s SIUE enters its 42nd academic
year, it prepares as well to enter a new century. The purpose of this paper is
to explore directions that SIUE might pursue over the next ten years as it continues
its development and quest for excellence.
The future of Southwestern Illinois is bright. With land suitable for development scarce to the north and south of St. Louis, and with the fringe of westward expansion already considerably distant from downtown, the large open tracts of land to the east, within sight of the Gateway Arch, will become increasingly attractive for development. That development could bring job and population growth to Madison, St. Clair, and Monroe counties. In 25 years or less, the SIUE campus is likely to be an island in sprawling residential, commercial, and industrial development. This development will likely create increased demand for higher education at SIUE.
By the early 1970s new realities in higher education made clear that neither enrollment nor programs would emerge as anticipated. These new realities and their implications were a blow to those hired with differing expectations, and SIUE entered a period of malaise as it confronted the new realities. The mission was unclear; the faculty was confused; enrollment declined.
Not until the late 1970s did SIUE begin to emerge from its malaise. Buzz Shaw articulated a new direction for SIUE by urging it to become "the best of its kind," meaning, in effect, that it should excel as a primarily commuter institution serving the citizens of the region. In the early 1980s, Earl Lazerson led the campus in developing a new statement of mission that placed first priority on undergraduate education and graduate programs to serve regional needs. By the time the North Central Association visited SIUE in spring 1993, that mission had been fully embraced by the campus. The NCA team commented in its report on the acceptance and understanding of SIUE's mission by all members of the University community. SIUE had escaped the malaise. Through what she described as an Advance process, Nancy Belck led the campus in 1994 to a vision of SIUE becoming a "premier metropolitan university."
In my convocation speech of fall 1997, I traced this history, and noted that the directions charted by these three campus leaders were consistent. I further noted that, at the celebration of SIUE's 40th anniversary, there was ample evidence that SIUE is among the best of its kind; it has achieved excellence in its undergraduate education and master's programs; and, it is a premier metropolitan university.
Rather than considering only moving within the Carnegie classification system as SIUE develops, this paper explores seven different aspects or dimensions along which SIUE might develop as it moves into the next century. The seven dimensions for consideration are:
These seven dimensions are not mutually exclusive; progress might be made along one or more simultaneously. Nor, are these the only dimensions that might be explored; others that might be considered are levels of internally and externally sponsored research and public service, international involvement, and intercollegiate athletics.
Based on its review of these issues, the Council concluded that it was desirable and feasible to grow slowly, reaching enrollment of approximately 13,800 by 2005 and then remaining at that level. The plan established specific goals by year for new freshmen, transfer students, graduate students, and dental students to achieve the overall enrollment goal.
The Council has periodically reviewed the work in its original report and concluded that the overall objective remains desirable and feasible. Early in fall 1998 the Council should once again review these goals in the context of current enrollment and any changes in the external and internal environment to determine if the goals should be adjusted.
Most of the detailed work of the Enrollment Management Council has focused on undergraduate enrollment goals. The Council, working with the Graduate Council and the Graduate Dean, need to establish enrollment goals and new student goals for each program. Some work on this matter has already been done, but the task remains uncompleted. SIUE should have goals by graduate program by no later than March 1, 1999. These program goals should be reviewed annually, and program directors should be held accountable for achieving goals for new students and overall program enrollment. The responsibility for meeting undergraduate goals lies with the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management. The responsibility for meeting graduate enrollment goals is the responsibility of program directors and the respective deans.
The undergraduate enrollment goals developed by the Enrollment Management Council are predicated on attracting students from beyond SIUE's historical service area. The population within commuting distance of Edwardsville is inadequate to yield the enrollment levels projected by the Council. Although SIUE enrollment was once equal to the goal established for 2007, that enrollment level was achieved before the full development of the community college system in Illinois. Many local freshmen now attend local community colleges prior to transferring to the University.
In 1993, in preparation for the first residence hall, SIUE began to focus on recruiting new freshmen from the small towns, cities, and rural areas north and east of Edwardsville beyond commuting distance, primarily along and near Interstates 55 and 70. By fall 1997, for the first time, that strategy yielded more new freshmen from outside of Madison and St. Clair counties than from those counties. SIUE's recruitment strategy continues to be successful, and in fall 1998, for the first time, more new freshmen are in residence than are commuting.
