, academic
programs, fiscal management, personnel, admissions requirements, tuition and fees, and rules and
regulations. Actions are approved through legislative oversight, and Board/system policy flows from
State and Federal legislation and down to the individual colleges and universities in the system (see
<www.mnscu.edu/board/policy/index.html> for a complete overview of MnSCU Board policies).
The bulk of FDLTCC’s policy structure, as noted throughout this document, flows from MnSCU Board
of Trustees policies. Below is a partial list of the MnSCU Board policies related to finances, conduct, and
auxiliary operations (see the MnSCU Board PoliciesER folder in the electronic resource room).
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1B.1 and 1B.1.1 Equal Opportunity and Nondiscrimination (see FDLTCC’s complaint process in
Compliance section and FDLTCC’s Affirmative Action PlanER in the Planning folder in the
electronic resource room; see the Staff HandbookER in the uploads to HLC)
1B.2 Affirmative Action (see < http://fdltcc.edu/wp-lib/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/
AffirmativeActionPlan.pdf> and FDLTCC’s Affirmative Action PlanER in Planning folder in the
electronic resource room)
1B.3 and 1B.3.1 Sexual Violence (see FDLTCC’s complaint process in Compliance section and
FDLTCC’s Affirmative Action PlanER in Planning folder in the electronic resource room)
1B.4 Access and Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities (see Disability Services in
Criterion 3 and <http://fdltcc.edu/student-support/disability-services/>; FDLTCC’s Affirmative
Action PlanER in Planning folder in the electronic resource room)
1C.0 Employee Code of Conduct
1C.2 Fraudulent and Dishonest Acts
3.6 Student Code of Conduct (see FDLTCC’s complaint process in Compliance section and
<http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policies-reports/academic-campus-policies/student-conduct-code/>)
3.8 and 3.8.1 Student Complaints and Grievances (see FDLTCC’s complaint process in
Compliance section and <http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policies-reports/academic-campus-
46
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
policies/student-conduct-code/>)
3.26 Intellectual Property
3.27 Copyrights
4.10 and 4.10.1 Nepotism
5.10 and 5.10.1 Reserves and Year-End Balances (see discussions in Compliance section and
Criterion 5)
5.11 and 5.11.1 Tuition and Fees (see discussions in Compliance section and Criterion 5)
5.14 Contracts and Procurements; 5.14.2 Consultant, Professional, or Technical Services; 5.14.2.1
Guest Lecturer or Presenter; 5.14.5 Purchasing (see <http://fdltcc.edu/faculty-staff/businessservices/>)
6.4 Facilities Planning
6.6 Facilities Maintenance and Repair
7.3 Financial Administration and 7.3.2 Auxiliary Operations
FDLTCC staff, faculty, and administration undergo mandatory training in conduct-related areas, such as
sexual violence, sexual harassment, and ethical behavior. Such trainings are created by the MnSCU
system office and are delivered via the Desire2Learn (D2L) learning management system. Completion of
the training is monitored by FDLTCC’s Human Resources director and by the system office.
In addition to mandatory training of all staff, faculty, and administration, additional professional guidance
and training is provided through webinars from MnSCU’s Office of the General Consul on topics such as
copyrights and intellectual property, emergency planning, accessibility and accommodations, conduct,
privacy, and other matters. FDLTCC administrators, as approved by the college’s president, also go
through investigator and decision maker trainings in relation to complaints and grievances.
As noted in the Compliance section of this report and in Criterion 5, FDLTCC’s finances and other
operations processes and performances are reviewed and monitored by FDLTCC and by the MnSCU
system. The college’s institutional financial practices are audited routinely by the Office of Internal
Auditing and by the Office of the Legislative Auditor when such an audit is requested; its Title IV
program is audited by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education routinely and by the Department of
Education when such an audit is requested. FDLTCC’s performance is also compared with the
performance of other institutions in the system. The general finance provisions in MnSCU are set forth in
Chapter 7 of the MnSCU Board policies, including college auxiliary enterprises.
All policies at FDLTCC, whether they flow from the MnSCU Board polices or derive internally, are
reviewed by the college administration, as well as any committees mandated to review by collective
bargaining agreements, such as the Minnesota State College Faculty’s (MSCF) Shared Governance
Committee or the Academic Affairs and Standards Council. When relevant, policies and procedures are
also reviewed by external constituencies, such as the Tribal College Board or program advisory
committees.
As noted in the Compliance section of this document, information about FDLTCC’s programming,
primary policies, and campus life is made public in hard copy form and in electronic form via the
college’s website. The college acknowledges its accreditation relationships in online and hard copy
47
formats. At the time of this writing, the college has just completed a major update to its website, College
Catalog, Student Handbook, Staff Handbook, and Faculty Handbook/Resource Guide.
2.C. THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE INSTITUTION IS SUFFICIENTLY AUTONOMOUS TO MAKE
DECISIONS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE INSTITUTION AND TO ASSURE ITS INTEGRITY.
Subcomponent 1: The governing board’s deliberations reflect priorities to preserve and enhance the
institution.
Subcomponent 2: The governing board reviews and considers the reasonable and relevant interests of the
institution’s internal and external constituencies during its decision-making deliberations.
Subcomponent 3: The governing board preserves its independence from undue influence on the part of
donors, elected officials, ownership interests, or other external parties when such influence would not be
in the best interest of the institution.
Subcomponent 4: The governing board delegates day-to-day management of the institution to the
administration and expects the faculty to oversee academic matters.
As discussed in Criterion 5B and in Criterion 1A, and elsewhere in this document, the MnSCU Board of
Trustees uses a variety of avenues to inform its decision making, and given FDLTCC’s unique status, and
MnSCU’s partnership with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Board is quite
cognizant of preserving and enhancing FDLTCC. The positive result of the challenges faced between
2005 and 2008 is the even greater commitment to ensuring that FDLTCC’s unique model continues to
unfold into the future, as demonstrated by the latest addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding
between the Tribal College Board and the MnSCU Board of Trustees (see MOUs FDL MnSCUER in the
electronic resource room).
FDLTCC functions autonomously within the MnSCU system by virtue of MnSCU Board policy and
Minnesota State statutory law. The Board of Trustees delegates the day-to-day management of colleges
and universities pursuant to Minnesota Statute 136F.06 (<https://www.revisor.mn.gov
/statutes/?id=136F.06>). The delegation procedures are set forth in MnSCU Board Policy 1A.2.2 (see,
MnSCU Board PoliciesER in the electronic resource room). The composition of the Board promotes
multiple perspectives, as well as a focus on both internal and external constituencies. MnSCU Board
Policy 1A.2 Board of Trustees dictates Board membership, including the following:
•
•
•
•
Three students (one from a community college, one from a state university, and one from a
technical college)
One member representing labor
One member from each congressional district in Minnesota
All other members represent the state at large
The Board operates under policy 1C.1 Board of Trustees Code of Conduct (see MnSCU Board PoliciesER
in the electronic resource room) the purpose of which is to establish the general standards of conduct
required of trustees. As public officials, trustees are also subject to the provisions of Minnesota State
Statute 10A (<https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=10A>).
48
The MnSCU Board of Trustees appoints presidents to colleges and universities in accordance with Board
Policy 4.2 Appointment of Presidents: “The president is chief executive officer of the college or
university. The president shall report to the chancellor and is responsible for leading the college and/or
university faculty, staff, and students in the developing and implementing the college or university
mission, consistent within the Board mission and goals. The president is the primary spokesperson for the
college and/or university interests and shall consult with students, faculty, staff, and members of the
community.” The organizational chart below illustrates FDLTCC’s administrative structure:
Article 8, Section 2, of the Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF) bargaining agreement calls for the
faculty to have a role in academic affairs. In accordance with this bargaining agreement, FDLTCC has an
Academic Affairs and Standards Council (AASC), and all proposals regarding academic affairs are
brought before this group for discussion (see meeting minutes of the AASCER in the Meeting Minutes
folder of the electronic resource room). The council’s membership is comprised of two-thirds faculty
members and one-third administrators. AASC’s purview includes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Proposals for new or revised courses (including course components, cultural components, credit
load, delivery method, Minnesota Transfer Curriculum guidelines as needed, assessment of
student learning, transferability, and mission)
Academic program development or revision
Program review
Award requirements
Course inventory
Course outline review
Academic policies
Classroom-based issues, such as plagiarism, behavior, or attendance
49
The Shared Governance Council is another MSCF contract-mandated committee (MSCF Agreement,
Article 8, Sect. 1, Subd. 1) comprised of faculty and administration, which is established for faculty to
make recommendations to the college on primarily non-classroom matters, such as facilities and auxiliary
services, and policies; however, academic matters may enter discussions (see meeting minutes of Shared
GovernanceER under Meeting Minutes of the electronic resource room).
As discussed in core component 5B, FDLTCC’s staff, faculty, and students have a variety of venues
through which they have a voice in college matters. In addition to formal committee structures,
FDLTCC’s administrators continue the tradition of an “open door” environment, which began under the
college’s first president.
While the policy structure of FDLTCC flows from the MnSCU system, the college, MnSCU, and the
Tribal College Board work together when necessary to ensure the respectful unfolding of policy and
procedure at the college. FDLTCC’s unique “hands-on” approach to implementing Satisfactory Academic
Progress (SAP), discussed in the Compliance section of this report, provides a good example of how the
college delivers a federally- and system-based process but in a manner also consistent with an
Anishinaabe understanding—that is, to recognize that humans are flawed and we need to help each other,
and to remember that the perceived least among us has the potential to contribute greatly; thus,
FDLTCC’s SAP process complies through written notification but also engages each student eye-to-eye
and voice-to-voice with another human rather than solely through an impersonal letter that satisfies the
policy.
2.D. THE INSTITUTION IS COMMITTED TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH IN
TEACHING AND LEARNING.
2. E. THE INSTITUTION’S POLICIES AND PROCEDURES CALL FOR RESPONSIBLE ACQUISITION,
DISCOVERY AND APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE BY ITS FACULTY, STUDENTS AND STAFF.
Subcomponent 1: The institution provides effective oversight and support services to ensure the integrity
of research and scholarly practice conducted by its faculty, staff, and students.
Subcomponent 2: Students are offered guidance in the ethical use of information resources.
Subcomponent 3: The institution has and enforces policies on academic honesty and integrity.
FDLTCC’s Nondiscrimination in Employment and Education Opportunity policy includes detailed
coverage of freedom of expression and applies to all individuals associated with the college. The policy is
distributed publicly via the college’s Student Handbook (p. 30 – 31). Students and faculty are additionally
protected by MnSCU Board policies and by the Minnesota State College Faculty’s (MSCF) collective
bargaining agreement.
MnSCU Board policy 3.1 Student Rights and Responsibilities, Part 2, (see MnSCU Board PoliciesER in
the electronic resource room) addresses freedom of expression:
Individual students and student organizations shall be free to examine and to discuss all questions of
interest to them and to express opinions publicly and privately. They shall be free to support causes by
orderly means that do not substantially disrupt the regular and essential operation of the institution.
50
Students shall be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study
and to reserve judgment about matters of opinion, but they are responsible for learning the content of
any course of study for which they are enrolled.
Article 23 of the MSCF Collective Bargaining Agreement outlines and articulates the academic freedoms
of the faculty and acknowledges the right in selecting teaching materials (Section 1) and academic
freedom (Section 3), stating “The Employer shall maintain and encourage full freedom, within the law, of
inquiry, teaching and research. All faculty shall have the right to teach in an atmosphere of free
intellectual inquiry and not be subjected to restraints or harassment that would impair teaching.”
In addition to formal policies that govern freedom of expression on campus, the college demonstrates its
commitment in its practices. Groups that wish to invite a speaker to address the campus on a dichotomous
issues must make arrangements to have other views on the topic presented. The college’s Gay-Straight
Alliance student group, for example, was asked to include an array of guests to speak about the State’s
then-proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage during the fall 2012 election.
While the college demonstrates and supports freedom of expression, it also is committed to the
responsible use and acquisition of knowledge. Students receive instruction about research methods in a
variety of disciplines, most especially English and the sciences. Although not required, many instructors
write plagiarism statements into their syllabi (syllabi will be provided in the physical resource room on
campus during the site visit). In addition, the college’s library posts a variety of links and other
information for students and the public regarding plagiarism, evaluating credibility of resources, and
understanding copyright (see <http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/academic-support/libraryservices/writing-and-research-help/>), including:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Avoiding Plagiarism
A Guide to Successful College Writing
Writing Research Papers: A Step-by-Step Procedure
Model Papers: Examples of research & writing papers
Database vs. Website/Internet: What’s the difference?
Is it a Magazine or a Journal?
Evaluating Sources of Information
Copyright Information
Is It Protected by Copyright?
The primary academic mission of FDLTCC is the exploration and dissemination of knowledge. Academic
honesty and integrity are integral to the academic process, and academic dishonesty is a serious offense,
as noted in the college’s Academic Dishonesty and Classroom Conduct policy (see Student Handbook,
pages 33 – 34, and section 2 at <http://fdltcc.edu/ about-us/policies-reports/academic-campuspolicies/student-conduct-code/>). Instructors who discover academic dishonesty in their classrooms are
free to work through the issue with the student (s); however, the vice president of academic affairs will
assist the situation as requested. Penalties will extend up to expulsion from the college, depending on the
severity of the matter.
As a two-year college, the amount of scholarly research at FDLTCC is more limited than that of a
university; however, faculty do present and publish works and engage in a variety of grant-related
51
activities, particularly in the sciences. The college’s Sponsored Programs office outlines procedures for
grant activity at FDLTCC, be it originating from the college or from another institution or agency
working in collaboration with FDLTCC (see <http://fdltcc.edu/faculty-staff/sponsored-programsoffice/>). The use of human subjects is quite rare at FDLTCC, and the college administration reviews
such requests if necessary. In activities that engage secondary students, such as the Nandagikendan (Seek
to Learn) Summer Academy or when photographing or filming, the college follows State and Tribal
policies regarding consent.
The college has as one of its core values gwayakwaadiziwin, which is loosely translated into the English
language as “integrity.” In the Ojibwe language, gwayakwaadaziwin can be associated with other
concepts, such as transparency, fairness, and honesty—to do things in a good way, perhaps a balanced
way. Through evidence in each criterion of this document, FDLTCC demonstrates attention to doing
things in a good way through an ethical delivery of higher education, be it in service to students or to a
broad array of external constituents. The college has a sound policy structure, engages its employees in
mandatory trainings in key areas of ethical behavior and conduct, and offers its students a host of
experiences that encourage intellectual inquiry and freedom of mind.
52
CRITERION 3 TEACHING AND LEARNING: QUALITY, RESOURCES, AND SUPPORT
Criterion 3. Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources, and Support
The institution provides high quality education, wherever and however its offerings are delivered.
3.A. THE INSTITUTION’S DEGREE PROGRAMS ARE APPROPRIATE TO HIGHER EDUCATION.
Subcomponent 1: Courses and programs are current and require levels of performance by students
appropriate to the degree or certificate awarded.
Subcomponent 2: The institution articulates and differentiates learning goals for its undergraduate,
graduate, post-baccalaureate, post-graduate, and certificate programs.
Subcomponent 3: The institution’s program quality and learning goals are consistent across all modes of
delivery and all locations (on the main campus, at additional locations, by distance delivery, as dual
credit, through contractual or consortial arrangements, or any other modality).
Overview of Degree Awards
Academic programs in the MnSCU system are governed by MnSCU Board Policy 3.36 and 3.36.1
Academic Programs (see MnSCU Board PoliciesER in the electronic resource room). FDLTCC offers
three types of academic awards for credit-bearing courses: Certificates, Diplomas, and Associate degrees
1. Certificate - awarded for completion of a program designed for less than one year. It is awarded to
students demonstrating mastery of skills and knowledge in a specific area or discipline. A certificate
may stand alone or transfer into a related diploma or associate degree program. Certificates typically
have a range of 9 to 30 credits.
2. Diploma - awarded for completion of a program taking at least one, but no more than two years. It is
awarded to students demonstrating competency in an occupational field and is designed to lead to
employment and/or to transfer into a related associate degree program. Diplomas typically have a
credit range of 31 to 72 credits.
3. Associate in Arts (AA) An associate in arts degree is awarded upon completion of a 60 credit
academic program in the liberal arts and sciences without a named field of study. It is designed for
transfer to baccalaureate degree-granting institutions
4. Associate in Science (AS) An associate in science degree is awarded upon completion of a 60 credit
academic program in scientific, technological, or other professional fields and is designed to transfer in
its entirety to a related baccalaureate program by way of an articulation agreement.
5. Associate in Fine Arts (AFA) An associate in fine arts degree is a named degree awarded upon
completion of a 60 credit academic program in particular disciplines in the fine arts and is designed to
transfer in its entirety to a related fine arts discipline baccalaureate degree program.
6. Associate in Applied Science (AAS) - awarded for completion of a program with 60 to 72 credits that
generally take two years. Course work is primarily designed to lead directly to employment and
includes several general education courses. Some credits earned may transfer to a four-year degree
53
program.
The primary way through which the college communicates the differences in awards in specific programs
is through program planners/checklists that indicate which courses are required to earn the academic
award. The planners typically contain a general description of the content included in that award and, in
the case of AS, AAS, and AFA degrees, the additional courses a student would need to complete an AA.
Program planners/checklists are available to future and current students on the college’s website
(<http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/academic-support/program-planner-checklists/>), as well as in
admissions, advising offices, and from program coordinators; they are used by staff and faculty as
advising tools.
Programs in which there are multiple program options, i.e., certificate, diploma, A.A., A.S., A.A.S.
degree, delineate the program options at the beginning of each program guide on the college website. The
program description often indicates to the student the academic award, the content areas included in each
award, and the types of job activities a graduate with that award may expect to perform. This clarifies to
prospective students how the goals and expectations differ between the academic awards.
Currently FDLTCC offers the following programs, diplomas, and certificates:
Nursing
• Associate of Science in Nursing Degree
• Practical Nursing Diploma
• Nursing Assistant Certificate
Business
• Small Business/Entrepreneurship Certificate
• Associate of Science in Small Business Entrepreneurship Degree
• Associate of Science in Business/Financial Services Degree
Law Enforcement
• Associate of Applied Science Degree in Criminal Justice
• Law Enforcement Skills Certificate
• Associate of Science Degree in Law Enforcement
Environmental Science
• Associate of Science Degree
• Associate of Arts, Biology emphasis
General Science
• Associate in Science/Broad Field Health Science Degree
Human Services
• Associate of Applied Science Degree in Human Services
• Chemical Dependency Emphasis
• Chemical Dependency
• Chemical Dependency Certificate
54
Corrections
• Associate of Sciences Degree in Corrections
Early Childhood
• Infant and Toddler Child Development Certificate
• Preschool Child Development Certificate
• School Age Child Development Certificate
Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Associate of Arts Degree
American Indian Studies
• Anishinaabe Certificate
• Associate of Arts Degree, American Indian Studies emphasis
Art
•
Associate of Fine Arts Degree
Electric Utilities Technology
• Clean Energy Systems Technician Certificate
• Associate in Applied Science in Electric Utility Technology Degree
Geographic Information Systems and Visualization (GIS)
• Geographic Information Systems and Visualization Certificate
• Associate of Applied Science in Geographic Information Systems and Visualization Degree
The table below indicates program enrollments at FDLTCC. The majority of students at FDLTCC are
focused on obtaining an associate of arts degree for transfer and the rest are spread across FDLTCC’s
other degree programs, with the majority focused on a degree in Chemical Dependency/Human Services,
Law Enforcement, or Nursing. It is important to note that in MnSCU’s Integrated Student Records
System (ISRS), which is unique to the MnSCU system, academic program data is pulled according to
how a student has ranked their field(s) of interest; thus, a student might have indicated she is getting an
AS in Business and an AA degree. If the AA is listed first, the student’s AS enrollment will not be
represented in the program enrollment data, and vice versa. This has been a longstanding point of
frustration for institutions in the system, but it is not one that will be fixed in the near future.
Table 11. Program Enrollment FY 2011 – FY13
Declared focus area
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
American Indian Studies
2
0
1
Anishinaabeg Certificate
0
0
1
Associate of Arts
420
331
355
Associate of Fine Arts
12
13
7
Business and Finance
56
57
61
Business Certificates
5
9
5
Cartography AAS
5
5
6
55
Chemical Dependency Certificate
10
27
21
Corrections
2
1
2
ECD (All certificates)
22
13
18
Electrical Utility Certificate
4
6
1
Electrical Utility Technician
24
12
9
60
22
17
Fitness and Health
16
20
16
GIS Certificate
4
1
3
Human Services
74
92
75
Law Enforcement
182
203
181
LAWE Skills
16
19
18
Nursing Associate of Science
131
185
65
Nursing Assistant
26
54
4
Nursing Diploma
103
231
85
2
6
2
Nutrition
Since 2011, the college has revised and re-opened two programs: Corrections (AS) and Fitness and Health
(AAS). Four associate-level programs have been suspended for revision focused on better meeting the
needs of transferability and/or employers. The programs are: Food Science and Nutrition Studies AS
degree, Administrative Secretary AAS degree, and the Paraprofessional Certificate. Work on these
programs is expected to be completed in 2016-2017. The Elementary Education BS degree has also been
suspended. Consistent with FDLTCC’s facilities planning, a committee has begun work, in partnership
with Winona State University (also a part of the MnSCU system), on developing a 2 + 2 program in
Elementary Education that will lead to establishing a four-year degree at the college.
Maintaining Currency: Program Advisory Committees
The primary means through which programs assure their curriculum is current is through the involvement
of program advisory committees. Each program has a program-specific, industry-based advisory
committee made up of industry representatives in that program’s content area, as well as the faculty who
teach in the program, a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and a student or
recent alumnus.
Advisory committee members provide program faculty with current information regarding required job
skills and knowledge, at both the course level and program level. At the course level, for example, there
may be a new skill or concept that industry representatives see in their organizations that is appropriate to
introduce in a specific course. At the program level, the industry representatives may recommend, for
example, a particular technology that is emerging in the industry that should be incorporated in the overall
curriculum. At FDLTCC, for example, the nursing program has incorporated a greater emphasis on
medical record technology and procedures.
Advisory committees are required to meet once per school year; some meet more often and most program
faculty have interactions with advisory committee members during the school year beyond the formal
56
meetings. When curricular changes are made in a program, they are reviewed by the Program Advisory
Committee and are then brought before the Academic Affairs and Standards Committee (AASC) for
review and approval.
Maintaining Currency: Licensure Exams
There are licensing or technical skills exams required for students that graduate with the following
degrees or certificates that demonstrate an acceptable level of performance by the student:
•
Early Childhood: Technical Skills Assessment (Students must earn 70% on the assessment in
order to earn a Certificate from the American Association of Family and Consumer Life, the
producers of the assessment)
•
Nursing: NCLEX-PN-National Council Licensure Examination-Practical Nurse
NCLEX-RN-National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse
NNAAP-National Nurse Aide Assessment Program for Nursing Assistant and Home
Health Aid
•
Law Enforcement Skills Training: Scores of 90% or higher are required in the following three
(life-threatening) skills: Defensive Tactics, Firearms, and Emergency Vehicle Operations. All
others are at 80% or better.
In order to enter their occupational fields, students in nursing and law enforcement programs must also
pass State board exams: the Minnesota State Board of Nursing exams and the Peace Officers Standards
and Training (POST) board exam. In the MnSCU system, pass rates on State board exams are made
available to the public via the MnSCU system’s Accountability Dashboard (see
<http://mnscu.edu/board/accountability/index.html>); however, the reported results generally lag behind
two years from the present.
Table 12. Licensure Exam Pass Rates, 2012
Fond du Lac Tribal and
Community College
System Colleges
Candidates
Passing
Pass Rate
Candidates
Passing
Pass Rate
LPN
37
35
94.6%
1,490
1,326
89.0%
RN-AS
17
10
58.8%
1,804
1,562
86.6%
98.1%
611
546
89.4%
Nursing
Peace
All
53
52
Officer
Source: http://mnscu.edu/board/accountability/index.html
In the case of nursing licensures, pass rates below 75% are unacceptable, and the program must submit an
action plan to the State Board of Nursing for approval, as was the case in FDLTCC’s AS program
following the results for 2012. If pass rates remain low following the implementation of the improvement
plan, the Board will determine to close the program if there are three years of consecutive low pass rates.
57
In this specific case, the implementation of FDLTCC’s action plan resulted in another year of low pass
rates. Three members of the board State Board of Nursing conducted an evaluation of the program and
gave recommendations for improvement/closing program. FDLTCC closed the Mobility Program and
opened a two-year Associate Degree Program and implemented a number of actions to help with the 2014
pass rates. At the present time, the program’s pass rates have improved to 75.86% through the third
quarter; there is one more quarter report to receive, which is due in February 2015.
Students completing FDLTCC’s Nursing Assistant/Home Health Aide (NA/HHA) certificate must pass
the NA/HHA Combined Program Competency Evaluation for the State of Minnesota in order to be placed
on Minnesota’s nursing registry, which, in turn, achieves one criterion of being accepted to one of
Minnesota’s nursing programs (see <http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/fpc/profinfo/narinfo/
nartestdata.html>).
Maintaining Currency: Direct Application of Resources and Knowledge
Two of FDLTCC’s smallest programs bring forward some of the college’s most high profile successes in
demonstrating the currency of curriculum: The electrical utilities technology (EUT) program and the
Geographic Information Systems and Visualization (GIS) program.
The college’s EUT program was developed in 2003 in response to an anticipated labor shortage in the
region’s electrical utilities field. The shortage was pre-empted by the national economic downturn
beginning in 2008 as that labor force largely chose not to retire in the midst of economic uncertainty. The
complexity of that occupational field, as well as the rigor of the training in relation to the college’s
student population, has kept the program’s enrollment small; however, the program’s evolution
demonstrates responsiveness to the areas occupational needs. The program began working one-on-one
with representatives from the South African Paper Products, Inc. (SAPPI) industry, a local paper mill that
bought the local Potlatch Corporation, resulting in a large number of displaced workers. Although SAPPI
workers do not need EUT training, the college has been able to build a course on programmable logic
controllers, which is delivered to SAPPI employees who need training in that specific area. The resulting
success and the deepening of the relationship has led to a generous contribution to the college for
equipment purchases and upgrades by SAPPI and a continued close relationship.
With the exception of one institution in Wisconsin, FDLTCC’s EUT program was the first in the five
state region to become qualified to offer BPI certification, a national certification from the Building
Performance Institute. As a result of its successful implementation at FDLTCC, the program led the
State’s Office of Energy in “training-the-trainer” efforts at ten campus sites throughout Minnesota.
FDLTCC’s GIS program engages the most complicated technology at the college. The complexity of the
coursework, particularly in relation to the college’s student population, and the interdisciplinary nature of
the career field, has kept the program’s numbers small. In response to that complexity, the program has
built additional courses into the program to improve ease of learning. In addition, the program has placed
strong emphasis on demonstrating how geospatial technologies apply to a variety of career fields, such as
law enforcement, health care, transportation, and natural resources. Most workers in the Resource
Management Division of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have taken specific courses
in the program to meet the Division’s training goals.
58
The GIS program also has placed heavy emphasis on the hands-on application of geospatial technologies
in research. Through an Environmental Modeling and Research Experience (EMARE) grant from NASA,
the program has taken students from the program and from other STEM disciplines at the college for 6week summer sessions at the Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The program built into the
grant a partner from St. Cloud State University’s astronomy/physics department and included a position
for a graduate student assistant who could closely mentor FDLTCC’s students. As a result, across three
years of summer experiences, the program had outstanding success. A complete overview of the
activities, including student presentations and “where they are now”, can be found on the project’s
webpage at <http://emare.weebly.com/>, particularly under the “Deliverables” tab. The FDLTCC
project’s success is also highlighted by NASA at <http://www.nasa.gov/content/tribal-college-completesenvironmental-research-project-with-nasa/#.VMEZp0fF98F>. Two student success stories from the
project from among several others:
•
One FDLTCC student was invited and sent to the Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) in Pasadena,
CA to work on the Mars Curiosity mission. Because of her experience with cutting-edge
technology in FDLTCC’s GIS program, the student was able to solve a Mars data processing
problem in one hour that had stumped her JPL colleagues, who had the software but had not
trained on it, for days.
•
Another student went on to an internship with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Given his technology
experience in the GIS program, he created a map during his internship titled “IRMP Status of
Indian Lands in the United States - July 2014,” which was selected in fall 2014 to be published in
the upcoming ESRI Federal Map Book highlighting how GIS is used by federal agencies to
support decisions. (Evaluators can see the map in room 208 of the college.)
These examples from the college’s two smallest programs demonstrate the application of currency in the
fields they represent. The success of the students is also a good example of a program achieving the goals
of the institutional mission of the college. The examples of student success also demonstrate how the
college’s unique approach to Satisfactory Academic Progress, direct human contact with students who
have poor transcripts, can yield long-term positive results; each of these successes are students who came
to FDLTCC on academic probation (see the Compliance section for SAP related details).
Maintaining Currency: Professional Development
Faculty participate in professional development activities that assist them in staying current in their field
of expertise:
•
•
•
Electric Utility instructor attending Midwestern Electrical Seminar on National Electrical Code
changes, Duluth Energy Design Conference: Home auditing and retrofit analysis, Heating the
Midwest with Bio Mass seminar and a seminar presented by Dr. Jay McTighe on “Asking
Essential Questions.”
American Indian Studies instructor attends the annual Minnesota Indian Education Association
Conference that focuses its workshops on current issues in Indian Education.
Adjunct English instructor completed an MFA in Creative Writing and presented her graduate
thesis on Multiracialism in Children’s Literature.
59
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Adjunct nursing instructor received her NP certification.
Nursing instructor is working towards the completion of her Master’s (MSN) as a Nurse Educator
at Minnesota State University, Moorhead.
Four adjunct faculty from the first responder program attended the Arrowhead EMS Association
annual conference.
All nursing faculty attended the Health Educators Conference that focuses on Nursing Education.
This is an annual conference.
English instructor attended the School of the Arts in Rhinelander Wisconsin over the past three
years taking writing workshops that provided knowledge of teaching strategies and classroom
activities that are helpful in her writing classes.
Law Enforcement faculty have attended classes to improve teaching of hands on curriculum
Reading instructor attended the national College Reading & Learning Association (CRLA)
convention.
Adjunct geography instructor took a GPS training through Timble titled “TerraSync and GPS
Pathfinder” Timble Certified Training using Perkins funding.
Several faculty participated in Century College’s teaching and learning conference, St. Luke’s
EMS education program, Trauma Tactics Conference, and AHA BLS instructor recertification
during 2014.
Several faculty are involved in various industry organizations and activities at the regional and local level.
•
•
•
Human services instructor holds membership with two mental health and chemical dependency
advisory groups that address current issues in the field and develop ongoing workshops and
conferences to keep professionals current in their field, as well as serving on the Carlton County
Local Advisory Council on Mental Health and Duluth Area Recovery Community Advisory
Group.
Reading instructor is a member of the International Reading Association (IRA) for over 20 years,
subscribes to their adult/adolescent periodical, and has used their ”book of the month” in the
classroom. Also a member of the MN Association of Developmental Education (MNADE).
English instructor is a member of the Board of Directors for the Coquet Library as well as the
Cloquet Library Foundation. Another English instructor serves as the vice-president of the
executive board of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets and has planned and staged four annual
conferences.
Maintaining Currency: Specialized Accreditation
FDLTCC has four programs currently pursuing specialized accreditation:
•
•
•
Nursing program: Working toward candidacy in 2018 status with the National League of Nursing
Accreditation Commission (NLNAC).
