SELF-STUDY REPORT

The Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (“Sagrado”) in Santurce, Puerto Rico, presents this Self-

Study Report to document its self-assessment regarding its compliance with the Middle States

Commission on Higher Education’s Standards for Accreditation and Requirements for

Affiliation. This Self-Study sets forth Sagrado’s own recommendations for its continuous

improvement in its efforts to accomplish the institutional Mission: to educate persons in

intellectual freedom and moral conscience willing to engage in the construction of a more

authentically Christian Puerto Rican society, a community of solidarity in justice and peace.

The Self-Study begins with a Prologue and then has five sections: Introduction, Executive

Summary, Note on Presidential Transition, Individual Standard Analysis and Recommendations

and Conclusion. The Introduction gives a historical overview of the University and its Mission.

The Executive Summary provides a summary of the findings and recommendations of the Self-

Study. The Note on Presidential Transition provides a brief context of the presidential

transition that took place in the middle of the review period. The Individual Standard Analysis

and Recommendations include the University’s self-assessment regarding each Standard for

Accreditation and the applicable Requirements for Affiliation. Finally, the Conclusion

summarizes Sagrado’s perspective on the Self-Study and outlines the path forward.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

TABLES ................................................................................................................................................... ii

FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................. iii

PROLOGUE ............................................................................................................................................ iv

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 1

NOTE ON PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION .............................................................................................. 9

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 12

Standard I: Mission and Goals ............................................................................................... 22

Standard II: Ethics and Integrity ............................................................................................ 35

Standard III: Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience ................................ 57

Standard IV: Support for the Student Experience................................................................. 97

Standard V: Education Effectiveness Assessment .............................................................. 134

Standard VI: Planning, Resources and Institutional Improvement ..................................... 151

Standard VII: Governance, Leadership, and Administration………………………… .... …………………180

CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 198

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TABLES

Table 1: Student Welcome Day participation and survey 25 Table 2: Number of faculty promoted in range up between 2008-2009 to 2017-2018 41 Table 3:Type of compliance for years 45 Table 4 Undergraduate Academic Programs 60 Table 5 Graduate Academic Programs 69 Table 6: Graduate Academic Programs 70 Table 7 : Faculty profile by type of contract during the period 2012-2018 74 Table 8: Faculty profile by academic degree during the period 2012-2018 76 Table 9: Faculty profile by academic ranks during the period 2012-2018 76 Table 10: Full time and adjunct faculty profile by gender during the 2012-2018 period 77 Table 11. Sponsored education for Faculty 80 Table 12: Students enroll in GEN and FEP courses 83 Table 13: Average of the performance (2008-2017) Centro de Vinculación Comunitaria 84 Table 14: Practice courses. 87 Table 15: Quantity of programs produced and students’ participation 88 Table 16: Students in outgoing Internships 89 Table 17: Students in incoming Internships 89 Table 18: Comparison of retention rates between regular students and students who participated in federal programs

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Table 19: Early alert system request 108 Tabla 20: @SER tutoring 109 Table 21: Tutoring services offered PAE 109 Table 22: Students who participated in the Work Study Program 113 Table 23: Voluntary hours 115 Table 24: Student participation in student council votes 117 Table 25: Student Associations 118 Table 26: Athletic students per year who received scholarships 121 Table 27: Requests of the students in the March 2016 residents’ survey 123 Table 28: Exit surveys results 124 Table 29:Evolution of Institutional Goals 135 Table 30:Undergraduate transversal competencies calendar 139 Table 31: Graduate transversal competencies calendar 139 Table 32:Actions taken of Assessment of Students Learning Outcome in Accredited Programs 143 Table 33:Academic Support Units Assessment. 144 Table 34: Distinguished Alumni (2009-2017) 147 Table 35:Passing Rates PCMAS (Programa para la Certificación de Maestros) 149 Table 36: On campus Nursing. 149 Table 37: Condensed Statements of Financial Position FY2013-2017 (in thousands) 166

Table 38: Condensed Statement of Activities and Changes in Net Assets FY 2013-17 (in thousands) 167

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Table 39: Condensed Statement of Activities and Changes in Net Assets - Alternate Presentation FY 2013-17 (in thousands) 168 Table 40: Participants and courses offered by the Department of Continued Education 169

Table 41: Detail of Grants, Auxiliary Enterprises and Other Revenues 170

Table 42:Endowment Fund FY 2013-17 (in thousands) 171

Table 43: Extraordinary Charges/Adjustments to Total operating expenses FY 2013-17 (in thousands) 173

Table 44: Financial Ratios FY 2013-17 178

FIGURES

Figure 1:Comparison of strategic plans PE 2014-17 and PE 2017-2020 29 Figure 2: Number of students attended by year in ASI 113 Figure 3: Students satisfaction with ASI services 114 Figure 4: Occupancy of the residencies per year 122 Figure 5: Assessment cycle 142 Figure 6: Strategic Plan and MSCHE reaccreditation timeline 155 Figure 7: Budget Flowchart 161 Figure 8: Total Enrollment USC First Semester 169 Figure 9: Executive Leadership Team 191 Figure 10: Organizational Chart 192

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PROLOGUE

The Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (“Sagrado”) writes this Self-Study in the aftermath of

hurricane María, which struck Puerto Rico on September 20th, 2017. María was the strongest

storm to hit Puerto Rico in 90 years. It was but the last in a series of events that have deeply

marked the people of Puerto Rico.

A prolonged economic contraction that is technically a depression began 12 years ago, in 2006.

The government of Puerto Rico declared a default on its public debt in June 2015 and in

response, the federal government appointed a fiscal oversight board in September 2016.

Record numbers of Puerto Ricans have migrated to the mainland U.S. during this decade, a

trend that accelerated as a result of the hurricane’s impact. All of these events and the resulting

fiscal adjustments have put significant strains on our already vulnerable social structures.

In the midst of these challenges, Sagrado has decided for solidarity and hope. Sagrado is Puerto

Rico’s oldest private continuing educational project serving the People of Puerto Rico for 138

years, since Puerto Rico was a Spanish overseas territory. Sagrado lived through the Spanish-

American war of 1898 and the entrance of the U.S. military, the Great Depression of 1929 and

two hurricanes that devasted the island in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, and the tumultuous

late 1960’s and early 1970’s--the era of Vatican II, Civil Rights, the Vietnam War and the OPEC

oil embargo.

At each critical juncture, Sagrado defied the times, reaffirmed its Mission of service and

solidarity and made a preferential option for future. In response to the devastation of

hurricane María, Sagrado became a solidarity center for the University community, the at-risk

communities in the immediate vicinity of Santurce and many communities in need across

Puerto Rico. These efforts reached all of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities and touched over

40,000 lives. Sagrado was the first university to resume physical operations in Puerto Rico, thus

providing shelter, food, supplies, emotional and spiritual support and, most importantly, a place

to gather and recompose lives—a sign of hope and the possibility of new beginnings. Students,

faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, friends and collaborators demonstrated with their unconditional

actions that Sagrado is committed to building a more authentically Christian society, a

community of solidarity, in justice and peace.

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The relief and recovery effort became the comprehensive Sagrado Contigo project (“Sagrado

With You”) that transcended geographical boundaries as Sagrado became a trusted

collaborator for many outside Puerto Rico who were looking for ways to contribute. While this

effort lies outside the accreditation review period, the experiences, the lessons and the

resulting initiatives have deeply influenced a look within and are embedded in this Self-Study.

It is impossible to engage in this process of self-assessment regarding compliance with the

accreditation standards and requirements for affiliation by abstracting from the current

moment.

Hurricane María confronted Sagrado with a profound question: how is Sagrado called to live up

to its Mission in response to the challenge of the times? This Self-Study has allowed Sagrado to

look within and determine what needs to be done to rise up to this challenge and provide a

meaningful educational alternative for the Puerto Rico of the future. The response has been

twofold.

First, Sagrado has strongly reaffirmed its Mission: to educate persons in intellectual freedom

and moral conscience who are willing to participate in the construction of a more authentically

Christian Puerto Rican society, a community of solidarity, in justice and peace. Second, Sagrado

has refined and strongly reaffirmed its 2017-2020 Strategic Plan as the articulation of its

Mission for the signs of the times: we will form solidary leaders to engage in projects of

positive social impact, through active, creative and engaged learning experiences, in an

innovative community of service and continuous improvement, with the resources to fulfill the

Mission. The institutional project to carry out this Strategic Plan is called RBK.

In this reaffirmation, Sagrado remains faithful to its guiding vision: “to offer a unique academic

project, an innovative educational experience in which the classroom is the world, in an

environment characterized by a quality community life and anchored in the principle that the

human person and Christian values are the center of the project.”

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INTRODUCTION

The Universidad del Sagrado Corazón is an independent, non-profit, Catholic university,

committed to the education of the whole person through a strong foundation in the liberal arts

or the arts of liberty. It is defined by a deeply held Mission and led by an independent Board of

Trustees of community leaders. Sagrado is a university from the community, for the

community and by the community.

Sagrado is a tuition-driven teaching institution that currently serves approximately 4,500

undergraduate and graduate students and 4,000 continuing education students. Most of its

undergraduate students come from the middle-lower and lower socio-economic levels of

Puerto Rican society. For the academic year 2017-2018, approximately 80.8% of them received

federal financial aid in the form of Pell Grants (64.3%) and federal student loans (41%).

Sagrado is located in a single 34-acre urban campus in the Santurce neighborhood of the capital

city of San Juan. Santurce is one of Puerto Rico’s largest urban centers, with a high density of

creative and cultural industries, and close proximity to the main cultural, entertainment,

tourism and financial hubs. In recent years, Santurce has become the preferred location for

Puerto Rico’s technological enterprises and start-up culture.

Sagrado’s Roots in the Society of the Sacred Heart

Sagrado has its roots in the educational Mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart, a women’s

Catholic religious order founded by St. Magdalene Sophie Barat in Paris in 1800. She led a

group of courageous women who responded to the realities of post-revolutionary France by

founding what eventually became a network of schools for young women. At the time, women

received little formal schooling and there were limited schools and teachers for their education.

The Society’s mission was a mission of solidarity: to manifest the love of God through the

education of the whole person. Their initial objective was the renewal French society through

an integral education of women.

St. Magdalene Sophie and her sisters were true entrepreneurs in the service of a deeply felt

mission. They challenged the traditional cloistered life for religious women and the absence of

educational alternatives for women. They soon realized that their project transcended the

geographical limits of France and was pertinent to societies all over the world. The Society’s

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mission of social renewal through integral education had global reach. The first missionary was

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, who in 1818 embarked with a group of sisters in the vessel

Rebecca in route to the port of New Orleans. They opened the first schools in the Americas.

Sixty-two years later, her sisters landed in the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

St. Rose Philippine has become a symbol of daring, audacity and courage in the service of a

mission. This year Sacred Heart communities all over the world celebrate the 200th anniversary

of her voyage aboard the Rebecca and are asking themselves about their own Rebecca

moment: what is the frontier that each community must cross in the service of the mission?

For Sagrado, this question became clear and pressing in the aftermath of hurricane Maria,

hence the name of institutional project, Rebecca or RBK.

In sending St. Rose Philippine to the Americas, St. Magdalene Sophie had realized that the

Society’s educational project had to remain relevant to the times and the societies they were

serving. She was fond of saying that “Times change and we must change with them” and

constantly pressed the Society to keep revising its plans of study.

Sagrado’s Commitment to Puerto Rico

The first sisters landed in Puerto Rico in 1880 and opened a school for women in San Juan with

the support of the Spanish authorities. Eighteen years later, the Spanish-American War

erupted and the U.S. military invaded and occupied Puerto Rico. The military authorities

eventually removed the sisters from their school in the Miramar district because it was located

in a public building. Rather than leave Puerto Rico following the example of many other

religious orders, the Society confronted the adversity and reaffirmed its commitment to Puerto

Rico and its educational project. After searching for several years, they eventually settled in the

current tract of land in Santurce and laid the cornerstone in 1906.