To continue to meet the enrollment goals established by the Council, SIUE needs to provide additional on-campus housing. A new facility with a capacity of 300 to 500 students needs to be available by no later than fall 2001. Accordingly, the Chancellor and Vice Chancellors need to develop plans by late 1999 to permit construction to begin in spring 2000 to meet the fall 2001 goal. With the addition of 500 residential students, SIUE can anticipate having approximately 2,800 undergraduates living on campus, about 27 percent of its projected undergraduate student body in 2001.
Financing a third residence hall will be a challenge. Current and projected room fees are not adequate to cover the additional financing and operating costs of a third facility. Various options need to be explored including seeking private support. Room rates need to be examined in the context of rates charged by other institutions for the level of quality provided by SIUE.
For nearly 20 years SIUE offered an Ed.D. in Instructional Processes, but eliminated that program in response to the IBHE's Priority Quality and Productivity Initiative as it chose to focus its resources at the baccalaureate and master's levels, and in response to the North Central Association's concern about offering a single, isolated doctoral program.
Demand for doctoral education at SIUE has been relatively low. The greatest demand is from those currently employed in K-12 education who are seeking credentials to be principals or superintendents, or to hold other administrative posts. That demand was being met prior to the phase out of the Ed.D. Most of that demand is now met through Saint Louis University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and SIU Carbondale.
In recent years, SIUE has explored cooperative doctoral programming with SIUC, resulting in a small number of students being involved in cooperative efforts in history and engineering. Discussions are at varying stages in other fields.
In view of this history, demand, and the anticipated development of Metro East, should SIUE consider moving to the "next level" through expanding its involvement in doctoral programs either by increased cooperation with SIUC and/or by developing its own doctoral programs?
Nationally there is an oversupply of doctoral programs and graduates in many fields, particularly in the humanities, social sciences, and, to a lesser degree, in the sciences. Accordingly, it seems obvious that SIUE should not allocate resources to developing or cooperating on programs in these fields unless there would be some specific subfield of study where increased output is justified.
There would be little point in trying to compete with well-established doctoral programs that are already struggling to place graduates or to add to the national oversupply of persons with doctoral degrees.
SIUE's strength, at the graduate level, is in offering programs to advance the careers of working adults. Enrollment is strongest in professional fields such as education, business, nursing, engineering, social work, and public administration. While master's programs are offered in the traditional arts and sciences, those programs have, as well, a professional orientation. Students in English are aspiring to be community college teachers; history students are interested in securing jobs in museums; those in chemistry are seeking positions in industry. SIUE's master's programs are not designed or intended to be stepping-stones to Ph.D. programs, although some students do leave SIUE to pursue doctoral work elsewhere.
Given its strength in master's work for working adults, it seems appropriate to build upon that strength as SIUE considers how it might add work at the doctoral level. Accordingly, SIUE might consider the following steps as it explores moving to the "next level" in program offerings.
SIUE should carefully review the SIUC doctoral program inventory to determine fields in which it might cooperate in offering those programs in Southwestern Illinois. A program should be considered for cooperation if it is in an area that meets the following conditions:
In addition to considering these factors, the review report should also address issues of faculty workload and additional resource needs, such as graduate assistantships, that would be necessary to support cooperative endeavors. If SIUE is to move to the "next level" through doctoral work, it must not be at the expense of its current, clearly understood, mission and focus. Finally, the review needs to carefully delineate the parameters and conditions under which cooperation with SIUC is possible.
The rules for cooperation must be clear to all concerned. The review should be completed by March 1, 1999.
(One alternative, in establishing the parameters of cooperation, is to make all doctoral programs "all university." That is, doctoral programs would be considered SIU degrees, not SIUC or SIUE degrees. This approach would be consistent with that in dental medicine, law, and medicine. While administered through a particular campus, these professional schools are SIU schools.)