Business program: Candidate status with the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and
Programs (ACPSB).
American Indian Studies program: Candidate status with the World Indigenous Higher Education
Consortium (WINHEC). The self-study process is currently in progress with a planned
60
•
submission in fall 2015 and a site visit in spring 2016.
College in the Schools (CITS): Application submission planned for 2016 with the National
Association of Concurrent Enrollment Programs (NACEP). Reviewed by NACEP at the request
of the college in 2012 in preparation for the planned application.
Maintaining Consistency of Learning Goals and Outcomes
FDLTCC utilizes the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC) as the hub of its lower division general
Responsibility, and 10) People and the Environment. The goal areas form the bulk of FDLTCC’s associate
of arts (AA) degrees; a completed 60-credit AA transfers as a package to universities in the MnSCU
system, as well as the University of Minnesota, and the student enters university having completed all
lower division general education requirements. FDLTCC’s associate of science (AS), associate of applied
science (AAS), associate of fine arts (AFA) degrees contain portions of the MnTC, which is specified on
FDLTCC’s program planners, along with information about the MnTC goal areas a student would need to
complete to attain an AA degree.
approval process and conform to the review practices outlined in MnSCU Board Policy 3.37.1. The
college’s MnTC curriculum is also reviewed annually by the MnSCU system office. The vice president of
academic affairs is given the results of the review, and any concerns about specific courses are addressed
with faculty and through the college’s curriculum review process. Information about MnTC and its
guidelines, goal areas, learning goals and outcomes, and the transferability of credits is available at
<www.mntransfer.org>.
Articulation AgreementsER in the Teaching and Learning folder). The college provides information to
students about articulation agreements through advising, program-specific brochures, and online (see
<http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/graduation-transfer/transfer-information/>).
In 2009, the college adopted four core competencies to form FDLTCC’s Competencies across the
Curriculum (CACs): Problem-solving, ability to communicate, information literacy, and culture (see
Criterion 4 for more detail). FDLTCC’s faculty revised the learning goals and outcomes portion of their
course outlines and embedded the competencies into the outlines in order to provide a common set of
points on which to focus classroom-level, program-level, and institutional assessments of student learning
across the curriculum.
Since 2011, due to the efforts to create a manageable and effective assessment data collection system, and
due to the focus on programs seeking specialized accreditation, the college’s faculty have engaged in an
intense review of course goals, learner outcomes, and assessment options across the curriculum.
61
Examinations of assessment results for Competency 1: Ability to Communicate, consistently
demonstrated the need for improvement (see Criterion 4), and the faculty chose to revisit goals and
outcomes and held a variety of development opportunities during 2012 and 2013.
•
•
•
•
Duty Day February 21, 2012 Assessment Committee Reporting
The “A” Team: Online and Blended Instruction @ FDTLCC 5/2/2012
“Tying Together Course Outcomes and Activities in D2L Using Best Practices for Quality
Matters” 2/27/2013
CTL presentations “Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Enhance Student Learning” 4/26/13
In February 2013, faculty who taught MnTC courses were additionally asked to document more
specifically how MnTC outcomes were addressed in each course. Faculty also began reviewing the terms
used in writing measurable outcomes and used Bloom’s taxonomy to state whether or not the course was
being offered at the appropriate level (developmental, 1000, or 2000), and they began reviewing the credit
load of each course to determine whether or not it was being offered at the appropriate credit load. This
work is continuing and will be a focus of a program review of the Liberal Arts AA scheduled for the 2016
- 2017 school year.
In summer 2014, the assessment committee made the decision to streamline course outlines further by
removing course goals and assessments. There were two reasons for this change. 1) It provides a more
transparent course outline document that will be easier for transcript specialists to use when students are
transferring credits, and 2) it makes more specific the focus on assessing learning outcomes, which is the
data faculty enter into the TracDat system for data collection. The practice of having faculty identify
course goals and assessments in the past was helpful; it permitted faculty to become familiar with the
difference between course goals and measurable course learning outcomes as well as encouraged faculty
to use multiple forms of assessment. After several years of practicing in this manner, however, the
assessment committee believed faculty had developed a sufficiently clear understanding of both goals and
multiple assessments such that they no longer needed to be part of the college’s course outline for each
course. Faculty embraced this change as it reduced their workload when revising course outlines and
clearly focuses assessment on learning outcomes. At the time of this writing, over one hundred course
outlines have been updated and approved through the AASC process, and approximately the same
number of outlines have had learning outcomes entered into the TracDat data collection system,
representing over four hundred learning outcomes.
Course learning outcomes are consistent across all modes of delivery and locations, including dual
enrollment. Every course outline is approved by the college’s Academic and Standards Council (AASC).
An outline, once approved, becomes the official course document that specifies the information covered
in the course (see the Course Proposal form and related documents under the Course Proposal ProcessER
in the Teaching and Learning folder of the electronic resource room). The course may be offered via
traditional face-to-face instruction, online, or concurrent enrollment but will always have the same course
learning outcomes. The course outlines must be reviewed and approved by the AASC for any subsequent
revisions. This insures that a record of all changes are kept by the faculty secretary and that the most
recently approved version of the course is always available to those who need to use it. This also insures
that all changes are shared with the appropriate entities, including the registrar and webmaster.
62
Regardless of the delivery mode, all credit-based courses must follow the course outline. It is the
expectation of the college that all faculty hired to teach courses, no matter where or how they are
delivered, will address the stated learning outcomes. Faculty may add to the stated outcomes when they
teach the course, but they may not eliminate any course outcomes listed on the course outline. To insure
this, credentialed faculty are hired to teach the courses, and in the College in the Schools program (CITS),
faculty mentors are assigned to every high school teacher and are tasked with the responsibility to
document adherence to the course outline. Online courses are treated the same way as face-to-face and
blended courses when it comes to consistency in adhering to course outcomes. Faculty teaching online
courses are evaluated by the CAO and must meet the same standards as face-to-face and blended courses.
While course learning outcomes are consistent across delivery modes at FDLTCC, gathering the explicit
documentation of the consistent assessment of the CACs has been the challenge that caused the college to
invest significantly in TracDat, which is a robust, malleable assessment data collection and reporting
software. The software has enabled the college to build the physical, albeit virtual, assessment model that
was visualized in 2009, when the college adopted CACs. It enables the college to see the level of
reporting for each competency, whether or not the targets for each learning outcome under each
competency were met, and any action plans that instructors have for improvements, particularly when
targets have not been met. The results are readily available and able to be packaged in a manner
conducive to evaluation/discussion and consequent action/use. The software also allows instructors to
create and report results on any additional learning outcomes they are tracking. Because the software has
the capacity to “assign” assessment activities, the on-campus faculty can directly bridge with off-campus
faculty, such as those teaching College in the Schools (CITS) to ensure learning outcome assessment in a
more explicit manner and to also jointly monitor and use results. FDLTCC’s assessment model is
discussed in greater detail in Criterion 4.
Dual Enrollment/College in the Schools (CITS)
FDLTCC’s College in the Schools (CITS) program began in 1987 with a physics class of eighteen
students at Cloquet High School in Cloquet, Minnesota. It was among the first of such classes in
Minnesota and was made possible by legislation as a variation on the Postsecondary Enrollment Options
(PSEO). The instructor of that first class, proposed the idea to Jack Briggs, then president of FDLTCC,
and to the superintendent of Cloquet schools, who collectively embraced the idea and called it “Vision
2000.”
Being the only college in the area offering such a program to high schools, and because the program was
rendering positive results, the program grew from an idea piloted in one class at one school to a program
serving, at its largest, twenty-one schools. By 1991, that first instructor had become the coordinator of the
Vision 2000 program. He began using college faculty as mentors in the disciplines and, when this was not
possible, began using appropriately credentialed retired high school teachers, practices which continue
today. In 2001, the name of the program changed from “Vision 2000” to “College in the Schools.” Today,
FDLTCC’s CITS program serves fifteen high schools, all but one of which are rural public schools
serving under 500 students.
The spirit of CITS, and the communities FDLTCC serves through it, are consistent with the college’s
63
position in the MnSCU system, its geographic/population base, and its mission. Like all colleges within
the MnSCU system, FDLTCC is called to serve the taxpayers of Minnesota by offering an affordable
education, one method of which is to offer CITS programs to college-bound Minnesotans. FDLTCC’s
CITS courses are paid for by the school district at $1,500 per course. Beginning in 2011, school districts
became eligible to receive aid from the State of Minnesota for participating in CITS. Similar to the
college’s main campus geographic/population base, the communities FDLTCC serves through CITS are
rural and small, and the people benefit significantly, from the low-income parents and students taking
advantage of savings on college tuition to the rural school districts receiving at least a modest pay-back
for extending the opportunity to their students.
FDLTCC’s CITS program is also consistent with the college’s mission, one goal of which is to “promote
scholarship and academic excellence through transfer and career education, and provide access to higher
education by offering developmental education.” An average of slightly more than 80 percent of
FDLTCC’s CITS students transfer to a university or college, which is generally double that of the main
campus student population. The CITS program is the college’s longest-running example of its history of
involvement in preparing high school students for college. In addition to offering CITS, the college is part
of the Carlton County + 2 Carl Perkins Consortium, through which FDLTCC offers career and technical
education opportunities to area high schools. The college annually provides Accuplacer placement testing,
free of charge, to over 1,000 high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors across the region. During the
past five years, FDLTCC has been piloting several projects focused on preparation for college: Financial
literacy training for parents/caregivers and their middle and high school students, technology training for
parents/caregivers and their middle and high school students, a year-long college preparation academy for
high achieving American Indian high school students, and an on-campus college preparation course
(PSYC 1002: College Success) for underachieving high school students that has become known as
College Connect; first semester success leads the students into college-level math and English courses,
with the hope that the students who complete those courses successfully have a higher chance of
completing college once they enter.
Like all such programs in Minnesota, the college’s CITS program is governed by Minnesota Statute
124D.09, The Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act, and related State laws. Such laws are bridged with
the MnSCU system’s Board of Trustees policies and procedures, in this case Board Policy 3.5 and
Procedure 3.5.1 Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) Program, most specifically 3.5.1 Part 4 (see
MnSCU Board PoliciesER in the electronic resource room). FDLTCC’s compliance with such laws,
policies, and procedures is expected, and the college is particularly held accountable by its high school
partners, as well as the MnSCU system office.
Within the college’s organizational structure, the CITS coordinator, who is also an advisor at the college,
is supervised by both the dean of student services and vice president of academic affairs, with the CITS
portion of his work under the supervision of the vice president. Because FDLTCC is a small college, the
CITS staff structure is not elaborate. The CITS coordinator works with the CITS faculty mentors, who in
turn, work directly with the faculty teaching in the high schools. In 2014 – 2015, the college offered fortynine courses in seventeen disciplines, and eighteen mentors worked with seventy-six instructors.
Although the program is small in structure, FDLTCC requires faculty mentors to conduct two
observational visits per semester (four per year) and three such visits if the course is being offered for the
64
first time and/or if the instructor has not taught the course before. This emphasis on a “hands-on”
approach is consistent with the college’s on-campus practices and reputation, whether among its students,
staff, faculty, or system colleagues.
Figure 1. FDLTCC CITS Retention
Entering Cohort Fall to 2nd Fall "Percent" Retained
77.6
56.7
55.7
55.6
55.3
76.3
54.8
54.2
System
81.4
Colleges
74.5
53.7
52.5
57.7
55.3
54.7
48.5
53.7
52.1
FDLTCC
51.9
50.5
49.6
Although it requires a
significant investment beyond
personnel costs (approximately
$17,700 in non-personnel
expenses during FY14), the
greater level of involvement of
our faculty mentors with CITS
faculty yields rewards. When
the National Alliance of
Concurrent Enrollment
Programs (NACEP) reviewed
FDLTCC’s program in 2012,
FDLTCC’s mentoring model
was recognized as a unique and
exemplary feature of the program.
Of the fifteen schools currently served in FDLTCC’s CITS program, all have been with the program for
five or more years; seven have a history of ten or more years with the program. The sustained
relationships serve the program well and have helped develop a stable and successful program.
FDLTCC’s CITS retention rate has been the highest in the MnSCU system since 2007 – 2008, and was
seventy-seven percent in 2010 – 2011, the last year the system made such data available. The program’s
transfer success is also admirable. On average, more than 80 percent of FDLTCC’s CITS students transfer
to a postsecondary institution, a rate more than double that of the main campus student population.
FDLTCC’s CITS program is not an open admission program. Juniors and seniors in high school are
eligible to take courses provided they meet the following criteria: To qualify, juniors must have a 3.0
grade point average or rank in the upper one-third of their class; seniors must have a 2.5 grade point
average or rank in the upper one-half of their class. Thereafter, students must complete an application and
must take an appropriate college placement test and score at or above the minimum cut-off score.
FDLTCC accepts Accuplacer and ACT placement tests. Accuplacer cut scores are as follows: Reading:
78, sentence skills: 86, elementary algebra: 61, and college level math: 50. For the ACT placement test,
the cut score is 19 in reading, English, and math. Although mixed classes of CITS and high school credits
are allowed, and under a new State policy, sophomores are allowed to take general education CITS
courses, the first priority is to fill each course with CITS students. If that is not possible, courses must
have a composition of at least fifty percent plus one CITS students.
In 2010, FDLTCC began discussing the possibility of seeking accreditation for the program through the
National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Programs (NACEP). Of the criteria necessary for
accreditation, the college was cognizant of possible challenges posed by the professional development
requirements and more intensive data collection. As a result, the college initiated improvements in 2011
65
by beginning to collect survey data and arranging professional development activities on campus. In
2012, the college asked NACEP if they would review FDLTCC’s path toward accreditation, which they
generously did. Although the review confirmed the college’s concerns, we were pleased with the overall
positive results of the review. Since 2012, the college has been building a history of survey data and
developing some approaches to the professional development of the faculty that are cost- and timeeffective for them and FDLTCC. The college intends to formally apply for NACEP accreditation in 2016.
Courses administered through FDLTCC’s CITS program are the same in designation, number, title,
credits, and description as those offered on campus; follow the same course outlines as the courses
offered on campus; and are approved through the curriculum review process followed for all credit-based
courses. FDLTCC operates all of its credit-bearing courses in the same manner across its delivery modes
and locations, be it in CITS, at an outreach site, through a continuing education package, in an online or
distance delivery mode, or in a traditional college campus classroom. Most of the courses taught through
FDLTCC’s CITS program are long-standing courses in FDLTCC’s general education curriculum and are
routine campus offerings. The exceptions to this are FDLTCC’s CITS language offerings and MATH
1020: Calculus Short Course, both of which were offered at earlier times in the institution’s history but
are no longer routine offerings.
There are three points that ensure courses offered through CITS are the same as those offered on campus:
1) The use of course outlines, which are the common documents between the department/college and the
CITS instructor and which spell out the learning goals and outcomes for the course; 2) Credentialing,
which is the same for faculty hires on campus and in the CITS program; and 3) Faculty mentor site visits.
The faculty mentors working in FDLTCC’s CITS program are required to conduct two site visits per
semester; if the course is new or has a new instructor, the mentor conducts three visits. As outlined in the
handout “Mentor Responsibilities,” the faculty mentor submits a report to the CITS coordinator within
one week of the visit, reporting on the instructor’s alignment with the syllabus, college grading standards,
and college level content. The first visit occurs within three weeks of the beginning of the course, which
enables mentors to give early guidance if concern is warranted. It also gives the instructor an early
opportunity to address questions and seek advice from the mentor. If additional site visits beyond the two
required are deemed necessary by either the mentor or instructor, these are arranged. The faculty mentor
submits a report after each visit, and then submits a final report after the course is completed, which
includes an evaluation and recommendations (CITS mentoring reports will be made available in the
physical resource room at the time of the visit).
In addition to faculty mentor reports and evaluations, students evaluate the courses and the instructors.
The faculty evaluation is the same evaluation used by students on campus to evaluate instructors. These
surveys were implemented in 2011, and they serve as a general layer of supporting evidence in relation to
the site visits (CITS evaluations will be made available in the physical resource room at the time of the
visit).
FDLTCC degree programs are appropriate to higher education. They are grounded in the policy
guidelines of the MnSCU system. They are kept current by the institution in multiple ways that range
from the close interaction with employers to monitoring by State boards to the direct and successful
66
application of knowledge and research by students with peers and professionals in their disciplines.
Learning outcomes are based on a common foundation of Competencies across the Curriculum that is
consistent throughout the curriculum in all delivery modes; they are explicitly evident on each course
outline and form the foundation of the college’s assessment process. Finally, the faculty has been engaged
in an intense review and refinement of learning outcomes as they streamline the assessment data
collection process at the course and program levels and as four programs (nursing, business, American
Indian Studies, and CITS) work toward achieving specialized accreditation. In a five-year span, the
college has moved from adopting Competencies across the Curriculum (CAC) to incorporating them into
course outlines to blueprinting an assessment model to revising and refining outcomes based on
evaluation to putting the final pieces of the model together in a working assessment format. The self study
provided the opportunity for the college to step back and acknowledge this rapid, healthy growth.
3.B. THE INSTITUTION DEMONSTRATES THAT THE EXERCISE OF INTELLECTUAL INQUIRY AND THE
ACQUISITION, APPLICATION, AND INTEGRATION OF BROAD LEARNING AND SKILLS ARE
INTEGRAL TO ITS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
Subcomponent 1: The general education program is appropriate to the mission, educational offerings, and
degree levels of the institution.
Subcomponent 2: The institution articulates the purposes, content, and intended learning outcomes of its
undergraduate general education requirements. The program of general education is grounded in a
philosophy or framework developed by the institution or adopted from an established framework. It
imparts broad knowledge and intellectual concepts to students and develops skills and attitudes that the
institution believes every college-educated person should possess.
Subcomponent 3: Every degree program offered by the institution engages students in collecting,
analyzing, and communicating information; in mastering modes of inquiry or creative work; and in
developing skills adaptable to changing environments.
Subcomponent 4: The education offered by the institution recognizes the human and cultural diversity of
the world in which students live and work.
Subcomponent 5: The faculty and students contribute to scholarship, creative work, and the discovery of
knowledge to the extent appropriate to their programs and the institution’s mission.
FDLTCC’s curricular offerings provide students with a broad base of knowledge, as well as the core tools
required to act as productive citizens in society. As noted in earlier in this section and in the Compliance
portion of this document, the hub of the college’s general education curriculum are courses that comprise
the college’s Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC). The MnTC is a defined liberal arts and sciences
transfer curriculum with ten goal/outcome areas that was designed and agreed upon by representatives of
all public higher education institutions in Minnesota. The purpose of the MnTC is to facilitate transfer
from public colleges to other public colleges or universities in Minnesota, particularly in the AA degree
(see AA Checklist for an overview of FDLTCC’s AA/MnTransfer curriculum at < http://fdltcc.edu/wplib/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/AAChecklist.pdf>).
67
MnTC goal areas are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Goal One: Communication
Goal Two: Critical Thinking
Goal Three: Natural Sciences
Goal Four: Mathematics/Logical Reasoning
Goal Five: History and the Social and Behavior Sciences
Goal Six: Humanities and Fine Arts
Goal Seven: Human Diversity
Goal Eight: Global Perspective
Goal Nine: Ethical and Civic Responsibility
Goal Ten: People and the Environment
The defined goals and outcomes for each goal area are posted for use by faculty, staff, students, and
transfer specialists and can be found at <http://www.mntransfer.org/transfer/mntc/t_sample.php>. In
accordance with MnSCU Board policy 3.37.1, associates degrees must contain the following MnTC
credits and goal areas depending on the type of degree:
•
•
•
•
A.A. degree must complete a minimum of forty MnTC credits covering all ten goal areas
A.S. degree must complete thirty MnTC credits from at least six of ten goal areas
A.A.S. degree must complete fifteen MnTC credits from at least three of ten goal areas
A.F.A. degree in Art must complete twenty-four MnTC credits from at least six of ten goal areas.
As noted in in the Compliance section and in Criterion 5, students can monitor their progress completing
the MnTC by utilizing FDLTCC’s program planners/checklists and by requesting a Degree Audit Report
(DARS) at any time during their studies at FDLTCC. The DARS provides the student with an overview
of the MnTC goal areas completed and the courses on their transcript that were used to complete the goal
areas, as well as the grade points they received; in addition, it notes the courses the student can take or has
left to take in order to complete a goal area (see Associate of Arts DARS ExampleER under Teaching and
Learning in the electronic resource room).
According to MnSCU Board policy 3.37.1, MnTC credits transfer across the MnSCU system as follows:
•
•
•
“When any system college or university has determined that the entire Minnesota Transfer
curriculum has been completed by a student, the entire Minnesota Transfer Curriculum shall be
accepted as complete at every receiving system college or university for that students.”
“When any system college or university has determined that a Minnesota Transfer Curriculum
goal area has been completed by a student, the goal area shall be accepted as complete at every
receiving system college or university for that student.”
“When any system college or university has determined that a course meets goal area
competencies for a student, the goal area competencies shall be accepted as meeting the same
goal area competencies at every system college or university for that student.”
At FDLTCC, faculty proposing a new course to be included in the MnTC must state which goal area and
outcomes the course meets; MnTC outcomes and goal areas are also noted on FDLTCC’s course outlines.
68
Like all colleges in the MnSCU, FDLTCC’s MnTC curriculum is reviewed annually by the system office,
and the vice president of academic affairs is notified if questions arise regarding any courses. In preparing
for a 2016 program review of the college’s liberal arts curriculum (AA degree), the college will be
reviewing its inventory of courses.
In addition to the MnTC, all FDLTCC courses are required to address the college’s Competencies across
the Curriculum (CAC), discussed in 3A: Ability to Communicate, Problem-solving, Information Literacy,
and Culture. These form the foundation of FDLTCC’s assessment model and provide four common points
that cut across all courses and programs.
Each degree program has a program plan which documents the required courses for completion of each
academic award, and in some cases, the suggested sequence. Program coordinators, the program’s
advisory committee, and the college’s AASC are instrumental in determining which general education
courses are appropriate requirements for the program. Articulation agreements with other institutions also
assist with the alignment of courses required or appropriate for transfer to another institution.
All general education courses offered at FDLTCC have gone through an approval process that requires
the developer’s attention to the mission of the college. As part of the “Proposal for a New Course”
process all proposed courses must provide information in three sections that address this topic: (see
course proposal documents in the Teaching and Learning folder of the electronic resource room).
•
# 5. If this course includes a Native American or specifically Anishinaabe component list campus
resource person/s—i.e. campus cultural/spiritual resource person/s and, if necessary, elder/s—
consulted and include specific comments and written responses as appropriate.
•
# 11 Relationship of course to the college mission statement and goals.
•
# 12 Relationship of course to the department’s mission statement and goals.
Faculty proposing a course must also be concerned with the transfer of credits and answer # 13
Relationship of course to colleges/university offerings (including tribal colleges). This also contributes to
course numbering at the appropriate level (1000 or 2000) and the appropriate number of credit hours.
The college’s curriculum includes the routine offering of general education courses that specifically
recognize and address the human and cultural diversity of the world in which students live and work. A
partial list appears below:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
AMIN 1050 Anishinaabeg of Lake Superior
AMIN 2001 Federal Laws and The American Indian
AMIN 2030 Contemporary Indian Concerns
ANSH 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004 Anishinaabe Language (Intro, II, III, IV)
ANTH 1001 Introduction to American Indian Studies
ANTH 1005 Cultural Diversity
ANTH 1010 Native Skywatchers
ART 1060 American Indian Art
ART 2040 Regalia, Traditional Dress, and Arts of the Ojibwe People
69
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ENGL 2005 American Indian Literature
ENGL 2031 The Holocaust in Literature and Film
ENGL 2045 Literature by Women
HIST 1050 & 1051 American Indian History I & II
HIST 1012 & 1013 Global Civilization I & II
MUSC 1030 Music of the World’s Peoples
MUSC 1035 American Indian Music
PE 1050 American Indian Dance
PE 1051 American Indian Games
PHIL 2030 American Indian Philosophy
POLS 1030 International Relations
PSYC 2002 Indigenous Psychology
SPCH 1030 Intercultural Communications
WGS 1001 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies
AMIN 1050: Anishinaabeg of Lake Superior has been a required course for all degree-seeking students
since 2003. The course is designed to provide students with a basic knowledge of the historical,
philosophical, and cultural underpinnings of the Ojibwe people in the Cloquet area, an understanding
particularly important for FDLTCC’s students who will be employed in the area as nurses, social workers,
and law enforcement officers. At the time of its implementation, requiring such a course was uncommon,
and somewhat controversial, in the MnSCU system; today, some of the system’s universities have also
adopted required courses on topics related to culture, diversity, and/or racism.
As noted in section 3A, FDLTCC prepares students for the future by providing them the opportunity to
work on academic projects that are integral to meeting their educational goals and to the college’s
intellectual role in the communities it serves. For instance, students in biology and environmental science
courses work on a variety of grant-based research projects focused on wild rice (“manoomin”), including
the effect of sulphur emissions on the plant, which has been a source of intense local public debate as the
region examines the possible introduction of a copper mine to the region. (Manoomin, “the food that
grows on top of the water,” is of significant importance to the Anishinaabeg people of the region and one
reason why The People migrated to this locale.) FDLTCC also provides a variety of activities, events, and
extra-curricular opportunities that encourage and support intellectual and cultural inquiry:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
College video projects, such as What Does “Respect” Mean to You
Fine Arts Week
Poetry Slam
Films that Feed Your Brain
Open Mic
Poem in Your Pocket Day
The Thunderbird Review (the English department’s literary journal)
The Independent (the campus newspaper)
Vocal ensemble concerts and performances by applied music Students
American Indian Business Leaders annual national competitions
American Indian Higher Education Consortium’s annual tribal college competitions
70
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Student government tribal, state, and national conferences
Ojibwe Language College Quiz Bowl: A competition that includes the University of MinnesotaTwin Cities, The College of St. Scholastica, Bemidji State University, FDLTCC, Itasca
Community College, and other two-year institutions that offer Ojibwe language courses.
FDLTCC’s teams have a proud record of defeating four-year college teams on a regular basis.
Anishinaabe Waakaa’igan (“The People’s House”) holds seasonal language immersion
academies.
Annual graduation Pow Wow: The college’s pow-wow that honors FDLTCC’s graduating class.
Giving Thanks Feast and Veteran’s Feast: A campus and community event held annually in
November, which is usually attended by 300 – 400 individuals, with staff, faculty, and students
coordinating and serving (see video clips at <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
eO7QMFLSbBQ> and <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFUPRoa1dio>).
A variety of feasts and pipe ceremonies, including those that open each semester, honor the
Drum, and celebrate important times.
Ojibwemowining resource room
Two Spirits Association (formerly the Gay-Straight Alliance)
Anishinaabe Culture Club
Drum Group
Biboon (Winter) Fest Activities
The Student Ambassador program: The program was piloted in 2012 as part of the college’s
continued focus on retention and student success. The ambassadors are charged with promoting
“awareness and overall understanding of cultural diversity on and off campus.” They offer
academic and social support for their peers, host and contribute to campus events, serve as
liaisons for their peers to address concerns and questions, act to unify student clubs and
organizations, and offer themselves as examples of support and guidance.
Additionally, FDLTCC works in cooperation with other area programs that students access via events,
classroom projects, and other activities that bring the college and the programs together. Three longstanding projects are:
Thirteen Moons Ashi-niswi giizisoog The Thirteen Moons program connects Fond du Lac Band
members and surrounding community members to 1) natural resources by increasing awareness of and
knowledge about traditional and other resources: 2) social knowledge networks by providing new
opportunities for social interaction and education in the context of traditional and other natural resources;
and 3) Ojibwe culture by highlighting and honoring the importance of natural resources in the traditional
and contemporary Ojibwe lives and livelihoods and the skills that will allow these lives and livelihood to
endure. Students participate in the programming.
Bimaaji’idiwin Ojibwe Garden Program A program developed by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa in partnership with FDLTCC, University of Minnesota Extension Service, and the
United States Department of Agriculture. The aim of the program is to preserve and promote traditional
Ojibwe cropping systems as well as educate the greater community about contemporary strategies for
organic food and medicinal plant production.
71
St. Louis River-River Watch Program A youth-based water quality monitoring program that focuses on
the St. Louis River watershed and the Lake Superior Basin. This project, aimed at secondary school
students, promotes and inspires stewardship of the largest U.S. tributary to Lake Superior and other
nearby waterways; through it, FDLTCC has introduced the college to hundreds of youngsters and to the
direct, meaningful application of science in their lives.
FDLTCC’s faculty model what they teach by making scholarly, professional, and creative contributions
to the campus and broader community:
Art faculty: Cynthia Holmes, Sterling Rathsack, and Karen Savage-Blue exhibit their work throughout
the region and have permanent pieces at the college, in galleries and on streets and buildings in Duluth,
Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin, and throughout the region.
English faculty: In 2013, Maglina Lubovich’s essay “Desired and Imagined Loss as Sympathetic
Identification: Bachelor Melancholia in Donald Grant Mitchell’s Reveries of a Bachelor” was published
in the book Sentimentalism in 19th Century America by Farleigh Dickenson University Press. Jan
Chronister has published poems in numerous publications, including two anthologies nominated for the
Northeastern Minnesota Book Award, and frequently participates in poetry readings in northern
Minnesota and Wisconsin; she created and coordinates a writing contest for FDLTCC students and those
of five other area colleges and universities, and coordinates the college’s Two Spirits Association student
group (formerly known as the Gay-Straight Alliance). She was given Wisconsin’s Muse Award for
Excellence in Poetry in 2011 and is the current vice president of Wisconsin’s Fellowship of Poets. Marla
Ahlgren serves on the Board of Directors of the Cloquet Public Library and, in 2012, brought a decadelong dream into reality by creating The Write Place writing lab at FDLTCC.
Human Services faculty: Candi Aubid is a licensed independent clinical social worker and serves as a
consultant for the Red Cliff and Mille Lacs reservations. She was a founder of the Minisinaakwaang
Leadership Academy-Tribal K-12 Charter School and an Ojibwe Language Curriculum team member.
She is the Minisinaakwaang Tribal Community Human Service Advocate for families and children.
Music faculty: Steve Highland, professional math tutor TRIO, is the assistant concertmaster for the
Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and member of the Highland Quartet. Lyz Jaakola is the founder of
the Oshkii Giizhik (New Day) Women’s Hand Drum Group, was the Minnesota Public Radio’s Classical
Artist in Residence and the Class Notes Artist in 2013, was the recipient of the George Morrison Artist
Award for the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council in 2014, the winner of the First Peoples Fund
Community Spirit Award in 2012, and from 2008 – 2014 was the music curriculum consultant for the
Perpich Center for the Arts initiative “Teaching Teachers about American Indian Music Standards.”
Kristin Peterson is a member of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra Chorus, accompanies applied
music vocal performances by students, and sang in Lyric Opera’s chorus in the 2012 production of Amahl
and the Night Visitors. Calland Metts, adjunct music instructor, is the co-Artistic Director of the Lyric
Opera of the North in Duluth, Minnesota, and was the fall 2013 director for the Duluth-Superior
Symphony Chorus.
Speech/Communication faculty: Roxanne DeLille is a trainer for the Blandin Foundation’s Leadership
Training for Reservations and Rural Communities initiative; she is lead curriculum designer for the
72
Minnesota Indigenous Youth Freedom Project, with a curriculum publication forthcoming in spring 2015,
and is a consultant for the Milles Lacs, Leech Lake, Bad River, and St. Croix reservations. She was the
keynote speaker for Women Empowering Women in Indigenous Nations conference in Las Vegas in
2014. Scherrie Foster is the director of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth, which
commemorates the lives of three African Americans who were lynched in 1920 in Duluth, Minnesota.