During the 1930’s, Puerto Rico was reeling from the effects of the Great Depression and two

devastating hurricanes, San Felipe (1928) and San Ciprián (1932). In the midst of this profound

desolation, the Society made a preferential option for the future and in 1935 opened the

university college that is Sagrado’s direct predecessor. The pattern once again repeated itself.

In a moment of great adversity, the ethical response was solidarity and hope: to build an

institution of higher learning for women in Puerto Rico’s worst historical moment.

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In 1970 the Puerto Rican community assumed direct responsibility for the project. The 1960’s

was a tumultuous decade in the Catholic Church, as well as in American and Puerto Rican

society. As result of the Second Vatican Council many religious orders, including the Society,

profoundly questioned and reexamined their missions. In Puerto Rico, the local congregation of

the Society controversially decided to close the school and sell the university college, in order

to pursue other avenues of service. The community of students, teachers, alumni, friends and

collaborators, which was already 90 years old the time, strongly opposed this decision.

After a difficult period of profound reflection, the Society once again opted for solidarity and

hope. It decided to that the project should continue under new stewardship and transferred

ownership and governance to the community represented by a lay Board of Trustees, with

minority representation of ecclesial or religious appointees. This was the beginning of the

modern university. A few years later the project became co-educational and in 1976 the name

changed to Universidad del Sagrado Corazón.

In 1998, after many innovations in academic and student support programs, Sagrado responded

to the last decade of sustained economic growth in Puerto Rico by launching its signature

community engagement and service learning initiative to support marginal communities and

the many non-profit institutions that serve those communities. This became an integral piece

of the academic project. Sagrado reaffirmed its roots in solidarity and hope and confirmed that

it is a community of service. Today, Sagrado is the only university in Puerto Rico that is certified

for community engagement by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Sagrado’s Mission

Sagrado’s Mission was officially articulated by the Board of Trustees in 1988, but as this short

narrative makes evident the Mission was already present and embedded in the Society’s

founding charism to manifest the love of God through education of the whole person and the

Society’s and the university’s history of service to Puerto Rico.

The roots of the Mission lie a double commitment to solidarity. The first is a commitment to

educate the whole person, which requires that each person be addressed on his or her own

terms. St. Magdalene Sophie clearly established this foundational principle when she states

that “[f]or the sake of one child, I would have founded the Society.” Each person is created in

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the image and likeness of God and thus deserving of equal dignity and an education that would

allow her to fulfill her God-given potential. In the tradition of the Society of the Sacred Heart,

“[t]o educate is, in itself, an act of justice.”

The second is a commitment to social solidarity. The aim of the educational Mission was to

educate persons who would serve and thus renew their societies through their example and

initiatives in the different fields of human endeavor. St. Magdalene Sophie and her sisters had

witnessed first-hand the devastation of the French Revolution and decided that the path to the

common good required a new education of women. Hence, they committed to the individual

solidarity of educating each person for the sake of the social solidarity of serving and rebuilding

their communities.

Sagrado’s Mission reflects this double commitment. The first half of the Mission states

“educate persons in intellectual freedom and moral conscience.” Sagrado aims to educate

persons, each in his or her own individuality and wholeness—intellectual, moral, spiritual,

social, cultural, physical--to develop their own judgment and exercise their own ethical

responsibility. The second half states that Sagrado educates persons “who are willing to

participate in the construction of a more authentically Christian Puerto Rican society”, which

the Mission defines as “a community of solidarity in justice and peace.” Sagrado educates

enterprising persons committed to serving the common good by building just, peaceful and

solidary communities.

St. Magdalene Sophie and the Society of the Sacred Heart understood that this mission of

integral education for social solidarity requires a community devoted and committed to its

fulfillment. Sagrado reaffirms its Mission every year, in countless formal and informal ways

throughout the community, whether in resolutions of the Board of Trustees or anonymous acts

of human solidarity. The latest example was Sagrado’s response to hurricane María.

Sagrado Contigo

The hurricane struck all of Puerto Rico. All the islands lost electric power and communications.

In the absence of electric power, many lost their water supply. Roads and access became

impaired. Many communities were cut off. There was substantial damage to residences,

businesses and other structures, in many cases catastrophic. Access to health and other basic

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services were severely curtailed. The loss of life was unprecedented. Many lost their jobs and

sources of income. Thousands of small business could not reopen and tens of thousands

emigrated.

Government authorities were unprepared for the scope of the emergency and could not

provide an effective response. An army of volunteers, estimated at over 200,000, actually

carried Puerto Rico on their shoulders and became the first and critical line of relief and

recovery. A network of communities, non-profit organizations, businesses, foundations, and

individuals—with the solidary support of many outside Puerto Rico—rose up to the challenge.

Sagrado was one of the many strong nodes in that resilient web.

Fortunate that its structures did not suffer crippling damages, the University became a center

of solidarity in two important ways. First, Sagrado was able to quickly resume operations and

thus provide students a safe place in which to gather, continue with their studies and

reconstruct their lives. Sagrado confirmed very early that students, faculty and staff wanted to

move forward and lend a hand to others in need. Second, precisely because Sagrado acted so

rapidly, the University became a solidarity hub for the community, the neighboring at-risk

communities in Santurce and other communities across Puerto Rico, many of which were

connected to students, faculty and staff.

While the administrative staff worked on clearing debris, repairing damages and preparing

facilities for operations, the academic leadership worked with the faculty to develop a

compressed semester schedule that reassigned all courses to usable classrooms and alternate

learning spaces during daylight hours: seven days a week, sunrise to sunset. Specific

documentation procedures were developed for student attendance, contact hours for courses

and alternative teaching strategies.

During this process, it was critical to have the flexibility to adjust the courses to the students’

diverse circumstances while guaranteeing the quality of their learning experiences. Following

guidelines, faculty designed 25% of the contact hours in alternative or non-traditional teaching

strategies that ranged from synchronous and asynchronous videoconferencing for students

with access to internet, to direct communications and meetings with students for diverse

projects directly related to the class topics.

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As a result of these creative efforts, 95% of the student population reengaged with the

University. Seventy-five percent (75%) was able to return to campus and their courses on a

regular basis. Another 20% reengaged but was unable to attend regularly: 8% had moved out of

Puerto Rico, 9% lived in distant locations with limited access or transportation and 3% indicated

that their responsibilities had changed (family and/or job related). Unfortunately, 5% of the

student population was unable to continue their studies.

The extraordinary result of this great academic restructuring was another example of Sagrado’s

solidarity. Owing to the creativity and sensibility of the faculty and the students, the post-

Maria curriculum became a comprehensive community and service learning project. The

journalism students reported in the impact of the hurricane. Film and photography students

documented that impact all over Puerto Rico. Nursing, social work, education and psychology

students went into many communities to provide services and support. Art students caught the

moment in their creations. Faculty and students, in conjunction with community partners,

brought artistic and educational activities to children in many communities in which schools

were closed. Hurricane María became the source of student reflections and discussions in

courses throughout the University.

At the same that the faculty and academic teams were moving forward with the semester, the

rest of the staff converted Sagrado into a solidarity hub in Puerto Rico’s network of relief and

recovery. The indoor court became a collection and distribution center, receiving and

distributing dozens of truckloads of basic necessities from friends and collaborators within and

outside Puerto Rico. Teams of students, faculty and staff volunteers went on relief missions to

distressed communities all over the island. The Pastoral Care and Personal Development

Centers offered psychological and spiritual counseling while the General Counsel and a support

team offered orientation on how to fill applications for public assistance.

Sagrado provided financial and material assistance to students and employees who lost their

homes or suffered other significant impacts. Funds were raised and distributed to assist

students who lost their jobs and sources of income and could not fulfill their financial

obligations. The Career Center helped students and alumni prepare resumes and connect with

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new employment opportunities. Sagrado provided temporary housing in the dormitories and a

work place to area businesses that could not resume operations.

Finally, in an exemplary act of academic solidarity, volunteer faculty from all over the United

States, with the support of New York University and the University of Cincinnati, offered a free

online session of courses called Sagrado Online for students from Sagrado and other

universities in Puerto Rico.

Sagrado carried out this great collective effort with no electric power for the first month and

half and other challenging operational circumstances. At the end of the day, Sagrado was the

first university to resume physical operations in Puerto Rico and finished the semester before

Christmas 2017. Sagrado’s community eventually gave this extraordinary effort a simple, but

powerful name, Sagrado Contigo (“Sagrado With You”). In two words, the name distilled the

essence of our Mission. By December 2017, some 650 volunteers had reached directly or

indirectly over 40,000 people, in Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities. This was the latest and

perhaps most eloquent testimony of Sagrado community’s profound commitment and devotion

to its Mission of solidarity and hope.

RBK

Hurricane Maria laid bare many of Puerto Rico’s stark social inequities. María was a natural

phenomenon, but much of the disaster was human-made: the poverty of a great portion of our

population, the lack of appropriate housing and access to quality health care, the weakness of

Puerto Rico’s power and communications grids, the condition of its roadways, the weak

economy and the dearth of employment opportunities, the environmental damage, the

unpreparedness of government authorities. This experience challenged Sagrado to revisit its

Mission and the Strategic Plan approved in March 2017 to ask a deeply profound question: how

is Sagrado called to live its Mission in response to the challenge of the times?

After much internal discussion, Sagrado realized that the answer was right there in its Mission

statement and in the bicentenary in 2018. The second half of the Mission calls for educating

persons who “who are willing to participate in the construction of a more authentically

Christian Puerto Rican society”, which the Mission defines as “a community of solidarity in

justice and peace.” Thus, Sagrado must challenge itself to move beyond its role as a teaching

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institution and become itself engaged, as an institution, in projects and initiatives for the

construction of a more equitable and sustainable Puerto Rico. Sagrado has been engaged in

the relief and recovery and Sagrado must also become engaged in the difficult task of

reconstruction. Puerto Rico needs citizens, leaders and entrepreneurs willing to rebuild a better

society.

Sagrado looked at its Strategic Plan 2017-2020 from this perspective and realized that while the

plan pointed in the right direction, there is now a better understanding of what this direction

requires. Thus, the strategic plan was redefined and distilled it to its essence. Sagrado will

carry out its Mission by forming solidary leaders to engage in projects of positive social impact,

through active, creative and engaged learning experiences, in an innovative community of

service and continuous improvement, with the resources to fulfill the Mission.

The name of the institutional project to implement this plan is RBK, after the vessel Rebecca

that brought St. Rose Philippine and the Society of the Sacred Heart to the Americas in 1818.

RBK is a symbol of daring, audacity, and courage in the service of the Mission. Sagrado’s

Strategic Plan 2017-2020 has been translated into the first institutional objectives and key

results necessary to make RBK a reality. In RBK, Sagrado remains faithful to its guiding vision:

“to offer a unique academic project, an innovative educational experience in which the

classroom is the world, in an environment characterized by a quality community life and

anchored in the principle that the human person and Christian values are the center of the

project.”

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NOTE ON PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION

Before proceeding to a discussion of each of the accreditation standards, it is important to

place this review within the context the presidential transition that took place in the middle of

the review period in 2014. This transition marked a historical moment in Sagrado. It took place

in the eighth year of Puerto Rico’s prolonged economic contraction, a year before the

declaration of default on the public debt and three years before Hurricane Maria. Not

surprisingly, Sagrado’s enrollment faced significant downward pressure with successive years of

declining figures.