If SIUE is to move to the "next level" in programs, it cannot do it permanently as the cooperating, as opposed to "degree-granting", institution. No institution can permanently remain in this auxiliary status. Accordingly, as the second step in its doctoral development, SIUE should identify one or two areas in which it would be the degree-granting or lead institution with cooperation from SIUC. Doing so would place SIUE on a more even footing with SIUC for long-term cooperation, and provide the base to move toward doctoral programs independent of SIUC.
The review to identify areas in which SIUE might seek approval to offer a doctoral program with SIUC as a cooperating institution should be completed by March 2000. One potential field for consideration is to develop a doctoral program in administration, drawing on the faculty of several departments and targeted to SIUE's strength of providing degree opportunities for working adults.
The final phase in moving to the "next level" on this dimension would be to develop doctoral programs that do not depend upon cooperation with SIUC. Developing programs with a professional, practitioner orientation is the most likely strategy, with nursing the most likely field in which to begin. A review to determine areas in which SIUE might develop independent doctoral programs should be completed by no later than January 2001.
Colleges and universities vary enormously on the selectivity of their admission standards. Some essentially have open admission policies, accepting anyone with a high school diploma. Others are highly selective and extremely competitive. Selective institutions are typically considered to be "better," and the national rankings in various magazines usually are dominated by the highly selective institutions. This dominance reflects the criteria used by these magazines: ACT/SAT scores and high school rank of those admitted; graduation rates; rejection rates. In reality, of course, a non-selective institution might actually be "better" in the sense of value added and growth of its students and graduates.
SIUE admission standards and practices have varied over its 41-year history. Its peak enrollment occurred at a time when admission standards were lower than now and when there was a very generous use of tuition waivers, particularly in conjunction with the Experiment in Higher Education. The current admission standards, which are moderately selective, date from the early 1980s with a minor adjustment made effective fall 1997.
Under current standards, a student is admissible if the sum of his or her high school rank and percentile on the ACT exam equals or exceeds 100 points and he or she has completed the stipulated high school core curriculum. Students with 100 points but who have not completed the stipulated high school core curriculum are provided "special admission" status. Students with fewer than 100 points may also be given special admission status if they either have a 17 ACT and are in the top two-thirds of their graduating class or if they have a 14 ACT and are in the top one-half of their graduating class. Prior to fall 1997, students could be given special admission if they were in the top one-half of their class, independent of their ACT scores.
Should SIUE seek to move to the "next level" by becoming more selective on its admission standards? Other institutions have chosen this route. The College of William and Mary is probably the best known "public private" institution with its long-standing tradition of highly selective admission standards and low acceptance rate. More recently, Northeast Missouri State University increased its admission standards and, after changing its student body and its reputation, also changed its name to Truman State University to reflect this new identity.
Admission standards vary widely among the public universities in Illinois, with the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana being the most selective.
But, Illinois has no equivalent of either Truman State University or the College of William and Mary. Is becoming a "public private" a role that SIUE could pursue? As attractive as it might be in some ways, it is probably not an appropriate path for SIUE. Access is a deeply held value at SIU, and SIUE was established to provide access to the citizens of Southwestern Illinois. While SIUE has broadened considerably its service area with the addition of residence halls, it nevertheless has an obligation to serve students who would be excluded if admission standards were raised to a level that implied becoming a "public private."
While becoming a "public private" is not appropriate for SIUE, a reconsideration of its admission standards is appropriate, particularly in light of the now well-developed community college system in Illinois. In 1957, when the residence centers that were to become SIUE were established, SIUE was the principal point of access for the place-bound citizens of Southwestern Illinois. With the addition and development of the community college system since the 1970s, there are now other points of access--points which may be more appropriate for some students than SIUE.
SIUE data shows a correlation between student success (measured by persistence through graduation) and ACT scores and high school performance (measured by class rank). While the data does not reveal clear "break points," it does show that the probability of success is quite low for those students with low class rank and low ACT scores. An argument can be made that the University misleads such students when it admits them knowing that the probability of their success is quite low, and, in misleading them, also places them in debt and deprives them the opportunity to pursue more realistic endeavors.
