AQIP

1
AQIP
2
What is AQIP?

• The Academic Quality Improvement Program attempts
  to infuse the principles and benefits of
  continuous quality improvement into the culture
  of colleges and universities.
• The program provides an alternative process
  through which already accredited institutions can
  maintain accreditation status from the Higher
  Learning Commission of the North Central
  Association of Colleges and Schools.

3
Goals of AQIP

• Help member institutions improve
  performance and maximize effectiveness
• Provide the public with credible quality
  assurance concerning higher education
• Foster high performance colleges and universities

4
Principles of High Performance Organizations

• A mission and vision driven by students' and
  other stakeholders' expectations
• Broad-based faculty, staff, and administrative
  involvement
• Leaders and leadership systems that support a
  quality culture
• A learning-centered environment
• Respect for and willingness to invest in people

• Collaboration and a shared institutional focus
• Agility, flexibility, and responsiveness to
  changing needs and conditions
• Planning for innovation and improvement
• Fact-based information-gathering and thinking to
  support analysis and decision-making
• Integrity and responsible institutional
  citizenship

5
AQIP Philosophy

• Voluntary, alternative process
• Concentrates on academic quality
• Provides concrete feedback to enable institutions
  to raise performance levels
• Reduces intrusiveness and cost while shortening
  improvement cycles
• Recognizes and celebrates institutional
  distinctiveness and outstanding achievements

6
What AQIP Requires

• Measuring outcomes and analyzing the
  processes that produce them
• Comparing your own performance with others
  performances and best practices
• Seeing performance gaps as opportunities for
  improvement rather than failings
• Focusing on strengthening processes to improve
  performance

7
Opportunities, Strengths, Priorities
High Importance
Strengths
Opportunities
Low Performance
High Performance
Low Importance
8
SIUE and AQIP

• SIUE was one of the first 12 HLC member
  institutions admitted to AQIP.
• AQIP provides the framework for SIUE to pursue
  continuous quality improvement efforts that
  support our mission and visionthus, maintaining
  SIUEs accreditation with NCA and the Higher
  Learning Commission.

9
Self- Assessment
Application to Join AQIP
Systems Appraisal
Strategy Forum
Systems Portfolio
Annual Updates
Action Projects
10
The Systems Portfolio

• AQIP calls upon institutions to undergo a Systems
  Appraisal every four years. Our Systems Appraisal
  will be in 2008-2009.
• Gleaning information from the Systems Portfolio,
  the Systems Appraisal provides expert,
  objective, third-party feedback on our strengths
  and opportunities for improvement.
• In turn, what we learn from the Systems Appraisal
  will help us determine our next targets for
  advancing quality at SIUE through Action Projects
  and other planning processes.

11

• The Systems Portfolio will paint an
  accurate, vivid, unifying portrait of SIUEs
  operations that will serve as a common ground for
  internal discussions of where and how to best
  direct efforts for improvement.

12
Improved Processes
Updated Results
Our Systems Portfolio is created once and then
refined and maintained as we continuously examine
results and update processes as needed.
13
The Systems Portfolio
The Systems Portfolio comprehensively portrays
the Universitys current stages of development in
relationship to the nine AQIP categories
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
14
The AQIP Categories Provide the Organizing
Structure for the AQIP Systems Portfolio
Overview of Nine Categories
15
The Systems Appraisal

• Provides confirmation of strengths and guidance
  on improvement opportunities.
• Appraisals are performed by a diverse panel of
  trained and experienced reviewers, knowledgeable
  about quality improvement in higher education
  organizations, as well as from outside
  sourcesenhancing the Systems Appraisals
  credibility.

16
The Systems Appraisal of the Systems Portfolio
is completed every four years.
17
The Systems Appraisal Will Include

• Valuable professional feedback
• Summary rubrics
• Confidential, detailed, actionable comments and
  explanations
• (for institutional benefit and improvement)

18
Category Feedback

• Important strengths/ achievements/ capabilities
  upon which to build
• Identifies strengths
• Identifies opportunities
• Areas where attention may result in more
  significant improvement

ss
s
o
oo
19
Reaffirmation

• Every seven years, AQIP reviews and reaffirms the
  accredited status of an AQIP accredited
  organization. Our Reaffirmation is this year.
• Quality Checkup Last year a Quality Checkup Team
  visited campus and provided feedback to the
  University (Quality Checkup Report).
• Dave Sill wrote the Reaffirmation Report and
  submitted it to AQIP on September 1st, 2007.
• A Review Panel will evaluate all AQIP related
  documents and forward a recommendation regarding
  reaffirmation of accreditation to the Higher
  Learning Commission.

20
Our Current Action Projects

• Meta-assessment Responding to the Systems
  Appraisal and NSSE Data
• BRIDGE
• Using Technology to Improve the
  Transition of Transfer Students
• Developing a University Quality Council

21
Whats Next?

• Continuous Update of the Systems Portfolio
• Act upon the Systems Appraisal feedback NCA
  provides after reviewing our Systems Portfolio,
  Quality Check-Up, and Graduate Rates Outcomes
  Report
• Retire Action Projects and identify new ones when
  appropriate
• Continue to work on existing Action Projects

22
Feedback
References PowerPoint Developed by Belmont
Technical College PIE Team Presentation