On February 3, 2014, Sagrado’s President, Dr. José Jaime Rivera, announced to the University

community that he was retiring after 22 years of distinguished service. He left behind an

impressive record of accomplishments in advancing Sagrado’s Mission and articulating its

guiding Vision, including the critical achievement of our service learning center, the Community

Engagement Center (“CVC”), and the Carnegie Foundation’s Certification for Community

Engagement.

On that same date, the Board of Trustees announced to the community the appointment of a

Special Committee, presided by a former chairperson of the board, to manage the selection

process. The first step in this process was an open consultation to obtain input from University

stakeholders regarding the profile of the new president and the main areas of concerns and

priorities that the candidate should address in the near future. As a result of this consultation,

the Special Committee developed a candidate profile and a list of the main challenges facing

the new president.

After publishing official job postings in local and industry media, the Special Committee

received and evaluated a considerable number of applications, selected a handful of candidates

for formal interviews and eventually recommended to the Board of Trustees the appointment

of Gilberto J. Marxuach-Torrós. The Board approved the recommendation in a meeting held on

June 26, 2014. President Marxuach-Torrós began his first three-year term on August 4, 2014.

In outlining the many institutional challenges to the new president, the Board of Trustees

emphasized the importance of strengthening and advancing Sagrado’s Mission, while pursuing

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creativity, innovation and continuous improvement. The Board stressed the need to renew and

update institutional processes, structures and culture to accomplish greater operational

efficacy and reach institutional goals. This process required a comprehensive review of the

University’s leadership, operations, staff and systems.

In appointing President Marxuach-Torrós, the Board of Trustees opted for a non-traditional

candidate who understood and was committed to Catholic higher education grounded in the

liberal arts, and charged him with the responsibility of leading this process. He is an attorney

with a diverse background in law, business and high public service, who had been engaged in

educational matters throughout his professional career, as well as several institutional reforms.

As graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s Program of Liberal Studies and Yale Law School,

he has deep abiding respect for the academy and the kind of integral education to which

Sagrado is devoted.

During his first year, President Marxuach-Torrós engaged in substantial discussions with diverse

stakeholders in order to get to know the community and its challenges. At the same time, he

had to manage the renewal and reorganization of the leadership team as many of its

longstanding members retired, returned to their faculty positions or left the university,

including the chief academic officer, the chief operating officer, the chief information officer

and the legal counsel. Only two of the original members of the executive staff remained, the

chief student affairs officer and the chief financial officer. Each of them had been serving the

university for more than three decades.

During his first year, President Marxuach-Torrós also implemented a voluntary-transition plan

for employees in order to significantly reduce payroll expenses and create budget space for

renewal of human resources in critical areas. Seventy-nine employees or close to 20% of the

total, decided to retire or withdraw, including the director of human resources, an academic

department director and others in intermediate management positions. This created additional

pressure to bring new human resources to the organization.

As will be detailed below, most of the new leadership team at the executive level and the

middle level had to come from outside the University as there were no readily available

qualified candidates within. The recruitment and selection process of the executive level,

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including the selection of new chief academic officer, took most of 2015. Understandably, the

new members needed a reasonable time to conduct in depth assessments of their areas,

determine issues of immediate need and attention and formulate action plans.

President Marxuach-Torrós decided to hold on the implementation of the existing strategic plan

until the team was in a position to meaningfully contribute to its review. In September 2016,

he made a full presentation to the faculty in which he reviewed the findings and basic projects

of his first two years and indicated that the year 2016-2107 would be dedicated to the

development of the strategic plan and the design of the Self-Study. As discussed in Standard I

and VI, he appointed a multi-sectoral Steering Committee to lead the strategic plan effort,

which culminated with the approval of the new 2017-2020 Strategic Plan in March 2017.1

Maria hit several months later and relief and recovery assumed urgent priority. The plan was

eventually refined, reaffirmed and converted into institutional objectives and key results for

2018-2019.

With this background, the discussion now turns to Sagrado’s compliance with each of the

accreditation standards and the requirements for affiliation.

1 Informe del Presidente: Reunión Ordinaria del Claustro del 9 de septiembre de 2016.

SELF-STUDY UNIVERSIDAD DEL SAGRADO CORAZON Page 12 of 198

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In view of the experience post-Maria, it is not surprising that work on this Self-Study had to

slow down considerably during Fall 2017. The situation started to regain a sense of normalcy in

Spring 2018. Power and communications had been restored in the University and gradually all

over Puerto Rico. On February 16, 2018, MSCHE granted a semester extension to complete the

Self-Study.

The President, the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and the ALO attended

MSCHE’s Self-Study Institute in November 2015. The Steering Committee was appointed on

October 27, 2015 and led the configuration of working groups by accreditation standard with

stakeholders from all sectors of the University. The working groups developed a draft of the

Self-Study Design that was completed and submitted to MSCHE on February 24, 2017. After a

visit from Dr. Tito Guerrero III on March 9-10, 2017, MSCHE formally approved the Self-Study

Design on April 20, 2017. This approved design is the basis of the present Self-Study.

Intended Outcomes of the Self-Study

Two of the three primary intended outcomes of this Self-Study are to: (a) demonstrate how

Sagrado meets the accreditation standards and the requirements of affiliation; and (b) review

the institutional assessment practices and make recommendations to continue enhancing these

practices to improve institutional planning, resource allocation, and development. In the

aftermath of hurricane Maria and the subsequent refinement of the Strategic Plan 2017-2020

and development of the RBK Project, the third intended outcome has been further distilled: (c)

to identify critical issues to upgrade Sagrado’s capabilities to successfully carry out the refined strategic

plan and thus accomplish Sagrado institutional Mission and goals.

As this Self-Study shall demonstrate, all three outcomes have been accomplished. Sagrado

meets all the standards for accreditation, the requirements of affiliation and the goals of the

planning process for re-accreditation. Sagrado has a strong assessment culture and is in the process

of implementing a comprehensive assessment system with the support of a new academic-student

information system that began implementation in March 2017. The Strategic Plan 2017-2020 has led

to the RBK Project and the institutional objectives and key results for 2018-2019 have been shared

with all faculty and staff and incorporated into our performance management system.

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Sagrado now provides an executive summary of the findings and recommendations with respect to

each of the seven standards. Evidence that demonstrates Sagrado’s compliance with the

standards can be reviewed in the Documentation Roadmap and is analyzed in the section of

this Self-Study corresponding to each standard.

Summary of Findings and Recommendations

Standard I: Mission and Goals

Finding. Sagrado is defined by its founding charism and institutional Mission. The Mission is

reviewed and reaffirmed on a periodic basis and is deep-rooted, clearly articulated and well-

known. It guides institutional decision-making and execution at all levels, nurtures Sagrado’s

strategic plans, the institutional goals and drives key initiatives and activities for their

implementation. The institutional strategic priorities are developed through a collaborative

community-wide process and approved by the Board of Trustees. In view of the centrality of

Sagrado’s Christian Mission and character, the Marta Miranda, rscj, Pastoral Care Center is now

part of the Executive Leadership Team.

Sagrado complies with Standard I.

Recommendation. Sagrado should evaluate the establishment of a policy to require a Mission

and organizational climate/communication study on a periodic basis, every three to five years

at least, to assess and document (a) the community’s knowledge and commitment to the

University’s Mission, and (b) the community’s perception of Sagrado’s fulfillment of its Mission

in different operational areas and services.

Standard II: Ethics and Integrity

Finding. As a mission-driven institution with a profound sense of its ethical and social

responsibility, Sagrado is committed to the highest ethical and professional standards. The

Mission calls for educating persons in “intellectual freedom” and “moral conscience” to conduct

lives of ethical and social responsibility.

On a day to day basis, Sagrado strives to be faithful to its Mission, meet its commitment to

excellence in education, comply with all legal obligations and commitments and follow all

institutional policies and procedures. Sagrado has appointed a full time General Counsel who

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serves as the University’s chief legal, compliance and institutional integrity officer. Sagrado has

an internal auditor that reports directly to the Board of Trustees’ Audit Committee.

From April 6 to April 8, 2016, the Puerto Rico Council on Education conducted a comprehensive

on-site review of all University operations in order to evaluate Sagrado’s application for

renewal of its state operating license. On October 14, 2016, the Council concluded that

Sagrado complied with the legal and regulatory requirements and renewed its operating license

for a new five-year period from 2016 to 2021. All recommendations issued during the review

process have been adopted and implemented.

Sagrado complies with Standard II.

Recommendation. Sagrado should establish (a) a policy for the periodic review of all

institutional policies and procedures through the appropriate governing bodies, the Academic

Board, the Administrative Board or the Board of Trustees, and the participation of all

appropriate community stakeholders; and (b) formal program for institutional compliance

under the direction of University’s Chief Compliance Officer subject to review by the

University’s internal auditor and the Board of Trustees’ Audit Committee.

Standard III: Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience

Finding. The student learning experience is at the heart of Sagrado’s Mission as a student-

centered university committed to the education of the whole person. Sagrado’s new

organizational chart reflects this student-centeredness by placing the “students” at the top the

chart.

Sagrado has a strong academic leadership team and highly-qualified faculty that manages a

curriculum that is fully aligned with the Mission and that delivers learning experiences that are

consistent with higher education expectations. The objective is articulated in the institutional

vision: “a unique academic project, an innovative educational experience in which the classroom

is the world, in an environment characterized by a quality community life and anchored in the

principle that the human person and Christian values are the center of the project.”

The undergraduate curriculum has three main components: (a) a general education core

anchored in the liberal arts or arts of liberty; (b) major areas of concentration in different

academic disciplines, some that are expressly mission-driven (ex. nursing, psychology,

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education, social work); and (c) free electives for student curricular exploration or

diversification. The curriculum focuses on the development of core transversal competencies

aligned with the Mission and is supported by diverse learning experiences consistent with the

Mission, with an emphasis an active and creative learning such as service learning.

Eight new bachelor’s degree programs have been launched during the review period years after

receiving the approval of the Academic Board and the Board of Trustees and the necessary

authorizations from the Puerto Rico Council on Education. The graduate programs are currently

under review and new programs will be launched in new modalities that are more flexible and

adjust to the demanding realities of many professionals. Three new graduate programs have

received all internal approvals; two just received authorization from said licensing authority and

the third is pending.

In all undergraduate and graduate programs, student learning experiences are provided by

qualified members of the faculty that have the experience and knowledge necessary to design

and deliver an academic experience that meets the requirements of the programs. The number

of the faculty members is appropriate considering the amount of students.

Sagrado complies with Standard III.

Recommendation. Sagrado should (a) establish a system for the periodic review of academic

programs; (b) implement an annual faculty performance management system, that includes

assessment by peers, supervisors and students; (c) expand its programs for faculty

development in active and creative teaching-learning methodologies; (d) support the new

research center with additional resources to pursue faculty research and other creative or

professional opportunities; and (e) develop prototypes for new learning spaces to support

active and creative learning.

Standard IV: Support for the Student Experience.

Finding. As a mission-driven institution devoted to the education of the whole person, Sagrado

is committed to the success of each of its students. This commitment can be traced back to St.

Magdalene Sophie’s remarkable declaration that “[f]or the sake of one child, I would have

founded the Society.” Sagrado’s new organizational chart reflects this commitment by placing

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the “students” at the top of the chart and all academic, student affairs and administrative units

in service of the students.

Accordingly, Sagrado has a comprehensive student support network dedicated to enhancing

the student experience and contributing to each’s student integral development through

graduation. This network starts with the office of admissions and connects all the student

support units in Student Affairs, and the student residences and the athletic department. This

network is anchored in policies, regulations and procedures that are faithfully followed. There

is constant assessment of the quality of the services of the units within this network.

The Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs leads this network, except for the admissions’

office which is fully integrated into the marketing function with Integrated Communications

Team. In view of the student-centeredness of the Mission, the Vice President and Dean of

Student Affairs now reports directly to the President rather than to the Executive Vice President

for Academic Affairs. Sagrado has also appointed a chief retention officer within Student Affairs

who is responsible for coordinating all efforts related to student retention, persistence and

graduation.

Sagrado complies with Standard IV.

Recommendations. Sagrado should: (a) leverage its new Jenzabar academic-student

technology platform, which includes student-life, advising and retention modules, to improve

and more closely integrate this student support network to accomplish institutional retention,

persistence and graduation goals; (b) strengthen the network by integrating the assessment

practices of each of the operating units into a cohesive-system that can provide timely and

accurate data on student performance and experience to support agile decision-making and

execution; (c) consider how to effectively integrate third-party providers into this assessment

system; (d) consider how to incorporate the assessment of the transversal competencies into

the students’ extra-curricular activities in order to have a fuller picture of student development;

(e) establish a formal program for participation in the NSSE and FSSE surveys; (f) evaluate in

depth the performance of undergraduate students admitted through the committee process,

rather than by the admissions formula, to determine whether the admissions criteria should be

revised and/or special measures taken to support these students to improve their persistence,

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retention and graduation; and whether it is necessary to revise the incoming students’ profiles

to better align student services and support to served their necessities; (g) improve the process

for the evaluation of transfer credits through the effective integration of information

technology; (h) track transfer students’ persistence, retention and graduation separately from

other undergraduate students in order to assess their performance and determine whether the

admissions criteria should be revised and/or special measures taken to support these students;

and (i) evaluate and benchmark the program for credit for non-academic learning to determine

whether there is an opportunity to modify its application to reach more non-traditional

students.

Standard V: Education Effectiveness Assessment

Findings. Sagrado understands that the success of its Mission depends on continuous

innovation and improvement driven by robust assessment practices. This is the reason why of

one the five priorities of the Strategic Plan 2017-2020 is the development of an innovative

community of service and continuous improvement.

The University has developed a strong assessment culture and currently has institutional

processes in place to assess student learning outcomes for undergraduate and graduate

programs and thus propel changes to programs, curricula and syllabi. Academic and student

support units also have institutional processes in place to assess their services, for utilization

and satisfaction, alignment with the institutional goals and Mission and dissemination among

stakeholders.

These assessment processes, however, have not followed a common model across the

University, with significant variations across units. Moreover, these processes not been

historically supported by robust information technology systems and, therefore, have been

difficult to manage and maintain and eventually integrate a University-wide system. In March

2017, Sagrado began implementation of its new academic-student information technology

platform, which includes a new learning-management system. The planning for this

implementation included the development of a learning outcomes assessment plan that could

be incorporated into this platform and easily used by the faculty and the academic leadership

for continuous innovation and improvement. The implementation of this plan was delayed due

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to the impact of hurricane Maria and is scheduled to be piloted and tested in the spring of

2019, for full deployment in 2019-2020.

Sagrado complies with Standard V.

Recommendations. Sagrado should support the implementation of the new learning outcomes

assessment plan by establishing an independent unit reporting to the President that is

responsible for institutional intelligence, assessment, efficacy and planning, that is supported

with the staff and information systems necessary to continually assess student learning

outcomes and support academic innovation.

Standard VI: Planning, Resources and Institutional Improvement

Findings. Sagrado’s Mission guides the University’s planning, budget and decision-making

processes. Sagrado has a formal, standardized and participatory budget planning process in

which expenditures are qualified according to criteria linked to the Mission and institutional

priorities. Budgets are developed in consultation with all operational units, reviewed by the

Administrative Board and eventually approved by the Board of Trustees. The administration

and the Board’s Finance and Investment and Infrastructure and Technology Committees review

in detail operational and capital budgetary performance on a periodic basis.

Sagrado is currently moving to embed this robust budgetary process into an integrated and

systematic planning, budget and assessment process supported by the necessary information

technology systems. The Strategic Plan 2017-2020 was developed in a participatory process led

by a steering committee representing all community stakeholders. The plan was approved by

the Academic and Administrative Boards and the Board of Trustees in March 2017. After the

extraordinary events of the Fall 2017, the plan was placed on hold for an academic year. It has

now been refined, reaffirmed and translated into institutional objectives and key results for

2018-19 and approved by the Board of Trustees.

Sagrado has a performance management system, first piloted in the spring of 2017, and

implemented in 2017-2018, which will incorporate the 2018-2019 institutional objectives and

key results derived from the strategic plan. For 2019-2020, the budget planning process will be

expressly linked to the institutional objectives and key results.

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Financial statements are audited every year by an independent audit firm that is selected by

the Board of Trustees. The independent audit firm reports directly to the Audit Committee the

results of the audit, the Single Audit of federal funds received and any recommendation that

they may have in a management letter.

Sagrado complies with Standard VI.

Recommendation. Sagrado must continue its efforts to operationalize its 2017-2020 Strategic

Plan by incorporating institutional objectives and key results into the performance

management system and embedding the plan in the proposed systemic planning, budgeting

and assessment process. As in Standard V, Sagrado should (a) establish an independent unit

reporting to the President that is responsible for institutional intelligence, assessment efficacy

and planning that is supported with the staff and information systems necessary to drive

strategic planning and decision-making and assess compliance with the strategic plans; (b)

should focus on the initiatives to diversify revenue sources through the expansion of the

continuing education platform, the increase in occupation levels of the University residences

and apartments throughout the year, renewed efforts to promote the use of available facilities

by third parties and the reestablishment of the development operation; and (c) in view of the

many changes in Puerto Rico over the past 10 years, and the many changes impacting the

higher education sector, Sagrado should consider conducting a review and assessment of its

master development plan.

Standard VII: Governance, Leadership, and Administration

Finding. Sagrado serves its Mission through a clearly defined, well-functioning governance

structure consisting of a Board of Trustees, an Academic Board and Administrative Board, each

with its governing bylaws and regulations, which are regularly reviewed and updated; and a

qualified chief executive and an experienced leadership team.

The Board of Trustees is an independent and autonomous body that acts in accordance with

Sagrado’s governing By-Laws. The Board of Trustees is ultimately responsible for the fulfillment

of the institutional Mission in accordance with the statutes and applicable laws and regulations.

It has 25 members, a majority of which represent the community and a minority is selected by

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the Society of the Sacred Heart and the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Juan. The

university is not subject to governance oversight by any religious or ecclesial body.

The Academic Board is a representative body integrated primarily by the representatives from

the faculty with participation of student representatives and several members from the

academic and executive leadership. The Academic Board is primarily responsible for

establishing the policies that guide the direction of the academic project. The Administrative

Board is also a representative structure with members from the faculty, administrative staff and

the student body that makes recommendations regarding administrative matters. Each

governing body acts in an autonomous manner and makes decisions and recommendations as

appropriate.

There are two student governance bodies, the Student Council and the Student Residents

Council. The Academic and Administrative Boards include student representation and the Board

of Trustees has recently established a self-standing Student Affairs Committee to address

student and enrollment affairs and provide a forum for students to communicate their

concerns directly to the Board.

Sagrado’s leadership integrates into a single executive team with the President the leaders of

the following areas: Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Finance and Operations, Integrated

Communications, Information Technology and Development. A larger Executive Leadership

Team integrates the deputy chief academic officer, the academic department heads, the chief

retention officer and the Director of the Pastoral Care Center. The team also includes the

General Counsel, who is the chief legal, compliance and institutional integrity officer. The

University has an Internal Auditor.

The performance of the leadership team is reviewed annually through a performance

management system. The Board of Trustees assesses its own performance and formally

reviews the President’s performance.

Sagrado complies with Standard VII.

Recommendation. In order to improve its governance structures, Sagrado should (a) invite the

Academic and Administrative Boards to establish self-assessment processes similar to the

processes followed by the Board of Trustees; (b) invite both boards (Academic and

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Administrative) to evaluate ways to avoid overlaps between their respective functions in areas

where they may have shared responsibilities such as strategic planning and policy reviews; and

(c) recommend to the Student Council and the Student Residents Council to consider adopting

formal governance documents that incorporate self-assessment processes.

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Standard I: Mission and Goals

The institution’s mission defines its purpose within the context of higher education, the students

it serves, and what it intends to accomplish. The institution’s stated goals are clearly linked to its

mission and specify how the institution fulfills its mission. Sagrado meets the four criteria and all

sub-criteria of Standard I and is in compliant with the Commission’s Requirements of Affiliation

7 and 10. Evidence that demonstrates that Sagrado meets this standard can be reviewed in the

Documentation Roadmap and are analyzed in this section.

Sagrado complies with Standard I.

Criterion Number

Standard I Criterion Meet

Criterion

C1 Clearly defined mission and goals that:

C1a Are developed through appropriate collaborative participation

C1b Address external and internal contexts and constituencies

C1c Are approved and supported by the governing body

C1d Guide faculty, administration, staff, and governing structures in making decisions related to planning, resource allocation, program and curriculum development, and institutional and educational outcomes

C1e Support scholarly inquiry and creative activity

C1f Are publicized and widely known by internal stakeholders

C1g Are periodically evaluated

C2 Institutional goals are realistic, appropriate to higher education, and consistent with mission

C3 Goals that focus on student learning and related outcomes and on institutional improvement

C4 Periodic assessment of mission and goals to ensure they are relevant and achievable

Compliance with Standard I

Sagrado’s Mission clearly defines its purpose within the context of higher education in Puerto

Rico, the students we serve and what the University community intends to accomplish:

To educate persons in intellectual freedom and moral conscience who are willing to participate

in the construction of a more authentically Christian Puerto Rican society—a community of

solidarity, in justice and peace2.

2 www.sagrado.edu/en/why-sagrado/.

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Sagrado’s institutional goals are clearly linked to, and specify how the University fulfills, the

Mission.

Sagrado’s Mission is Approved and Supported by its Governing Bodies

Sagrado’s Mission was expressly articulated by the Board of Trustees 30 years ago in 1988 and

has remained constant since. As related in the introductory narrative, Sagrado’s Mission may

have been expressed in writing at that particular historical juncture, but the Mission derived

from the founding charism of the Society of the Sacred Heart and has always guided Sagrado’s

long history of service to Puerto Rico.

The Mission has been reviewed and reaffirmed repeatedly over the last three decades as it

continues to be relevant. Sagrado’s governing document is the By-laws of the University that

are reviewed and approved by the Board of Trustees3. This By-laws begin by clearly stating the

University’s Mission, Vision, Guiding Philosophy and Institutional Values4. The Board of Trustees

periodically reviews this document and at each review, has reaffirmed the Mission. During the

period between 2008 and 2018, the Board of Trustees revised and updated the By-laws three

times (2008, 2016 and 2018)5. During the Annual Retreats in which the Board of Trustees

considers the strategic plan, the Board has also reaffirmed Sagrado’s Mission, Vision and

Institutional Values.

The by-laws of Sagrado’s Academic Board also state and reaffirm the Mission as the guiding

principle of its powers and procedures6. Similarly, the ruling manuals of Sagrado’s three main

groups of stakeholders, faculty (Faculty Handbook 7), students (New Student Handbook8) and

staff (Employee Handbook9) expressly incorporate the University’s Mission. Sagrado’s

governing bodies validate the Mission every time any of these handbooks are reviewed and

3 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018); Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (22 de marzo de 2018), available upon request. 4 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018). 5 Estatutos Octava Revisión (2008); Estatutos Novena Revisión (2016), Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018). 6 Estatutos de la Junta Académica (2016). 7 Manual de Facultad (2017) 8 Manual del Estudiante de Nuevo Ingreso. 9 Manual del Empleado (2017); Manual del Empleado.