Given the community colleges in Southwestern Illinois with open admission standards, SIUE could increase its admission standards to better focus its resources on those with a higher probability of success without denying access. Marginally qualified students could pursue work at community colleges and transfer to SIUE if they are successful. This strategy would provide access, and would have the added advantage of exposing the marginally qualified students to the broad array of vocational programs at the community colleges, which might be better alternatives for them.
Accordingly, SIUE should seek to move to the "next level" by reviewing and modestly adjusting its admission standards during AY98-99 with the new standards to be effective in fall 2000 or fall 2001.
Once implemented and evaluated after a few years, SIUE may wish to continue its journey along this dimension of the "next level"
The alternative possible adjustments to the admission standards are many, including:
What opportunities exist for SIUE to move to the "next level" through the addition of professional schools in the second usage of the term? SIU already has schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Law, with Dental Medicine administered through SIUE. Adding a medical or law school at Edwardsville is highly unlikely any time in the near future, although having the SIU School of Law offer an evening program in Edwardsville might be feasible, if it were not for the current oversupply of lawyers.
Illinois already has one school of veterinary medicine at UIUC, and since many states have none, adding another in Illinois seems improbable. While the state has only one school of pharmacy, in Chicago, the St. Louis College of Pharmacy serves a significant number of students from Southern Illinois, and it might be difficult to convince the IBHE of the need to invest resources unless there were a critical unmet need. A similar situation exists with optometry. While the only Illinois institution is in Chicago, the University of Missouri-St. Louis has a program.
Despite the apparent lack of opportunity to add additional professional schools, SIUE should conduct a comprehensive review by no later than January 2000 to determine if there are areas for future exploration.
When the residence centers, which were to form the nucleus of SIUE, opened in fall 1957, the program inventory was small. Over the past 41 years, SIUE has significantly enhanced its program inventory by adding entirely new schools such as Nursing, Dental Medicine, and Engineering, and by adding programs such as public administration and social work. In recent years, with the exception of mechanical engineering, most new programs have been added at the graduate level, building on existing strength at the baccalaureate level.
What program mix should SIUE have? Is increasing its breadth of programming a means by which it could move to the "next level?"
Despite the program additions that have been made over the past 41 years, SIUE's program inventory remains fairly narrow. Programs commonly available at the baccalaureate level in comparable institutions include criminal justice, various fields within allied health, hospitality management, and various fields of technology. In addition, there are emerging fields into which SIUE might move and in which it has strength, such as the management of not-for-profit institutions.
SIUE's plans to move to an enrollment of approximately 13,800 by 2007 are predicated on adding new baccalaureate programs to attract students who otherwise would not attend SIUE. Accordingly, SIUE should continue its exploration of new baccalaureate opportunities with the exception of adding, on the average, an additional program each year for at least the next nine years.
SIUE has grown enormously in quality and effectiveness in its short history. Its progress is marked by its success in seeking professional and specialized accreditation, the accomplishments of its alumni, performance of students on various professional and licensure examinations, and awards received by programs, students, alumni, and faculty.
But, like the 3,000 other institutions in the nation, SIUE has room to improve. Being the "best of our kind" and a "premier metropolitan university" is a continuing journey, not a final destination. And, while the spot SIUE should aim for on the six other dimensions discussed earlier in this paper is subject to debate, there should be no doubt that the target on the dimension of "quality and effectiveness" should be "top of the scale"
No aspect of SIUE's operation is without room to improve, and vice chancellors, deans, directors, chairs, and other administrators should always be seeking ways to operate their units more effectively and efficiently in serving students and other stakeholders. But above and beyond this general, ongoing goal of improvement, SIUE needs clearly identifiable areas in which it seeks to enhance its operations and indicators of the extent to which it is doing so. Accordingly, the following areas are ones in which SIUE should seek to move to the "next level" in quality and effectiveness.
The terms "specialized" and "professional" are often used interchangeably in reference to program accreditation. Usually, however, "professional" is used to refer to accreditation linked to licensure and "special" is used to refer to accreditation leading to practice in a particular field, but not one in which there is a licensing process. Accreditation is a uniquely American (at least until recently) mechanism for quality control, and is distinguished by being voluntary. Except for a few fields in which sitting for a licensure exam is predicated upon having graduated from an accredited institution, colleges are free to decide whether or not to seek specialized and professional accreditation.