She was a leader in Duluth’s 2012 Unfair Campaign regarding racial inequity and, in 2014, was a
delegate in People to People’s Witness for Peace project in Cuba, specifically focused on Cuban
Women’s Ways of Knowing.
Over sixty-four percent of FDLTCC’s student respondents on the 2013 CCSSE reported “quite a bit” or
“very much” “contact among students from different economic, social and racial or ethnic backgrounds,”
which is significantly higher than CCSSE’s national cohort report of approximately fifty-two percent. As
a small, rural college in northern Minnesota. FDLTCC’s successful implementation of its mission, via its
curriculum, extra-curricular and programmatic opportunities, and faculty, is evident.
3.C. THE INSTITUTION HAS THE FACULTY AND STAFF NEEDED FOR EFFECTIVE, HIGH-QUALITY
PROGRAMS AND STUDENT SERVICES.
Subcomponent 1: The institution has sufficient numbers and continuity of faculty members to carry out
both the classroom and the non-classroom roles of faculty, including oversight of the curriculum and
expectations for student performance; establishment of academic credentials for instructional staff;
involvement in assessment of student learning.
Subcomponent 2: All instructors are appropriately qualified, including those in dual credit, contractual,
and consortial programs.
Subcomponent 3: Instructors are evaluated regularly in accordance with established institutional policies
and procedures.
Subcomponent 4: The institution has processes and resources for assuring that instructors are current in
their disciplines and adept in their teaching roles; it supports their professional development.
Subcomponent 5: Instructors are accessible for student inquiry.
Subcomponent 6: Staff members providing student support services, such as tutoring, financial aid
advising, academic advising, and co-curricular activities, are appropriately qualified, trained, and
supported in their professional development.
FDLTCC’s hiring practices for faculty are governed by MnSCU Board policy 3.32 and 3.32.1 College
Faculty Credentialing (see MnSCU Board PoliciesER folder in the electronic resource room). Hiring
faculty in MnSCU’s two-year college system is unlike that of its four-year university system. Two-year
colleges are held to a narrow credentialing process, which was established in 2007; four-year universities
work under the traditional latitude entrusted to departments/disciplines. Minimum qualifications for
faculty, regardless of assignment, are determined, established, and monitored at the system level for all
MnSCU institutions, including FDLTCC. MnSCU’s Joint Committee on Credential Fields is an ongoing
committee established under the Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF) collective bargaining
73
agreement. The purpose of that committee is to make recommendations regarding credential fields and
minimum hiring qualifications for two-year college faculty. This includes the alignment of appropriate
credential fields with programs and disciplines at the system level. The committee is comprised of six
faculty members appointed by MSCF and six college administrators appointed by the MnSCU
Chancellor. The primary responsibilities of the Committee are to: 1) to make recommendations on the
establishment of new credential fields and the minimum hiring qualifications for those fields; and 2) make
recommendations on the modification of existing credential fields and the minimum hiring qualifications
for those fields.
A faculty member is assigned a credential field upon hire, based on MnSCU’s review and evaluation of
the individual’s official transcripts and experience, and that credential field must correspond with the
majority of the teaching assignments held by that faculty member. An additional credential field may be
added by the college president under certain provisions contained in the Minnesota State College Faculty
(MSCF) collective bargaining agreement (Article 11, Section 3) (see Union AgreementsER in the
electronic resource room for the MSCF collective bargaining agreement). As required by the MnSCU
system, FDLTCC has its own policy regarding any exceptions that are made to the standard credentialing
process (see FDLTCC Credentialing Policy at <http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policies-reports/academiccampus-policies/faculty-credentialing-policy/>).
Hiring Faculty in Dual Enrollment/College in the Schools (CITS)
The credentialing and hiring practices described above also govern faculty teaching in FDLTCC’s CITS
program. Because of the narrower approach to credentialing in the two-year system, colleges in rural
Minnesota do make exceptions to the credentialed fields simply because of the challenges of finding
people for positions in remote locations who match the narrow credentialing criteria; small rural high
schools face the same challenges. FDLTCC's Credentialing Policy addresses how such exceptions are
addressed.
Consistent with the credentialing policies used on-campus, faculty who were hired in 2007 or before are
not required to meet the system’s current credentialing standards. Because FDLTCC’s CITS program has
a longstanding history with most of the high schools it serves, the college brings on new faculty
infrequently. Consistent with system practice, however, CITS faculty hired after 2007 have been required
to meet the new standards. The college has chosen not to hire many whose principals or superintendents
have requested.
When new CITS faculty are hired, the faculty mentors provide orientation during extra site visits held
during the first year (see Criterion 3A for FDLTCC’s guidelines regarding mentoring visits). The
orientation includes attention to college expectations, course outlines, syllabi, administrative
responsibilities, policies, and procedures, as evident in the handouts “Instructor Responsibilities,”
“Mentor Responsibilities,” and “Process for New Instructors” (CITS documents related to mentoring and
orientations will be made available in the physical resource room at the time of the visit).
74
FDLTCC’s number of employees across classifications has remained generally stable for the past five
years, and the numbers and continuity of faculty and staff to carry out classroom and non-classroom
duties have been sufficient;
80.0%
however, like all of the small,
60.0%
rural colleges in the MnSCU
40.0%
system, FDLTCC recognizes
that it is running a lean
20.0%
operation due to State-level
0.0%
budget cuts and tuition freezes.
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
The college continues to
Figure 2. Percent of Total by Classification
follow its budget process and
Faculty % of total
Service/Support Staff % of total
monitors its finances carefully
Professionals % of total
Mgrs/Supevisors % of Total
(see Criterion 5 for financial
Administrators % of Total
information). FDLTCC’s land
grant status has enabled the
college to seek grant funding to meet its goals, specifically in the some of the college’s innovative student
success programming, such as the Nandagikendan (Seek to Learn) academies, without having to further
stretch its human resources.
Figures 2 through 5 indicate the total number of college’s employees, the percentage of the total each
classification comprises, and the length of service at the college. The majority of FDLTCC’s workforce is
located in instruction and student
Figure 3. Employee Headcount (All)
support services, consistent with the
170
allocation of resources noted in core
165
component 5A of this report.
160
155
150
145
140
135
130
125
164
158
160
Sixty-eight percent of the college’s
faculty have served ten or more years,
with the majority having served for
twenty or more years, and sixty-five
138
percent of the college’s staff have
served five or more years, with almost
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
half having served over ten years. The
stability of the college’s workforce is a strong supporting component to the college’s success with living
and achieving its mission.
154
152
75
The continuity of the college’s faculty has enabled the faculty to adequately carry out quality instruction,
oversee the curriculum, and develop and sustain industry relationships. Because a number of faculty will
be retiring in the next five years, the college
Figure 4. Years of Service: Faculty
recognizes the need to replace those faculty
FY2014
with qualified new hires while still preserving
and passing on the institutional knowledge that
Less than 5
currently resides with those faculty. Given that
16%
5 to less than 10
29%
forty-two percent of the faculty have five to
16%
10 to less than 15
fifteen years of experience at the college, the
13%
15 to less than 20
generational transition is likely to be stable.
26%
20 plus years
As noted in Article 8, Section 2 of the current
Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF)
collective bargaining agreement, faculty have the integral role of determining curriculum through its local
Academic Affairs and Standards Council (AASC), which is charged with providing “direction for the
college president in all matters included
Figure 5. Years of Service: Staff FY2014
in academic affairs, including course
outlines, award requirements, academic
standards, course and program
Less
than
5
components, and the inventory of
11%
course and program offerings.”
5
to
less
than
10
35%
15%
FDLTCC’s AASC consists partially of
10 to less than 15
faculty who represent the full range of
15 to less than 20
22%
years of service at the college; through
17%
20 plus years
direct experience with the procedures of
AASC, as well as via a sound
compilation of minutes and other
documents relevant to the council’s work, the continuity and consistency of the council’s work is
maintained from year to year.
Additionally, the faculty are the leaders when it comes to assessment of student learning. Since 2009,
several faculty have attended the annual HLC conference in Chicago as a means of increasing familiarity
with the accreditation process, generally, and with the assessment of student learning, specifically. Since
2009, the Assessment of Student Learning Committee has been chaired by faculty members and has
consisted of a team of five to seven faculty members. Assessment committee members have been
instrumental in presenting information on assessment of student learning at campus-wide duty days and at
Teaching Circles. Faculty have driven the collection of data documenting the assessment of student
learning and worked to create and later revise the General Education assessment tool that was given
yearly to students. The college has invested financially in credit-releases for assessment-related work and
tools. The continuity of this investment is evident in the college’s 2013 – 2016 strategic plan, as well as
the college’s interest in seeking specialized accreditation in four of its programs.
76
Curriculum-related Oversight in CITS
FDLTCC’s CITS students are admitted, registered, and transcripted in the same manner as on-campus
students. Also like FDLTCC’s on-campus students, students in CITS must meet the same academic
standards in terms of placement, course prerequisites, and Satisfactory Academic Progress.
There are some procedural/logistical differences between how CITS students apply and register for
FDLTCC courses and how on-campus students apply and register. On-campus students typically apply
online. FDLTCC CITS students apply on paper with a slightly different application form. The college has
preferred the hands-on approach and believe the eye-to-eye contact between the students, the high school
coordinators, and FDLTCC’s CITS coordinator asserts a measure of seriousness to the application
process.
The registration process for CITS students has changed since 2009. In prior years, CITS registrations
were completed by the FDLTCC CITS coordinator through Add/Drop slips. This was cumbersome and
created errors that were often complicated and time-consuming to correct. Since 2009, the registration
process has been streamlined. The high school generates class rosters, which are given to the college for
data entry. As a result, the input is more efficient and accurate and has largely eliminated serious or timeconsuming errors. As the college looks forward to NACEP accreditation, the program continues to look
for greater efficiencies in the CITS registration process.
FDLTCC’s course prerequisites primarily come in three forms: Courses that require meeting a specific
placement score, courses in a sequence where entry into the higher tier depends on passing the lower,
and/or those that require instructor consent. Prerequisites for introductory courses in English and math
typically consist of placement scores, and the introductory courses typically are the prerequisites for
higher level courses in the disciplines. For example, to register for ENGL 1101: College Writing: College
Composition, a student must attain an Accuplacer score of 78 in reading and 86 in sentence skills; when
the student completes ENGL 1101 with a passing grade, the student has met the prerequisite for the
second set of courses (ENGL 1102 or ENGL 1120) used to satisfy the college’s writing requirement.
The first layer of accountability regarding meeting prerequisites occurs with placement testing. Students
must meet the cut scores of either Accuplacer or ACT in reading, writing, and math. Accuplacer cut
scores are as follows: Reading: 78, sentence skills: 86, elementary algebra: 61, and college-level math:
50. In reading, English, and math, the ACT cut scores are 19. Students who do not meet these placement
scores are not eligible to register.
The second layer of accountability regarding meeting prerequisites occurs at registration. Information
about prerequisite requirements accompanies courses in FDLTCC’s registration system. If a student has
not completed prerequisite requirements, the student’s registration will be blocked.
Finally, faculty are able to give consent to a student to register for a course without completing the
prerequisite requirements. This can involve giving the student a diagnostic exam to ensure the student can
meet the course expectations, examining a portfolio of related work that the student previously completed,
or reviewing previous coursework from a class similar to the prerequisite course.
77
The most common practice to ensure that FDLTCC CITS students meet prerequisite requirements for
FDLTCC courses is that the high schools offer the prerequisite courses. Thus, high schools that want to
offer ENGL 1102 or ENGL 1120 will offer ENGL 1101 first.
Professional Development Resources and Activities
The knowledge and expertise of FDLTCC’s staff and faculty are vital to student success at FDLTCC. The
college is committed to enhancing student learning inside and outside the classroom, as well as nurturing
excellence in faculty and staff by supporting their professional development within their fields of
expertise and demonstrates this commitment financially and in the allowance of time used by employees
for such development. The most common avenues of this support currently at the college are explained
below. In 2014, faculty and staff logged over 1000 hours of professional trainings and an estimated 1300
hours of community service (see FDLTCC Professional Development SurveyER under Institutional
Profiles and Surveys in the electronic resource room).
Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF) Development Funds: Consistent with the faculty collective
bargaining agreement, the college allocates faculty development funds at the rate of $250 per full-time
equivalent faculty position annually, and the faculty determine the procedure for the distribution of the
funds. These funds are used to finance expenses for faculty to attend conferences, workshops, take college
courses and participate in other activities off-campus, or for the provision of on-campus activities for
development of the faculty (see MSCF bargaining agreementER, Article 17, in the Union Agreements
folder in the electronic resource room). Below is a small set of examples of how faculty have used such
funds to attend conferences:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Association of Death Education and Counseling annual conference
International Death, Grief, and Bereavement Conference
MnSCU Student Affairs, Diversity and Equity conference
Modern Language Association Conference
Lake Superior Summit on the Teaching of Writing
Regional D2L Conference
MnSCU Disability Service Conference
Nobel Conference Gustavus Adolphus College
Minnesota eLearning Summit
Hamline Summer Writing Institute at St. Olaf College
Quality Matters Rubric on Creating an Online Course
Critical Incident Stress Management Training
MnSCU Developmental Education Faculty Institute at Century College
Department Budgets: Individual department budgets may be used to supplement activities that have
professional development benefits such as industry-related conferences, field trips, and others. Every
spring FDLTCC’s CFO sends out a request to faculty to list their budgetary needs and rationale for the
next three years.
Sabbaticals: Sabbatical leaves are available to faculty members who have continuously served the
equivalent of six or more academic years in the MnSCU system with an aggregate of twelve semesters of
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service. The purpose of the sabbatical leave is to give instructors the opportunity to secure additional
education, training, or experience which will make them better prepared for carrying out their teaching
assignment. The sabbatical process is described in detail in the MSCF bargaining agreement (see MSCF
bargaining agreementER in the Union Agreements folder in the electronic resource room). Faculty may
elect to be on sabbatical for a one-semester term or for one academic year. The application process for a
sabbatical begins at FDLTCC and is finalized in the MnSCU human resources office, which awards
sabbaticals based on the review of applications and the bargaining unit agreement. Below are recent
examples of faculty sabbatical projects at FDLTCC:
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Painting: From Historical Trauma to a Spiritual Revitalization
Research/Documentation on Teaching the Anishinaabeg Language
Setting up physiology labs for EEG, EKG, respiration and breathing tests using new measurement
devices
Flipping the classroom: Beginning Algebra
MnSCU Training: All employees, whether instructional or non-instructional, are eligible to participate in
a MnSCU Training and Registration site ("STARS") (<http://www.hr.mnscu.edu/training_and_
development/stars.html>). Employees may search and register for conferences, workshops, and seminars.
As a State of Minnesota employer, FDLTCC is required to provide a series of training sessions for all
employees. All employees are required to complete, in varying time frames, the following electronic
training sessions: (1) Sexual Harassment; (2) Right to Know; (3) Public Jobs Private Data; (4) Employee
Code of Conduct; and (5) Personal Safety. While these topics do not specifically address instructional
issues, many of the topics have great relevance to instructors in the performance of their duties.
FDLTCC Teaching Circles: When MnSCU discontinued the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL),
funding for local activities was ended. However, FDLTCC, recognizing the importance of providing
“resources for assuring that instructors are current in their disciplines and adept in their teaching roles,”
decided to continue to provide funding for both faculty release time and six to seven CTL lunches
(“Teaching Circles”) each year (for an example of a CTL report, see CTL ReportER under the Teaching
and Learning in the electronic resource room). Below are some of the most recent presentations given at
FDLTCC’s Teaching Circles:
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Presentations on sabbaticals every year
A comparison of MLA and APA (Modern Language Association and American Psychological
Association style manuals)
Discussion of Chancellor Rosenstone’s “Extraordinary Education”
Assessing Student Learning in the Online Environment
Quality Matters: How to align course outlines with assessment
Classroom Climate
Learning how to use Google Documents
Insights into Communication with African American students at FDLTCC
Gender Dynamics in the Classroom
Most recently, the vice president for academic affairs created a campus-wide Center for Teaching and
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Learning committee in the fall 2014, which enhances the college’s existing support of CTL, discussed
earlier in this section. The committee has been tasked with bringing together a variety of opportunities
that will support professional development across the campus. Membership on the committee includes
faculty, staff, and administration.
Grant Funding: In 2010-2011, based on low general education assessment results in the area of
information and technology literacy, the college decided to invest Title III grant funds for improvements
in online education and classroom technology. In 2011, the college used a portion of its Title III grant
funding to hire an eLearning Specialist, particularly charged with leveraging the capacity of the college’s
Desire2Learn (D2L) learning management system and to train faculty more thoroughly on it and other
softwares related to classroom and online course delivery. This also tied into what the college was
learning from its Nandagikendan Academy for Entering College Students. There was a need to provide
hands-on, literal learning experiences for students in the use the basic technologies of college life. With
the addition of the eLearning specialist position, the college was able to “scale-up” that practice to general
student orientation. The college then invested in two “mobile computer labs,” noted in the Information
Technology resources as “Student Services Self Help Labs” (see core component 3D for a listing of IT
resources at FDLTCC), which enables faculty to make any classroom a computer lab when pertinent to
course content and which enables the college to extend technology training to the community, such as
teaching elders on the Fond du Lac reservation how to use e-mail and “surf” the web and holding several
sessions for local area K-12 faculty, staff, and administration on using Google Docs and other Google
applications. The free-of-charge trainings for local K-12 institutions not only keeps personnel current in a
rapidly expanding educational technology arena, but it also assists the college’s future students in entering
the college better prepared, enables the college to remain consistent with meeting its strategic goals
related to community, and is consistent with the college’s mission.
In 2011, in conjunction with the college subscribing to Quality Matters (QM), a national organization
focused on quality assurance in online education, the faculty received a grant from the MnSCU system to
fund FDLTCC’s "A Team" Project, which enabled faculty teaching blended and online courses to share
best practices and complete an assessment project. The results of this project were shared at one of
FDLTCC’s Teaching Circles in May, 2012, and became the basis for a presentation at the Minnesota ELearning Conference held at Northwestern College in July, 2012 (see Assessment PresentationsER in the
Teaching and Learning folder of the electronic resource room). Since that time, the faculty have
continued their focus on online education. Consistent with the college’s strategic plan, two faculty have
become QM peer reviewers and seven have completed QM’s “Applying the QM Rubric,” a prerequisite
course for further QM training. Although the grant has ended, since spring 2014, the college has provided
a portion of its Title III grant money focused on strengthening the institution to provide stipends for
faculty involved in a project to align their blended and online courses with the QM rubric.
On-campus trainings: Throughout the year faculty, administration, and staff participate in Duty Days.
There are eight designated duty days throughout the year. Four of these are assigned to the faculty for
determining the agenda and do not necessarily include administration and staff, while administration sets
the agenda for the other four duty days that all faculty, administration, and staff are expected to attend.
Examples of training/workshops provided at duty day for everyone:
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Persistence and Completion, presenter Dr. Linda Baer (2.17.15)
Maximizing Student Success, presenter Dr. Linda Baer (8.20.14)
HLC video – Lyz Jaakola and Assessment Committee
Core Values Training facilitator Lyle Wildes (1.9.14)
Disabilities and Accommodations – Shelia Sumner (1.9.14)
Suicide Awareness Workshop--Patricia Grace (8.21.13)
Men as Peacemakers Presentation (8.21.13)
Nandagikendan presentation—Lyz Jaakola (8.21.13)
25th Anniversary video (1.10.13)
Building a Respectful Campus Climate
The Safe Zone –Gay-Straight Alliance (1.10.13)
BAT presentation –Shelia Sumner and Scott Lyons (2.19.13)
“When Lightning Strikes” Active Shooter (8.21.12)
Examples of training/workshops provided at duty day for faculty
Putting Outcomes into TracDat (8.20.14)
Review of Self Study Draft (5.14.14)
TracDat Presentation (5.14.14)
Presentation of Herd of Turtles Logo (5.14.14)
Writing Measurable Learner Outcomes and Revising Course Outlines (2.19.13)
HLC Power Point: Five Criteria (8.21.13)
Academic Affairs 2014 Tutorial Guide ppt – Ragan Balzer
Why We Should Use D2L presented by Annette Lee ( 4.13.12)
Improving Your Online Environment (4.13.12)
Assessment Committee reports were given at every Faculty Duty Day
At August and January Duty Days, the college’s eLearning Specialist was available in computer labs to
assist instructors in setting up their courses using the D2L platform.
Staff and administrative training: Professional development for the college’s non-faculty sectors train
and support staff members. The following workshops, trainings, and professional development
opportunities were provided during the 2013-2014 academic year across the Student Services and
Business offices.
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Investigator Training for Sexual
Violence
Investigating Employee Conduct
Frontline Leadership: The Art of
Supervision
Investigator Training
Frontline Leadership: The Science of
Supervision
Leadership as a Balancing Act
Northwood Housing Conference
Integrated Student Reporting System
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Harassment Trainings, MnSCU
Administrative Assistants Training
Internal Messaging Boards
Society for Financial Education and
Professional Development Conference
Webinar for Low Income Students
Understanding the Impact of Poverty on
Student Behavior
Council for Economic Education
Conference
Purchasing Group Webinars
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NSF Funding Webinars
Labor Relations Training
Faculty Contract Training
Frontline Conference
Human Resource Meetings
Purchasing 101
MnSCU Contract 101
SWIFT/ISRS Reconciliation Training
Active Shooter Training
Graphic Arts
College for Seniors “Are You Happy
yet?”
“Drama Free Self-Talk and Boundary
Setting”
“What Language Do Your Team
Members Speak?”
“Getting Intentional About Your
Future”
“Make an Impact”
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MnSCU ARSA Communication Module
Training
ISRS Prospect Module Training
EPM 11 Training
MN State Grant Training
American Indian College Fund
Reporting
Financial Aid Tutorial
Managing Classroom Conflict
Social Media: Opportunities and Risks
Pathways to Postsecondary 2.0
Degree Audit Training
Degree Audit Conference
Transfer Specialist Conference
Registrar Conference
Director of Admissions Conference
EMS Calendar Training
Veteran Student Reporting Training
pCard Training
Professional Development in Dual Enrollment/College in the Schools (CITS)
The professional development of the college’s CITS faculty has been a challenge that the college is in the
process of addressing. During spring 2012, FDLTCC's CITS program hosted its first official professional
development day, which was attended by principals, superintendents, mentors, and instructors. In its past,
the program has hosted occasional meetings; since 2010 - 2011, FDLTCC's goal has been to provide an
annual development opportunity. Arranging meaningful professional development opportunities for
FDLTCC’s CITS instructors and other CITS personnel, however, has been a logistical challenge. After a
failed attempt during August 2011, the program decided to move ahead despite logistical hurdles,
schedule an event for spring 2012, and accept it as a learning experience. The goals were to address with
the entire group a variety of technical details related to process; begin to address how we might bridge
assessment practices from the campus to the high schools; and to provide a space for discussion regarding
classroom practices.
The program learned that the entire group, from superintendents to instructors to faculty mentors, valued
discussion regarding technical details about policies and procedures, which led to a robust conversation
about transfer, the adequacy of placement testing, and studying across the high schools math placement
scores on two different placement instruments and college transfer success. The transfer discussion
especially singled out a specific university as a challenge across all of the high schools, which offered the
opportunity for FDLTCC to further inquire about the problem. The math placement discussion mirrored
concerns already expressed by FDLTCC's on-campus faculty and, thus, added further emphasis to an
existing discussion.
The program also learned that holding discipline-specific breakout sessions in a one-day general meeting
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at the FDLTCC campus has limited use, given that not all disciplines are adequately represented. Since
the program’s first professional development day in 2012, the annual gatherings have continued and been
well-received and productive; however, the CITS program is continuing to work on the specific challenge
of coordinating effective, discipline-specific training. Currently, the college is considering the
development of an online discipline-specific professional development option as one way the college can
meet NACEP’s expectations. If the option is offered through the college's Desire2Learn (D2L) online
course software, both attendance and participation can be monitored; the college can also build in
opportunities for discussion, idea exchanges, and other sharing among participants. The college could also
develop the capacity to stream at least portions of in-person workshops held during an on-campus event.
The college has subscribed to Atomic Learning, a package of thousands of hours of training video on
educational technology, which, through a link in D2L, offers all CITS faculty individual professional
development in technology (as well as all students and on-campus faculty).
Evaluation
In accordance with MnSCU Board policy 4.9, MN Statute 43 A.20, faculty are evaluated. The purpose of
evaluation is to determine the quality and effectiveness of the faculty member’s work and, in the cases of
new faculty hires, to approve the successful completion of probationary status. Full-time unlimited faculty
are evaluated by the vice president of academic affairs every three years. Probationary faculty are
evaluated yearly and adjunct faculty are evaluated every semester. Different processes and forms are used
to evaluate faculty than to evaluate other employees. The evaluation process includes, but is not limited
to:
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Student evaluation of instruction
Self-evaluation by instructor
Administrative evaluation
Goals setting/professional development process that is part of the administrative evaluation
The evaluation process provides faculty the opportunity to review student course evaluations, complete a
self-evaluation, discuss their work with the vice president of academic affairs, and collaboratively
determine a professional development plan.
The vice president of academic affairs is committed to working with faculty to ensure a productive annual
evaluation process. Current evaluations for faculty are being updated with the existing process.
During the 2013-2014 school year it was determined that while student evaluations were conducted in
accordance with the evaluation policy, face-to-face evaluations, when conducted, had not been processed
and signed by evaluated faculty members, resulting in a gap in documented evaluations of faculty. It was
also determined that the current evaluation policy did not correspond with MnSCU policy and needed to
be revised. As the interim vice president was only at the college for one year, a decision was made to
continue using the current policy and encourage the new vice president who was hired in July 2014 to
complete the revision process. After his initial use of the evaluation process, the new vice president
agreed with that assessment. However, because of the numerous activities that needed to be addressed
during the 2014-2015 school year, the revision of the evaluation forms has been scheduled for the 20152016 school year to provide time for input from faculty. All evaluations of faculty during the 2014-2015
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school year will use the current forms.
Staff and Leadership team members are evaluated by their supervisor on a yearly basis using the Staff
Evaluation form and Leadership Evaluation form provided my MnSCU. These forms include:
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Annual performance goals or responsibilities
Employee professional development plan
Supervisor summary
Position description review
A supplemental form may be used that guides discussion and feedback focused on job knowledge and
skills, productivity and quality of work, initiative and continuous improvement, cooperation and
teamwork, dependability, attendance and punctuality, safety and security, interpersonal communication
skills/customer service, and mutual respect and diversity.
Evaluation in CITS
In addition to its long-running mentoring program, FDLTCC added two evaluation layers to its CITS
program in 2010 – 2011. In 2010, FDLTCC began using its standard on-campus process for students
evaluating faculty, utilizing the same evaluation tool for on-campus student evaluations of faculty. As we
do with faculty on campus, the evaluation results are given to the faculty member to inform their decision
making and course improvements. In 2011, the college began giving course evaluations utilizing the
template suggested by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Programs (NACEP) (CITS
evaluation tools will be available in the physical resource room during the visit).
The college has not yet had a CITS faculty member or course be evaluated negatively. If this were to
happen, as on the main campus, the negative evaluation would be brought to the attention of the faculty
member and the circumstances discussed. The college would further monitor and mentor the faculty
member via the CITS mentor, and if the situation warranted, would expect an action plan for
improvement be created and followed. The faculty member would be re-evaluated, and if the negativity
persisted, the college would take actions accordingly. According to the Minnesota State Faculty
Association collective (MSCF) bargaining agreement, this includes progressively stricter corrective action
plans ending in dismissal.
In addition to monitoring individual performances, the college has looked across the course evaluation
and faculty evaluation surveys from an aggregate perspective to see if there are significant differences
between how students perceive courses and their instructors. There are no meaningful differences in terms
of the positive/negative impressions expressed by the students. The surveys use different scales: The
faculty evaluation instrument generally asks students to rate the instructor along a five point scale ranging
from poor to superior; the course evaluation instrument generally asks students to agree or disagree with
statements about the course along a five point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
Overall, students find their instructors and course content engaging. A loose comparison of on-campus
and CITS students suggest that, from the standpoint of instruction, CITS students give their instructors
slightly higher scores than their on-campus counterparts. The course and faculty evaluations are most
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interesting to instructors and provide a useful insight into how students are responding to course content
and the instructor. They also bring to faculty mentors an additional layer of conversation during the site
visits. Ultimately, and from an aggregate perspective, the effectiveness of the instruction is borne out in
the surveys that students complete after they leave high school and move more deeply into their
postsecondary experience. Thus far, FDLTCC sees a positive congruity between the course and faculty
evaluations and the CITS surveys conducted after the students leave high school. The surveys also include
two questions and an open comment area to evaluate satisfaction levels regarding the CITS experience.
Some points of satisfaction are noted below.
Table 13: Looking back, rate your
overall experience with FDLTCC CITS
Value
Table 14: Would you recommend
FDLTCC CITS to current high school
students?
Percent
Excellent
39.06
Good
51.56
Yes
98.44
Neutral
6.25
No
0.00
Poor
0.00
Very Poor
0.00
Value
98.44
Blank
1.56
100.00
96.88
Blank
Percent
3.12
100.00
Highlights from the open comments section of the survey also indicate that students are satisfied with
instructors, as well as with the application of their credits in transfer:
• Fond du Lac credits transferred very easily and I would definitely recommend taking Fond du Lac classes to others.
• Because of this program, I will be graduating in 3 years instead of 4 years! It is a great program and has helped me
so much!
• 
• CITS credits are great—got me ahead in college and saved me money. I recommend taking them if possible.
• The classes were valuable because the instructors were excellent. Without good instructors, this would have been
a much less positive experience.
Faculty Accessibility
Consistent with the MSCF collective bargaining agreement (Article 11, Section 3, Subd. 5), all faculty
must hold office hours. For every three credits taught, a faculty member must have one office hour
devoted to being available to students. Faculty can hold additional office hours, if they so choose. Office
hours are prorated between campus and online office hours based on the number of credits taught on
campus and online. Faculty teaching online course sections must have online office hours.
At the start of each semester, the faculty secretary distributes a form on which each instructor documents
and identifies their online and/or campus office hours. Office hours are specific as to day and time.
Information about office hours for all faculty is posted in two places at FDLTCC. They can be found on
the wall outside of the faculty secretary’s office in the West wing of the college and in the East wing in
the area that is used by adjunct faculty. Additionally office hours are posted on the college’s website. This
provides students with a variety options for contacting their instructors. Most instructors also post their
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office hours on their course syllabi.
FDLTCC practices effective, policy-driven oversight and care for its curriculum and for its services. The
college is composed of a stable workforce who are well-trained, current, and active in their service and
academic areas. The same oversight and evaluation processes practiced on campus extend to its dual
enrollment program.
3.D. THE INSTITUTION PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR STUDENT LEARNING AND EFFECTIVE TEACHING.
Subcomponent 1: The institution provides student support services suited to the needs of its student
populations.
Subcomponent 2: The institution provides for learning support and preparatory instruction to address the
academic needs of its students. It has a process for directing entering students to courses and programs for
which the students are adequately prepared.
Subcomponent 3: The institution provides academic advising suited to its programs and the needs of its
students.
Subcomponent 4: The institution provides to students and instructors the infrastructure and resources
necessary to support effective teaching and learning (technological infrastructure, scientific laboratories,
libraries, performance spaces, clinical practice sites, museum collections, as appropriate to the
institution’s offerings).