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approved by the respective boards: Academic Board10, Administrative Board11, and finally by

the Board of Trustees12. (C1f)

Sagrado’s Mission is Publicized and Widely Known

Sagrado’s Mission is clearly stated in the University’s web site13, displayed in offices and public

areas throughout campus and publicized through diverse analogue and digital venues14.

Sagrado’s students, faculty and staff repeatedly make reference to the Mission in speeches and

events and are often quoted in local media15. The President and the Provost constantly mention

and discuss the Mission at official University events16. The inductions processes for new

students17, employees (staff and faculty)18 and trustees19 start by making reference to

Sagrado’s Mission. In late 2015, Sagrado launched the digital bi-weekly newsletter inSagrado to

keep the internal and external community continuously informed of news and events and how

Sagrado is living its Mission20.

One special example of the dissemination of Sagrado’s Mission is the orientation event for

incoming first year students. This day-long event starts with a presentation in the University’s

Emilio S. Belaval Theater that references the Mission and founding history and concludes with

the lighting of a torch in front of the Administration Building21. The fire is a symbol of the

founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart, St. Magdalene Sophie Barat. She is known as “the

daughter of fire”, because she was born on the day that a fire destroyed much of her home

town of Joigny, France22. The hope is that the education in Sagrado may kindle the divine fire in

10 Certificación 2017-05 de la Junta Académica (11 de mayo de 2017). 11 Acta 2016-2017 de la Junta Administrativa (17 de marzo de 2017). 12 Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (30 de marzo de 2017), available for review upon request. 13 www.sagrado.edu/en/why-sagrado/. 14 www.sagrado.edu/en/university-catalog/; Catálogo Subgraduado (2014-2016). 15 Juramenta el presidente de la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (21 de enero de 2015). 16 Presentación CEPR (abril 2016); Presentación Personal Administrativo (marzo 2015). 17 Manual del Estudiante de Nuevo Ingreso. 18 Orientación a Empleados de Nuevo Ingreso. 19 Orientación para los Nuevos Síndicos (2018). 20 http://insagrado.sagrado.edu/en/ 21 Éxito 2016 (agosto 2012); Éxito 2017 (agosto 2013); Sagrado da la bienvenida a estudiantes de nuevo ingreso

#Éxito2019 (2015); ¡Bienvenidos, Delfines! (2016); ¡Bienvenidos delfines! (2017); Llega Éxito 2022 ¡Enciende la

Llama! (2018). 22 https://sites.google.com/a/sagrado.edu/plan-estrategico-sagrado/nuestras-raices.

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each student so that he/she may contribute to building “a more authentically Christian Puerto

Rican society, a community of solidarity, in justice and peace” as stated in the Mission.

Table 1: Student Welcome Day participation and survey.

Areas Éxito 2017 Éxito 2018 Éxito 2019

Students Parents Students Parents Students Parents

Visits 488 206 390 68 405 124

Surveys completed 58 136 294 40 168 64

% % % % % %

Registration 98 84 99

Dynamics 100 94 95

Found your place 98 83 90

Religious act (parents and students) 97 39 85 84 84 90

Activity: Encendido de la Llama (parents

and students) 98 75 100 93 100

Dynamic transition and financial aspects

(parents) 74 95 94

Relevant aspects of the university life

(parents) 72 100 94

Mission and campus climate/communication surveys conducted in 2008 and 2012 confirmed

the community’s profound knowledge and commitment of the Mission23. These surveys are

performed every five years and the latest was scheduled to be conducted in 2017. Perhaps the

most conclusive demonstration of the University community’s knowledge and commitment to

the Mission was Sagrado’s extraordinary response to the hurricane Maria in the Fall of 2017.

Sagrado Contigo involved all stakeholders—students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, friends

and collaborators--in a common effort of solidarity.

With a sense of normalcy regained, this past June 2018, the Board of Trustees called for the

survey to be conducted this academic year 2018-201924. It is slated to be conducted in the

Spring of 2019. One recommendation related to this Standard I is the adoption for an official

policy that requires such surveys take place on a periodic basis, at least every three to five

years. The Board of Trustees will be addressing this matter this year.

23 PRR (2013); Estudio de Misión, Ambiente y Comunicación Institucional: Informe de Resultados 2007 -2012. 24 Informe del Comité de Gobierno Institucional de la Junta de Síndicos (4 de junio de 2018), available upon request.

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Centrality of Sagrado’s Mission: the Madre Marta Miranda, rscj, Pastoral Care Center

In view of the centrality of Sagrado’s Mission and founding charism, the Director of the Marta

Miranda, rscj, Pastoral Care Center is now part of the Executive Leadership Team25. The

Director, Madeline Ortiz Rivera, rscj, is a religious of the Sacred Heart, and she has the

responsibility of working with diverse stakeholders to ensure that all University activities

faithfully reflect the Mission26. The Pastoral Care Center is the beating heart of the campus and

receives the highest number of student visits each year27.

Three of its many programs give eloquent testimony of Sagrado’s educational mission of

solidarity. In response to the troubling reality that some of our students often do not have

enough money to pay for their meals, in 2015, the Pastoral Care Center, with the participation

of trustees, faculty, staff, students and alumni, started Comesa as a soup kitchen for students in

need. It operates with volunteer students working in teams to prepare meals that are then

shared during lunch break28. Since its beginning, approximately 100 meals are served daily from

Monday through Thursday. A survey on service satisfaction conducted in 2015 shows that 100%

agreed with this initiative in solidarity. Sixty percent (60%) of the participants indicated that

without Comesa they would have no food and 57.5% specified that sometimes there was no

food in their homes

Conéctate is a program that works with students to develop their solidary and transformative

leadership29. Students in the program work in community development initiatives in at-risk

communities close to campus in Santurce. Momento Sagrado is a daily reflection on the daily

Gospel reading, often by a member of the community—student, faculty, staff or alumni—that is

shared by email, seven days a week, with a broad network of recipients that grows organically

by sharing30.

25 Presentación Personal Administrativo (marzo 2015) 26 https://www.sagrado.edu/madeline-ortiz-rivera-rscj/ 27 Pastoral Statistics (2014 – May 2017). 28 Comesa 29 Conéctate 30 Momento Sagrado

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Since 2014, the Pastoral Care Center has been leading a project of reconnecting with Sagrado’s

founding charism and its roots in the history, educational philosophy and spirituality of the

Society of the Sacred Heart. In view of the reduced presence of women religious of the Sacred

Heart, it is critical that the University become intimately familiar with the founding charism and

the roots in the Society. In 2016, the Executive Leadership Team went to the Society’s retreat

house in the mountain town of Barranquitas for a one-day conference on the Society’s

educational philosophy and integrative spirituality. In 2017, two members of the Society’s

Stuart Center in Washington, D.C. visited Sagrado to provide workshops on solidary leadership

to students, faculty, staff and trustees31. Sagrado also sent two students to a workshop on

solidary leadership32 held by the Stuart Center and two members of our staff attended a

congress in St. Louis, MO, on the occasion of the bicentenary of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne’s

voyage to America33. Finally, a members of the Society visited Sagrado to guide some sessions

on the Society’s special integrative, incarnated spirituality that transcends any soul-body duality

and looks at human person as an integrated whole.

Sagrado’s Mission Guides Institutional Goals and Actions

Sagrado’s Mission is student-centered as it calls for the education of the whole person and it is

also society-oriented because it calls for an education that will generate a particular kind of

social impact: solidarity, justice and peace. The Mission has three main elements.

The first is the affirmative statement “to educate persons in intellectual freedom and moral

conscience”. Sagrado seeks to educate intellectually free and morally responsible persons, who

exercise their own judgment and ethical and social responsibility.

The second is the phrase “willing to participate in the construction.” Sagrado seeks to educate

persons who will engage in the construction of a better society—not passive individuals, but

leaders, entrepreneurs and builders for positive social impact.

The third describes the kind of social impact desired, the construction “of a more authentically

Christian Puerto Rican society, a community of solidarity, in justice and peace.” Sagrado seeks

31 Stuart Center 32 Global Citizens 33 6th Society of the Sacred Heart Spirituality Forum (2017)

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to educate persons for social solidarity, persons who will exercise solidary leadership to build

just, peaceful and solidary communities.

These three elements have guided Sagrado’s last three strategic plans: 2008-201334, 2014-

201735 and 2017-202036 that expressly reaffirm the Mission and the Vision. The Mission focuses

specifically on the character and objective of the education at Sagrado and, thus, each plan

begins by focusing on the nature of the educational project. The plans then turn to the

community, the environment and context necessary to nurture the Mission, and finally to the

organization necessary to sustain the Mission.

With respect to the kind of education, all plans focus on an integral education of the whole

person through an interdisciplinary approach grounded in the liberal arts and the development

of specific competencies and abilities across academic disciplines aimed to achieve a solidary

social impact. With respect to community, all plans focus on a student-centered community

anchored in the dignity of each person at its Christian values, meaningfully engaged in the

world, and committed to providing students the integral experiences services and support

necessary to accomplish their educational and life goals. And with respect to organization, all

plans stress the importance of an effective and innovative organization with sufficient

resources to sustain and accomplish the Mission and institutional goals.

The following figure compares the institutional goals of strategic plans 2014-2017 and 2017-

2020 and confirms that Sagrado remains true to its Mission as student-centered and society-

oriented, while incorporating new perspectives and strategies that help the University respond

to contemporary challenges:

34 Fundamentos para el Plan Estratégico Institucional Visión 2013 (2008). 35 Plan Estratégico Visión 2014-2017. 36 Plan Estratégico 2017-2020.

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Figure 1:Comparison of strategic plans PE 2014-17 and PE 2017-2020.

Source: Table prepared by the Writing and Editing Committee (Committee IX).

The main difference between both plans is that the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan expressly calls for

a redesign of the interactions between the University and its surroundings to emphasize the

importance of innovation and social entrepreneurship to accomplish solidary social impacts37.

Since 2016 and the launch of our Collaborative Innovation Center (Neeuko), Sagrado has been

developing a new model of community engagement and socio-economic development through

the Santurce: Nuestro Barrio project that was initially funded by a grant from the National

37 Plan Estratégico 2017-2020.

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Endowment for the Arts38. In the aftermath of hurricane Maria, the redesign of Sagrado’s

community impact strategies became an urgent priority.

Indeed, the experience of hurricane Maria allowed Sagrado to distill the essence of the five

strategic priorities of the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan. The original articulation of these priorities

could be summarized as follows:

1. Educate citizens with the knowledge and skills needed for a productive immersion

into society.

2. Redesign the interaction between the academic project and our surroundings to

promote innovation and social entrepreneurship.

3. Develop a community experience that complements the academic project and

supports the students’ integral development.

4. Continually improve organizational structures and processes to improve institutional

efficacy.

5. Design and implement strategies to improve the university’s financial position.

As distilled into clear directional statements post-Maria, these five priorities now provide that

Sagrado will

1. Form solidary leaders,

2. To engage in projects of positive social impact,

3. Through active, creative and engaged learning experiences,

4. In an innovative community of service and continuous improvement,

5. With the resources to fulfill the Mission.

The Mission in Action

One of the most eloquent examples of Sagrado’s Mission in action in alignment with the

institutional priorities is the annual interdisciplinary events on human rights, social justice and

gender equality such as the Social Justice Encounters39, the Gender Conferences40 and the

38 http://nuestrobarrio.org. 39 Encuentro por la Justicia Social. 40 Jornadas de Género.