(In theory, regional or national accreditation is voluntary as well. In practice, however, it is essentially mandatory since participation in federal student aid programs is tied to such accreditation.)
The value or desirability of specialized accreditation varies by institution. Nationally renowned institutions like Harvard or UC Berkely do not "need" accreditation, except in those fields linked to licensure. Such institutions have reputations for quality that will not be enhanced by being accredited nor be harmed by choosing not to have it. On the other hand, for emerging institutions without the well established reputations of the elite institutions, accreditation is a very valuable tool in several regards: accreditation standards provide benchmarks for faculty and program development; accreditation signals to the public that the program meets well defined, national standards; accreditation provides a mechanism for quality control.
Accordingly, SIUE should strive to be accredited in every field in which accreditation is possible, unless the standards or other aspects of the accreditation agency are inconsistent with the educational philosophy of the University.
Over the last 41 years, SIUE has made great strides in seeking specialized and professional accreditation, now holding accredited status in accountancy, business, chemistry, dental medicine, education, engineering, music, nursing, nurse anesthesia, speech pathology, undergraduate social work, and public administration, and candidacy accreditation status in construction and graduate level social work.
Until the late 1980s, SIUE's programs in journalism and mass communications were accredited. That accreditation was lost, partially because of disagreement over the appropriateness of certain curricular standards. That situation needs to be re-examined by not later than May 1999, with the goal of achieving accreditation in a timely manner unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary. Likewise, by May 1999, SIUE should review the four remaining programs which accreditation could be sought, art, dance, theater, and computer science, again with the intention of seeking accreditation unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary. Through continued progress in accreditation, SIUE can demonstrate its movement to the "next level."
SIUE's graduation rate for new freshmen (whether measured at four, five, six, eight, or even ten years) is as good as, or better than, most comparable institutions (i.e., public, urban, with a significant number of part-time commuting students). But, being as good or better than others does not mean good enough. SIUE could do better. While it admits and enrolls a significant number of marginally qualified, high-risk "special admits" who do not succeed, it also admits and enrolls a number of highly qualified students who do not succeed. There is a strong tendency to dismiss these students as being immature, lacking motivation, undisciplined, and unfocused. In many cases those assessments are correct. The challenge to SIUE is to find a way to excite those students, to "grab their attention", to "turn them on" to the wonders the University has to offer and to convert them to motivated, focused scholars.
Accordingly, if SIUE is to reach the "next level" in quality and effectiveness, it must find ways to increase the rate at which it retains new students and transfer students through to graduation. It will not truly be the "best of its kind" or a "premier metropolitan university" until it does so.
In a consulting visit to SIUE in the early 1990s, Dennis Jones of the National Center For Higher Education Management Systems observed that is was possible to tell what an institution valued by observing what people in the institution knew about the institution. In the case of SIUE, he observed that the only thing that nearly everyone knew was the fall headcount enrollment. Enrollment is clearly important, and Mr. Jones' observation occurred at a time when there was a considerable concern about enrollment. Nevertheless it is a sad commentary to have enrollment be the one statistic that nearly all members of the community can cite. If there were to be only one commonly known data point, it would be far better if it were the number of degrees granted, which at least is an output measure.
Since Mr. Jones' visit, SIUE has made some modest progress in developing other measures. Faculty and staff have some understanding of graduation rates; students' scores on various board examinations are discussed; results of senior assignments are being studied. Yet, much more needs to be done.
SIUE needs to define a small number of variables, linked to institutional goals, which it regularly measures and uses to assess its status and progress. Likewise, each individual unit needs to define a small number of indicators on which it can gather data to assess its progress in contributing to the well being of SIUE. Preliminary specifications of these institutional and unit measures, along with procedures for gathering data, should be defined by no later than May 1999, with final specifications complete by December 1999. In developing and monitoring these measures, SIUE will have quantifiable data to assess its movement to the "next level"
The future for SIUE is bright. In its short 41 year history, it has moved many levels. It stands now on the threshold of a new century with the opportunity to move to yet a higher level. This paper outlines some strategies to move to the "next level" on several dimensions. Making the move requires only dedication and work.