Subcomponent 5: The institution provides to students guidance in the effective use of research and
information resources.
Physical Resources for Teaching and Learning
As noted elsewhere in this criterion and in this report more generally, FDLTCC provides its students,
staff, and faculty with support that is appropriate to its mission, particularly its teaching and learning
environments.
In its material resources, the college has made significant investments to provide its students, staff, and
faculty with technology that supports the demands of the college’s curriculum, programs, and services,
and that positions students to continue their educations or move into the workplace competently. The
college has three large computer labs for students and faculty use. Two are designated for teaching and
one is an open lab. Computers are maintained and regularly updated in all faculty, staff, and
administration offices. There are three designated science labs on campus. Two are designated for
biological studies and one has the necessary requirements for completing lab work in chemistry, physics,
and the Electric Utilities Technology program. There are two designated Art classrooms and a kiln for
firing pottery. A music room is designated for the teaching of applied music lessons and rehearsals for the
college choir (vocal ensemble). The Law Enforcement program has a classroom that houses a firearms
simulator. The lower level of the Cultural Center houses a fitness center used for physical education
courses, athletic programs, and students, staff, faculty, and the community. It includes an area used for
law enforcement’s defensive tactics training. The college’s gymnasium is also housed in the Cultural
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center and has space for basketball, volleyball, and indoor softball/baseball practices as well as physical
education courses.
The college has thirteen classrooms seating from thirty-two to forty-eight students, a lecture hall that seats
seventy-two, and a mini-auditorium that seats 150. One classroom is equipped for I-TV and plans are
under way to add telepresence capacity.
FDLTCC’s Information Technology (IT) department provides and maintains the technology tools to
support effective teaching and learning across campus (see Technology Master PlanER in the Planning
folder in the electronic resource room). Where possible, the IT department uses external systems to take
advantage of expertise not available on campus, including the following:
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Desire2Learn: MnSCU provides the Desire to Learn (D2L) online course management system,
with FDLTCC courses administered and supported locally by IT staff.
MnSCU also provides the college’s enterprise resource planning system, which includes course
registration and authentication.
Student records and grades are submitted by faculty through a site maintained by a system
managed by MnSCU
Email: Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College email is hosted by Google
The IT department maintains and administers access and accounts to these systems for faculty
and students.
On campus, the IT department maintains three large (30 computers or more) labs for student and
faculty use.
The department maintains smaller computer labs for student use in the Center for Academic
Achievement (CAA), Language Lab, and advising area.
The IT department provides technology for all classrooms across campus. In the latest upgrade,
the emphasis has been on high-definition video and audio controlled in as simple a way as
possible.
Every classroom, conference room, and two large common areas have been outfitted with highdefinition projectors and document cameras and with wireless connections to computers and
tablets.
Help calls are answered via phone calls or emails to the IT staff and are referred to the campus
eLearning Specialist if they have to do with the online-learning platform.
The college’s general inventory of IT resources is listed below:
Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite 6 software installed on all computers.
1. Open Computer Lab for students with:
• 21 i7 iMac computers dual OS X 10.9 and Windows 7 boot
• 21 Hewlett Packard i7 computers with Windows 7
2. Teaching Lab for students with:
• 30 i7 iMacs with dual boot to either OS X 10.9 or Windows 7
3. Teaching Lab for students with:
• 35 Hewlett Packard i7 Computers with Windows 7
4. Center for Academic Achievement with:
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• 2 i7 iMac computers dual OS X 10.9 and Windows 7 boot
• 2 Hewlett Packard i7 computers with Windows 7
5. Anishinaabe Language Lab with:
• 7 i5 iMac computers running OS X 10.9
6. Student Services Self-Help Lab:
• 7 i5 iMac computers running OS X 10.9
• 28 MacBook Air notebooks running OS X 10.9 for checkout to faculty
• 30 Hewlett-Packard Folio notebooks running Windows 7 for checkout to faculty
• 20 iPads with iOS 8 for checkout to faculty
7. Faculty are given the choice of laptop or desktop computers with either OS X or Windows. There are about 40
computers assigned to faculty. Some computers are shared by adjunct instructors.
8. Staff are given the choice of computers running OS X and Windows operating systems. There are 40 staff
computers assigned to staff and administration.
9. All classrooms and conference rooms are equipped with high-definition video and audio and the following
equipment (27 installations):
• i7 iMac computer dual OS X 10.9 and Windows 7 boot
• AppleTV for wireless presenting
• AirMedia for wireless presenting
1. Document camera
2. DVD drive
3. High Definition (1080p) projector
4. Multi-speaker sound system
5. Push button controller
10. Two large common spaces (amphitheater and gym lobby) equipped with super-bright projectors.
Both of the college’s biology laboratories are equipped with compound microscopes and dissecting
scopes, as well as refrigerators, incubators, fume hood/laminar flow hood, growth chambers, flammable
storage, and safety equipment. The college’s environmental lab has a mud room where outdoor field
equipment is stored and organized. The general biology lab is focused on microbiology with full gas
hook-ups available for Bunsen burners. The biology department meets on a regular basis to discuss the
purchase of materials to support laboratory instruction. Periodically the faculty pursues outside grant
opportunities to support research equipment purchases that can also be used in laboratory instruction.
Some recent purchases (last 5 years) include a cell cycler, iWorx human physiology equipment, and a
spectrophotometer. An additional annual purchase by the department is half of the cost of the subscription
to the JSTOR database of scientific periodicals supported by the library at FDLTCC. An inventory of
resources in the college’s science labs is listed below:
General Biology Lab
• 1 Bio-Rad Ultra Rocker
• 1 MyCycler Cell Cycler
• 1 Eppendorf Micro-centrifuge
• 1 Hamilton Bell Centrifuge
• 2 Hematocrit Centrifuges
• 2 Thermo Illuminated Incubators
• 2 Isotemp Incubators
• 1 Isotemp Freezer
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1 SM300 Sterilizer (Autoclave)
1 DirecQ Milipore Sterilized Water System
1 Hund Wetzlar Epi-Fluorescence
Microscope
4 Accumet XL15 pH meters
1 NuAIRE Laminar Flow Hood
4 Lauda Water Baths
1 IsoTemp 128 Water Bath
6 Hot/Stir Plates
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2 Standard Electronic Balances
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Anatomical Models: Human Eye, Human
Ear, Human Heart (2)
Environmental Science/Ecology/Aspects of Biology/Anatomy and Physiology I Lab (Room 186):
• 3 Surber Samplers
• 1 Model 228 Centrifuge
• 4 Plankton Nets
• 1 De-ionized Water System
• 1 Mini Ponar Grab Sampler
• 2 Refrigerators
• 1 Half-Ton Chevrolet Pickup Truck
• 1 DirecQ Milipore Sterilized Water System
• Anatomical Models: Human Skeleton (1
• 1 Upright Freezer
articulated and 1 disarticulated), 4 Human
• 1 Isotemp Oven
Skulls, Human Skin, Human Bone
• 1 Thermo Spectronic Aquamate
Spectrophotometer
• Fume Hood
• 13 Compound Microscopes
• 10 Dissecting Scopes
• 1 Biotronette Environmental Chamber
• 1 Grow Table
• 1 Marsh-McBirney Flow Meter
• 2 Dissolved Oxygen Meters
• 1 YSI Multi-parameter Meter
• 1 Muffle Furnace
FDLTCC’s GIS program is a highly technical program, requiring ongoing updates and upgrades to
software and hardware to ensure currency. Updates are overseen by the faculty and program coordinator,
IT Department, and the GIS Program Advisory Committee. A list of the program’s resources appears
below:
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PC Computer Lab (Room 208) equipped with 35 individual workstations and instructional workstation (GIS
user profile to ensure protection of student projects and GT-related data storage), projector, and
audio/video capabilities
Faculty Office (Room 209)
Network server space for storage of digital data and student projects
Esri ArcGIS Desktop Annual Maintenance Agreement
Exelis ENVI Digital Image Processing Software Annual Maintenance Agreement
12 Garmin 76 Handheld GPS units
20 Trimble JUNO Handheld GPS units
HP800 Large-Format Plotter
HP4000 Large-Format Plotter
Desktop laser printers
Associated items such as batteries, paper, and ink.
FDLTCC’s nursing program requires a variety of space-types for instruction, storage, and faculty offices.
The program uses four classrooms in addition to clinical sites, consisting of two traditional lecture
classrooms, one small lab, and one large lab. The large lab has ten beds with curtains while the small lab
has two beds with curtains and is set up like a hospital room to provide students with hands-on experience
in using various instruments and tools found in a hospital setting. The nursing program’s list of resources
appears below:
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Ambu bag—Infant/ Adult
Simple O2 mask
Non re‐breather mask
Nebulizer setup
Humidifier
Peak flow meter
Vent tubing
Younker suction
Blow by mask
Suction, straight, Foley
catheter kits
Nasal/pharyngeal Airways
ET tubes
Nebulizer kits
Tracheostomy care kits
Wall Suction and O2 hook
up
Gastrostomy feeding tube
Abdominal Binders
Jackson Pratt tube
Penrose tubing
Feeding bags
Levin tubes
Colostomy supplies
Gomco suction
Thorencentesis Kit
Surgical prep trays
Defibrillator pads (adult)
Pneumothorax Kit
Glow Germ
Occluded artery, Life size
heart,
Stomach, Artery,
Pancreas models
Body Fat Vest with
Weight Management
Education strategies
The Consequences of
Diabetes display
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Kangaroo Pump
Enemas
Guaiac supplies
Stool specimen container
Clean, Sterile Gloves
Boxes
Nugauze
Suture Removal Kit
Kling bandage
Kerlix 4x4
Drain sponge 4x4,
2x2gauze
Ice packs
Urinals/Bedpans
Medical Carts (2) supplied
with oral and injectable
meds and MAR
I-V catheter and needles
Sharps container
Carpuject
Insulin Pens, Vials,
Syringes
Sterile Drapes
Central Line Jugular
Catheter Kit
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Box with models
Patient Charts
Scale
Crutches
Face shields, Masks,
Gowns
Red bags, Teds, Posey
Linen for beds
Ace wraps, Wrist splints
KY
Bedside stands
Toothettes
Eggcrate
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Styker Pain Pump
IV catheters/tubing
connectors, tape, fluid
Bags, poles and other IV
supplies
60 cc syringes
Epidural catheter
Piggy back solution
Stryker blood pumps
Central Venous catheter
Central Line dressing
change tray
Swan janz catheter
Closed Injectate Delivery
system
Percutaneous Sheath
Introducer Kit
Blood Sugar Machines:
One Touch,
Ascensia, Breeze Blood
Glucose
Monitor, Insulin supplies
Chest tube drainage
BP cuffs, Stethoscopes
Dentures, Tongue blades
Electronic, bath, and glass
thermometers
Thicket
Transfer belts
4 Computerized Manikins
PODS: listen to breath,
bowel, and heart
4 I-V arms, 2 Suction
machines
2 O2 tanks
The college’s law enforcement program has state-of-the-art-technology and equipment for its students and
instructors. The equipment is maintained and upgraded routinely to ensure currency. These resources
include firearms, vehicles, safety equipment, training simulators, and forensic equipment, and are
partially listed below:
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Mega-6000 VI audio system with cordless microphone and stand
Motorola radios and holster
Gas Masks
Black Basket weave belts
Redman Kick bags, suits, and protective equipment
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Vests
Protective eye wear
Ear muffs
SIM Rifles & handguns (MPS, AK-47, MP4, 870, .22 Glock, J-Frame, BB-gun, Beretta, Blue)
SIM throat protection, vest, sleeves
Dummy shells
One Safe
Driving cones
8 Ford Crown Victoria Squad Cars (fully equipped)
Ford Expedition squad car (fully equipped)
Hallmark Storage Trailer
In addition to some of the physical resources noted above, the college’s eLearning specialist provides
technical training to students, staff and faculty, and the community, particularly in the local K-12 sector.
Among the routine training sessions for students and faculty are:
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Computing Essentials: An 8-week course that covers basic computer skills and assistance with
Desire2Learn (D2L), the college’s online learning management system.
Classroom appearances at the beginning of the semester to teach students how to use Google
Docs and D2L.
Technical instruction on the Basic Tools of College Life in the Nandagikendan (Seek to Learn)
academies for Entering College Students.
The computer skills component of New Student Orientation
Faculty support/training for D2L and a variety of software applications, such as Softchalk,
Camtasia, and Google apps
Working one-on-one with students in the computer lab and walking them through different
applications/tasks, such as submitting an assignment to a D2L dropbox or inserting pictures into a
Powerpoint.
The eLearning specialist conducts training for K-12 faculty, staff, administration, and students, which
routinely includes:
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Google Apps training for area educators, on and off campus, at Carlton, Willow River, Moose
Lake, and Cloquet high schools
Google Apps training for students in a variety of classes at Cloquet High School.
College in the Schools (CITS) teacher training on D2L and support in other areas of interest.
In addition to in-person training, the eLearning specialist has developed a variety of resources that
faculty, staff, and students can access as appropriate for their role and needs, be it a specific programrelated need such as in law enforcement, an administrative need for managing information for a specific
committee, or for individual training or tutoring. These resources include:
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Atomic Learning Online Tutorials, which provide thousands of hours of online training in a vast
array of softwares; FDLTCC makes it available free-of-charge to students, faculty (including
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CITS), and staff via D2L.
Northstar Digital Literacy proctor site (modules included into basic computer skills courses)
PATROL modules incorporated into the law enforcement program curriculum.
Online orientation for new employees
Online forms for gathering information for the Behavioral Assessment Team (BAT) (see BAT
under FDLTCC PoliciesER in the electronic resource room), Academic Alerts for all faculty,
Kaplan Nursing reports for the nursing program, Tutor Request forms, and the DegreeMe survey
in the college’s day-school learning community.
Various “how-to” guides for completing tasks in D2L and Google Apps.
Certified training in Google Apps for Education on campus
Incorporating textbook resources, such as McGraw Hill Connect into D2L, so students can access
the textbook resources with 1 click.
Subscriptions to Smartthinking, an on-demand tutoring option, and to the interactive learning
tools, such as Softchalk and Lodestar, that encourage student participation.
Use of 3rd party software (Respondus) to generate question libraries in D2L, so faculty can create
online quizzes and tests.
The college’s Ruth A. Myers Library/Ojibwe Archives is used by students, faculty, staff, and community
members for research, study, or assistance with writing and research. Its mission is to select, maintain,
enhance, promote, and make accessible the information, material, and research resources necessary to
support the FDLTCC mission in teaching, cultural diversity, public service, and lifelong learning, and to
serve FDLTCC and the larger community as a repository of Native American, especially Anishinaabe,
history, culture, and sovereignty, within the limits of the library’s resources and its primary commitment
to the college. The library was part of the college’s most recent facilities expansion in 2008.
The library provides users with a full range of services and access to materials supporting the college’s
academic curricula and emphasizes American Indian history, culture, and sovereignty, especially that of
the Anishinaabeg. The library’s in-house materials include monographic, audio-visual, newspaper and
journal, and microform collections. Government document materials include Minnesota State documents
on microfiche and Federal documents as appropriate to the missions of the library and college. Special
collections include the Anishinaabe and Minnesota regional collections and a juvenile/young adult
collection of American Indian materials.
The library’s physical collection is accessed via an on-line catalog system linked with academic libraries
throughout Minnesota and other states. It also provides electronic access to electronic databases and
specialized indexes, such as ProQuest, JSTOR, and EBSCO. In addition, interlibrary loans can be used to
assist users in obtaining materials from other libraries. Skills in library use are essential to the library’s
mission, and library staff emphasize their educational role by promoting library literacy. Integral to its
services is the provision of reference and research assistance, available most hours the library is open.
Library instruction is available to classes and individuals, being tailored to meet specific needs from
general and point-of use to subject-specific research.
Additionally, students, staff, faculty, and the community have access to the Ojibwemowining Resource
Center which supplements students’ cultural and language education. Its holdings include books, CDs and
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DVDs to supplement cultural studies. The Digital Archives hold copies of Ojibwe-Anishinaabe songs and
oral histories facilitating deeper language acquisition and ways of knowing. The center houses a recording
studio and has facilitated audio and video productions, such as The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary
(<http://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/>) in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, video recording of the
local Kiwnez Language Camp, and digital media productions for “the new age of storytelling,” used for
the college’s AMIN 1065 Digital Storytelling course.
The Ojibwemowining Resource Center also houses the college’s significant American Indian art
collection. Its collection of contemporary Ojibwe art is likely the largest collection in the state of
Minnesota, if not the United States, and includes local artists, such as works by Jim Northrup, Jeff
Savage, and Jeff Tibbetts of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
In addition to its collections, the center also houses a large classroom and open lounge area. Students,
faculty, and staff use these resources as study and teaching areas, and the college and community
frequently use the space for meetings and trainings.
Resources for Student Support
While FDLTCC offers traditional support to students via admissions, academic advising, registration, and
business services, it also provides an array of academic and social support services to students. Below is a
brief description of the college’s principal services.
Business Office: The business office staff assists students with payment on accounts, disbursement of
financial aid, and in some cases purchasing such as for club or student activities to point out a few areas.
Staff can be found instructing or helping students with how to access their student accounts online and
how to find out if financial aid has been applied against their account or their balance due for tuition and
fees.
Bookstore: Owned and operated by FDLTCC, the bookstore is dedicated to supporting the academic
mission of the college and providing students with the tools needed to be successful in the classroom,
such as textbooks and course-related supplies and study aids. The bookstore also sells a variety of
“Thunder Wear,” accessories, and gift items.
Bruce Carlson Food Pantry: The Bruce Carlson Food Pantry is the college’s food distribution program
for students in need. It was established in 2010 in honor of the college’s first housing director and is
dedicated to carrying on the work that Mr. Carlson performed during his time at the college.
Career Counseling Services Career counseling services are available to all FDLTCC students and
include individualized career counseling provided by the college counselors, a Career Services area
located in the Student Services department, job postings maintained on bulletin boards around campus,
and access through the college’s website to career planning, college transfer, and job seeking tools and
resources. Counselors use a variety of personal assessments with students, such as Myers Briggs Type
Indicator, Strong Interest Inventory, and StrengthsQuest.
Center for Academic Achievement (CAA) The CAA provides free assistance to students with academic
course work and study skills development, as well as a supportive, quiet place for study. The CAA offers
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professional tutoring in math, English, and science, and peer tutoring across all disciplines. In addition to
regular tutoring services, the CAA also holds “tutoring in the commons,” times during which the tutors
make themselves available to students in the general seating area of the college; in short, they take
tutoring to the students rather than waiting for students to come to them. The CAA staff play a leading
role in the college’s “Academic Late Night” sessions, a campus-wide study event held prior to finals
week each semester.
Disability Services In compliance with the provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Section 504 and the ADA, FDLTCC provides equal
access to its educational programs and activities for people with documented physical, psychiatric, and
cognitive disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations. The counselor provides academic and
personal support, advocacy, and assistance with adaptive equipment and works with faculty to arrange
note-taking assistance, testing accommodations, and other accommodations related to the classroom. The
office provides a variety of forms and resources for faculty, staff, and students (see Disability ServicesER
in the Teaching and Learning folder in the electronic resource room), including:
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A Guide to Services Handbook
Accommodation Memo to Faculty
Accommodation Request Form
Alternative Format Textbook Request
Assistive Technology
Companion Service Animal Intake
Good Faith Effort in Providing Disability Documentation
Financial Aid All Federal, State, and Tribal sources of financial aid flow through the financial aid office,
which provides a wide assortment of assistance to students, including
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Assistance with completing the FAFSA
Assistance with paperwork related to work study, loans, and grants
Assistance with Tribal/reservation education offices and scholarship programs
Training in budgeting and money management
Training in the realities of student loans, repayment of loans, and financial responsibilities
The financial aid office coordinates with the college’s retention committee to check students on alert for
financial aid issues or students who may be at risk of default, and the office works with faculty to prevent
non-attenders from receiving funds, particularly during the first week of the semester. The director is a
longstanding member of the team that oversees the college’s unique process for managing Satisfactory
Academic Progress (SAP). The office is also active in the community conducting financial literacy
workshops for high school students and their parents
0-40 Program The 0 to 40 program was established in 2008 as what is now called an “intrusive advising”
option for “last-chance” students who might not be admitted elsewhere. The program forms part of the
college’s Satisfactory Academic Progress process, as noted in the Compliance section, in which students
who have a 0.0 GPA, or who are in the vicinity of it, participate in a mandatory two-hour, two times per
week meeting during which they receive a variety of programming, including tutoring, strengths testing,
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TABE testing, career counseling, time-management instruction, financial literacy instruction, and time for
studying (see core component 4C for more detail).
TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) TRIO program has been at FDLTCC twenty-one years. The SSS
project is needed to provide support services to the high majority of enrolled students that meet the
eligibility criteria of being first generation, low-income, or having a disability. Project goals are to
increase the persistence, academic standing, graduation, and four-year transfer rates of participants.
Services include academic advising for course selection, professional tutoring in math and science
courses, assistance in career assessment and career searches, assistance with financial aid information and
applications including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), education in financial and
economic literacy, and transfer assistance with applications and financial aid for students entering a fouryear program of study. The success of SSS in attaining their goals is represented in figures 6 and 7 below:
Figures 6. Summary Graphs of Approved and Attained Percentage Rates:
Persistence, Academic Standing, Graduation, and Transfer
FDLTCC’s SSS TRIO Participants 2012-2013
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Figure 7. FDLTCC’s SSS TRIO Participants 2013-2014
Young Student Parents (YSP) FDLTCC began its YSP program in 2011 through a collaboration
between student services staff, the college’s nursing program, Fond du Lac Reservation Public Health,
and Carlton County Public Health and Human Services. The program offers support for male and female
students who are parenting or expecting a child and who are trying to balance the responsibilities of
parenting, family, and work with the goals of achieving a college education and maintaining a healthy
lifestyle. The initial goal was to reach one dozen students during the first funding cycle; instead, over fifty
students participated, an overwhelmingly positive response, as well as display of need. Since its initial
pilot, the number of student participants continues to range from fifty to sixty-five. The program offers
parent/child classes, immunizations, connections/referrals to on- and off-campus services, public health
nurse home visits, and one-on-one meetings with the YSP coordinator. Students receive small incentives
for attending some of the YSP-sponsored activities in the form of grocery cards, gas cards, Wal-Mart gift
cards, and FDLTCC bookstore gift certificates.
Veterans Services The Northeast Veterans Coordinator holds hours at FDLTCC one day a week to assist
veterans with questions and concerns related to GI Bill funds and other veterans benefits. During the
remaining days of the week, the college’s registrar office answers questions and provides information to
students who are veterans. In addition, the college’s counseling staff works with students who are
veterans to assist them with transitioning into the college environment and to connect them with on- and
off-campus resources as needed.
Residential Life The student housing complex consists of one building with two wings, providing
accommodations for 100 residents in apartment-style living. Common areas include the student lounge
and laundry facilities. Residents in the housing complex have access to and participate in a wide range of
activities including movie outings, barbecues, concerts, athletic events, and various cultural and
community activities. FDLTCC is located in a region where the climate provides four distinct seasons,
and recreational opportunities for students abound. The college is less than thirty minutes away from the
major retail shopping and entertainment offerings of Duluth, and Jay Cooke State Park and the Willard
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Munger State Trail, where students can hike, bike, in-line skate, and snowshoe, are roughly ten minutes
away from the campus. Students can participate in activities sponsored by the college or can form a new
group of friends to explore a common interest.
FDLTCC provides a solid array of support resources for its faculty, staff, and students. Its technology
resources are up-to-date, and the college invests in training in order to take advantage of such resources.
In addition to basic advising, the college provides students with a variety of additional support in the form
of career counseling, tutoring services, financial literacy, and a range of opportunities for students at
greatest risk.
3.E. THE INSTITUTION FULFILLS THE CLAIMS IT MAKES FOR AN ENRICHED EDUCATIONAL
ENVIRONMENT.
Subcomponent 1: Co-curricular programs are suited to the institution’s mission and contribute to the
educational experience of its students.
Subcomponent 2: The institution demonstrates any claims it makes about contributions to its students’
educational experience by virtue of aspects of its mission, such as research, community engagement,
service learning, religious or spiritual purpose, and economic development.
In addition to information presented previously in this criterion and elsewhere in this document,
FDLTCC’s students participate in a number of activities that can enhance their educational experience
while providing them the opportunity to engage with the community, complete service learning projects,
or gain a better understanding of Anishinaabe culture. Although the college is a small, rural college to
which most of its students commute, FDLTCC has a significantly higher rate of student engagement in
community-based activities in their academic life. The college’s 2013 CCSSE results indicated that over
ten percent of the college’s respondents reported being engaged in community-based activities as part of a
regular course compared to less than seven percent of CCSSE national cohort.
The college’s law enforcement, nursing, and human services students are routinely involved in
community activities and train in local organizations. For example, nursing clinical sites include hospitals
and nursing homes within a twenty-mile range of the campus. Human services students are spread across
every major treatment facility and social services organization in Carlton and southern St. Louis counties
as they complete their practicum hours. Law enforcement students shadow and go on ride-alongs through
all local law enforcement agencies. In addition to these training-based experiences, students in each of the
programs are regularly engaged in serving the community, from conducting screenings at health fairs to
organizing public events focused on mental health to providing traffic control at college, city, and county
events. Service-learning and community volunteering are required activities in the human services and
law enforcement programs.
Most of FDLTCC’s academic programs also have associated student organizations that are involved in
projects throughout the academic year.
American Indian Business Leaders (AIBL) has had a decade of student success at FDLTCC. They have
been consistently successful in their national competitions, which include chapters from four-year
institutions:
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2014 1st place business plan competition
2013 Chapter of the Year and 3rd place business plan competition
2011 2nd place Business plan competition
2009 Chapter of the year
2008 Chapter of the year
2007 Chapter of the Year and 3rd place business plan competition
2004 Chapter of the Year
Several of the business program’s graduates run small businesses in the area, including a catering
business, cake-making business, cleaning business, and marketing business. Graduate Don Liimatainen,
owner of Ablaze Custom Cleaning, published his first book in 2014 (see AIBL Press ReleasesER under
Public Media in the electronic resource room). From 2008 – 2014, the business program ran Young
American Indian Entrepreneurs (YAIE), a week-long summer academy for junior and senior high school
students funded through Title III and in collaboration with the University of Minnesota’s Institute on
Community Integration. The week culminated in a winner-take-all Elevator Pitch competition, judged by
college staff and faculty, in the college’s amphitheatre. Over the years, pitches ranged from a custom
jewelry shop to an emergency shelter for battered women to a life-jacket-equipped sleeping bag to the
Puppy Chow Diner: A Restaurant for Dogs. The collaboration is noted by the University of Minnesota at
<https://ici.umn.edu/news/fyi/may14.html>.
Creative Writing Club has sponsored and hosted a variety of readings, storytellings, and presentations
between 2012 – 2014. Since 2013, the group has annually published the Thunderbird Review, FDLTCC’s
literary journal, hosted an Open Mic night, and sponsored Poem in Your Pocket Day at the end of April.
Some of their sponsored public events include:
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Book-making workshop with book artist Susan Pagnucci (4/25/12)
Storytelling by Laughing Fox (11/28/12)
Reading and presentation by author Anton Treuer (4/29/13)
Reading by visiting poet Ryan Vine (5/9/13)
Reading by visiting poet Maggie Kazel (10/29/13)
Two Spirits Association (Gay Straight Alliance) organized and trained faculty/staff for a “Safe Zone”
project in 2012 and held a panel discussion for campus and community members that covered all sides of
Minnesota’s proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage amendment in October 2012. In 2013 –
2014, the group sent delegates to the Minnesota Out College Conference, sponsored a booth at PrideFest
in Duluth in 2012 and 2013; and held three movie nights. The group holds a bi-monthly talking circle.
GIS Club has hosted campus-wide geo-caching competitions and annually participates in GIS Day. Most
recently, club members participated in FDLTCC’s Campus Visit Day (November 5, 2014 and February
12, 2015). Club members also visited the Fond du Lac Ojibwe school during fall 2014 and attended the
Minnesota GIS/LIS conference in Rochester, Minnesota, in October.
Nursing Club students provide vision and hearing screening in the area schools and play a central role in
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the college’s annual health fairs. They provide back-up medical support, as well as other aspects of
assistance, at the college’s annual Pumpkin Run 5K. During the past two years, they have also
represented the college at the annual Christmas City of the North Parade in Duluth, conducted fundraisers
for students suffering serious medical issues, and organized the nursing program’s pinning ceremonies
prior to commencement.
Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society consistently has a group of motivated students at FDLTCC. In
fall 2014, they purchased scientific calculators for use in the Center for Academic Achievement during
study/tutoring sessions and for use in math classes for those students who do not have a calculator during
tests. PTK also provided free tutoring in the college’s commons area prior to finals and during the
college’s Academic Late Night Fall 2014, a semesterly “study-in” held before finals week. The group is
currently working on fundraising and non-perishable food collection to stock the shelves of the Bruce
Carlson Food pantry for students who live on-campus and off campus who are in need of food.
Environmental Institute is a longstanding partnership between FDLTCC and the Fond du Lac
Reservation and is dedicated to providing the education, skills, and research that help the local
communities connect with Ojibwe culture, our natural resources, and knowledge on living a sustainable
lifestyle. FDLTCC’s students, particularly science students, take part in a wide range of programming
offered through the institute (for example, see <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39SAcxNLSfI>, a
short video on dragonfly research conducted by students). In September 2014, the institute received a
USDA Tribal Colleges Education Equity grant titled “Increasing the Capacity of FDLTCC to offer STEM
Programming in Sustainability,” which gives the college the ability to pursue initiatives on campus to
enrich student learning as well as honor its “Union of Cultures” mission to honor the Anishinaabe
worldview of sustainability.
Currently, faculty who are teaching environmental science, environmental ethics, geospatial technologies,
art, and electrical utilities are taking pieces of the grant-related campus projects and engaging their
students in the planning of the projects. In each class, the students are taking an aspect of the projects that
are of interest to them and building skills and knowledge. In some cases, students are gathering
background information and data that will help influence the implementation of grant-related
sustainability goals. Others are using skills needed for their chosen fields and applying them to a specific
need. In the electrical utilities technologies class, the students are helping design a solar-powered electric
fence that protects the institute’s bee yard. The Geospatial Information Systems class is using GIS tools to
create informational maps to document the current condition of the campus ecology. Beyond the
classroom, students are discussing ways that they can work with students and faculty in other areas to
enhance projects and share resources. All classes are producing posters, maps, data sets, or art work that
will be shared with the campus community.
Student Governance at FDLTCC is composed of the Student Senate and the Anishinaabe Student
Council. This dual governance advocates on behalf of and provides all students with representative
leadership and with avenues of communication and representation to the college’s decision makers. The
Student Life subcommittee is a cooperative group of the Senate and Council and is comprised of six
students, two advisors, on student-at-large, and one secretary. The subcommittee’s organizational
structure, responsibilities, and operating procedures are defined by Student Life by-laws and adhere to
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policies defined by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) and the MnSCU system.
The Senate, Council, and Student Life subcommittee provide input into aspects of the college’s budget
and other matters that affect FDLTCC’s student body.