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International Women’s Day41. These events usually include a wide variety of activities designed

to promote social justice and respect for diversity. They provide opportunities for students,

faculty and the community to reflect on how distant our social realities are from the “more

authentically Christian Puerto Rican society, a community of solidarity, in justice and peace”

which Sagrado is committed to building. These events invite the community to develop projects

and initiatives to construct the kind of society to which Sagrado aspires. In the 2017, at the

Women’s International Day, the University read a manifesto reaffirming the Mission and

declaring the commitments to a more solidary, just and peaceful society in which all persons

can aspire to a full life of human dignity42. This day is particularly important in Sagrado because

the University was born of a project by women for the education of women.

Community Participation in the Development of the Strategic Plans

Each of the past three strategic plans reaffirms and is faithful to Sagrado’s Mission. Each was

developed with the participation and collaboration of community stakeholders. As explained

in the 2008 Self-Study, the 2008-2013 Strategic Plan was the result of an extensive review and

ample community participation43. The 2013 Periodic Review Report provides further

information and also details the process for the development of the 2014-2017 Strategic Plan44.

For the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, the President appointed a Steering Committee with

representation of all stakeholders that was charged with the task of carrying out a broad

consultation process and developing the plan for presentation to and approval by Sagrado’s

governing bodies. The Committee included representatives from the faculty, the student body

and the Board of Trustees, as well as representatives from Academic and Student Affairs and

the administrative staff45. A diverse mix of stakeholders, some who were new to Sagrado and

others with a long-standing history of service participated in the Committee. The rationale and

the Committee’s challenge was to remain faithful to Guiding Philosophy and Institutional

41 Jornadas de Derechos Humanos. 42 Manifesto for 2017 International Women’s Day 43 Self-Study Report (2008) 44 PRR (2013). 45 Plan Estratégico 2017-2020.

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Values, while exploring innovative ways to articulate the Mission. The consulting firm Quality

for Business Success (QBS) supported the Committee’s efforts46.

During the first half of 2016, Sagrado’s Executive Leadership Team conducted several

preliminary sessions and meetings with faculty in preparation for the work on the strategic

plan. The Steering Committee received this input and conducted multiple open sessions with

the community, met with faculty, students and staff, held sessions with the strategic planning

committees of the Academic and Administrative Boards and opened an online portal to receive

comments47. The process commenced in September 2016 and in March 2017 the 2017-2020

Strategic Plan was presented to and approved by both the Academic and Administrative Boards

and then to the Board of Trustees for final approval. Complaint with regulatory requirements,

the plan was submitted to Puerto Rico’s Council on Education on May 2017 and was approved

on June 7, 2017.

As previously explained, the initial implementation of the plan during the 2017-2018 academic

year was delayed due to the impact of hurricane Maria. The subsequent refinement of the plan

and its conversion into the institutional goals and key results for the academic year 2018-2019

was the result of several intense sessions of the Executive Leadership Team during August

201848. In addition to the President’s direct reports, this team includes the deputy chief

academic officer, the directors of all academic departments, the chief retention officer and the

Director of the Pastoral Care Center.

Sagrado’s Assessment of its Mission and Institutional Goals.

As will be further discussed in Standards V and VI, Sagrado has been preparing since 2016 to

establish a comprehensive institutional assessment system supported by robust information

technology systems. This system has three components: (a) a performance management

system, (b) a learning outcomes assessment system; and (c) an institutional assessment system.

46 QBS Proposal (May 12, 2016); Análisis de Situación Operativa y Financiera en la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. 47 Plan Estratégico 2017-2020. 48 Executive Team Leadership Workshop (August 2018).

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Institutional goals are established taking into consideration the Mission and the Strategic Plan

of the University.

The performance management system, supported by ADP technology, was first deployed as a

pilot in the Spring of 2017 in order for administrative staff to learn to use the system. After

assessing the experience, the system was scheduled for full deployment to the administrative

staff in the academic year 2017-18, but the impact of hurricane Maria thwarted full annual

implementation. It was applied during the Spring semester of 2018. The academic year 2018-

2019 will be the first year of full annual deployment for all administrative staff. The

performance management system for faculty is being currently developed and will be piloted in

the Spring 2019. The learning outcomes assessment system is part of the implementation of the

new academic-student technology platform, Jenzabar, which began implementation in March

2017 after twelve months of preparations. The learning outcomes assessment system is

scheduled for testing in the Spring of 2019 as part of the deployment of the new learning

management system. Finally, the assessment system for institutional goals and key results

depended on the implementation of the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan and will be deployed this

academic year.

Prior to these implementations, the institutional assessment process was led primarily through

the leadership’s annual reviews of operations and the accomplishments of area objectives.

These reviews have been taken into consideration at the time of the preparation of the annual

budgets and the revisions to the strategic plans. The President would also periodically update

the Board of Trustees on different strategic initiatives and afford trustees an opportunity to

evaluate their progress and ascertain that the goals continued to be realistic and achievable.

As will be discussed below, one of the main recommendations of this Self-Study is the

establishment of an independent unit reporting to the President that is responsible for

institutional intelligence, assessment, efficacy and planning, supported with the staff and

information systems necessary to perform this critical work. In a learning community

committed to continuous innovation and improvement in the service of its Mission, this is a

necessary step to ensure that the University remains relevant and responsive to the challenges

of times, as it has continually done through Sagrado’s 138 years of service to Puerto Rico.

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Conclusion.

Sagrado is defined by its founding charism and institutional Mission. The Mission is reviewed on

a periodic basis and is deep-rooted, clearly articulated and well-known. It guides institutional

decision-making and execution at all levels, nurtures Sagrado’s strategic plans, the institutional

goals and drives key initiatives and activities for their implementation. The Mission and goals

are developed through collaborative participation of the different constituents and are

evaluated and approved by the Board of Trustees. Sagrado complies with Standard I.

Recommendation.

Sagrado should evaluate the establishment of a policy to require a Mission and organizational

climate/communication study on a periodic basis, every three to five years at least, to assess

and document (a) the community’s knowledge and commitment to the University’s Mission,

and (b) the community’s perception of Sagrado’s fulfillment of its Mission in different

operational areas and services.

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Standard II: Ethics and Integrity

Ethics and Integrity are central, indispensable, and defining hallmarks of effective higher

education institutions. In all activities, an institution must be faithful to its mission, honor its

contracts and commitments, adhere to its policies, and represent itself truthfully.

Compliance with the Standard and Criteria

Sagrado meets the nine criteria and all sub-criteria of Standard II and is in compliance with the

Commission's Requirements of Affiliation 1, 5, and 6. Evidence that demonstrates this can be

reviewed in the Documentation Roadmap and is analyzed in the following section.

Criterion Number

Standard II Criterion Meet

Criterion

C1 Commitment to academic and intellectual freedom, freedom of expression, and respect for intellectual property rights

C2 Climate that fosters respect among students, faculty, staff and administration from a range of diverse backgrounds, ideas, and perspectives

C3 A fair and impartial grievance policy that is documented and disseminated

C4 Avoidance of conflict of interest

C5 Fair and impartial practices in the hiring, evaluation, promotion, discipline, and separation of employees

C6 Honesty and truthfulness in public relations announcements, advertisements, recruiting and admissions materials and practices, and in internal communications

C7 As appropriate to mission, services, or programs in place:

C7a To promote affordability and accessibility

C7b To enable students to understand funding sources, options, value received for cost, and methods to make informed decisions about incurring debt

C8 Compliance with all applicable federal, state, and Commission reporting policies, regulations, and requirements regarding:

C8a Full disclosure of information on institution-wide assessments, graduation, retention, certification, and licensing board pass rates

C8b The institution’s compliance with the Commission’s Requirements of Affiliation

C8c Substantive changes affecting mission, goals, programs, operations, sites are disclosed in a timely and accurate fashion

C8d The institution’s compliance with the Commission’s policies

C9 Periodic assessment of ethics and integrity in institutional policies, processes, practices, and the manner in which these are implemented

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Compliance with Standard II

As a mission driven institution with a profound sense of its ethical and social responsibility,

Sagrado is committed to the highest ethical and professional standards. The Mission calls for

educating persons in “intellectual freedom” and “moral conscience” to conduct lives of ethical

and social responsibility. On a day to day basis, Sagrado strives to be faithful to its Mission,

meet its commitment to excellence in education, comply with all legal obligations and

commitments, and follow all institutional policies and procedures.

Ethics, Compliance and Risk Management

To ensure institutional compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements and observance

of the highest ethical standards, in 2015 Sagrado appointed an experienced attorney as the

University’s General Counsel responsible for legal matters, compliance and institutional

integrity

49. Prior to this appointment, the University had a part-time legal counsel with a more limited

scope of responsibility.

Sagrado also has an internal auditor who reports directly to Audit Committee of the Board of

Trustees. Prior to 2016, the internal audit work was performed by a full-time employee. During

2016 and 2017, the Audit Committee and the administration decided to outsource this service

to an experienced certified public accountants’ firm. As part of the on-going assessment to

improve the University’s operations, the Audit Committee and the administration recently

concluded that it is best for the University to hire a full-time internal auditor as part of the staff.

The internal auditor performs audits for compliance and risk management pursuant to a risk

assessment plan approved by the Audit Committee50.

Ethical Conduct

Since at least 1995, Sagrado has a Code of Ethics governing the trustees’ fiduciary duties and

outlining the conflict of interest obligations for trustees and all University employees51. In 2016

Sagrado began the development and in 2017 adopted a broader and comprehensive Code of

49 Nuevos Integrantes Área de Servicios; General Counsel. 50 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018). 51 Código de Ética (1995).

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Ethical Conduct that sets forth the ethical standards expected from all its members, whether on

or off campus, and from all visitors or third parties who interact with the University. Sagrado’s

General Counsel led the effort to draft this code, which was adopted after extensive review and

discussion in the Administrative Board and eventually approved by the Board of Trustees52 The

code includes provisions regarding conflicts of interest, compliance with laws, regulations and

institutional policies and procedures, respect for the rights and dignity of others, interest in

health and respect for the environment, academic integrity, and ethics in research, honesty and

integrity in business practices, among others53.

Mutual Respect

One of the fundamental tenets of Sagrado’s Code of Ethical Conduct is the obligation to respect

the dignity of each individual. Sagrado’s mission requires that the University be a community of

mutual respect where each person feels welcomed and included and where persons treat each

other in accordance with the highest ethical standards. This commitment derives from

Sagrado’s fundamental faith as a Catholic university that each person is created in the image

and likeness of God and thus deserving of the equal dignity and respect. Sagrado’s Code of

Ethical Conduct expressly states that:

The University is committed to the principle of treating each member of our community with

respect and dignity. The University prohibits discrimination and harassment and provides equal

opportunity for all members of the community and applicants regardless of race, color,

nationality, religion, civil status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or status as a covered

veteran. Code of Ethical Conduct (2017, p. 3) [Translation by authors].

Accordingly, Sagrado’s institutional policies encourage a climate of mutual respect, whether on

or off campus.

Intellectual Freedom and Property Rights

A community of mutual respect that educates persons in “intellectual freedom” and “moral

conscience,” Sagrado is also committed to respecting academic and intellectual freedom, as

52 Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (21 de junio de 2017) available upon request. 53 Código de Conducta Ética (2017).

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well as the intellectual property rights of faculty, students, staff and third parties. These

commitments are clearly stated in Sagrado’s Code of Ethical Conduct, Faculty, Student and

Employee Handbooks and in policies that expressly address the protection of intellectual

property rights54. Sagrado is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of its intellectual

property policies and expects to adopt an updated policy sometime during the academic year

2018-201955. Sagrado also has acquired all necessary licenses for its music programs and

musical student associations such as ASCAP, ACEMLA, BMI, Global Music, SESAC, Sound

Exchange56.

