Davidson-Reaffirmation of Accreditation

Compliance
Certification
Core Requirements
2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.7.1 | 2.7.2 | 2.7.3 | 2.7.4 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.10 | 2.11

Quality Enhancement Plan
2.12

Comprehensive Standards
3.1.1 (Mission)

3.2.1 | 3.2.2 | 3.2.3 | 3.2.4 | 3.2.5 | 3.2.6 | 3.2.7 | 3.2.8 | 3.2.9 | 3.2.10 | 3.2.11 | 3.2.12 | 3.2.13 | 3.2.14 (Admin.)

3.3.1 (Effectiveness)

3.4.1 | 3.4.2 | 3.4.3 | 3.4.4 | 3.4.5 | 3.4.6 | 3.4.7 | 3.4.8 | 3.4.9 | 3.4.10 | 3.4.11 | 3.4.12 | 3.4.13 | 3.4.14 (Educational Program)

3.5.1 | 3.5.2 (Undergraduate Program)

3.7.1 | 3.7.2 | 3.7.3 | 3.7.4 | 3.7.5 (Faculty)

3.8.1 | 3.8.2 | 3.8.3 (Library)

3.9.1 | 3.9.2 | 3.9.3 (Students)

3.10.1 | 3.10.2 | 3.10.3 | 3.10.4 | 3.10.5 | 3.10.6 | 3.10.7 (Resources)

Federal Requirements
4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.8

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Compliance Certification Report

Core Requirement 2.5 - Ongoing evaluation and review of programs and services

The institution engages in ongoing, integrated, and institution-wide research-based planning and evaluation processes that incorporate a systematic review of programs and services that (a) results in continuing improvement and (b) demonstrates that the institution is effectively accomplishing its mission.

Judgment of Compliance

Davidson College is in compliance with Core Requirement 2.5.

Rationale for Judgment of Compliance

Davidson College has a systematic, continuous, and effective planning and evaluation cycle that involves all levels of the College and has the College’s Statement of Purpose as its foundation. Davidson’s emphasis on learning and teaching in the liberal arts, its commitment to service, its appreciation of diversity, and its relationship with the Presbyterian Church are all reflected in its planning and evaluation process.

Broadly, five types of indicators are used as part of the planning and evaluation process at Davidson College:

Target. Quantitative objectives.
Benchmark. Accepted standards generally understood to be desirable by experts in a field.
Change over time. Assessment of increases or decreases at a predetermined point each year.
Comparison across institutions. Relationships between measures at Davidson and a set of predetermined peer institutions.
Documentation of effort/successes/opportunities. A gauge of the success of a program’s contribution to the college mission.

Davidson also believes strongly in the role of external reviews in planning and evaluation. All academic departments and programs undergo an external review once every seven years. Administrative offices also participate in the external review process; recent reviews have been completed for the Registrar, Institutional Research, and the Office of Student Affairs. In addition to the peer review process, several administrative offices have also brought in professional organizations to examine their processes within the context of their contribution to the campus community. The College Bookstore and Dining Services were the most recent departments to do so.

The Planning Process:
Although the process is on-going, a good place to begin a summary of planning at Davidson is the annual summer planning retreat during which the President, the vice presidents, the Director of Athletics, and the Director of Planning and Institutional Research meet for an intensive two-day session that looks back over the previous year, assesses where the College has met with success, where there is still work to be done, what changes may need to be made, and what is the best foundation for going forward. Each Vice President and the Director of Athletics is given time during the retreat to present issues and share concerns; the Director of Planning and Institutional Research provides the annual update of the goals in the planning document Foundations of Excellence. The goals were originally established in 1998 as a foundation upon which the College’s capital campaign could be based and the Planning Priorities Group, the committee that crafted the document, had wide representation that included faculty, administrators, staff, and students. The document continues to provide general goals but is more dynamic in nature. At the end of the retreat, broad College-wide goals are set for the upcoming year on which each division may base its more specific goals.

Each division of the College proceeds in its planning and evaluation cycle in ways relevant to the unique nature of each, but all share the College’s philosophy of planning based on research, assessment of goals, and feedback. The context for all planning and evaluation activities is provided by the College’s Statement of Purpose. All assessment activities are taken seriously; it is part of the Davidson culture that every aspect of the campus contributes to the learning environment and, in that respect, no change that benefits it is minor or irrelevant.

Academic Affairs:
Planning for the academic program, by virtue of its being vested in the faculty, is College-wide in scope and consequence. Each academic department engages in planning and review using the Statement of Purpose as a foundation. In the past year, every academic department, including academic administration and support, revisited its mission, its core processes, and its outcome assessment techniques. Some departments (Music and Theatre) have also developed more detailed strategic plans that provide the basis for assessing their success in fulfilling their departmental mission.

A variety of processes have been effective in evaluating how well departments are meeting their educational goals and determining how to address goals left unmet or new issues that arise. The narrative for Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1 details these evaluation processes. Evidence of the effectiveness of planning and evaluation in Academic Affairs may be seen in the examples provided here.