Student Ambassadors was piloted at FDLTCC in 2012 as a result of the college’s participation in a
regional conference titled “Extraordinary Practices: Spotlighting Excellence in Student Success”
organized by the chief academic officers at the nine colleges in the Northeast region. FDLTCC staff met
with colleagues from Rainy River Community College, who had built a successful ambassadors program,
and FDLTCC’s pilot was an immediate success. The Student Ambassadors take part in leadership training
and practice skills that provide a variety of services for the college (see <http://fdltcc.edu/campuslife/student-ambassadors/>). Most recently, they have been instrumental in the college’s “All-In” Respect
Campaign, the Get Your FAFSA Done Event, Academic Late Night, campus tours, Family Fun Day, and
the candidate selection process for the college’s new vice president of academic affairs. The most recent
evaluation of the Student Ambassadors indicated strong support from across the campus community (see
Student Ambassador Feedback 2013 – 2014ER in the Teaching and Learning folder in the electronic
resource room.) Evaluators can hear directly from the Ambassadors at <https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=8HWIwgKAUGU>.
FDLTCC’s co-curricular activities are appropriate for its curriculum and align with the college’s
academic programs. They are reflective the mission of the college, with many activities focused on
aspects of service either to the campus or community, and they provide students with opportunities that
both engage and enhance their classroom work.
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CRITERION 4 TEACHING AND LEARNING: EVALUATION AND IMPROVEMENT
Criterion Four. Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement
The institution demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs, learning
environments, and support services, and it evaluates their effectiveness for student learning through
processes designed to promote continuous improvement.
4.A. THE INSTITUTION DEMONSTRATES RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE QUALITY OF ITS EDUCATIONAL
PROGRAMS.
Subcomponent 1: The institution maintains a practice of regular program reviews.
Subcomponent 2: The institution evaluates all the credit that it transcripts, including what it awards for
experiential learning or other forms of prior learning, or relies on the evaluation of responsible third
parties.
Subcomponent 3: The institution has policies that assure the quality of the credit it accepts in transfer.
Subcomponent 4. The institution maintains and exercises authority over the prerequisites for courses,
rigor of courses, expectations for student learning, access to learning resources, and faculty qualifications
for all its programs, including dual credit programs. It assures that its dual credit courses or programs for
high school students are equivalent in learning outcomes and levels of achievement to its higher education
curriculum.
Subcomponent 5. The institution maintains specialized accreditation for its programs as appropriate to its
educational purposes.
Subcomponent 6. The institution evaluates the success of its graduates. The institution assures that the
degree or certificate programs it represents as preparation for advanced study or employment accomplish
these purposes. For all programs, the institution looks to indicators it deems appropriate to its mission,
such as employment rates, admission rates to advanced degree programs, and participation rates in
fellowships, internships, and special programs (e.g., Peace Corps and AmeriCorps).
As noted in the Compliance section of this report, transfer of credits at FDLTCC is governed by MnSCU
Board policies 3.39 (Transfer Rights and Responsibilities), 3.21 (Undergraduate Course Credit Transfer),
and 3.37 (Minnesota Transfer Curriculum). FDLTCC discloses its transfer policies to students and to the
public, posting information on its website (<http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/graduation-transfer/transferinformation/>) and in its College Catalog (see p. 61 - 63) that includes information about the evaluation
process for incoming students, evaluation criteria, the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC), and rights
to appeal decisions.
As an open enrollment institution, FDLTCC accepts all transfer students who are in good standing. Those
seeking transfer admission must complete an application and provide official transcripts from every
institution they attended, including high school or GED information. Transcripts from students
transferring to FDLTCC from another MnSCU institution are automatically available to FDLTCC’s
admissions office via the system’s e-transcript services. The college considers all transcripts, including
those from non-regionally accredited institutions, and evaluation criteria include academic standing,
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credit life, credit for prior learning, CLEP, MnTC criteria, and credit for military training. If questions
arise during a transcript evaluation, the college’s registrar will work with a given faculty member, often
one who teaches a course similar to the one in question or is at least in the field, and with the vice
president of academic affairs to determine how to proceed; oftentimes, more information is requested
from the incoming student or from the sending institution. After a student’s transcripts are reviewed, the
college notifies the student of the evaluation results.
If a student finds the transcript evaluation unfavorable, the student has the right to appeal the evaluation
within one month through FDLTCC’s petition process. The college’s Student Petitions Committee meets
regularly and is composed of faculty representatives, the registrar, the vice president of academic affairs,
and student services representatives. Students are informed of the committee’s decision by the registrar.
Consistent with MnSCU Board Policy 3.21, if the decision is unfavorable, the student has the right to
make a MnSCU system-level appeal.
The college’s track record of credit transfer success is monitored on the MnSCU system’s Strategic
Framework Measures, which FDLTCC makes public on its website (see the final performance measure
on the list at <http://fdltcc.edu/wp-lib/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Accountability-Dashboard-September2014.pdf>)
FDLTCC utilizes the “Minnesota Transfer Curriculum” (MnTC) as the hub of its lower division general
Responsibility, and 10) People and the Environment. These goal areas form the bulk of FDLTCC’s
associate of arts (AA) degrees; a completed 60-credit AA transfers as a package to universities in the
MnSCU system, as well as the University of Minnesota, and the student enters university having
completed all lower division general education requirements. FDLTCC’s associate of science (AS) and
associate of applied science (AAS) degrees contain portions of the MnTC, which is specified on
FDLTCC’s program planners, along with information about the MnTC goal areas the student would need
to complete to attain an AA degree.
approval process (discussed in Criterion 3) and conform to the review practices outlined in MnSCU Board
Policy 3.37.1. The college’s MnTC curriculum is also reviewed on a regular basis by the MnSCU system
office (see MnTC ReviewER folder under Teaching and Learning for an example of a review and the
college’s response in the electronic resource room). The vice president of academic affairs is given the
results of the review, and any concerns about specific courses are addressed with faculty and through the
college’s curriculum review process. Information about MnTC and its guidelines, goal areas, learning
goals and outcomes, and the transferability of credits is available at <www.mntransfer.org>.
FDLTCC offers a variety of resources for students who are planning to transfer to or from FDLTCC to
map or monitor their academic path. Students can directly work with the college’s advisors; they can
access FDLTCC’s program planner checklists via hard copy in advising offices or online (see
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<http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/academic-support/program-planner-checklists/>) and utilize the
information with other transfer resources, such as <www.mntransfer.org> or <https://www.transferology.
com/state/mn>; and they can request at any time, or receive upon application for graduation, Degree Audit
Reports (DARS), which indicate the MnTC courses a student has completed and needs to complete.
Finally, students who participate in the college’s Nandagikendan (Seek to Learn) Academy for Returning
Students participate in a week-long seminar focused on preparing for transfer to a university (discussed in
greater detail in core component 4C).
Articulation AgreementsER under Teaching and Learning in the electronic resource room). The college
provides information to students about articulation agreements through advising, program-specific
brochures, and online (see <http://fdltcc.edu/current-students/graduation-transfer/transfer-information/>).
Credit Transfer and Dual Enrollment
FDLTCC’s CITS program began running surveys of students who were four years out of high school and
one year out of high school during spring 2012. (The program’s second round of data collection for CITS
students four years out of high school is slated for 2016). Successful transfer of credit is of specific
interest to the program. In the survey of students who were four years out of college (thus, high school
graduates in 2008), the program found the majority of FDLTCC’s credits were being accepted:
Table 15: Students Four Years Out of High School
How did the FDLTCC credits you earned apply to your undergraduate degree? (Select all that apply)
Value
Percent
A. I was exempted from a required course.
78.33
B. I was able to start in a more advanced course in college.
36.67
C. I was allowed to count some or all of the FDLTCC credits toward my
88.33
D. I was not allowed to apply any of the credits to my college degree
1.67
In surveys of students one year out of FDLTCC’s CITS program (high school graduates in 2011), the
transfer success was similar
Table 16: Students One Year Out of High School
How did the FDLTCC credits you earned apply at the college in which you are now enrolled? (Select all that apply)
Value
Percent
79.69
I was exempted from a required course.
I was able to start in a more advanced course in college.
43.75
I was allowed to count some or all of the FDLTCC credits toward my college degree
completion credit
I was not allowed to apply any of the credits to my college degree.
81.25
3.12
The majority of respondents experienced multiple ways in which their CITS credits proved advantageous
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to them in transfer, which is similar to the reporting on the four-year out survey. The program is also
interested in knowing to what institutions the students are transferring to:
FDLTCC’s CITS program has been somewhat surprised by the number of prestigious private colleges on
the list of transfer institutions. From the standpoint of transfer success, the data confirms that the transfer
process is working. (The fact that a large number of students transfer to the University of MinnesotaDuluth (UMD) was also an important finding and confirmed concerns raised by CITS faculty during their
spring 2012 CITS professional development day at FDLTCC. UMD had made changes in its transcript
evaluations that were negatively affecting all of the colleges in the Northeast region.)
In addition to wanting to learn about the success of credit transfer and to which institutions, FDLTCC’s
CITS program also wants to know how the students are performing academically during their first year of
college, which provides a layer of information addressing the academic quality of the program. The table
below indicates how well the students doing in their postsecondary setting.
Table 17: What is/was your current cumulative or final undergraduate GPA on a 4-point scale?
Value
Percent
4.0 – 3.75
37.50
3.74 – 3.50
26.56
3.49 – 3.25
10.94
3.24 – 3.00
10.94
2.99 – 2.75
9.38
2.74 – 2.50
1.56
2.49 – 2.25
1.56
2.24 – 2.00
0.00
Below 2.00
0.00
98.44
Blank
1.56
100.00
Over eighty-five percent of the students surveyed were performing at a 3.0 GPA or higher, and sixty-four
percent were performing at 3.5 or higher. These data suggest that FDLTCC’s CITS students are
academically well-prepared when they enter the universities of their choice.
The college’s transfer success rate overall is monitored at MnSCU’s accountability website as part of the
system’s strategic framework performance measures. FDLTCC’s performance in each category of the
framework is posted publicly at the college’s website; the transfer performance is noted in the final figure
of the document (<http://fdltcc.edu/wp-lib/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Accountability-DashboardSeptember-2014.pdf>).
Program Review
FDLTCC’s program review process is coordinated by the vice president of academic affairs and has
recently undergone its second revision in five years to meet changes in system policy, specifically
MnSCU Board policy 3.36 and 3.36.1 Academic Review. In the past, the system required institutions to
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report program review results to the system office; such review is now the responsibility of the colleges
and universities, with MnSCU policy guidance regarding review criteria as follows (see MnSCU Board
Policy 3.36.1, Part 7 in the MnSCU Board Policies folder in the electronic resource room):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
mission and plans of the system college or university,
assessment of student learning outcomes,
academic program assessment,
accreditation, licensure or certification requirements where appropriate;
advisory committee or other appropriate industry or professional input as determined by the
system college or university through established procedures,
labor market information when preparation for an occupation or a profession is a stated purpose
of the program,
resources,
applicable system policy, procedures and guidelines,
Minnesota Transfer Curriculum requirements,
articulation agreements, where appropriate, and
other factors as appropriate.
The revision process extended across the 2013 – 2014 academic year with the interim vice president of
academic affairs and received final AASC approval in fall 2014 after the hire of the college’s new vice
president. Concurrent to the process revision, program
Classroom
coordinators also engaged in a revision of existing program
learning outcomes to better align them with the program review
process, as well as shaping them into a format for entry into the
college’s TracDat assessment reporting structure. Program-level
outcomes have now been entered into the TracDat assessment
Program
Institution
reporting system, and the first round of reporting will be
occurring during this spring semester. This closes the loop on the
second major part of FDLTCC’s assessment model, which is built
on the foundation of the four core competencies and moves from
course-level outcomes informing program-level outcomes, which collectively inform institution-level
decision making.
The revision to the program review process also resulted in a more clearly defined set of review criteria,
which all of FDLTCC’s programs will be expected to address to be considered a viable program.
1.
2.
The program will demonstrate consistency with the mission and plans of FDLTCC.
The program will demonstrate it is meeting its own mission and outcomes through assessment of student
academic achievement consistent with FDLTCC’s assessment processes. Performance measures will
include but not be limited to:
a. The program’s outcomes
b. Retention rates
c. Transfer rates
d. Completion rates
e. Job placement, if applicable
f. Performance rates on mandatory professional competency assessments, if applicable
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
The program is encouraged to submit additional performance data as deemed appropriate for review.
The program will address the resources and benefits it brings to the college, including but not limited to:
a. Student academic success
b. Enrollment
c. Affiliations beneficial to the college and its students
d. Professional expertise of the program’s faculty
The program will provide its financial analysis including:
a. Income (tuition, grants, donated equipment, etc.)
b. Expenditures
c. Student enrollment (FYE)
The program will provide input from industry through its advisory committee activity.
The program will provide relevant labor market information (LMI).
The program will demonstrate it meets applicable system policies, procedures and guidelines including:
a. Degree requirements
b. Minnesota Transfer Curriculum requirements
c. Articulation agreements, where appropriate
d. Other factors as appropriate
The program satisfies all applicable requirements of state and federal law.
The program satisfies all applicable requirements of Board Policy 3.36, Part 7, of the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities system (http://www.mnscu.edu/board/procedure/336p1.html)
Program reviews will now be completed on a four-year rotational basis, rather than the previous cycle of
three years, and there will be three academic programs reviewed per fiscal year. Program personnel may
determine whether the process is completed in the fall semester or spring semester of their assigned fiscal
year. The schedule of program reviews from 2015 to 2022 is shown below:
Program
FY15
Associate of Arts – American
Indian Studies
FY16
FY18
FY19
X
FY20
X
Associate of Fine Arts
FY21
FY22
X
Associate of Arts – Liberal Arts
Business
Finance/Entrepreneurship
FY17
X
X
X
X
X
Corrections
X
X
Early Childhood Development
X
X
Electric Utilities Technician
X
Geographic Information Systems
and Visualization
Human Services/Chemical
Dependency
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Law Enforcement
X
X
Nursing
X
X
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Three programs are scheduled to be reviewed during spring semester 2015, and the results of these
reviews will be provided to evaluators at the time of their arrival in the college’s update document.
The composition of the review committee was also more clearly defined in the revision process. Members
will be limited in number to make the process more manageable and will include the vice president of
academic affairs or a designee, a student in good standing or a graduate of the program, and a faculty
member who is not part of the program under review. The process for submitting documents for a
program review and for the use of an outside evaluator are delineated in the Program Review Policy (see
Program Review PolicyER under FDLTCC Policies in the electronic resource room).
In its purpose, FDLTCC’s new process meets Board Policy 3.36, Part 7, and as the policy states,
FDLTCC “shall use results of the review for improvement of academic programming.” The new model is
intended to be responsive to the changing needs of the campus, its students and faculty, and the
communities served by the college and its programs, as well as provide the college with assessment data
that can meaningfully inform the institution.
As discussed in Criterion 3, FDLTCC’s Academic Affairs and Standards Council (AASC), a mandatory
committee by virtue of the Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF) collective bargaining agreement, is
charged with maintaining and exercising authority over all courses. The AASC is comprised of eight
faculty and four administrative representatives, including the vice president of academic affairs, and has
as its purpose “to provide direction for the College President in all matters included in academic affairs,
including course outlines, award requirements, academic standards, course and program components, and
the inventory of course and program offerings” (see MSCF Master AgreementER, Article 8, in the Union
Agreements folder in the electronic resource room).
Curriculum Oversight
As noted in Criterion 3, the college’s course proposal and approval process takes into account prerequisite
requirements; course content, rigor, credit hour, and course level; and learning resources necessary for
student success in the proposed course (see Course Proposal ProcessER in the Teaching and Learning
folder in the electronic resource room). Once a course is approved, the course outline is considered the
governing document for the course no matter the delivery method or site at which the course is taught;
course numbers, credits, content, and learning outcomes for the college’s core competencies remain the
same across all sections. Instructors are free to create and measure additional learning outcomes and to
add content as they deem appropriate.
In the past, faculty have reviewed course outlines on a three-year rotation to ensure accuracy and rigor;
however, since 2009 – 2010, the course outlines have gone through two extensive revisions related to
building and refining the college’s assessment model and ensuring accuracy of course numbering/levels;
at the same time, certain discipline areas refined outlines related to programs undergoing review for
specialized accreditation, such as the nursing program and the American Indian Studies associate of arts
degree. The first extensive revision was conducted during 2009 – 2010 to embed the four newly adopted
Competencies across the Curriculum (CACs). In 2013, faculty again reviewed course outlines to ensure
accuracy with the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum and to ensure accuracy of course numbering, levels
(1000/2000) and credit load.
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The most recent review also initiated the process of revising course learning outcomes into a format that
would be conducive for correctly setting up the TracDat assessment data collection system. This format
includes the recommendation of four to seven learning outcomes related to the CACs as the faculty deem
appropriate and provides the basis for course level reporting of student learning outcomes that feed
program- level and institution-level assessment. As noted in core component 3A, the assessment
committee also made the decision to streamline course outlines further by removing course goals and
assessments from the outlines. After several years of practicing in this manner, the assessment committee
believed faculty had developed a sufficiently clear understanding of both goals and multiple assessments
such that they no longer needed to be part of the college’s course outline for each course; assessment
methods are also logged by TracDat when faculty are entering assessment results, so the institution can
monitor whether or not multiple measures are adequately used. The AASC approved the changes to the
course outline format in July 2014.
At campus wide duty days prior to the beginning of fall semester 2014, the assessment team presented the
2014 – 2019 Assessment Plan (see Assessment PlansER under Planning in the electronic resource room),
trained faculty on TracDat, and presented the FDLTCC Assessment Handbook (see the Assessment
HandbookER under Teaching and Learning in the electronic resource room), which includes step-by-step
instructions for entering the assessment results of learning outcomes.
In addition, the faculty worked within disciplines/programs to establish discipline- and program-specific
plans to assess the institutional goals (CACs) for general education, which leveraged a new assessment
capacity enabled by the TracDat data collection software; this new capacity provides faculty with the
ability to focus on CAC assessment results from within programs and disciplines, and thus, what faculty
learn from assessment results are relevant to their disciplines/programs and corrective actions can be more
controlled and focused. It makes assessment results and actions taken based on results more meaningful
than in the past.
Faculty members were also asked to update any course learning outcomes for their fall semester courses
and enter any updated outcomes directly into TracDat. Assessment committee members were available to
help with the entry of updated outcomes into TracDat. Data entry of the revised learning outcomes on all
course outlines concluded and was piloted in fall 2014.
Timeline of Learning Outcome Reviews
With the new system established, learning outcomes will continue to be assessed by course on an ongoing
basis. The Competencies across the Curriculum (CAC) will be evaluated on a rotating basis. Based on the
positive results of the duty day sessions during 2013 - 2014, during the fall duty days, faculty will break
into discipline/program groups and discuss assessment results and the best approach to evaluate the
assigned CAC for that year. A common assignment/instrument for the evaluation of the appointed CAC
will be developed by the discipline/program faculty as well as the courses that will use the assignment
and the schedule for administering the assignment during that year (assessments can be “assigned” via
TracDat, which can alert an instructor by e-mail that the assessment is due). During 2013 - 2014, faculty
evaluated the Ability to Communicate CAC and, based on the results, developed a common rubric for
Ability to Communicate (see Ability to Communicate RubricER under Teaching and Learning in the
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electronic resource room) and common assignments coordinated within programs/disciplines, which are
being piloted this year. The planned schedule of evaluating CACs will happen in the following rotational
order:
Academic Year
CAC
2014-2015
2015-2016
2016-2017
2017-2018
2018-2019
Ability to Communicate
Information Literacy
Problem Solving
Culture
Ability to Communicate
Reporting on the assessment of student learning in the CAC areas on an annual basis ensures that the
discipline/program areas use the most effective schedule for the evaluation of students in the CAC areas.
Results will be provided to faculty each year in an annual Assessment Report produced in April of each
year.
Curriculum Oversight in Dual Enrollment/CITS
Critical aspects of FDLTCC’s CITS program oversight, such as credentialing/hiring, student registration,
and prerequisites follow the same practices and policies as those on campus and are discussed in
components 3A and 3C of Criterion 3. It should be noted here, however, that any revised course outlines
as discussed in the previous section are distributed to CITS faculty. Work on “building the assessment
bridge” to CITS is ahead of schedule and discussed further in core component 4B.
Specialized Accreditation
As reported earlier in this document, FDLTCC has four programs in the process of seeking specialized
accreditation.
College in the Schools (CITS): The CITS program plans to submit its application for accreditation in
2016 to the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Programs (NACEP). The program requested a
review by NACEP in 2012, and based on the results of that review, the program is currently working on
improvements in its delivery of professional development to CITS faculty and is establishing four years
of data collection and evaluation. In addition, the program is working with faculty to build an assessment
connection between on-campus faculty and CITS faculty, as noted elsewhere in this report.
Nursing: Currently, the program is in the process of building a two-year collection of data and planning
to be in candidacy in 2018. The program is in the process of changing the ADN program to a two-year
program and closing the Mobility program, due to low pass rates and an overall decline in Mobility
program pass rates in Minnesota (a ten-percent lower pass rate than the two-year ADN programs). Since
the change, FDLTCC’s pass rates increased to over seventy-five percent in 2015.
The new ADN program has been revising curriculum and course outlines and passing them through
AASC, with the first year of the program completed. The curriculum for the first semester of the second
year will be presented to AASC in February 2015; the program plans to have completed the last set of
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courses by March. After completion, the program planner will be revised to show the changes, and the
program will be able to publicly advertise. While revising the curriculum, the program is also aligning it
with the NCLEX Test. The curriculum will more explicitly demonstrate how testing topics are covered,
and it will also show how test questions build and increase in difficulty using Bloom’s taxonomy to
ladder it up.
FDLTCC’s PN program is also in the process of examining how closely the curriculum reflects the
NCLEX-PN test plan and the State Curriculum and revising accordingly.
Business: As of January 1, 2015, FDLTCC became a member in candidacy status for accreditation with
the Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). The self-study year will be 2015
- 2016 with a site visit from a peer review team in 2016 - 2017. Curriculum in the college’s business
program was significantly modified in 2013 - 2014 year which will meet ACBSP standards; however, a
review of the curriculum will take place next year to match the curriculum to the standards directly during
the self-study process. AASC approved the new curriculum last year. The business program currently has
an AS degree in Business Finance, an AAS degree in Small Business Entrepreneurship, and a certificate
in Small Business Entrepreneurship. The Business Advisory Committee and faculty support the changes
in the curriculum and seeking accreditation with ACBSP.
American Indian Studies AA (AIS AA): The American Indian Studies program completed the
eligibility application for accreditation by the World Indigenous Higher Education Consortium
(WINHEC) in 2014, which was accepted and approved that same year. The program is currently in the
beginning phase of the self study and looks forward to a site visit in 2015 – 2016. In the eligibility work,
the AIS AA engaged all critical facets of seeking the specialized accreditation. It formed
Dadiibaakonigewin, a cultural oversight board as mandated by the WINHEC accreditation board, and
defined the board’s mission and role. The faculty and board then worked together to define the program’s
cultural standards and learning outcomes. The program’s faculty worked with the general education
faculty teaching courses relevant to the program to shape the general course learning goals and outcomes
that help achieve the program’s culturally-specific outcomes. The outcomes will be part of the program’s
review in 2016 (see AIS AAER under Specialized Accreditation in the electronic resource room for
program’s application and the Dadiibaakonigewin Handbook).
FDLTCC evaluates it programs and oversees its curriculum in a manner consistent with policy. Faculty
have engaged in extensive curriculum review, particularly of learning outcomes, since 2009. Four of the
college’s programs are working toward specialized accreditation, which enhances oversight by “raising
the stakes” and encouraging review, evaluation, and action based on results.
4.B. THE INSTITUTION DEMONSTRATES A COMMITMENT TO EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AND
IMPROVEMENT THROUGH ONGOING ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING.
Subcomponent 1: The institution has clearly stated goals for student learning and effective processes for
assessment of student learning and achievement of learning goals.
Subcomponent 2. The institution assesses achievement of the learning outcomes that it claims for its
curricular and co-curricular programs.
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Subcomponent 3. The institution uses the information gained from assessment to improve student
learning.
Subcomponent 4. The institution’s processes and methodologies to assess student learning reflect good
practice, including the substantial participation of faculty and other instructional staff members.
Assessment of the General Education Curriculum
As noted in Criterion 3 and elsewhere in this document, the backbone of FDLTCC’s assessment model
was formed in 2009 when the faculty adopted Competencies across the Curriculum (CAC), which are
four core competencies that the college had been using as a broad, locally-created measurement of its
general education curriculum. By adopting CAC, the faculty chose to embed the assessment of CACrelated learning outcomes into every course at the college (see discussion in 4A regarding revisions to
course outlines), and thereby created a new layer of measuring the general education curriculum based
directly in classrooms.
Faculty created a broad tool used for measuring
the college’s general education curriculum in lieu
of using a standardized measure, primarily because
the college has a unique mission and standardized
measures do not adequately inform the college,
particularly with regard to culture. In 2009 – 2010,
the faculty revised the instrument, which consisted
of sixty multiple choice questions, with fifteen
questions under each core competency reflecting
basic information that students would be exposed
to in FDLTCC’s classrooms (see the CAC
Assessment ToolER under Teaching and Learning in
the electronic resource room for an example). With
the adoption of CAC, the instrument’s name
changed from the General Education Assessment
Instrument to the CAC Instrument.
Competencies across the Curriculum (CAC)
Competency definition 1: Information literacy: The student
will be able to demonstrate the ability to use print and nonprint tools effectively for the discovery, acquisition, and
evaluation of information.
Competency definition 2: Ability to communicate: The
student will be able to demonstrate the ability to listen,
read, comprehend, and deliver information in a variety of
formats.
Competency definition 3: Problem solving: The student will
be able to conceptualize, apply, analyze, synthesize, and/or
evaluate information to formulate and solve problems.
Competency definition 4: Culture: The student will be able
to demonstrate knowledge of Anishinaabe traditions and
culture, knowledge of his/her own traditions and culture,
knowledge of other’s traditions and cultures, and respect for
global diversity.
Between 2009 – 2012, faculty delivered the instrument to 250 – 350 students once per year. Using
classroom enrollment data, faculty determined which hour and day of the week delivered the most
students during the day school and which during the night school and, thus, tried to reach the most
students with least duplication. The results of the broad assessment were shared among faculty and at
campus-wide duty days.
In the presentation of data, the faculty paid attention to whether or not the instrument was being delivered
to a block of students representative of the college’s general population. For example:
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CAC Assessment: Student Demographics
CAC
FDLTCC
Respondents
Population
52% (130)
44.4% (111)
1.2% (3)
43%
57%
14%
1.6%
2.8%
52.8%
2.8%
4%
15%
2%
2%
76%
1%
Other
Student Age
16.8%
4%
16 to 18
19 to 24
25 to 30
31 to 35
12.4%
53.2%
12%
6.0%
29%
33%
13%
36+
14%
25%
Gender
Male
Female
Transgender
Race/Ethnicity
American Indian or other Native American
Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander
Black or African American, Non-Hispanic
European American
Hispanic, Latino, Spanish
Mixed
The core focus of the presentations was on the results of the assessment, and these results were presented
in a variety of ways as actions were taken each year to attempt to improve the usefulness of the
information. The following three tables reflect the different ways faculty presented the overall results. The
goal each year was to meet a threshold of seventy percent in each competency.
CAC Assessment: Overall Results: 2009 - 2010
At or above 70 percent of respondents
answering correctly
answering correctly
answering correctly
Communication
Culture
Problem
Solving
29%
27%
20%
Information/
Technology
Literacy
.07%
50%
27%
27%
29%
57%
60%
33%
29%
Majority passed
with a D or
higher
Majority
passed with a
D or higher
Majority did not
pass
Majority did not pass
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CAC Assessment: Overall Results: 2010 -2011
The average score was 53.62 percent (32.2 raw). The distribution of scores (the number of correct
answers out of sixty) was as follows:
0-5
1
21-25
32
41-45
33
6-10
0
26-30
30
46-50
9
11-15
4
31-35
35
51-55
2
16-20
17
36-40
38
56-60
0
CAC Assessment: Overall Results: 2011 – 2012
The mean scores correct out fifteen for each CAC:
Communication
(N = 193)
Culture
9.4
Mean
Prob Solve
9.2
Info Lit
7.2
Total
7.3
33.1
The overall results of the broad CAC assessment tool, no matter how faculty viewed them, were
consistently miserable and discordant with the college’s knowledge that, overall, its students were not as
incompetent as the data suggested. Trust in the overall results of the CAC assessment tool, therefore, was
limited. Despite that, a more specific view of how the data correlated with various factors provided results
that, coupled with results from other data sources, were useful to further inform discussions and/or to
make decisions. For instance, the CAC results correlated to credits completed were consistent with
differences in the college’s CCSSE scores in 2007 and 2009. The CAC results were our first direct
measurement of the difference between students who had completed 0 - 30 credits versus those who had
completed 30 or more credits.
Credits
Communication
Culture
Prob Solve
Info Lit
Total
0-15
8.5
8.4
6.6
6.5
30.0
16-30
10.1
9.5
6.8
7.1
33.4
31-45
10.1
9.8
7.4
7.6
34.9
46-60
9.6
9.2
7.6
7.8
34.3
10.5
10.6
9.4
9.0
39.5
61+
Subgroup Score Out of 15 by FDLTCC Credits
12.0
0-15
16-30
31-45
46-60
61+
Credits
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
Communication
Culture
Prob Solve
113
Info Lit
The correlation between CAC assessment results and our indirect data sources, in part, informed
FDLTCC’s efforts to begin focusing on entering students in 2010, which in turn contributed to making
decisions about curricular changes in developmental education programming, developing the
Nandagikendan academies, and delivering the SENSE survey; in turn, the positive results of these
decisions contributed to introducing a more “hands-on” approach to general student orientation, in which
the hands-on activities of the Nandagikendan academies, such as having students directly access their
student accounts and log-in to their college e-mail accounts, were scaled up to the general student
orientation.
CAC assessment results also provided the first direct indication that completing the core general
education courses positively impacts student performance on the instrument. Students who had completed
math, logic, and/or science were especially more likely to perform better on the assessment:
COURSE COMPLETED OR NOT
Communication
Culture
Prob Solve
Info Lit
Total
math1010
10.2
9.7
8.9
8.6
37.4
not
math1025
9.2
9.5
9.0
9.4
6.7
6.7
6.9
7.6
31.8
33.2
not
math1030
9.4
9.8
9.2
10.1
7.3
8.2
7.3
8.6
33.1
36.7
not
math2001
9.3
11.3
9.0
11.8
7.1
11.3
7.1
8.8
32.6
43.3
not
chem1001
9.3
10.6
9.1
10.6
7.1
9.7
7.2
9.0
32.8
39.9
not
biol1010
9.3
10.3
9.0
9.4
7.0
7.6
7.1
7.7
32.4
34.9
not
biol1101
9.2
10.2
9.2
9.5
7.2
8.3
7.2
8.4
32.8
36.3
not
engl1001
9.0
9.6
9.1
9.6
6.8
7.7
6.8
7.9
31.7
35.0
not
spch1010
8.9
9.7
8.7
9.3
6.7
8.6
6.6
8.0
31.0
35.6
not
spch1020
9.4
9.7
9.2
9.3
7.1
7.4
7.2
7.3
32.8
33.7
not
phil1020
9.2
10.7
9.1
9.6
7.1
8.7
7.3
9.0
32.8
38.0
not
amin1050
9.3
9.9
9.2
9.6
7.2
7.6
7.2
7.6
32.9
34.6
not
9.1
8.9
7.0
7.1
32.2
That evidence supported the administration’s pairing of SPCH 1010: Public Speaking with PHIL 1020:
Critical Thinking during spring 2011. In fall 2010, PHIL 1020 was cancelled due to zero enrollment. In
spring 2011, the pairing resulted in an enrollment of twenty-three students, seventeen of whom completed
114
and fourteen passed with a C or better. This was a significant success for the students who completed
their symbolic logic/math requirement, as well as a financially productive approach to offering the course.