Ethical Research Practices

Sagrado is similarly committed to ethical research practices. Since 2015, Sagrado and the

Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico (UIPR) have maintained a Memorandum of

Understanding to establish the Human Subject Protocol framework. Under this agreement,

IUPR’s Internal Review Board (IRB) reviews Sagrado’s research protocols for compliance with

applicable rules and regulations. Sagrado’s priority is to promote and ensure ethical faculty and

student research that safeguards the rights of any and all human subjects57.

Fair and Impartial Human Resources Practices

Sagrado is likewise committed to observe the highest ethical and professional standards in its

human resources practices: hiring, evaluation, development, promotion, disciplining, and

separation of employees.

Hiring Policies. Sagrado’s Faculty and Employee Handbooks outline the institutional hiring

policies. The current, revised versions of both of these handbooks were approved in March

2017 by the Academic and Administrative Boards after extensive review and discussion for

54 Code of Ethical Conduct; Manual de la Facultad 2003; Manual de Facultad 2017; Reglamento de Estudiantes;

Política para la Protección de los Derechos de Autor y el uso de Fotocopias o Reproducción de Obras, 2010; Política

de Honestidad Académica. 55 Review Status of Inventory of Institutional Policies and Procedures. 56 Examples of musical licenses agreements: ACEMLA, BMI, Global Music, SESAC, Sound Exchange. 57 Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico Memorandum of Understanding.

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most of 201658. The Board of Trustees approved both handbooks in March 201759. Sagrado’s

General Counsel and the Vice President for Organizational Development and Human Resources

(“ODRH”) actively participated in this process to ensure full legal compliance and observance of

best practices.

Prior to 2017, recruitment and hiring practices for administrative personnel were guided by

regulatory requirements of equal employment and non-discriminatory principles established in

the then Employee Handbook60. As part of Sagrado’s continuous updates and improvements of

its labor and employment policies and procedures, the ODHR team adopted a recruitment

policy for administrative staff that clearly communicates the procedures to be followed

compliant with all federal and state laws and regulations to the University community and

potential employment candidates61. The Faculty Handbooks describes the recruitment process

for new faculty members in teaching positions62.

Staff Evaluations. Prior to 2016 the University engaged in several efforts to implement a

performance management process - Transfórmate63, and Academia de Talentos64 - based on

objectives that would serve as the basis for evaluation, development, promotion, discipline and

separation of employees. However, assessment showed that these first attempts not effective

due to a variety of factors, including the absence of an information system to support the

effort.

To address this and improve staff evaluations, in 2016 the ODHR team began planning the

implementation of a comprehensive performance management system supported by the ADP

technology platform. The system was first piloted with all administrative employees during the

Spring 2017 semester. The ODHR team held multiple orientations for all administrative staff

and training sessions for the supervisory personnel responsible for developing objectives with

58 Acta de la Junta Administrativa (17 de marzo de 2017); Certificación 2017-05 de la Junta Académica (17 de marzo de 2017). 59 Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (30 de marzo de 2017) available upon request. 60 Manual del Empleado. 61 Política de Reclutamiento de Personal Administrativo (2017). 62 Manual de Facultad (2003); Manual de Facultad (2017). 63 Transfórmate. 64 Academia de Talentos.

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their teams and conducting the performance evaluations65. After assessing this pilot with the

Executive Leadership Team and the supervisory personnel, the system was slated for full

implementation during the academic year 2017-2018. It was subsequently postponed until

Spring 2018 due to the impact of hurricane Maria. The ODHR team conducted an assessment of

the first live phase after the closing of the cycle in June 2018, and now the system is being fully

implemented for academic year 2018-201966.

The information gathered during the evaluation process has been instrumental in

organizational development decisions for employee development, promotions and the filling of

vacancies and new positions. For instance, from 2015 to the present, 28 employees with sound

performance and potential for development have been promoted to new positions within the

University thus providing opportunities for continued professional growth67. The development

of employee objectives is now aligned to the institutional objectives and the 2017-2020

Strategic Plan, and the ADP performance management system supports this alignment. Once

fully implemented, the ODHR team will assess productivity and effectiveness. The ODRH is

currently developing an employee development program for administrative staff in response to

the needs identified during the evaluation process68.

Faculty Evaluations. The Academic Affairs and the ODRH teams are developing a

comprehensive annual evaluation review for faculty that will be supported by the ADP

performance management system scheduled for implementation during Spring 2019. As will be

further discussed in Standard III, currently, full-time faculty evaluations are performed following

these processes:

1. Supervisory evaluation. Faculty members submit an annual report to the academic

directors and the Provost where each faculty member lists the major accomplishments

65 Taller I - Redacción de Objetivos SMART; Taller II - Evaluación de Desempeño ADP Workforce Now; Taller III –

Destrezas Gerenciales para el manejo efectivo de Sistema de Gerencia de Desempeño. 66 Repaso a Supervisores Evaluación de Desempeño junio 2018. 67 Employees Promoted from 2015 until 2018. 68 Plan de Desarrollo Individual.

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in six areas: student engagement, scholarship, teaching, research/creation, community

engagement, and institutional/departmental participation69.

2. Student evaluations. Prior to 2014, student evaluations of faculty members were

performed every semester in hard-copy70. This process was cumbersome and labor

intensive. The University subsequently used an electronic platform, Livetext,71 but it was

discontinued because the assessment showed that student participation dropped

dramatically. Accordingly, a new process was implemented in 2016. The process begins

with the selection of a sample of undergraduate and graduate courses in both

modalities (physical and hybrid) with the highest number of students. The sample

includes full and part time faculty members. The evaluation process includes in-person

visits to the classrooms by members of the Student Council where students were asked

to complete a Google form evaluation. However, this caused disruptions to the teaching

activity and, in 2017 instead of visits to the classrooms, a code number was assigned to

faculty members and students were asked to complete an online evaluation using a

given an email address.

3. Rank Assessment. Full-time faculty members are evaluated for rank promotion by their

peers and the director of their academic department. The process commences when the

ODHR team informs Academic Affairs those faculty members eligible for a rank

evaluation following a promotion schedule that is based in years of service. Eligible and

interested faculty members then submit the documentation required (dossier) in the

Rank Assessment Handbook. If denied, the faculty member may request that the

determination be reviewed by an Appeal Committee72.

The process requires that each faculty member prepare a comprehensive dossier that includes

student evaluations, peer evaluations, director’s recommendation, and evidence of scholarly or

creative work (publications, research, artistic productions), community involvement,

69 Manual de Evaluación y de Ascenso en Rango (2017); Manual de Facultad (2017). 70 Examples of faculty evaluations by students in hard-copy, available for review upon request. 71 Examples of faculty evaluations by students in Livetext, available for review upon request. 72 Manual de Evaluación y de Ascenso en Rango (2017).

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professional association membership, and any other pertinent information. The dossier is then

evaluated by two committees (departmental and institutional) and recommendations are

presented to the Provost and President for final approval. During the period under study and

including 2008-09 until 2017-2018, 35 faculty members were promoted through the rank

assessment process.

Table 2: Number of faculty promoted in range up between 2008-2009 to 2017-2018.

Year 2008-

09 2009-

10 2010-

11 2011-

12 2012-

13 2013-

14 2014-

15 2015-

16 2016-

17 2017-

18 Total

Approved 5 3 No

data 3 1 6 1 3 5 8 35

Established in 2003, the Rank Assessment Handbook was updated to include the new

organizational structure and aligned with the revised Faculty Handbook. In March 2017, the

Academic Board approved the Rank Assessment Handbook together with the Faculty

Handbook73.

4. Part-time faculty. Part-time faculty members are subject to the student evaluations

every semester/trimester74.

Disciplinary Actions. Sagrado conducts all disciplinary processes in a fair and impartial manner.

The level of the sanction is determined based on impartial investigations, taking into

consideration the nature and severity of the offense, and the circumstances75. Disciplinary

actions with respect to employees or students are the result of careful consideration and

advise, including supervisors, the ODHR team, the Academic Affairs team, or the Student Affairs

team, as applicable, the General Counsel and, if appropriate, the President. These are regular

procedures, but no behavioral pattern has been identified in the last decade.

Employee Recognition. Employees are an important part of the Sagrado family and the

University recognizes their contributions. Originally, the employee recognition system was

based on increments of five-years of service76. Aligned with the performance management

process, the ODHR team in consultation with employees, will submit a new employee

73 Certificación 2017-05 de la Junta Académica (17 de marzo de 2017). 74 Manual de Evaluación y de Ascenso en Rango (2017). 75 Manual del Empleado (2017); Manual de Facultad (2017); Reglamento de Estudiantes (2012); Manual de las Residencias Universitarias (2016). 76 Manual del Empleado.

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recognition program that combines performance with years of service to the Administrative

Board for implementation in Spring 201977.

Avoidance of Conflict of Interest

To ensure that the above-mentioned policies and procedures are properly enforced, all

responsible parties have the duty to act free of conflicts of interest, that is, free of any personal

or external pressures or interests that will prevent them from performing their duties on behalf

of and in the best interests of Sagrado. All Sagrado employees must make decisions seeking to

do what is right, both from a legal and ethical perspective.

This institutional conflict of interest policy stems from the By-laws of the Board of Trustees and

applies to employees at all levels78. Every year trustees certify that they do not have a conflict

of interest and, if a potential conflict of interest is identified, the Board evaluates the potential

conflict and determines the impact of such conflict to the University79.

The recently adopted Code of Ethical Conduct expressly provides that University employees,

regardless of their position, must be guided by the principle that there must not be an actual or

apparent conflict of interest between their personal interests and those of the University and, if

there are any such conflicts, they have an obligation to disclose and take all necessary

avoidance measures by letting the appropriate office or official manage the situation.

As part of continuous assessment and improvements, in June 20, 2018, the Board of Trustees

reviewed the University’s Code of Ethics and approved a revised version applicable to trustees

and all employees of the University to govern specifically the avoidance of conflicts of

interests80. On that same date, the Board of Trustees also approved a revised Policy for the

Avoidance of Conflict of Interests for Contracting with the Federal Government applicable to

trustees and all employees of the University81. Violations of these policies by employees are

handled under the appropriate disciplinary procedures and by trustees in accordance with the

procedures established by the Board.

77 Programa de Reconocimiento al Empleado. 78 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018). 79 Formulario de Conflicto de Interés. 80 Código de Ética (1995); Código de Ética (2018). 81 Política para Evitar el Conflicto de Intereses en la Contratación con el Gobierno Federal (1995a; 2018b).

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Grievance Policies and Procedures

To safeguard the character and safety of our community and ensure compliance with

institutional policies, Sagrado has policies and procedures that are equally applied in order to

fairly and unbiasedly address complaints when any situation arises where any member of the

community feels that he or she has been treated in a manner that is contrary to our policies

and codes of conduct. Complaints are investigated by impartial officers and, often, by a

committee of peers in a reasonable time or following protocols already in place. There are

specific procedures for claims by students, faculty, staff or third parties.

1. Staff employees. The Employee Handbook outlines the norms of conduct expected of

employees and, also, the corrective actions that could result if an employee is found to

have violated the norms82. The norms of conduct and any corrective action apply to staff

and faculty members, unless specifically stated in a policy. Complaints are conducted

following the Procedure to Review Complaints under the Affirmative Action83.

2. Faculty. Complaints related to academic matters are reviewed by the Complaints and

Grievances Committee that is composed by members of the faculty84. The process

includes the investigation of the claim and a determination regarding the same. There is

an appeal process to the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.

3. Students. The Student Handbook establishes a grievance and disciplinary process, as

well as the corresponding sanction for student-related complaints85. There is an appeal

process to the Student Disciplinary Committee, and ultimately, to the Dean and Vice

President for Student Affairs. There are other special policies and procedures in place

depending on the nature of the offense. For example:

a. Sexual Misconduct/Title IX. Student Affairs followed the grievance procedure in

the Student Handbook for all student complaints including sexual

misconduct/Title IX complaints until 2016 when the University appointed an

82 Manual del Empleado (2017). 83 Reglamento para Ventilar Querellas bajo el Plan de Acción Afirmativa. 84 Manual de Facultad (2017). 85 Reglamento de Estudiantes (2012).