Admissions and Financial Aid:
Broad goals for Admissions and Financial Aid were established in Foundations of Excellence and annual goals are set each year by the Vice President for Admissions and Financial Aid consistent with these long-range, College-wide plans. Admissions and Financial Aid has also participated in the Admitted Student Questionnaire as a way of assessing its success and as a foundation for subsequent planning. At the present time, the Vice President for Admissions and Financial Aid is considering the development of a survey specific to Davidson that may begin in the next admission cycle. Admissions and Financial Aid has also partnered with the Office of Planning and Institutional Research to assess the effectiveness of its communication channels. Changes made as a result of this cross-departmental research have included the examples found here.

Athletics:
The Athletics division meets each year to determine direction for the upcoming year, in part based on feedback from a survey of all varsity athletes conducted at the end of each season. Examples of activities that resulted from this research may be found here.

Business and Finance:
The Vice President for Business and Finance leads her staff through an annual planning process that results in a strategic plan consistent with each department’s mission and the five-year plans for the division. Over the past year, each department completed a survey project that assessed how the general campus viewed its effectiveness. Developed with the assistance of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research, the surveys provided feedback that led to a number of changes. Results also provided part of the foundation for the following year’s strategic planning goals. Examples of changes that were a result of this assessment process include those found here.

College Relations:
The College’s recently completed capital campaign. Let Learning Be Cherished, provided the foundation on which the Vice President for College Relations conducted the annual planning process. Each year goals are established for the Annual Fund based on assessments of the previous year's activities and in conjunction with the controller to ensure that the increase in goal is consistent with the needs of the operating budget planning process. Several departments in College Relations have partnered with the Office of Planning and Institutional Research for projects using the extensive data collection procedures College Relations has developed.

Student Affairs:
Two years ago, the Vice President for Student Affairs led his staff through a planning process that established both goals and learning outcomes for each department. These goals and learning outcomes are evaluated annually using a variety of tools or techniques. Student Affairs has also developed a five-year strategic plan.

Student Affairs also participates in the external review process. In the past 10 years, four departments have been reviewed: College Union, Community Service, the Counseling Center and the Chaplaincy.

Planning and Institutional Research:
In addition to planning in each vice presidential division and Athletics, the Office of Planning and Institutional Research participates in the evaluation cycle through annual surveys of students and broad participation in the development and assessment of evaluation instruments and ad hoc research projects. Participation in the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS) provides Davidson with detailed statistical information (that, by HEDS policy, may only be used in planning activities and cannot be broadcast beyond the consortium membership) that enables the College to track whether it is staying within the good practice standards of institutions with similar missions and resources. Other sources of comparative data include the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, and Cambridge Associates. Davidson also participates in the Cooperative Institutional Research Program survey of incoming students and the College Student Survey that focuses on graduating seniors. Comparative information from these surveys allow the College to monitor change both over time and across similar institutions nationally.

The Director of Planning and Institutional Research is included in the weekly meetings of the College officers—known as the Principal Executive Staff—which includes the President; the vice presidents for Academic Affairs, Admission and Financial Aid, Business and Finance, College Relations, and Student Affairs; and the Director of Athletics. The Director of Planning and Institutional Research also reports directly to the President. As a result of inclusion in these meetings and regular individual meetings with the President, the Director is able to participate in discussions of issues important to the College’s future; to respond quickly with data that can contribute to the decision-making process; and to recognize the effect of these decisions not on a single office or department, but on the College as a whole.

The Office of Planning and Institutional Research recently developed a benchmark document called Vital Signs. In it, a variety of quantitative measures are compared over time for Davidson and across its peer group of institutions with similar missions and resources. Trustees were involved with the determination of what to include and how to compare.

Campus-Wide Committees Involved in Planning:
There are several campus committees charged with planning activities that are institution-wide and whose membership draws from a cross-section of the College. These committees include the Facilities Planning Committee, the Joint Committee on Information Technology, and the Budget Advisory Committee. The College recognizes how important it is that planning for facilities and information technology not take place without due diligence paid to both immediate campus-wide consequence and long-range effect. To that end, the President and vice presidents all serve on the Facilities Planning Committee, and both the Vice President for Business and Finance and the Vice President for Academic Affairs serve on the Joint Committee for Information Technology. The Budget Advisory includes all College officers, the Director of Planning and Institutional Research, the Comptroller, and support staff from Business Services. All major planning committees include faculty.

Finally, the budget process at Davidson College is linked to planning and evaluation at each step. The process is described in detail in Budget Planning Process at Davidson College.

The Next Planning Cycle:
Davidson values the level of communication that takes place among its officers. The President meets with the Principal Executive Staff as a group every week and with each officer individually every other week. Once a month, the Principal Executive Staff meets for an afternoon of discussion on a more focused issue. There is also easy accessibility between the College officers and the campus community as a whole. It is rare that anyone on campus would not be able to speak knowledgeably and enthusiastically about any project with institution-wide consequence. This kind of communication is a hallmark of the Davidson planning process.

The Foundations of Excellence provided an excellent basis for planning during the campaign for Let Learning Be Cherished. It still provides useful direction and focus. Having accomplished so much of what was identified in that document, however, and with the capital campaign now completed, it is time to craft a new guiding document. That process has already begun and will incorporate the following points:

A recognition of what has served the College well during the Foundations of Excellence years
A well-articulated link between budget planning and the College’s long-range and strategic plans
Continued communication among all areas of the College, and continued appreciation for what each contributes to the campus as a whole

Supporting Documentation

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