It was also one example of how the college’s strategic planning emphasis on providing flexible options to
students was working. These results helped the college to think about its core general education
curriculum, how a student progresses through it, and why it is advantageous for students to complete their
symbolic logic/math requirement early on their academic path. In turn, this knowledge later informed the
administration’s development of the current College Connect program, which brings to the campus
struggling high school students, introduces them to college via a College Success course, and if they pass,
moves them into completing their college-level composition and math courses; thus, when they begin
college, they have already jumped over their two biggest hurdles. Tangentially, the knowledge was also
influential in creating the college’s current and second learning community, DegreeMe, which essentially
delivers a deeply enmeshed set of courses each semester and eliminates developmental education
components by building in tutoring and study skills assistance.
Although the institution was able to use some of the CAC assessment results to inform its decision
making in meaningful ways, the positive effects of which continue on campus, the assessment committee
and faculty continued to work on finding a method that could be more productive and that might provide
a check against the consistently low-scoring broad CAC assessment tool. The assessment committee
began researching classroom-based rubrics. The general prediction was that performance levels would be
higher than those indicated by the broad CAC assessment tool because the classroom-based assessment is
closer to the student—directly linked to classroom performance.
In addition, the assessment committee researched methods of measurement that could be used efficiently
by FDLTCC classroom faculty while, at the same time, be efficiently used as aggregate results at an
institutional-level. These efforts were discussed with faculty during a campus wide duty day in 2010, and
the decision was made to explore how the college’s Desire2Learn (D2L) online learning management
system could be used to create classroom based rubrics for each competency. At the time, the capacity
had not been turned on by FDLTCC’s D2L administrators, but working with the assessment committee,
they enabled the feature across all courses.
Two important challenges were presented, however. The D2L terminology and structure of the
competencies and rubrics differed from FDLTCC’s. The faculty agreed that the assessment committee
should develop a clear procedure that could be consistently spread across all of the courses. In addition,
the software did not include an administrative feature that allowed rubric scores to be collected at an
institutional level for broad use as a measurement of learning of the core competencies. At the time,
another MnSCU institution was struggling with the same issues with the software. We hoped that it would
be resolved in the summer 2010 by D2L system-wide updates and improvements; however, it was not
resolved. The assessment committee and faculty agreed to pilot classroom-based rubrics for the
communication and information/technology literacy competencies during spring 2010. The results of the
pilot were as follows:
115
Classroom-Based Rubric: Communication Pilot, Spring 2010
The assessment committee found that approximately fifty-four percent of the students performed at a Clevel or higher on the communication competency and that approximately fifty-two percent of the
students performed at a C-level or higher on the information/technology literacy competency. The
assessment committee was surprised by the disappointing results. The fact that the results were lower than
expected also drew immediate comparisons to the results of the broad CAC assessment tool. The possible
correlation was hopeful, but simultaneously, the scores indicated a possible confirmation of
underperformance.
Classroom-Based Rubric: Information/Technology Literacy Pilot, Spring 2010
The results of the classroom rubrics pilot were discussed at the August duty day, and the faculty agreed to
engage in a more widespread collection of data. Instructors were asked to:
•
Assess one learning outcome in each of two competency areas: Communication and
116
•
•
•
Informational/Technology Literacy. The learning outcomes had to be listed on the course outline.
The instructor could assess each competency in a single course or one competency in one course
and one from another course using any assessment method—test, quiz, discussion, exercise, etc.
Create rubrics that evaluated what skills the students needed to master in order to meet the
outcome.
Decide the level at which the outcome was met.
Report, via the D2L system, how many students met the outcomes.
The results were better:
•
•
68% of students met the informational literacy competency (152 met; 70 did not)
70% met the communication competency (320 met; 136 did not)
Two important things were learned from a logistical perspective. The rubrics were found to be useful by
faculty and students, and as a result, doing more work on them would be worthwhile. The faculty also
learned that the D2L framework did not live up to expectations. For some, it took twenty-one steps to set
up the rubric. Across multiple courses the process was inefficient, and the collection process became quite
time-consuming for the assessment committee. The assessment committee also learned that the usefulness
of D2L would be limited when they were unable to pull data that could link to program learning goals and
outcomes, which was a significant set-back.
From the perspective of student learning, the classroom rubrics rendered useful results. The Assessment
Committee thought that broadly using an alternative classroom-based assessment measure might provide
useful information alongside the CAC instrument, and it proved true. On the broad CAC assessment,
albeit that the concept of higher and lower is relative, students had consistently performed higher in
communication and lower in information/technology literacy. The results of the classroom rubrics
paralleled that performance, providing a slightly more positive (hopeful) view of communication with the
classroom rubrics than with the broad CAC assessment. The classroom-based rubric results added
important confirming evidence that students and faculty needed more training in technology. There were
now two direct measurements of student learning demonstrating this need; in addition, the indirect
measurements in CCSSE (2007 and 2009) and in SENSE (2010) yielded results also demonstrating a
need to address technology skills, as had anecdotal observations from faculty and advisors for the past
few years. As a result, administration created a position for an eLearning specialist funded by Title III
grant awards that has enabled the college to offer training and assistance on- and off-campus for students
and faculty in a variety of technologies, such as D2L, Google Apps, and supplemental/assistive
technologies such as PLATO, Camtasia, and other technologies that students and faculty can utilize to
improve learning and classroom. The results also led to administration’s decision to get involved with
Quality Matters (QM), a national organization focused on quality assurance in online education.
The negative experience with D2L was important because the college still faced the problem of not
having an adequate method of collecting and aggregating classroom-based assessment data of the core
competencies to use alongside the broad CAC assessment tool. By virtue of collaborations between the
region’s colleges, FDLTCC’s administration was able to review TracDat, an assessment software that is
straightforward, flexible, and particularly suited to FDLTCC's assessment model. Like four other colleges
117
in the Northeast region, FDLTCC decided to purchase the software.
The TracDat data collection software is a versatile database and storage software, the structure of which
can be “built” to closely align with, in this case, an organization’s assessment model. In addition, the
software can incorporate data collection related to the evaluation processes in planning and grants
management. The software also enables users to run a wide variety of standard and customized reports.
For a project involving many individuals measuring several outcomes across several measures, the
software eliminates the time-consuming element entering and processing data one-by-one from individual
reports. The assessment database is built with a course-level foundation and can assign courses to
different levels, such as disciplines, programs, and the institution. With those capacities, the software
streamlines reporting while also enabling faculty and the college to view assessment results from multiple
perspectives depending on the users’ needs.
The “front-end” work of setting up TracDat is building the foundation, which incorporates the learning
outcomes from every course outline in the curriculum. In 2012, it was thought the foundation had been
completed; however, it was built incorrectly, and one year of work was essentially wasted. The
assessment committee’s work on refining classroom rubrics continued to progress via small pilots (see
Figure 7 below). In 2013 – 2014, the assessment committee began work anew on rebuilding the
foundation. Faculty received training from a colleague at Mesabi Community and Technical College,
which had been successfully using TracDat for three years. As a result, the faculty began an extensive
revision of course outlines, as discussed in core component 4A to better align the outcomes with the
assessment reporting structure in TracDat, and work began on re-entering the learning outcomes for each
Figure 8. Percent of Courses Meeting Standard
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
Fall Spring Fall Fall Spring Spring Fall
2012 2013 2011 2012 2013 2014 2011
Problem Solving
Problem Solving
Problem Solving
Info Lit
Info Lit
Fall
2011
Info Lit
Culture
Fall
2013
Info Lit
Ability to
Communicate
Fall
2012
Culture
Ability to
Communicate
Fall
2011
Culture
Ability to
Communicate
0%
Fall Spring
2012 2013
course in the curriculum. This work was completed in fall 2014, and as noted in core component in 4A,
the results will be reported in spring 2015.
Although the faculty experienced a significant set-back in 2012, the challenge itself rendered useful
118
results. The extensive revision of course outlines not only aligned outcomes with the assessment reporting
structure; it coincided with the need for many courses to be reviewed in relation to some programs
seeking specialized accreditation, which brought a better certainty of “getting it right the first time” at the
program-level data entry into TracDat. The faculty also used the challenge as an opportunity to create a
new resource called Assessment Handbook, which is a thorough and illustrated guide not only to reporting
assessment results in TracDat but also with regard to assessment policy and procedure, assessment
reporting obligations and timelines, the CACs, and guidelines and tips for writing learning outcomes (see
Assessment HandbookER in the Teaching and Learning folder in the electronic resource room).
Also significant during that time was the faculty’s serious consideration of the elements of FDLTCC’s
assessment process. Although some results from the broad measurement of the general education
curriculum via the locally developed CAC instrument were useful to inform administrative decision
makers, the results were not particularly useful at the program-level or in the classroom. For that reason,
faculty decided to discontinue use of the broad measure in 2013 and focus further attention on using
classroom-based rubrics that could more directly inform
Classroom
program-level assessment and, collectively, institution-level
assessment. Because the TracDat data collection system is
built on a foundation of course-level assessment, faculty have
been able to form discipline- and program-specific assessment
plans that are informed directly by the results of course-level
Program
Institution
assessment. In addition, the software enables the college to
produce reports at a variety of levels: Faculty can look at
results based on individual classrooms, as well as more
broadly, based on disciplines and programs, and even more
broadly for the institution by looking at assessment targets met and not met in each core competency. For
those reasons, the broad CAC instrument for assessing the general education curriculum essentially lost
its currency and necessity. This decision met with the approval of the interim vice president of academic
affairs at the time and has been continued by the college’s new vice president.
As noted in core component 4A, the faculty have created a timeline for the assessment of the CAC and for
planned assessment-related duty day activities, as well as a new assessment plan for 2014 - 2019. The
college’s prior assessment plan covered 2009 – 2012, and during the tenure of the interim vice president
of academic affairs, the faculty created an interim plan (2012 – 2014), which has been replaced (see
Assessment PlansER in the Planning folder in the electronic resource room). In addition, because the
assessment model has finally been completed, the faculty will now begin work on producing an
assessment report for the college, following the lead of the business office’s annual budget report that has
been so useful to the college.
The efforts of the new vice president of academic affairs to engage the student services staff in effective
assessment also has the effect of engaging faculty in more broad assessment activities. The result of this
effort has been to morph the Self Study Steering Committee into an Institutional Planning and
Effectiveness Committee that engages all campus activities in the process of assessment, a possibility
more likely to be realized given the reporting capacity of the TracDat software. In addition, FDLTCC
administration is continuing its financial commitment in the form of release credits for a faculty
119
assessment coordinator and continues to support travel by faculty members to the annual HLC meeting in
Chicago.
Building the Assessment Bridge to Dual Enrollment/CITS
Although FDLTCC’s CITS program was planning to be practicing assessment reporting via TracDat in
2013, the goal was put on hold because the original foundation for reporting was built incorrectly.
Initially, the program had anticipated waiting a year as the college’s on-campus faculty went through a
first cycle of reporting via the software. Currently, however, the college’s assessment and CITS
coordinators decided to run a CITS pilot ahead of schedule alongside the on-campus initial year of
reports. This speeds up the CITS program’s ability to train CITS faculty, which now will occur at the
spring 2015 professional development day for CITS faculty. A link to TracDat was placed into the D2L
online learning management system during fall 2014, enabling a small set of CITS English faculty to
access TracDat and report their assessment results. Their experience will also be reported during the
spring 2015 professional development day.
This is the first time that the college has the ability to collect coherent direct measurements of student
learning of the college’s core competencies in the CITS program. To date, the program has relied on
reports and materials from CITS instructors provided to faculty mentors and the vice president of
academic affairs, anecdotal reports from parents and students, and transfer profiles and survey results.
While we know from these that FDLTCC’s CITS program is fulfilling its purpose, and even excelling, we
believe that the more specific approach to measuring student learning in CITS will help us identify
specific areas of challenge and excellence. It will also build a necessary bridge between the CITS and oncampus faculty, which we anticipate will create a deeper level of conversation, requests for deeper
involvement by college faculty, and requests for specific professional development.
Currently, FDLTCC does not make it mandatory for CITS instructors to use common methods of
assessment across sections of courses, and instructors are free to use assessments that they believe are
most appropriate for the goals, outcomes, and presentations of content. FDLTCC’s pilot of the TracDat
assessment data collection software with the CITS instructors will, however, likely contribute to
developing commonalities between assessment methods used on campus and in CITS classrooms since
both on-campus and CITS instructors will be receiving the same TracDat “assessment assignments.” The
college’s faculty will also be able to share via D2L the common classroom rubrics associated with the
four core competencies. This will begin to build a body of evidence that can be used to compare oncampus and CITS results. If the college finds the need to develop guidelines regarding assessment and/or
scoring practices, the standards will become part of the information for which faculty mentors and
instructors are responsible.
The CITS program, as well as FDLTCC’s faculty, is looking forward to having a more robust body of
direct measure data from CITS. In addition, the program believes that the direct evidence will produce
lively discussion at the CITS Professional Development Days, as well as among on-campus faculty. It
will be most beneficial to the program in 2016 as it prepares for NACEP accreditation.
120
4.C. THE INSTITUTION DEMONSTRATES A COMMITMENT TO EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT THROUGH
ONGOING ATTENTION TO RETENTION, PERSISTENCE, AND COMPLETION RATES IN ITS DEGREE
AND CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS.
Subcomponent 1: The institution has defined goals for student retention, persistence, and completion that
are ambitious but attainable and appropriate to its mission, student populations, and educational offerings.
Subcomponent 2: The institution collects and analyzes information on student retention, persistence, and
completion of its programs.
Subcomponent 3: The institution uses information on student retention, persistence, and completion of
programs to make improvements as warranted by the data.
Subcomponent 4: The institution’s processes and methodologies for collecting and analyzing information
on student retention, persistence, and completion of programs reflect good practice. (Institutions are not
required to use IPEDS definitions in their determination of persistence or completion rates. Institutions
are encouraged to choose measures that are suitable to their student populations, but institutions are
accountable for the validity of their measures.)
FDLTCC’s focus on student success is campus-wide and is central to its mission and the daily life of its
employees, and it is been most strongly evident in the college’s history during the past seven years. In
2007 - 2008, an FDLTCC counselor, who became the college’s interim Dean of Student Services from
2009 - 2012, participated in MnSCU's Luoma Leadership Academy; as part of the experience, she
reconvened the college’s retention committee, which had been stagnant for two years. The committee
decided that it did not want to repeat previous start-and-stop retention projects that yielded useless results.
The committee “began at the beginning” and spent the year sorting out and reviewing baseline retention
data from MnSCU’s student success measures. The college’s overall retention rate was a dismal fortyfour percent. In fall 2008, the committee took the first small but tactical step into a process that has
transformed student success at the college.
In 2008, the retention committee created a streamlined approach to helping faculty identify students at
risk, the end goal being to create and implement a pilot that could yield some form of measurable results.
At the time, the college relied on faculty to voluntarily complete lengthy paperwork on each student
perceived to be at risk; the process was cumbersome, time-consuming, and garnered little participation.
The retention committee implemented in the spring 2009 a new academic alert process that utilized a
faculty’s hard copy of the class lists as a mechanism to identify students who were not attending and/or
doing unsatisfactory work on assignments, quizzes, or exams. Faculty were given alert codes to indicate
the problem next to the student's name on the class list: AT (poor attendance), MA (missing assignments),
ME (missed exams), TP (poor test performance). The process was implemented during the 3rd and 7th
weeks of spring 2009 so a manageable set of data could be managed.
At the same time, the chair of the retention committee and a faculty member led an initial charge to bring
retention and recruitment to the forefront campus-wide. In May 2009, the R2 Initiative was launched (R2 =
Recruitment + Retention), with forty-two faculty, staff, and administrators in attendance at a forum
established to illustrate the importance of recruitment and retention and how it is everyone’s responsibility
121
at FDLTCC. Thereafter, data were consistently shared at fall and spring campus-wide duty days (see
Retention PresentationsER under Presentations in the Teaching and Learning folder of the electronic
resource room for an example). The goal was to share information about enrollment/ retention activities, to
foster campus-wide buy-in for retention and recruitment, and to keep the campus engaged and focused on
what they can do to help these two crucial areas for the campus. The message to campus connected the
importance of retention to a spectrum of campus concerns ranging from the concrete, such as institutional
budget and continued employment in a tough economy, to the philosophical importance of serving the
future of our communities by serving today’s students in a good way.
One significant result of these discussions was their “spin-off” effect between 2009 - 2011, as illustrated
by figure 8 on the next page of this document, and into the present time. “R2” was so successful that it led
to a fourteen percent increase in retention rates for the college by 2011 and a steady increase in FYE for
three fiscal years. The increased discussion of retention and recruitment fueled increased attention on
student success more generally, and coupled with general education assessment data and indirect
measurements from CCSSE and other survey sources, the college created a variety of projects aimed at
improving student success. Thus, between 2008 to the present, the college has done the following based on
those initial actions regarding retention and student success:
•
Completed a two-phase review of FDLTCC’s recruitment and enrollment management strategy
with Noel Levitz, which, in turn, led to improvements in publications, promotions, and other
recruiting strategies (see FDL ROA RPTER in the Teaching and Learning folder in the electronic
resource room).
•
Developed the Nandagikendan (Seek to Learn) Academy for Entering College students, the initial
success of which led to the creation of the Nandagikendan Academy for Returning College
students—a week-long focus on preparing students to transfer to a university.
•
Developed the Nandagikendan Summer Academy for High School students, focused on giving
American Indian high school students a week-long, on-campus introduction to college.
•
Revised general orientation to make it more hands-on, based on the success of the Nandagikendan
academies.
•
Made attendance at the college’s 0 – 40 program mandatory for those students who were placed in
the program through the college’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) process.
•
Hired an eLearning Specialist, based on poor results on the general education assessment related to
information and technology literacy and coupled with the good results of hands-on learning in the
Nandagikendan academies.
•
Hired an additional faculty counselor to increase our direct human connection to students at risk of
not completing, a position which has since become a central part of the college’s Behavioral
Assessment Team and campus safety efforts.
122
Figure 9. Retention and Student Success: The Cycle of an Idea, an Action, Data Collection, Evaluation, and Actions Based on Evaluation
2008 - 2009
2009 - 2010
2010 - 2011
Fed FDLTCC Presidential Work Plan, FDLTCC
Assessment Plan, FDLTCC Academic Plan,
MnSCU Strategic Directions, and FDLTCC
Strategic Plan categories of building financial
stability, supporting service capacity, and
delivering responsive education.
11. Evaluate, discuss, and
report alert & retention data.
Implement opportunities
focused on student success.
Gates Foundation meetings,
SENSE, Nandagikendan Summer
Program, paired courses,
student success courses, on
campus technology training
The improvement to the early academic
alert process began as a lone project in
2008
7. Collect alert and R2
data
10. Collect alert and
monitor R2 data.
Create opportunities
focused on student
success
3. Establish new
academic alert processes
6. Make revisions to
2. Evaluate and discuss
4. Collect alert data
academic alert processes; data
2
add recruiting = R
1. Collect baseline
retention data
report results
9. Make revisions to alert & cont.
R2; Increase focus on student
preparedness
12. A new cycle based on
evaluation of results. . .
123
report (14% increase in
retention)
12. Expanded Nandagikendan Summer
Program continuing with paired
courses, student success courses
piloting this fall, hiring in process for
on campus technology continuing to
monitor retention and alerts.
•
Using D2L and Google Apps, built a home-grown electronic early academic alert system based on
the successful modifications to the alert process overall in 2008; this eliminated the need for the
college to purchase an industrial early alert system and saved the college between $50,000 $80,000. The system is now not only used by faculty but also by the financial aid office as part of
the college’s default management plan. In addition, the early alert system served as a useful
template for improving the college’s incident reporting process, including monitoring behavioral
concerns in classrooms.
•
Incorporated retention specialist duties into student services and adopted a stronger intrusive
approach to those on academic alerts by calling students directly to discuss concerns.
•
Developed a stronger emphasis on financial literacy and now provide training on-campus and
during orientation and, more generally, provide training in financial literacy and preparation for
college with students and their parents in high schools.
•
Developed a successful program for Young Student Parents (YSP).
•
Based on positive retention/graduation data (see core component 1A) in the college’s Weekend
College learning community, developed DegreeMe, a day school learning community designed for
students who can benefit from a Monday through Thursday, 9:00 – 2:00, schedule that makes
work and childcare easier to schedule and who can benefit from developmental skills building
directly tied into regular college curriculum.
•
Developed College Connect, a small collaboration between FDLTCC, Fond du Lac Ojibwe
School, and South Ridge High School focused on giving at-risk high school students an
introduction to college through the course College Success; upon successful completion, the
students may continue with ENGL 1101 College Composition and college-level math. The goal is
to put at-risk students 1) on a path toward college, 2) foster initial success in a college class, and 3)
advance them successfully through two discipline areas that are critical to their future chances of
completing a college degree.
124
As a result of these efforts, FDLTCC’s student success rates have increased or remained steady, with
improving results for “students of color,” as figure 10 indicates. (The dip in 2011 reflects the closing of
Figure 10. Students of Color Persistence
80
Percentage
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Academic Year
MnSCU
FDLTCC
FDLTCC’s outreach site on the Red Lake reservation, which shows as a lack of retaining almost 100
students. Although not recorded in these figures, almost all of the students transferred to Leech Lake
Tribal College, with whom FDLTCC partnered to form a teach-out plan that enabled the students’ credits
to transfer successfully.)
In a culturally rich setting, the college’s white students also are persisting, as figure 10 indicates.
Figure 11. Success Rates for White Students
78
76
Percentage
74
72
70
68
66
64
62
60
2006
2007
2008
2009
Year
MnSCU
FDLTCC
125
2010
2011
2012
In the MnSCU system’s latest impact statement related to system finance discussions with the Minnesota
legislature, FDLTCC’s achievement gap is noted as six percent, among the lowest in the state of
Minnesota. Preliminary persistence results for 2013 indicate a success rate among the college’s African
American students at ninety-three percent, American Indian students at fifty-seven percent, and white
students at just under eighty-nine percent.
The college’s student success rates form a part of the MnSCU’s strategic performance metrics and are
available on the system’s public accountability dashboard. All retention and related success measures in
the MnSCU system lag behind the current year by at least two years, which is a problem beyond the
college’s control.
Nandagikendan (Seek to Learn) Academies (see NandagikendanER in the Teaching and Learning folder
of the electronic resource room for examples of week-long schedules and survey results)
The college’s Nandagikendan (Seek to Learn) academies began in 2010 as part of the college’s focus on
improving student success, particularly of its first-year students, many of whom are underprepared for
college. Grant funds from the American Indian College Fund’s Woksape Oyate project, and following
2010, Title III grant funds, have enabled the college to support and expand the academies. The pilot
project was successful, with aspects of the hands-on, experiential learning method were incorporated into
the college’s general orientation program; in addition, in 2011, the college added a two-day program
focused on transfer for returning participants that has since become a week-long focus on transfer. Also in
2011, the college began its first week-long summer academy for American Indian high school students.
For logistical reasons, the week -long Nandagikendan Academy for Entering College Students has
primarily served the college’s student-athletes, particularly the Thunder football team. These students
mandatorily come to campus during the second week of August. Since 2012, the college has implemented
a second academy for entering students who will be living in the dorms. This has been equally successful;
however, the college is unable to make it mandatory, and thus, “scaling up” has been a challenge.
The three dimensions of the Nandagikendan Academy for Entering College Students are: The Basic Tools
of College Life, Relationship Building/Intercultural Communication, and Academic Success, and the
outcomes of which are:
Basic Tools of College Life
Through the Introduction to College dimension of the week’s activities, the cohort will:
1. be able to access and use student e-mail accounts;
2. be able to access and use D2L online course software;
3. be able to access and use their student accounts; and
4. have student ID’s.
Intercultural Communication/Relationship Building
At week’s end, students will:
1. identify three connections they have made with three other students and three connections with faculty
or staff; and
2. create and publicly perform a play or other performance-based activity that captures what they have
126
learned or are experiencing at the college or in the community.
Academic Success
1. Ninety percent of the cohort will be retained through the drop/add period.
2. Eighty percent of the cohort will be retained through spring.
Throughout the week, students are introduced to classroom basics, such as explanations of and
expectations regarding syllabi, attendance, and classroom behavior. They are introduced to college-level
writing, math, and science, as well as the Desire2Learn learning management software. The students send
an e-mail from their student e-mail accounts, print a class schedule from their student accounts, and
receive their student IDs. They take campus and community tours and are shown the resources available
for tutoring and other forms of assistance. Each day, the cohort meets in the afternoon to work on with the
fine arts, be it creating a play, dance, song, chant, or skits; the group decides what they want to do and
then work toward their final public performance. At the end of the week, the students complete a survey
that contains a simple checklist followed by questions that require written answers.
The Nandagikendan Academy for Returning Students focuses on student transfer to a university. The
students explore the universities they are considering, develop a transfer plan, and attend presentations
made by university faculty in the areas of science, math, and English. In the afternoons, they join their
entering student peers, as mentors and participants, to take part in performance piece of the academy for
entering students.
The colleges academies for entering and returning college students have consistently met their basic
goals: Retention through the drop/add period has been over ninety-percent, and fall to spring retention has
exceeded eighty percent. Fall to fall retention of student athletes has risen from nine percent before 2010
to fifty percent, which mirrors that of the general student population. Intercultural communication and
relationship building since the inception of the academies has reduced student behavioral issues. The twoyear graduation rate of Nandagikendan participants has exceeded, overall, thirty percent, and focusing
only on those students who have stayed at FDLTCC, the rate has exceeded sixty-five percent (see
Nandagikendan 2013ER in the Presentation folder under Teaching and Learning in the electronic resource
room). Since 2010, the Thunder football team has had eighteen students receive MCAC conference
academic honors and one receive the honor of Academic All American. At least thirty football players
have transferred to universities from FDLTCC, and one, Kevin Eugene, received the Walter Payton
Achievement Award while at Mississippi Valley State University in 2013 (see
<http://espnevents.com/meac-swac/walter-payton-achievement-award-past-winners/>.
The Nandagikendan Summer Academy for High School Students prioritizes giving American Indian high
school students a taste of college while still in high school, with the goal of increasing high school
retention and completion of American Indian students. During their week-long on-campus stay at
FDLTCC, the students are introduced to college-level math, science, and English, attend presentations
made by American Indian adults who have completed their educations and are now professionals, and
participate in culturally-based activities. Following their week at FDLTCC, the program holds nine
activities, one each month of the school year, to keep the students in touch with college; these activities
are focused on building a sense that attending college can be a realistic goal for them. In 2013 – 2014, 168
127
students participated in the following activities:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Visited University of St. Cloud Campus October (20 students attended)
Visited University of Minnesota Minneapolis Campus NOVEMBER (28 students attended)
Visited University of Minnesota Duluth Campus DECEMBER (30 students attended)
Visited University of Morris Campus January (25 students attended)
Attended Winona Laduke presentation at FDLTCC FEBRUARY (8 students attended)
Native Sky Watchers presentation at the FDL Ojibwe School MARCH (26 students attended)
Indigenous Health & Wellness Conference at University of Madison APRIL (18 students
attended)
Visited Sinte Gleska University in South Dakota, Pipestone Minnesota Museum and quarry &
Mankato Memorial MAY (13 students attended)
At the end of the high school year in 2014, ten students at the Ojibwe School on the Fond du Lac
reservation, nine of whom had been participants of the Nandagikendan Summer High School Academy or
its events. All ten plan to attend college in the fall. One student from FDL graduated with an AA from
FDLTCC and a high school diploma. That student began attending the University of Morris in fall 2014.
One senior at the Ojibwe School dropped out but has committed to return in the fall. In the Cloquet
district there were twenty Native American seniors. Of those, six attended Nandagikendan High School
Academy or its events, and all were planning to attend college. One Cloquet student from the very first
year of Nandagikendan High School Summer Academy graduated with an AA and a high school diploma
and was heading to the University of Minnesota--Morris, one student was going to Lake Superior
College, one student was going to Hamline University, one student was going to the University of
Minnesota--Duluth, and two were attending FDLTCC.
0 - 40 Program
The 0 to 40 program was established in 2008 as what is now called an “intrusive advising” option for
“last-chance” students who might not be admitted elsewhere. The program forms part of the college’s
Satisfactory Academic Progress process, as noted in the Compliance section, in which students who have
a 0.0 GPA, or who are in the vicinity of it, participate in a mandatory two-hour, two times per week
meeting during which they receive a variety of programming, including tutoring, strengths testing, TABE
testing, career counseling, time-management instruction, financial literacy instruction, and time for
studying. The program typically serves fifteen to twenty students per semester. The experience does
change students’ academic success. The average change in GPA increases approximately one grade point,
and on several occasions across the years, students have gone from a 0.0 GPA at the beginning of the
semester to a 4.0
As noted in Table X below, the college examines a variety of data related to the students each semester, a
mix of academic success and Title IV-related data. These data include rate of credits completed (ROC)
and cumulative GPA beginning the program and cumulative GPA completing the program. Also noted
are the students’ attendance behaviors; attributes such as first generation, Pell eligibility and ethnicity;
and financial aid disbursement dates.
128
Cumulative ROC End
Previous Semester ROC
20143 ROC
Race
1st Gen
2.53
2.75
2.44
3.00
3.00
74.5%
34.0%
9.0%
50.5%
58.0%
100.0%
47.4%
32.0%
52.0%
100.0%
37.5%
9.0%
0.0%
50.0%
46.0%
100.0%
100.0%
75.0%
66.6%
100.0%
1
3
6
3
6
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
13
12
12
12
10
Student 6
Student 7
1.43
1.76
1.59
3.00
0.00
1.00
3.00
3.00
74.5%
69.5%
73.0%
89.2%
0.0%
25.0%
66.6%
75.0%
3
3
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
9
12
Student 8
1.41
1.22
0.42
0.75
47.0%
46.0%
23.0%
37.5%
6
Yes
Yes
No
8
Student 9
Student 10
2.14
0.07
2.36
0.97
0.00
0.00
2.36
3.30
58.0%
69.7%
85.7%
28.6%
0.0%
0.0%
78.6%
100.0%
3
3
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
14
13
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
0.00
1.07
1.43
1.44
1.85
1.75
3.42
4.00
1.48
2.50
2.10
2.07
0.00
0.00
2.37
0.00
0.84
1.33
3.42
4.00
1.40
2.50
3.18
3.27
75.8%
51.3%
65.8%
40.0%
69.6%
75.0%
80.5%
100.0%
64.7%
66.6%
74.0%
79.7%
0.0%
0.0%
100.0%
0.0%
53.8%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
78.9%
100.0%
100.0%
6
3
6
3
6
3
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
7
17
10
12
11
11
1.38
2.34
0.72
2.74
57.6%
70.0%
27.8%
7
44%
11
12
13
14
15
16
Averages
86.1%
Color
Differences
Cum
GPA
0.96
Sem
GPA
2.02
Cum
ROC
12.3%
Sem
ROC
58.4%
129
1st
Gen
14
88%
Pell
12
75%
Retained
Average
Credits
14
88%
11.4
to end
to end
to end
to end/libr
to end/libr/cl
to end/late
start
to end/libr
to
end/sporadic
to
end/libr/tutor
to end
to end
sporadic
to end libr/cl
12/2/13
11/20/13
10/23 sporadic
to end
Financial aid release
date
Cumulative ROC Beg
0.93
3.00
0.00
0.50
1.15
Last date of attendance
0-40
20143 GPA
2.53
2.81
2.44
1.98
3.00
20143 Credits Taken
Previous Semester GPA
1.74
2.85
0.00
1.58
1.53
Retained to 20145
Cumulative GPA END
1
2
3
4
5
ID
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Pell
Cumulative GPA BEG
TABLE 18. EXAMPLE OF 0 – 40 DATA COLLECTION, FALL 2014
12/2/13
10/1/13
10/3/13
9/25/13
10/22/13
10/22/13
1/2/14
12/2/13
10/22/13
10/1/13
10/22/13
10/1/13
1/2/14
11/20/13
10/14/13
1/2/14
FDLTCC demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs through processes of
evaluation in its teaching and learning environment. The faculty have developed a line of consistent work
since 2009 that indicates the assessment of the college’s general education curriculum and efforts to
improve and refine both the curriculum and how the effectiveness of the curriculum is measured. The
institution has invested in that line of work through its decision making processes, making significant
purchases and hires that advance the faculty’s efforts and also advance the institution’s capacity to serve
its student body and, additionally, its communities and other stakeholders. The college’s emphasis on
student success is demonstrated by its efforts since 2009 to improve retention through unique and focused
programming, efforts that reach its immediate student body and also the young people who will form the
college’s future student population.
130
CRITERION 5 RESOURCES, PLANNING, AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Criterion Five. Resources, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness
The institution’s resources, structures, and processes are sufficient to fulfill its mission, improve the
quality of its educational offerings, and respond to future challenges and opportunities. The institution
plans for the future.
5.A. THE INSTITUTION’S RESOURCE BASE SUPPORTS ITS CURRENT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND
ITS PLANS FOR MAINTAINING AND STRENGTHENING THEIR QUALITY IN THE FUTURE.
Subcomponent 1: The institution has the fiscal and human resources and physical and technological
infrastructure sufficient to support its operations wherever and however programs are delivered.
Subcomponent 2: The institution’s resource allocation process ensures that its educational purposes are
not adversely affected by elective resource allocations to other areas or disbursement of revenue to a
superordinate entity.
Subcomponent 3: The goals incorporated into mission statements or elaborations of mission statements
are realistic in light of the institution’s organization, resources, and opportunities.
Subcomponent 4: The institution’s staff in all areas are appropriately qualified and trained.
Subcomponent 5: The institution has a well-developed process in place for budgeting and for monitoring
expense.
Fiscal Resources
State appropriations, tuition revenue, and grant revenue are the main sources of revenue for Fond du Lac
Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC). The MnSCU (MnSCU) System receives funding from the
Minnesota state legislature and then in turn allocates it to colleges and universities within the system. The
allocation is based on a complex formula that includes FYE, square footage, instructional costs and
several other factors. Due to declining state support, FDLTCC relies increasingly on tuition.
In 2013, the MnSCU Chancellor mandated a freeze on tuition to address the access and affordability
issue, as well as to place the System’s institutions in a stronger competitive position among other higher
education institutions in Minnesota. Since FY13, and continuing at least through FY15, the base tuition
rate is $158.90. The following fees are charged per credit to the students:
• State Student Association Fee
$ .31
• Technology Fee
$8.00
• Parking (excludes on-line courses)
$1.00
• Student Life Fee
$7.00
As a result, the regular tuition and fee cost per credit is $175.21. FDLTCC has approval to charge a
differential tuition rate for some program classes in order to accommodate higher costs, which was
discussed in the Compliance section of this report. Examples of courses charged the higher rate include:
131
nursing lab and clinical classes, law enforcement skills classes, and science lab classes. A schedule of
courses that carry a differential tuition rate is available to students in hard copy form and online at
<http://fdltcc.edu/wp-lib/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Tuition-Rate-Sheet-2014-2015.pdf>.
MnSCU’s Finance Division will collect and analyze data from member colleges. One piece of data
reviewed is the Composite Financial Index (CFI). The CFI is the sum of four component ratios: Primary
Reserve Ratio, Return on Net Assets Ratio, Viability ratio and Operating Margin and forms a
methodology for creating one overall measurement of the College’s financial health. It also aids in
assessing future financial viability for the college. Table 19 shows FDLTCC’s CFI for the past seven
years; FDLTCC has been in a good range for the past four years:
Table 19: FDLTCC’s CFI, 2007 - 2014
Ratio
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Primary Reserve
0.05
0.06
0.21
0.35
0.68
0.96
1.06
1.07
Return on Net
Assets
0.17
2.00
1.73
0.26
0.82
0.37
0.17
-.08
Viability
0.08
0.05
0.14
0.28
0.62
0.96
1.23
1.44
Operating Margin
-.10
-0.10
0.53
0.05
0.70
0.47
.13
-.18
CFI
0.20
2.01
2.61
0.93
2.82
2.76
2.59
2.25
Through its budgeting process, the college has established the Board required reserve and has built a
healthy fund balance. MnSCU Board Policy 5.10.1 mandates a minimum reserve of five percent as
indicated in Part 4 Level of Reserves: “Any college or university with a general fund reserve below five
(5) percent shall report to the Vice Chancellor-Chief Financial Officer information on current fiscal
conditions with a detailed plan to achieve a minimum level.” The chart below demonstrates the college
has been budget conscious and committed to building the reserve over the past several years. This
information can also be found at the following MnSCU site: <http://www.hr.mnscu.edu/data_
management/Institution%20Profiles/index.html>.
Table 20: FDLTCC’s Reserve Funds, 2008 - 2014
FY2008
FY2009
FY2010
FY2011
FY2012
FY2013
FY2014
0.00%
1.70%
5.50%
7.00%
7.20%
7.00%
7.00%
Additional Accountability Measures:
•
MnSCU requires all institutions to meet annually for a “Trends and Highlights” conversation with
representatives from the system office’s Finance Division. Key administrators and staff from four or
five colleges meet with MnSCU staff. Reports from each site include analysis of the previous year’s
financial activity and future projections. Enrollment, curriculum and programming and financial
132
viability are also reviewed.
•
MnSCU’s management reports allow system-wide comparison among all institutions. Financial
information on these reports include: Projected Fund Balance, Current Funds Revenue and
Expenditures, and Enrollment. The reports can be found at <www.mnscu.edu/reportanddataservices
/management reports/finreports.php>. This data can only be accessed from a MnSCU location;
however, FDLTCC will gladly provide access for the evaluators during the site visit.
•
MnSCU’s Internal Audit department reports directly to the MnSCU Board of Trustees and conducts
periodic audits and reviews of various topics throughout the year. Results are issued and follow-up by
the college, if necessary, will occur. Institutional auditing was discussed in the Compliance section of
this report.
•
A quarterly reporting structure is in place so MnSCU’s Finance Division can monitor activities at
FDLTCC through the CFO Compliance Certification. The certification ensures the System that the
college is in compliance with MnSCU procedures involving financial health. The school’s Chief
Financial Officer completes the form to certify that:
• No bank overdrafts occurred during the preceding quarter
• A SWIFT (State system) to ISRS (MnSCU system) reconciliation has occurred; and
• Timely and complete local bank reconciliations are completed each month of the quarter. A
certification form is sent to a special email address within the system office
(<[email protected]>) for monitoring.
•
FDLTCC has outlined its budget process (see figure 1 below), and it is known campus-wide as the
Budget Wheel. It delineates the duties related to budgeting and the approximate time frame the duties
should be completed. One of the requirements is that a quarterly expenditure vs. budget report be
issued to the campus community. This encourages the college to monitor revenue and expenses and
allows time for changes to be made to the budget in case of enrollment fluctuations. Because
FDLTCC is a smaller campus in MnSCU, enrollment has a significant impact on the revenue stream,
and it is best to plan and make adjustments throughout the year rather than waiting.
133
Figure 1
134
Human Resources
FDLTCC, like many institutions across the country, continues to face declining State support and, thus,
needs to rely increasingly on tuition as a main revenue source. Given this environment, however,
FDLTCC’s budget planning process has yielded sufficient funds to support faculty and staff in a manner
consistent with mission of the college. Personnel levels fluctuate over the course of the school year,
primarily in the credit and non-credit instructional areas, due to enrollment fluctuations. Other staffing
remains at a relatively steady level.
Table 21: FDLTCC Employees by FTE
FY2008
FY2009
FY2010
FY2011
FY2012
Total FTE
106.9
101.3
105.5
107.7
108.4
Instructional Faculty
64.5
60.6
64.0
63.8
63.1
Service and Support
16.6
17.0
18.1
18.8
18.4
Professionals
20.1
17.3
16.7
15.1
16.3
Managers and
Supervisors
1.7
3.3
3.6
4.1
5.0
Administrators
4.0
3.2
3.1
6.0
5.6
FDLTCC’s Institution Profiles, 2009 – 2012 (see Institutional
ProfilesER
folder in the electronic resource room)
Physical Infrastructure
FDLTCC’s facilities are all within twenty-five years of age and are in good condition. The total square
footage of the main campus, dormitories, and the three houses is 186,442 square feet. The most recent
construction project, completing the college’s FDLTCC’s original master facilities plan, added the Lester
J. Briggs Cultural Center and the library expansion (2009). Higher Education Asset Preservation and
Repair (HEAPR) funds have been utilized to update mechanical equipment and for roof replacement. The
two most recent HEAPR projects (2014) were the main campus boiler replacement project and the chiller
replacement. HEAPR funds are approved through legislative action and awarded to the MnSCU system.
Potential campus projects are prioritized and sent to MnSCU’s facilities division for approval and
funding. The granting of these funds helps tremendously in keeping campus facilities up-to-date and safe.
In the case of energy upgrades, there is also potential for energy savings.
Although all buildings are in good condition, there is sometimes inadequate space available for programs
and events. The college completed a new Master Facilities Plan in 2014. The initial planning meetings
were campus-wide and included key community stakeholders. Wishes and needs were then narrowed, and
a group of campus administrators, staff, and faculty met with TDKA, an engineering, architectural, and
planning firm, closely familiar with the college’s original design, to finalize the document. A pre-design
was submitted to MnSCU’s Facilities Division and will ultimately be presented to the MnSCU Board of
135
Trustees for approval. The overall goal of the plan is to extend the East wing of the college’s unique
Thunderbird design for more classrooms, particularly in the area of STEM coursework, and remodeling
parts of the campus for additional Student Services office space. The plan, titled “Wiidookodaadiwin”
(The Place Where We Mutually Help Each Other), will be evaluated and scored in January 2015 (see
FDLTCC 100% PredesignER and the college’s Master Facility Plan under Facility Planning in the
Planning folder of the electronic resource room).
MnSCU, as part of its Strategic Framework Metrics, assesses each institution’s facilities status through a
measurement called the “Facilities Condition Index” (FCI). This number reports the dollar amount of
deferred maintenance as a proportion of facility replacement value and is reported on their public
accountability dashboard at <http://www.mnscu.edu/board/accountability/>. The closer the FCI is to 0
percent, the better the facilities condition. Although FDLTCC’s index is near 0, it would be in the
college’s best interest to address any impending facilities issues to avoid any serious problems in the
future. FDLTCC’s FCI since 2008 is shown below:
Table 22: Steward Financial and Physical Resources: Facilities, 2007 - 2011*
Facilities Condition Index
FY 2007
FY 2008
FY 2009
FY 2010
FY 2011
0.00
0.05
0.04
0.04
0.01
Change FY
2007 to
2011
0.01
FDLTCC’s Institutional Profile, 2012 (see Institutional ProfilesER folder in electronic resource room)
A current list of projects in the deferred maintenance backlog are: 1) replace daycare heating/cooling
system, 2) carpet replacement for the main building, 3) air handler upgrade in the 1992 penthouses, and 4)
the student housing boiler replacement. The plans are to seek HEAPR dollars to fund these projects. The
college is also investigating what projects may be funded through the special initiative dollars the system
office has available. Projects that align with the Chancellor’s Strategic Framework goals, for example
those that result in increased enrollment, are closely aligned with workforce development, or leverages
initiative funds with matching funds form a third party, would receive consideration for funding. It is
important that the college continue to monitor conditions of its facilities and plan for future investments
in repair and/or upgrade.
Technological Infrastructure:
FDLTCC’s Information Technology (IT) department maintains all technology on campus (see
Technology Master PlanER in the Planning folder in the electronic resource room). The main software
programs used are prescribed by MnSCU and are used by all other colleges within the system. This
ensures uniform and consistent system-wide reporting and analysis. On-campus policies and procedures
follow MnSCU Board policies 5.23 Security and Privacy of Information Resources (see MnSCU Board
PoliciesER folder in the electronic resource room). Instructional support, financial, and human resources
data is collected and stored primarily using the applications listed below:
•
ISRS: Integrated Statewide Records System. This is an online information system used by all
136
MnSCU institutions for student records, human resources, and financial information.
•
Accounting on the Web: MnSCU Web Accounting is operated by MnSCU and allows for various
accounting transactions and reports.
•
SWIFT: This is a statewide system that integrates the State’s accounting and procurement functions
into a single user interface.
•
SCUPPS: State Colleges and Universities personnel/Payroll System is the information system used to
record specific personnel and payroll information and to process Human Resources and payroll
transactions.
•
SEMA4: The Statewide Employee Management System through which the State’s payroll, human
resources, and benefits system is handled.
•
Desire2Learn (D2L): The online learning management system used throughout the MnSCU system is
provided by MnSCU but administered and supported locally by IT staff.
•
DARS: Degree Audit Reporting System assists students in determining the requirements for
degree/certificate/diploma completion.
•
EMS: The system is hosted by the System Office, supported by FDLTCC campus IT personnel, and
used to manage the scheduling of rooms and vehicles for the campus.
FDLTCC’s IT department collaborates with other colleges on some hosted services as well:
• Higher One: The campus’ financial aid disbursements are processed through a third party: Higher One.
Minneapolis Community and Technical College hosts and administers the database for FDLTCC.
• Document Imaging - Most of the campus’ critical documents from the records area are digitized and
stored in electronic format. FDLTCC works with Minnesota State Mankato, who hosts this service for
the college and stores and performs backups on all documents created at FDLTCC. Other departments
hope to utilize the imaging system in the future. Human Resources is currently starting to image their
records.
The campus IT staff maintains access to these server-based systems for employees and students. They
also maintain email accounts for students, faculty, and staff that are hosted by Google. Acceptable use of
email and computer resources is governed by MnSCU Board policies 5.22 and 5.22.1; the college’s email
policy can be found at <http://fdltcc.edu/about-us/policies-reports/academic-campus-policies/emailaccount-policy/>. The IT department maintains a gigabit fiber backbone throughout the campus as well as
high-speed data connections to desktops. The department also is responsible for a Voice over IP phone
system that operates over these data lines. All classrooms are equipped with high-definition video and
audio, as well as computers, Apple TVs, Air Media devices, document cameras, and projection systems.
The budget process at FDLTCC revolves around student learning. The budget request forms sent to
staff/faculty ask that budget requests be prioritized and that an explanation of how student learning would
137
be affected if the request was not funded be recorded on the form. Budget planning is three years out and
efforts are made to prioritize in instructional areas.
Budget impacts are discussed throughout the various planning processes across campus. The budget
committee is informed of budget issues at the regular meetings and input is sought for revenue increasing
and expenditure decreasing suggestions. For agenda and minutes of budget committee meetings, see the
Meeting MinutesER folder in the electronic resource room. The college will also seek specific grant
opportunities that could provide funds for purposes related to FDLTCC’s mission.
The planned budgeting process, as outlined in the Budget Wheel in figure 1, keeps the college on track
and avoids arbitrary decision-making on spending. The current Funds Expenditure Summary for FY14
report is shown below and indicates the college’s resource allocations. The expenditures for education
purposes—a combination of the Instructional and Academic Support categories—exceed those in other
areas. This is also reflected in the actual expenditure per FYE column. In those two categories (Instruction
and Academic Support), the total spent per FYE was $4,808 which is more than sixty-two percent of the
total. This demonstrates that FDLTCC’s expenditures are focused to support the student learning process.
Category
Instruction
Table 23: FDLTCC’s Resource Allocation, FY14
% of
% of
Current
YTD
YTD
Budget
Budget
Actual
Actual
47.30%
4,641,465
4,352,085
45.50%
Actual $$
per FYE
$3,478
Institutional Support
17.30%
1,698,295
1,507,679
15.80%
$1,205
Academic Support
13.00%
1,277,420
1,664,231
17.40%
$1,330
Student Services
10.80%
1,057,271
935,759
9.80%
$748
Physical Plant
10.40%
1,020,507
1,104,457
11.50%
$883
Research
0.60%
62,200
45,699
0.50%
$37
Scholarships/FA
0.50%
47,117
41,445
0.40%
$33
Supporting the Mission: Finances and Personnel
The mission of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is to provide higher education opportunities
for its communities in a welcoming, culturally diverse environment. To achieve this mission, the college
will:
• Promote scholarship and academic excellence through transfer and career education, and provide
access to higher education by offering developmental education.
• Respectfully promote the language, culture and history of the Anishinaabeg.
• Provide programs which will celebrate the cultural diversity of our community and promote global
understanding.
• Promote a sense of personal respect and wellness.
• Provide technological opportunities and experiences, preparing students for the future.
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• Provide programs and baccalaureate degrees that fulfill our commitment to American Indian
communities, our land grant status, and the union of cultures.
In order to better meet this mission since 2009, the college worked hard first to build up resources to meet
the MnSCU Board -required reserve level and create a healthy fund balance available for emergencies, as
noted earlier in this section.
As discussed throughout this document, FDLTCC invests significantly in its instruction and academic
support areas. The college provides a variety of programming focused on learning, teaching, and
community engagement, and it has also leveraged its Land Grant status and been successful in receiving
grant awards to further support the college’s mission. These funds have been used in particular to promote
the college’s partnership with the Fond du Lac Reservation and to support efforts to improve student
success through programs for college and high school students, such as the Nandagikendan (“Seek to
Learn”) academies, Native Skywatchers, the FDLTCC Rocket Club, NASA/EMARE programming, and
the Student Ambassadors program (see core component 3E). The college has also used grant funds to
invest in technology that can be used in classrooms and in the community for training sessions; in
addition, the college has used such funds to update the IT infrastructure throughout the college.
The college has also focused its resources on the continued development and improvement of the
institution, particularly in its attention to a variety of planning activities and accreditation-related work.
For the past five years, the college has sent faculty teams, in addition to administration, to the annual
meeting of the Higher Learning Commission. It has made significant investments in better organizing its
assessment process by purchasing appropriate technology and adjusting faculty assignments to focus on
developing a sound and efficient process; and the college has invested in professional accreditationrelated training by experienced and reliable consultants for the campus community. In addition, the
college has focused financial resources on private accreditation projects in its Nursing, Business, and
American Indian Studies programs, as noted previously in this document.
The initiatives mentioned above, as well as those discussed in other portions of this document,
demonstrate the college’s ability to realistically support its mission and goals.
The college’s staff, faculty, and administration are the force that bring the mission and goals to life on a
daily basis. Hiring represents a significant investment not only in terms of finances but in the future
development of the college. At the time of a job vacancy on campus, the position description is reviewed
to ensure all duties are adequately included in the job description. At the same time, the minimum
qualifications for the position are also reviewed. Many of the qualifications are prescribed by the job
classification as established by the collective bargaining process and as accepted by the State of
Minnesota. FDLTCC has four bargaining units on campus: American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), Middle
Management Association (MMA), and Minnesota State Colleges Faculty (MSCF) (see Union
AgreementsER folder in the electronic resource room for copies of each agreement). The qualifications
may include educational credentials, work experience, licenses or certifications, and skills and knowledge
in particular areas.
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The president appoints a search committee chairperson who then organizes a group for the interview
process. The committee is put together keeping in mind gender and racial equity and representation from
the collective bargaining units on campus. The Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) monitors the
activity of the committee.
After the position description is finalized on campus, it is sent to MnSCU’s Human Resource Division for
review. The campus can request a certain job classification, and that request may or may not be approved,
based on the guidelines or specifications established by the Minnesota Department of Employee Relations
(DOER).
Minimum credentials for faculty members are established and monitored at the MnSCU system office.
Minimum qualifications for all credentialed categories are accessible on the MnSCU web site at
<http://www.cfc.mnscu.edu/fields/Code/credentials.php?action=list> and fall under MnSCU Board Policy
3.32 and 3.32.1 (see MnSCU Board PoliciesER folder in the electronic resource room).
All job applicants apply online through the Neo.gov system. The CHRO facilitates the hiring process.
This ensures that all applicable State and Federal laws and local and system policies are followed. The
committee reviews all applicants and decides which candidates to call in for an initial interview based on
the minimum qualifications and other pertinent skills as listed on the position description. The committee
forwards finalists’ names to FDLTCC’s president who interviews the final candidate(s). The president
may seek advice from the search committee before the final decision on the hire is made. The candidates’
understanding of the college’s mission and uniqueness is of central importance throughout the hiring
process.
When the employee is hired and begins the job, there is an initial meeting with the CHRO to complete
new-employee paperwork. FDLTCC supervisors receive supervisory and leadership training through the
MnSCU system office, and the new employee’s supervisor provides orientation and trains the individual
in specific job duties and tasks. All new employees hired in supervisory positions attend the required
MnSCU training sessions. All staff and faculty are encouraged by the president and their supervisors to
take advantage of workshops, conferences and other professional development activities. Professional
development funds are provided through contract-mandated faculty development funds, the college’s
general fund, and currently, through Title III grant opportunities.
Performance reviews are conducted by supervisors and are kept on file by the CHRO. Employees are
evaluated according to the structures mandated by the individual collective bargaining units on campus.
The president is evaluated annually by the Chancellor of the MnSCU system (see Presidents Work Plan
2012 2014ER under Planning in the electronic resource room). Any disciplinary actions taken against an
employee are governed by processes stipulated in the employee’s collective bargaining unit. The MnSCU
system office HR office provides support services for supervisors in the system, including an easy-access
“supervisor’s toolkit” that includes forms and advice regarding performance evaluations, disciplinary
actions, and professional development planning with employees (see <http://www.hr.mnscu.edu/
talent_management/Supv_Toolkit/Supervisory%20Toolkit.html>).
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Monitoring the Budget
As noted earlier in this section, since 2009, FDLTCC has practiced a broad-based, participatory budget
process and has been operating according to the budget wheel previously illustrated. The process is
clearly defined, and the tasks are listed in the approximate time frame they must be completed. The Chief
Financial Officer is in charge of overseeing this process. The MnSCU Finance Division also monitors the
overall budgeting process and sets deadlines for each campus to provide information for presentation to
and approval from the MnSCU Board of Trustees.
On a smaller campus such as FDLTCC, fluctuations in enrollment can have a significant impact on the
budget. For that reason, the budget is monitored throughout the year so any necessary adjustments can be
made. Quarterly expenditure vs. budget reports are prepared and sent out to the campus community for
review. This is an important piece of the budget process because it also provides monitoring by
individuals other than the finance staff, increases transparency, and reduces conspiracy theories that can
arise related to organizational budgeting. In FY14, enrollment was down by roughly five percent. As a
result, both the revenue and expense side of the budget was reduced by approximately $100,000 in
January 2014. This type of review process ensures that spending is limited and eliminates potential
surprises by being proactive rather than reactive at the end of the fiscal year.
FDLTCC’s budget committee plays a significant role in the budget process. The committee is made up of
administrators, faculty, and staff from various bargaining units. They have become knowledgeable about
the budget process and help in the overall communication process with the rest of the campus
constituencies. The committee’s specific charges are:
•
Liaison to college community. The group members will gather information from co-workers to
address at committee meetings. In addition, the members will serve as resources to the College
community in answering questions that may arise.
•
Monitoring of budgets. The committee will work with the College’s Chief Financial Officer in
the reviewing/monitoring of progress toward budgeted dollars. The monitoring will include both
revenues and expenses.
•
Advisement to the Leadership Committee. The committee will review the budget presented by the
Chief Financial Officer and provide input/recommendations to the Leadership Committee. In
addition, reporting of revenue and expense progress will be presented.
•
Calendar creation. The committee will gather data, such as revenue projections, enrollment, and
tuition rates, from the Office of the Chancellor and college pertaining to timetables of reporting.
Standard items discussed at every Budget Committee meeting are: Budget update, enrollment, and grants.
Other relevant topics of the time are also included on the agenda. There are currently co-chairs of the
committee, and they are charged with establishing the meeting dates and the agendas. The committee
meets bi-monthly on average; however, if any important information regarding the budget comes up, a
meeting is called to discuss the matter. For meeting agenda, meeting minutes, and reports, see Budget
Committee in the Meeting MinutesER folder. In fall 2014, FDLTCC’s budget committee received the
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Outstanding Service Award from the MnSCU Chancellor’s office in recognition of their work.
Budget discussions are held during campus duty days, Student Services meetings, and at Shared
Governance meetings. Updates on budget status, enrollment, and grants are also given at these meetings,
and input is asked for regarding ways to increase revenue and cut expenses. FDLTCC’s operating budget
is posted annually in the public hallway near the business office. It is a transparent, open process that has
contributed to a positive impact on the college’s financial status.
5.B. THE INSTITUTION’S GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES PROMOTE EFFECTIVE
LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT COLLABORATIVE PROCESSES THAT ENABLE THE INSTITUTION TO
FULFILL ITS MISSION.
Subcomponent 1: The governing board is knowledgeable about the institution; it provides oversight of the
institution’s financial and academic policies and practices and meets its legal and fiduciary
responsibilities.
Subcomponent 2. The institution has and employs policies and procedures to engage its internal
constituencies—including its governing board, administration, faculty, staff, and students—in the
institution’s governance.
Subcomponent 3: Administration, faculty, staff, and students are involved in setting academic
requirements, policy, and process through effective structures for contribution and collaborative efforts.
As noted in Criterion 1, the MnSCU system is governed by a fifteen member Board of Trustees appointed
by the Governor of the State of Minnesota. The Board has policy responsibility for system planning,
academic programs, fiscal management, personnel, admission requirements, tuition and fees, and rules
and regulations. The Board of Trustees’ powers are outlined in Minnesota State Statute 136F.06: Powers
and Duties:
The board shall possess all powers necessary to govern the state colleges and universities and all related
property. Those powers shall include, but are not limited to those enumerated in this section. The board shall
prescribe conditions of admission, set tuition and fees, approve programs of study and requirements for
completion of programs, approve the awarding of appropriate certificates, diplomas, and degrees, enter into
contracts and other agreements, and adopt suitable policies for the institutions it governs. To the extent
practicable in protecting statewide interests, the board shall provide autonomy to the campuses while holding
them accountable for their decisions. < https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=136F.06>
Presidents of colleges in the MnSCU system report to the MnSCU Chancellor, who reports to the MnSCU
Board of Trustees who, in turn, are accountable to the Minnesota State Legislature and, ultimately, to the
taxpayers of Minnesota.
Though the Board of Trustees delegates the management of the institution to each college president in
order to promote effective leadership and autonomy, the Board is granted all powers necessary to govern
the colleges, and is knowledgeable about each college. Below are a few examples that illustrate the nature
of the Board of Trustees’ involvement with each individual college:
•
Financial reports are sent to the System’s Office on a scheduled basis to keep the Chancellor and
the Board of Trustees informed of various financial information. Examples of such reports
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include: Reserves, spending, revenues, enrollment and other relevant financial information.
•
The system office and Board of Trustees review facility usage, cost per square foot, and other
facilities related matters for each MnSCU college. All building or major improvement projects go
through an exhaustive process that ultimately must result in the Board of Trustees approval before
going to the Minnesota State Legislature for approval.
•
The Board has access to information in key areas such as student demographics, retention,
graduation rates, and reviews information on a regular basis, including comparative results with
other MnSCU institutions that are available to them via the system’s management reports system,
as well as the public Accountability Dashboard.
•
The missions of individual colleges are reviewed according to schedule by the Board pursuant to
policy 3.24 (discussed in Criterion 1 of this document).
•
College presidents are hired and approved by the Board of Trustees
In addition to the more formal interactions noted above, the Board of Trustees hears from individual
colleges at their meetings during presentations regarding topics and issues of special interest; for example,
FDLTCC has been involved in presentations regarding the system’s American Indian student population,
the college’s re-design of its developmental education courses, and discussions of the achievement gap.
The college has also played a role on system-level committees that report to the Board, such as the
system’s Academic Policy Council and in system-level meetings regarding 60-credit caps on AS degree
programs in law enforcement and nursing programs and associated waivers (also discussed in the
Compliance section of this report). Individual Board members typically travel around the system and visit
campuses, and individual Board members also attend commencement ceremonies and address the
graduates.
The Board of Trustees, through the Chancellor, is also indirectly informed about FDLTCC via the
Northeast Leadership Council (NLC), which is a collection of the four presidents from the nine two-year
institutions in MnSCU’s Northeast region: FDLTCC, Lake Superior College, Pine Technical and
Community College, and the colleges of the Northeast Higher Education District (Rainy River,
Vermillion, Hibbing, Mesabi, and Itasca community colleges). NLC meets on a regular basis to discuss
regional and system-related matters that affect the group. Through the Northeast Alliance of Chief
Academic Officers, a collection of the nine CAO’s from the region’s college, the presidents are kept
informed about the colleges’ academic collaborations, program development, academic initiatives, and
other academic matters, particularly concerns related to system-level decisions regarding policies and
budgeting. The presidents address concerns and recommendations at their regularly-scheduled, systemwide meetings with the Chancellor.
Another avenue of indirect contact with the Board by FDLTCC comes via system-level administrative
leaders who frequently play a role in system-wide conference calls organized by the vice chancellor of
academic affairs. The calls are typically directed to chief academic and student services officers to inform
and seek input about system-level matters that affect all the campuses in the system. Since 2012, the
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Northeast Alliance of Chief Academic Officers has also sent a representative to the monthly meetings of
the Metro Alliance of Chief Academic Officers, which are attended by various system-level
administrative leaders, to ensure direct input to the system office from the Northeast’s small, rural
colleges.
Tribal Partnership
As noted in the Introduction and in Criterion 1 of this document, FDLTCC is unique in the MnSCU
system given its roots and partnership with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. In 1985,
Mesabi Community College in Virginia, Minnesota, began holding classes at the Ojibwe School on the
Fond du Lac Reservation in Cloquet, Minnesota. Following a feasibility study of the higher education
needs of American Indians and non-American Indians of Carlton County, recommendations were made
for a joint venture between the Fond du Lac Tribal Government and the Arrowhead Community College
Region. In 1987, the Fond du Lac Community College Center was chartered by the Reservation Business
Committee (RBC) of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Operating as an outreach center
of Mesabi Community College, the Fond du Lac Center admitted its first students in the fall 1987.
In 1994, in accordance with Minnesota State Statute 136F.16 Subdivision 1, which states that “a new state
college or university shall be established only by specific legislation,” legislation was drafted that granted
full college status to Fond du Lac Community College. The following year, the college received full
funding from the State of Minnesota and became the nineteenth community college under the governance
of MnSCU. Fond du Lac Community College was given legal authority to operate as a designated
community college under Minnesota State 136F.10
At that time the Minnesota Legislature also wrote into law, Minnesota Statute 136F.12, the college’s
unique mission as a two-year Tribal and Community College which was to serve lower division students
in the immediate area, with a specific focus on serving American Indian students throughout the state,
specifically in northern Minnesota, under the co-governance of the Fond du Lac Tribal College Board of
Directors and the MnSCU Board of Trustees. The college was allowed to become separate from the
Arrowhead Community College Region of MnSCU, and its name was changed to Fond du Lac Tribal and
Community College (FDLTCC).
In 1996, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by the Fond du Lac Tribal College Board
of Directors and the MnSCU Board of Trustees. Since that time, in accordance with the legislative
mandate and the MOU, these boards have provided broad oversight to FDLTCC within the parameters of
their obligations to the State and the Tribe. Cooperation would be shared in developing accounting and
reporting processes, academic and career programs, and consultation with the Tribal Board when filling
senior positions. A copy of the MOU will be available in the resources room.
In the years prior to 2005, while functioning as a single unit in its institutional culture, FDLTCC
maintained separate records regarding the Tribal and Community College dimensions of the institution.
All band-enrolled American Indian students were part of the Tribal College, which facilitated compliance
with the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) enrollment quotas stating that fifty percent plus one of the
student enrollment must be American Indian to receive BIA funds. This approach had been acceptable
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(although questioned by the BIA) in previous years.
In 2005 a BIA team evaluated the campus on the basis of nine criteria used to establish an institution’s
right to receive funds for American Indian students. That team found that FDLTCC met eight of the nine
criteria. The evaluators found FDLTCC lacked in the percentage of American Indian students in the
overall campus population and did not reach the fifty percent plus one enrollment of Indian students as
required. The BIA then decided that as long as the college was accredited as a single entity, and not as
two separate institutions, the American Indian student head count could not be separated from the total
student population, and funding from the BIA ceased.
What ensued was a lengthy discussion across several years as to what this all meant in regards to the
direction FDLTCC would take in terms of the Tribal College Board of Directors, the MnSCU Board of
Trustees, and the campus itself. It was concluded that all wanted to continue to serve their students
through their successful single, regionally accredited institution. Discussions led also to consideration of
an addendum to the existing MOU which would allow the FDLTCC partnership to continue while the
Tribal Board explored setting up a new and separate tribal technical college.
In 2009, the Addendum to the MOU between the Fond du Lac Tribal College Board of Directors and the
MnSCU Board of Trustees was signed. This addendum takes into account that “the process for obtaining
separate accreditation for a new Tribal technical college will take a number of years to complete and that
while separate accreditation is pursued, it is in the best interests of the students to continue to maintain
their shared accreditation of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College by coordinating programs,
functions, operations and activities and sharing resources and facilities.” It goes on to discuss the
coordination of grants, accounting, financial reporting, and recordkeeping as well as budgets.
In 2013, Addendum #2 of the MOU between the Tribal Board of Directors and the MnSCU Board of
Trustees was approved. In terms of collaboration, it re-affirms the partnership in terms of grants,
accounting, financial reporting and recordkeeping as well as budgets among other items. MnSCU will
work collaboratively to support the Tribe with “tasks required to pursue separate accreditation” for a
Tribal technical college while designees of the Tribal College Board, MnSCU Trustees, and the Chief
Executive Officer of FDLTCC will continue to meet on a regular basis (see MOUs FDL MnSCUER in the
electronic resource room).
The president of FDLTCC serves as a conduit between the Tribal College Board and MnSCU. He acts as
the chief administrative officer of the college and reports directly to the Chancellor of the MnSCU
system, by whom he is evaluated annually on the basis of his performance related to a campus-specific
work plan which is established annually with the Chancellor. Although the president oversees all aspects
of the college, oversight is also delegated to an administrative team, each member of which reports to the
president.
The administrative team consists of:
Vice President of Academic Affairs: The vice president directly oversees all instructional matters
including, but not limited to, instructional personnel, the college’s transfer curricula, academic programs,
145
instructional support services, and academic services.
Dean of Student Services: The dean oversees the student services area, including personnel in
counseling, advising, admissions, records and registration, financial aid, residential life, student life, and
athletics. Student complaints not related to academics are resolved under this individual’s direction.
Chief Financial Officer: Supervises business services personnel and business and financial operations of
the college.
Staff within the departments mentioned above report to supervisors who report to their designated
member of the administrative team. The administrative team and supervisors regularly meet as a group to
provide updates, discuss pertinent topics and issues, and debrief situations that have recently occurred to
determine how things may have been handled differently. The collaboration at these meetings routinely
leads to changes in processes for different operations at the college.
The president has an open-door policy with all personnel that keeps the line of communication open and
helps facilitate the collaborative process at the college and helps to fulfill the college’s mission. See
below for further explanation of the governance and committee structure in place at FDLTCC.
Although the college president and other upper management personnel serve as primary decision-makers
on campus, the college utilizes a shared governance structure through which its constituent groups give
input on campus matters. The two primary ways in which the college formally engages its internal
constituencies are through its formal committee structures and regular meet-and-confer guidelines
mandated by the bargaining agreements with AFSCME, MAPE, MMA and MSCF. Like all campuses,
the college also forms committees ad hoc to work on special projects or issues on an as-needed basis. The
budget process utilizes regularly-scheduled campus-wide reporting, in which input is encouraged.
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The chart below lists the standing committees within the college that are used in a consultative role to the
college’s administrative team or, in some cases, are charged with making decisions within the scope of
that group’s responsibility. The list does not include ad hoc committees.
Committee/Group
Members
Purpose/Nature of Consultation or
Decision Making
The AASC leads the college’s curriculum
development, revision, and approval
process. It provides direction for the
college president in all matters included
in academic affairs, including academic
policies, award requirements, academic
standards, course and program
components, program review, and the
inventory of course and program
offerings.
Consultative group providing
recommendations to the faculty and
administration in the area of student
learning assessment, course outcomes,
assessment planning, and related
professional development opportunities.
The BAT reviews and monitors reports
on potential campus security issues and
recommends actions to the president as
needed. (See BAT under FDLTCC
PoliciesER in the electronic resource
room)
Decision-making group that establishes
direction and vision through planning and
evaluation of previous results.
Communicates to other groups and
monitors progress on special projects or
initiatives.
Academic Affairs and Standards
Council (AASC) (MSCF contractmandated committee)
2/3 faculty, 1/3
administration and staff.
The VP of Academic Affairs
is a permanent member.
Faculty members are
selected by the faculty
president; administration
and staff are selected by
the VP of Academic Affairs.
Assessment Committee
Faculty
Behavioral Assessment Team (BAT)
Faculty, Counselors, Dean
of Student Affairs, VP of
Academic Affairs, Chief
Financial Officer
President’s Cabinet/Leadership Team
President, CFO, VP of
Academic Affairs, Dean of
Student Services
Budget Committee
CFO, VP of Academic
Affairs, Dean of Student
Services and
representatives from
MSCF, AFSCME, MMA and
MAPE
Consultative group created for the
purpose of financial transparency,
providing input to the College President
regarding aspects of the budget and
financial management of the college.
President, VP of
Academics, CFO, faculty
leadership and other
appointed faculty
The Council makes recommendations to
the college administration on areas such
as: personnel, student affairs, facilities,
fiscal matters, and general matters. This
also is a consultative group that presents
views of faculty and recommendations to
College President.
Shared Governance Committee
(MSCF contract-mandated committee)
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FDLTCC Foundation Board
College president,
president’s executive
assistant, college staff, and
community business
leaders.
Lends support to the financial
development of the college through the
influence its members. Educates the
community on the value of FDLTCC and
seeks financial support from outside
sources for special .projects and
initiatives.
Alliance for Sustainable Education
Environmental Institute
director and various
members from the college
and community.
An advisory group guiding the college on
environmental sustainability issues and
on building into the college a greater
focus on environmental sustainability.
Program Advisory Committees
Program faculty, students,
industry representatives
and potential employers,
and pertinent staff
The advisory groups provide input to
programs and recommendations on
topics such as curriculum development,
employment opportunities, industry
trends, and other matters pertinent to the
specific program.
Safety Committee
Physical Plant director and
members from various
college faculty and staff.
An advisory group that provides
information on topics related to campus
security issues and recommendations for
and implementation of improvements.
Self-Study Steering Committee/
Institutional Effectiveness Committee
VP of Academic Affairs,
CFO, faculty, staff, and
community members
Student Services Group
Dean of Student Services
and SS personnel
Anishinaabe Student Council
Student Senate
Tribal College Board of Directors
The group provides leadership relating to
the college’s self-study process and
contributes to the writing of the self-study
report for the HLC visit. As a result of the
self-study, the group is transitioning into
an Institutional Effectiveness Committee.
Decision making and leadership team
focused on policies and procedures in
the student services area.
Elected student
representatives
One of two student governing bodies that
play a consultative role in providing input
from students on decisions regarding
college policies, student life activities,
tuition and fees and any topic of concern
from FDLTCC students
Representatives are
appointed by the Fond du
Lac Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa tribal
government.
Provides consultation in matters relating
to partnership between FDLTCC and
Tribal College. Communications center
around how to provide the best education
possible to Indian students, grant
opportunities that will benefit both
partners, and other matters relevant to
the partnerships.
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5.C. THE INSTITUTION ENGAGES IN SYSTEMATIC AND INTEGRATED PLANNING.
Subcomponent 1: The institution allocates its resources in alignment with its mission and priorities.
Subcomponent 2: The institution links its processes for assessment of student learning, evaluation of
operations, planning, and budgeting.
Subcomponent 3: The planning process encompasses the institution as a whole and considers the
perspectives of internal and external constituent groups.
Subcomponent 4: The institution plans on the basis of a sound understanding of its current capacity.
Institutional plans anticipate the possible impact of fluctuations in the institution’s sources of revenue,
such as enrollment, the economy, and state support.
Subcomponent 5: Institutional planning anticipates emerging factors, such as technology, demographic
shifts, and globalization.
As discussed above in section 5A, FDLTCC’s resource allocation is aligned with the college’s mission
and prioritizes instruction and academic support. As well, the budget planning process includes specific
attention to mission and short- and long-term needs.
Both budget and mission are of central importance to all of the college’s major planning and review
processes, and the institution utilizes a wide variety of data to inform such processes. For example, the
academic program review process includes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
alignment with the college mission,
program performance measures,
resources and benefits to the college,
financial analysis,
feedback/evaluation from industry partners, and
labor market information.
The college’s strategic and facilities planning incorporates student success measures, persistence/retention
data and related comparative data within the college’s market area, national survey data from CCSSE and
SENSE, local classroom/program assessment data, enrollment and population trends, and employment
trends. These data are presented to and used by internal and external constituents to inform discussions
and related decision making.
The college engages in a variety of planning processes, the three most broad and primary institutional
plans being budget planning, strategic planning, and facilities planning. Other significant planning
activities include academic, assessment, program, campus security/emergency, and continuous operations
planning. Copies of FDLTCC’s primary plans and related documents, such as handouts, presentations,
and agendas, are found in the PlanningER folder in the electronic resource room.
Strategic planning
When the college completed its 2008-2012 strategic plan, work began anew on setting the institution’s
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direction for the next three years. The 2013 – 2016 plan was put into place in spring 2013. The planning
process included internal and external constituencies, including students, and the planning process
engaged the following activities and unfolded across the following timeline:
WHAT
WHEN & HOW
A) Focus the PLANNING TASK
March 26 - April 20, 2012
1
Identity all existing plans and commitments
2
3
4
Clarify all MnSCU expectations for service and performance
Prioritize the focus questions for planning
Specify and assign the information gathering task and focus for Steps 5&6
B) Assess STRATEGIC INFORMATION
Gather and assess EXTERNAL intelligence
Seek input from stakeholders about current status and future needs
Collect existing, relevant data
Gather and assess INTERNAL intelligence
Seek input from stakeholders current status and future needs
Collect existing, relevant data
C) Determine PRIORITY STRATEGIES
Compile a working report of strategic information to use for plan decision-making
Develop draft strategic directions and goals in a planning retreat
Refine draft strategic directions and goals and get suggestions for implementation
process and roles
D) Develop IMPLEMENTATION STEPS
5
6
9
10
11
11.
12
13
Develop a strategic action plan that implement strategies across the college
Identify roles and approaches for plan implementation
Initiate and celebrate commencement of a new phase of FDLTCC development
Planning Work Group
Planning Consultant
April 20 - May 11, 2012
Led by External information team
Led by Internal information team
December 12-April 9, 2013
Planning Consultant
Fond du Lac Forum: All staff and faculty
invited to participate
April 9 - 24, 2013
CEO, CFO, CAO and Supervisors
The process was followed according to plan, the results of which are discussed in Strategic Plan 2013 2016ER found in the Planning folder in the electronic resource room. A snapshot of the plan is as follows:
150
STRENGTHS
Internal Assessment:
Strong student life and service
Improved student readiness and
retention
External Assessment:
Cross-cultural, student centered
college
Cost-effective education
Education of all ages
Quality of the student population
All ages of community connecting
with the college
Working relationships with the tribe
Inter-institution and community
connections
Employer-education collaboration
CHALLENGES
Assuring student success with more effective
preparation and retention support
Recommendations:
Facilitate student success with a balance of
education rigor and support
Analyze, develop and monitor retention and
completion needs and strategies
Great staff-faculty teamwork in
support of students
Structured a supportive and inclusive
budgeting process
Incorporating planning and
assessment as an important and
“living” tool
Supportive leadership and sense of
direction
Staff and faculty competence,
openness and ability
Strategy A:
Create paths of success for all students
Strategy B:
Decreased performance of high school
graduates
Changing student values and expectations
Recommendations:
Foster student initiative and responsibility for
education and life
Enhance campus learning facilities
Meeting the education needs of multiple
generations and community sectors
Recommendations:
Deliver education that meets key community
needs
Prepare students for success in life and
leadership
Diversify education delivery methods
Outreach to communicate FDLTCC value,
distinction and leadership
Education to support employment in a
competitive market
Getting education for life
Recommendations:
I. Supportive LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Take responsibility for the future of our
community and colleges
Intensify education and employer
collaboration that benefits all – students,
schools employers
Keeping education affordable for students
and our mission funded
Assuring sustainable staffing roles and
capacity to cover all needs
Need to keep up the momentum in
implementing our assessment process
Recommendations:
Innovate new resources to fund education
and keep it affordable
Meet and exceed accreditation requirements
Decreasing affordability of higher education
Taking responsibility as educators across the
community
151
II. Diverse COMMUNITY EDUCATION
Strategy C:
Offer academic programs to meet diverse
learner needs
Strategy D:
Expand community partnerships in
learning and education
III. Education SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Strategy E:
Assure college longevity, continuity,
capacity and accountability
There are three primary strategic directions focused on creating and enhancing a supportive learning
environment; expanding and offering a diverse community education; and assuring education support
systems. The intent and objectives of each direction are outlined below:
Supportive LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Strategy A: Create paths of success for all students
Intent: Provide multi-faceted support programs for our diverse student population in a respectful,
welcoming learning environment that can be measured by a safe campus and high graduation,
retention and transfer rates of students.
Related objectives and intents:
Fortify positive learning environment to meet range of backgrounds – generational, cultural and
learning styles
Treat people as people with a campus climate that make students, faculty and staff feel
connected
Continue and expand level of excellence in student services
Empower students to pursue education, career and quality of life
• Recognize student strengths and challenges and provide customized skill development
• Create student “sense of urgency” to plan, complete, and apply their education to life and
future and career
• Help students transition by teaching job-seeking skills and prepare for next steps after
completing degrees
• Build life skills to ensure student success in education, employment, career, citizenship and
personal life
Emphasize student retention, graduation and transfer to further education
Continue proactive recruitment and enrollment including native and under-prepared students
• Provide mentorship programs for FDLTCC students and K-12 students
• Teach, foster and practice the core values of the college
Strategy B: Enhance campus learning facilities
Intent: Enhance campus learning spaces, technology support and other facilities to meet current and
long-term education needs.
Related objectives and priorities:
Expand the facility to meet current and future needs
Demonstrate environmental sustainability as a core value in campus development
Enhance the physical space and resources to support new directions
Build a writing lab
Develop sustainable resources and funding to maintain a quality learning environment
152
Diverse COMMUNITY EDUCATION
Strategy C: Offer academic programs to meet diverse learner needs
Intent: Attract and retain students; be responsive to the communities we serve; and balance the
duality of students’ backgrounds with external performance requirements.
Balance academic rigor with developmental education needs and goals
Build success for students that are traditionally unsuccessful
Diversify program options
• Implement new academic programs - 2-year degrees, 1-year program, certificates, noncredit courses
• Offer skills, programs and certificates through on-the-job training partnerships
• Develop a 4-year sustainability degree
• Increase and broaden federally funded science and other programs
• Seek out vocational opportunities
Diversity education delivery
• Utilize diverse methods of education delivery including cohorts, online, community
education, etc.
• Offer personalized on-line instruction that increases technology literacy, maintains personal
interaction between students, instructors and staff, differentiates FDLTCC from other
colleges in online instruction, and leads the region in innovation with D2L - online and
hybrid education
Strategy D: Expand community partnerships in learning and education
Intent: Educate to meet community needs.
Evaluate and clarify the role of the college in the community in order to increase services and
contribution
Offer interest-specific community programs and courses and continue college for seniors
Increase school partnerships and communication and build a dynamic pipeline of success from
K-12 to college
Expand education opportunities through partnerships
• Grow established and new collaborations that integrate instruction (ABE, CITS, etc.)
• Be responsive to employers, future industry, future class delivery and future technology
needs
•
Include partners from the county level
153
Education SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Strategy E: Assure college longevity, continuity, capacity and accountability
Intent: Assure college continuity, survivability, growth and development. Ensure the embedded
institutional accountability by making data-driven decisions.
Identify how do we work with community to maintain self-sufficient sustainability
Continue our “extraordinary” history and remain as a stand-alone institution
Maintain an innovative approach to support all learners
Increase and maintain funding for growth and sustainability
Add needed staff and faculty to assure student-centered academic and support services
Become practiced in evaluation and data-driven decisions
Build accountability into all aspects of college operations
• Implement accountability as a way of life through assessment and planning processes
• Demonstrate that students with low skills improve and succeed
• Develop ways to evaluate and demonstrate commitment to and effectiveness of FDLTCC
mission and values
• Provide objective evidence that we do what we say we will do
• Require and enable students to be accountable for their education
Identify how we are defined as a tribal and community college
Assure a successful HLC visit in 2014-15
Based on the intents and objectives of the strategic directions, the college developed its Strategic Action
Plan, which details the specific actions the college has and will be taking between 2013 – 2016 to achieve
the goals. The Strategic Action Plan is found on pages 11 – 14 of the plan (see Strategic Plan 2013 2016ER in the Planning folder in the electronic resource room).
To date, the college is largely on track with meeting its goals. The departure of the vice president of
academic affairs in August 2013, and the subsequent use of an interim vice president during the following
nine months, caused some lag in progress; however, no insurmountable challenges occurred. Some, but
not all, of the achievements to date include:
•
Tutoring was expanded to the dorms.
•
The student ambassadors program has taken hold and has exceeded expectations.
•
The college delivered a successful “All In” respect campaign.
•
The Write Place writing lab was established and is proving to address a need among students.
•
A 3-meal food plan for students was established through the Thunder Deli.
154
•
Curriculum in the corrections programs was revised, and the program is already expanding.
•
College Connect, FDLTCC’s new K-12 learning opportunity, has been created and is running
after a successful first year.
•
The college’s goals regarding faculty involvement in Quality Matters training for online
instructors has been met and is exceeding goals.
•
Ojibwemowining Learning Resource Center has acquired more resources and has become a focal
point for students studying and meeting; in addition, the art and recording resources are being
increasingly sought by the college’s external stakeholders.
•
Work completed on continued definition of the college’s tribal status includes the re-affirmation
of its voting member status in the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, the acceptance
of its eligibility documents and permission to proceed with self study for the accreditation of its
American Indian Studies program by the World Indigenous Higher Education Consortium, and a
new addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding between the MnSCU Board of Trustees
and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa was signed.
Some goals in the action plan, particularly those relying on collaboration with other constituents, have not
been met due to changes in the partnering organizations, such as work in training Head Start employees
for the Fond du Lac Head Start Program; they have not had time to organize the process in their
organization. The nine colleges of the Northeast Region have decided to not pursue a collaborative
community paramedic program at this time.
While the college’s Strategic Plan was designed to set the stage and establish the groundwork for
continued improvement in key areas of college services, the Chancellor’s initiatives and MnSCU’s
Strategic Framework also served as consistent guides during FDLTCC’s planning process. FDLTCC’s
planning efforts were intentionally shaped to include the Chancellor’s three major strategic initiatives:
•
Ensure access to an extraordinary education.
•
Meet Minnesota’s workforce and community needs.
•
Deliver the most cost-effective, highest value education.
The alignment of FDLTCC’s strategic plan with MnSCU’s strategic framework and with FDLTCC’s
mission is illustrated below:
155
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
Ensure access to an
extraordinary education for all
Minnesotans.
Be the partner of choice to
meet Minnesota’s workforce
and community needs.
Deliver to students, employers,
communities, and taxpayers the
highest value/most affordable
option.
FDLTCC STRATEGIC PLAN
Create paths of success for all
students.
Offer academic programs to
meet diverse learner needs.
Expand community partnerships
in learning and education.
Enhance campus learning
facilities.
Assure college longevity,
continuity, capacity, and
accountability.
FDLTCC MISSION
Promote scholarship and academic
excellence through transfer and career
education, and provide access to higher
education by offering developmental
education.
Respectfully promote the language,
culture, and history of the Anishinaabeg.
Provide programs which will celebrate
the cultural diversity of our community
and promote global understanding.
Provide technological opportunities and
experiences, preparing students for the
future.
Provide programs and baccalaureate
degrees that fulfill our commitment to
American Indian communities, our land
grant status, and the union of cultures.
Promote a sense of personal respect and
wellness.
Academic Planning
The mission of Academic Affairs flows from the college’s overall mission to promote scholarship and
academic excellence through transfer and career education, and provide access to higher education by
offering developmental education. In late spring 2011, the college held its initial session with faculty to
develop a strategic academic plan (see Academic Plan 2011ER in the Planning folder in the electronic
resource room). The session was facilitated by a representative from the MnSCU office and examined
past, present, and future trends, as well as existing strengths and challenges. Faculty provided input on a
variety of short- and long-term possible directions (see Summary of First SessionER under Academic Plan
2011 in the Planning folder in the electronic resource room).
The timing of developing an academic plan, however, coincided with the college’s development of its
next institutional strategic plan, as well as its next facilities plan, and work on the academic plan was put
aside to follow the completion of the institutions major plans. The results of the first academic planning
session, however, were used to inform the institutional strategic planning sessions. With the hiring of the
new vice president of academic affairs, a new academic planning process is in place that will incorporate
the college’s strategic plan, budget process, and the assessment process. The new vice president has
created a division plan for academic affairs (see Academic Affairs Plan 2014 – 2016 under Academic
PlanningER in the Planning folder of the electronic resource room), as well as created a form to identify
156
departmental goals prior to the actual academic planning meetings (see Academic Planning FY15 Goal
FormER under Academic Planning in the Planning folder of the electronic resource room).
Facilities planning
The college began laying the groundwork for a new master facilities plan in spring 2011, when a
collection of faculty, staff, and community members from the Fond du Lac reservation and City of
Cloquet met with TKDA architects to brainstorm about the future of FDLTCC’s facilities. Facility
planning is a longer process than the college’s other planning activities because it involves a site visit and
series of reviews, revisions, and approvals from the MnSCU system Facilities office.
The resulting plans, submitted in fall 2013, included a new East wing addition of 27,000 square feet for
Nursing and STEM classrooms and renovations in Student Services, Food Service, and Law Enforcement
spaces. Total costs for these planned improvements was approximately $23 million (see FDLTCC FMP
2013ER under Facilities Planning in the Planning folder of the electronic resource room). In conversations
with MnSCU and college staff, the original project was deemed too large to be successful in seeking
funding from the Legislature during the 2016 bonding bill process. Suggestions from the system office, a
dip in enrollment, settlement of the faculty contract, and other increasing costs contributed to the decision
to reduce the scope of the facilities project to a manageable budget of $7.1 million.
The college began to reshape the plan, focusing on three key areas:
•
The results of two-phase Noel Levitz enrollment management study that indicated the need to
centralize Student Services to assist in the recruitment and retention of students.
•
The hiring of the new vice president of academic affairs who brings the experience needed to
revitalize the development of a baccalaureate degree in Elementary Education and to seek
national accreditation of the college’s existing successful Business program.
•
Employment data indicating opportunities in the region to expand the efforts of Workforce
Solutions and the Tribal College Extension departments to better serve the college’s community
and business partners.
The final project, Wiidookodaadiwin (The Place Where We Mutually Help Each Other): Academic and
Student Services Expansion and Renovation Project, is focused on the college’s commitment to working
with the Fond du Lac Band, the college’s business partners, and student success. The proposed design
will improve Student Services delivery and re-organize offices to accommodate the growth in student
need and the college’s student services programming. The project will also provide space for the college
to focus on workforce development, particularly with the Fond du Lac Band but also with stakeholders
from the local area; this furthers the commitment expressed in the second addendum to the MOU between
the MnSCU Board of Trustees and the Tribe to support the Tribe’s focus on technical education and
workforce development. Consistent with its mission, the new project will provide space for the college to
begin developing a baccalaureate degree in Elementary Education, for which it has legislative approval.
Finally, the project will allow the college to demolish a trailer structure on campus, which has become
outdated and expensive to maintain. The Pre-Design was submitted in fall 2014 (see FDLTCC 100%
157
PredesignER under Facilities Planning in the Planning folder of the electronic resource room) and is
currently being reviewed by MnSCU’s Facilities office.
The college’s major planning processes take into account a variety of external factors that could possibly
affect the financial health of the college or academic opportunity. In projecting financial performance, for
example, planning includes the following factors and assumptions (among many others):
•
Settlement of various statewide bargaining group contracts (all bargaining agreements are
negotiated by external agencies or by the MnSCU System)
•
Enrollment fluctuations based on trends and program-specific enrollment issues which are often
industry-based
•
State appropriation to the college
•
Enrollment of PSEO and concurrent enrollment students
In the college’s most recent strategic planning process, the college utilized a wide variety of data, as noted
above, but listened to input from the following external constituents during the information-gathering
phase:
•
FDLTCC Foundation Board (consists of regional businesspeople, civic leaders, college
personnel, and other external stakeholders),
•
Tribal College Board
•
Fond du Lac reservation community members
•
multiple program advisory committees (consist of representatives from industries and
organizations associated with programs, as well as alumni),
•
industry professionals and representatives from local organizations and businesses, and members
of Chambers of Commerce and local service organizations (Rotary, Kiwanis) in surrounding
communities,
•
prospective students,
•
parents of current and prospective students,
•
local and regional government officials in surrounding jurisdictions, and
•
representatives of surrounding K-12 school districts.
By using a combination of data resources and the local voices of those who either are or want to become
stakeholders in the college’s future, FDLTCC is able to plan in a manner that is sensitive to external risks
and possible opportunities.
158
5.D. THE INSTITUTION WORKS SYSTEMATICALLY TO IMPROVE ITS PERFORMANCE.
Subcomponent 1: The institution develops and documents evidence of performance in its operations.
Subcomponent 2: The institution learns from its operational experience and applies that learning to
improve its institutional effectiveness, capabilities, and sustainability, overall and in its component parts.
Early each calendar year, MnSCU’s Finance Division schedules the Trends and Highlights meetings.
Small groups of three to five colleges gather together along with representatives from MnSCU’s finance
division, to discuss the past year of operations. Topics discussed during these sessions include budget
issues, enrollment, changes that have occurred in the preceding fiscal year, and what items had an impact
on the operating results of the past year. The Trends and Highlights meeting format changed in 2014. The
system’s office provided much of the data for discussion. This contributed to a more uniform discussion
between the colleges and a more consistent sharing of information. The meetings also expanded to
include the Chief Human Resources Officer, Physical Plant Directors, and the Institutional Researcher.
For the past three years an annual financial report has been prepared and distributed to all staff and
faculty. Each report contains evidence on specific financial results from different revenue centers within
the college such as Housing, Bookstore, Continuing Education/Customized Training, etc. A short
narrative explaining what contributed to the results and a graph showing trends is included. This
document records institutional history and will provide a point of reference as staff turnover occurs.
A projected revenue and expense sheet for the master schedule is prepared each semester so decisions can
be made regarding class offerings and in determining which courses to cancel. This report is updated
multiple times prior to the beginning of the semester and is a tool for data-based decision making.
Various other reports are prepared each month and distributed to individuals in charge of programs or
areas to help in decision making and monitoring. These reports include: trial balances, student life
expenditure vs. budget reports, library accounts receivable report, and open commitment reports.
The FDLTCC president continues to make financial transparency a priority. Discussions regarding any
and all aspects of finances are included on meeting agendas. Documentation is found in the various
meeting minutes on file (available in the resources room).
Over the past several years, FDLTCC has used its performance results to plan for the future and make
decisions. Through the strategic planning process and by aligning college goals with MnSCU’s overall
plan, FDLTCC is able to move forward and improve effectiveness throughout the institution. The
information gathered through the different processes, although varied, is used to focus the activities of the
college on meeting its overall vision and mission.
In addition to the planning processes, the college has used other survey instruments, including: SENSE
and CCSSE, graduation surveys, NILIE PACE, and various surveys from Noel Levitz. The college
recognizes the importance of student input. In addition, classroom evaluations are performed by students
and the results are reviewed and discussed with faculty.
Program review activities are an important part of the college assessment activities. A schedule for a
159
consistent rotation of program review has been developed. The college recognizes the importance of
timely and consistent reviews and understands the value of the process. Program advisory boards whose
membership includes faculty, former students, and outside experts in the field are asked for input and
advice on curriculum, program design, and suggestions for improvement. This is very important for each
college program to remain relevant and to ensure graduates are properly trained and employable when
they have completed the program.
The college worked hard over the past five years to increase access through technology for students and
partners. Upgrades to state-of-the-art classroom technology have recently been completed across the
campus. There are also a couple mobile labs so outreach activities can be facilitated. The mobile labs are
configured with lap tops as well as IPads.
The college continues to seek out appropriate grant opportunities to help with funding deficiencies in
certain areas. Potential grant applications are reviewed to determine compatibility with the college’s
mission and vision and also the potential for involvement of its partner, Fond du Lac Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa, before drafting the proposal. Annual program narrative reports are required for a
number of the college’s grants. This provides the opportunity to verify the college is meeting the grant
objectives and spending funds appropriately to meet these goals.
Results of college activities are reviewed and updated annually based on such data. For example, there are
eleven internal control cycles that MnSCU requires colleges to review. The internal control cycles
describe various college processes and document the responsibilities of staff and departments. Examples
of the different cycles include, but are not limited to: Expenses, Capital Assets, Student Billing, Financial
Aid, Employee Payroll, and Grants.
Reviewing this information annually, gives the college a chance to have a discussion amongst the various
departments so all involved know their responsibilities and roles in each process. There is also a risk
assessment performed during the review and mitigating controls are added in areas where there are
inadequate separation of duties.
Another tool the college reviews, is the annual financial report. This is a report out of financial results
from the previous fiscal year. Factors contributing to the results are documented and a future outlook is
also included. This will be good for historical reference as employees leave the institution. New staff can
review what worked and didn’t work to help make decisions for future operations.
Finally, there is the MnSCU Accountability Dashboard that is reviewed on an annual basis and during the
President’s evaluation. The varied metrics indicate how the college is performing and areas which may
need attention. A link to the dashboard is as follows: http://www.mnscu.edu/board/accountability/
Over the past several years, the college has fully embedded the financial processes into the daily activities
of the college. Finances are discussed at various campus constituency meetings. Faculty and staff are
aware of the budget process and what impacts the budget. This has been accomplished through a
consistent message from the president on down. Transparency with regard to all financial activities
continues to be a goal.
160

Self Study Report for 2015 is available in pdf format for viewing and

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