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independent Title IX Coordinator compliant with the U.S. Department of

Education’s Dear Colleague Letter of April 25, 201586. Aware of this critical role,

the Title IX Coordinator is a manager-level position within the administrative

staff with experience investigating complaints87. The General Counsel supervises

the Title IX Coordinator and oversees the investigations and the report and

recommendations to the Dean and Vice President for Student Affairs (for

student respondent) or the Vice President for Organizational Development and

Human Resources (for staff or faculty respondent). Since her appointment in

February 2016, the Title IX Coordinator has been active with different

educational activities that include in-person trainings to faculty, administrative

staff, the Student Council, international students, athletic coaches and

personnel, and contractors88.

Cognizant of the importance of communicating information on Title IX, sexual misconduct is

part of the content of the FEP introductory courses discussed in Standard III89. Another

communication outlet is the Title IX webpage in the institutional website where information on

sexual misconduct and a video developed by students is available. Compliant with the Title IX

regulations, this webpage has an online survey to assess awareness and the overall climate on

this important matter. The webpage also provides a form for confidential online or hard-copy

complaints.

Table 3:Type of compliance for years.

Type of complaint 2008-

09 2009-

10 2010-

11 2011-

12 2012-

13 2013-

14 2014-

15 2015-

16 Admission and Enrollment 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Counseling 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Financial Aid 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Athletics 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sexual Harassment 0 1 0 0 1 0 4 4 Hostile Environment 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 Sexual assault 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Pregnancy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

86 Dear Colleague Letter (April 24, 2015). 87 Comunicación a la Comunidad – Coordinadoras de Título IX (2016a; 2018b). 88 Presentación sobre conducta sexual inapropiada/Título IX. 89 FEP Syllabus.

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Type of complaint 2008-

09 2009-

10 2010-

11 2011-

12 2012-

13 2013-

14 2014-

15 2015-

16 Marital or family status 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Job 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Recruitment 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Reprisal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Stalking 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals 0 2 0 0 2 0 7 6

As part of the ongoing assessments and improvements, in 2017, the University developed and

communicated the Policy on Sexual Misconduct/Title IX90 and two procedures: Procedures for

the Resolution of Sexual Misconduct Complaints Against Students91, and Procedure for the

Resolution of Sexual Misconduct Complaints Against Faculty, Staff, Affiliates, and Non-

affiliates92.

b. Bullying. Similar to sexual misconduct/Title IX, prior to 2017, complaints for

bullying were managed following the grievance procedure in the Student

Handbook. In 2017, Sagrado approved the Policy to Against Bullying93 and a

procedure that outlines the grievance process94 in compliance with Puerto Rico

Act No. 104 of August 1, 2016.

c. Grades. The Policy for Grade Review establishes the procedure for students who

disagree with a grade95. The process commences when the student submits a

written request to the professor to review the grade. If the student is not

satisfied with the outcome, he or she may request reconsideration to the

appropriate Academic Director or Program Coordinator. If the student is still not

satisfied with the determination, the student may request a review by the

Appeal Committee that is constituted by professors in the discipline. The

Committee sends a recommendation to the Academic Director and the latter to

90 Política sobre Conducta Sexual Inapropiada (2018). 91 Procedimiento para la resolución de querellas de conducta sexual inapropiada contra estudiantes (2018). 92 Procedimiento para la resolución de querellas de conducta sexual inapropiada contra la facultad, personal administrativo, afiliados y no-afiliados (2018). 93 Política Institucional para el Manejo del Acoso Escolar (2017). 94 Protocolo para el Manejo del Acoso Escolar (2017). 95 Política de Reclamación de Notas (11 de marzo de 2013).

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the Provost and Executive President for Academic Affairs who notifies the final

determination to the student, the Academic Director or Program Coordinator,

and the professor. If a change of grade is appropriate, the Academic Director or

Program Coordinator sends the change to the Office of the Registrar.

d. Tuition and Fees. A student may request a review of a tuition and fees

determination to the Office of Financial Assistance by following the procedure in

the Financial Norms96.

Honesty and Truthfulness in Communications

All the above-mentioned policies and procedures, as well as other official policies, regulations,

programs, services and disclosures, are made public for the benefit of the community through

different means, taking into account its diverse audiences. The strategies for dissemination are

varied: the distribution of handbooks and policies, orientations and workshops, broad and

narrow casts through digital and mass media: websites, institutional portal, email, social

networks97. These efforts reaffirm our commitment to be an open and transparent community.

The Integrated Communications Team. All official communications distributed to stakeholders

through official channels, such as the institutional website and portal and the social media

networks, are reviewed and approved for publication by the Integrated Communications Team

and, if necessary, by the General Counsel. In 2015, the Integrated Communications Team united

all marketing, public relations, digital media, communications and calendar functions under the

leadership of one executive98.

Official Communication Channels. The website is the official channel for external

communications99. It explicitly states the institutional mission and vision and provides

information regarding academic programs, faculty, admissions processes, tuition and fees,

financial aid, student services, accreditations, alumni and other relevant matters. The

Integrated Communications team regularly reviews and update the website. The institutional

96 Normas Financieras (2018-2019). 97 Promoción de la Oferta Académica 2008-2017. 98 Nuevos de Integrantes Área de Servicios: Vice-presidenta de Comunicaciones Integradas (2015). 99 www.sagrado.edu.

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portal is an internal tool for official communications with enrolled students, faculty, and

administrative personnel100. Policies, regulations, student support services, financial aid,

campus life, campus security, human resources, Moodle/eLearning tutorials are available for

each segment.

Academic Programs. Sagrado communicates its academic offering and services clearly and

precisely through the distribution of promotional materials during high school visits, orientation

events, fairs, its annual Open House and campus visits101. Likewise, Sagrado carries out

advertising and public relations efforts in traditional and digital media to promote our academic

programs, student services and opportunities. All academic communications are reviewed for

accuracy for publication by Academic Affairs.

Student Financial Assistance. Sagrado complies with all applicable requirements regarding the

publication of information regarding student financial assistance. The Office for Integrated

Assistance (ASI) is responsible for managing Sagrado’ student financial aid programs, including

the dissemination and orientation regarding policies and procedures102.

With respect to Title V funds, Sagrado communicates information that allows students and their

families to assess the costs as well as financial opportunities available so that they can make

informed decisions. Information about financial aid on tuition costs, fees, room and board,

government grants and loans, private grants, and work-study is available online, in printed

material, and in direct face-to-face communication with ASI officials. The following documents

are specifically published and available on the institutional website and portal: Financial Norms,

Net Price Calculator, Consumer Student Information, and Consumer Veteran Information103.

Through 2010-2014, fairs were organized in campus to assist students and their families in

completing the FAFSA. After 2014, fairs were substituted by a more comprehensive, year-round

assistance by ASI officers, Open House activities, and enrollment fairs104.

100 http://mi.sagrado.edu/ics/. 101 Promo Oferta Académica 2008-2017; https://www.sagrado.edu/programas/. 102 https://www.sagrado.edu/asistencia-economica/. 103 https://www.sagrado.edu/consumer-information/. 104 Presentations by ASI.

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The Director of ASI is an active member of the Association of Administrators of Economic

Assistance Programs of Puerto Rico (PRASFAA), and the National Association of Student

Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), thus allowing personnel to be up to date in policies and

best practices in the field105.

Consumer Information. Sagrado also complies with all applicable requirements regarding the

publication of consumer information106. The official website contains the following information

and reports: student financial aid information, financial aid contacts, tuition, fees and room

costs, refund policy, loan disclosures, textbook information, Information for Veterans, Jeanne

Clery Reports, and FERPA. Statistical data about Sagrado’s graduation and retention rates

cohorts 2012-2016, Equity in Athletics, the Assessment on Social Work Student Outcomes as of

May 2017 is also available in the Consumer Information webpage. Professional certifications

are available in the 2014-2016 Undergraduate Catalogue107.

1. Jeanne Clery Act (Campus Security). Security on campus and in official activities is

important to Sagrado. Until 2015, the University Security Office was only responsible for

campus security and traffic. Recognizing that security entails more than just traditional

security matters in 2015, the University expanded the responsibilities of the Security

Office to include managing risks such as the Emergency Plan, fire, hazardous materials,

and paramedics assistance108. Sagrado also updated the blue lights and emergency

telephone system, and installed security cameras in compliance with the Jeanne Cleary

federal regulations109. In the event of a reportable situation, warning letters are

disseminated thought the website, social media, and other communication outlets110.

Every year, Sagrado prepares the Annual Security and Fire Report that includes crime

105 https://mi.sagrado.edu/ICS/ASI/. 106 https://www.sagrado.edu/consumer-information/. 107 Undergraduate Catalogue (2014-2016). 108 Announcement of Office of Integrated Security and Risk Management (2015). 109 https://www.sagrado.edu/en/integrated-security-and-risk-management/. 110 https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/alerta-29-agosto-2017.pdf; https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/9-12-16-Alerta-de-Seguridad.pdf; https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/alerta-30-abril-2015.pdf; https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/alerta-29-de-abril-2015.pdf.

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and VAWA statistics, the fire response plan, and prevention efforts111. The Annual

Report as well as the crime log are communicated to the University community and the

public on the website112. In view of the importance of communicating information on

security, Jeanne Clery and VAWA are also part of the content of the introductory FEP

courses discussed in Standard III113.

2. Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (Controlled Substances). Sagrado complies with

all federal and state laws regarding the use and possession of controlled substances. The

University had one policy on the use of alcohol and other drugs for students and

employees114 until 2017 when a separate policy for employees was approved to address

state labor law requirements115. Both policies (students and employees), clearly states

the University’s zero tolerance on the illegal use and possession of controlled

substances. Sagrado has procedures to investigate and adjudicate any violation to these

policies that closely follow the procedure explained and detailed in the Student

Handbook116, the University Residences Handbook117, and the Employee Handbook118.

Statistical evidence of these processes is available in compliance reports published in

the official website.

The policies outline health risk factors, state and federal penalties if found in violation to the

law, University sanctions if found in violation to the policy, and the in-campus resources for

assistance. In 2017, Sagrado approved the Policy on the Use and Possession of Marihuana

111 https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/Informe-anual-seguridad-2017.pdf; https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/Informe-anual-seguridad-reporte-incendios-2016.pdf; https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/INFORME-ANUAL-SEGURIDAD-2015.pdf; https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/Informe-Anual-de-Seguridad-y-Seguridad-en-Caso-de-Incendio-2014.pdf; https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/Informe-de-Seguridad-2013.pdf; https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/Informe-de-Seguridad-2012.pdf. 112 http://crimelog.sagrado.edu/. 113 FEP Syllabus (2017). 114 Política sobre el Uso de Alcohol y otras Drogas (2012). 115 Política para Empleados sobre Abuso de Alcohol y Uso de Sustancias Controladas, Narcóticos y otras Drogas (2017). 116 Reglamento de Estudiantes (2012). 117 Manual de las Residencias Universitarias (2016); 118 Manual de Facultad (2017).

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(medical cannabis) in the University adopting a state regulation of 2015 that prohibits the use

and possession of medical cannabis in a school setting including a higher education campus119.

Sagrado communicates these policies through a series of prevention and awareness initiatives

such as: faculty and staff trainings, activities by the student group La Red that promotes healthy

living, and information on the institutional portal120 and the website121. These policies are

disseminated as part of the FEP introductory courses discussed in Standard III122.

Complaint with the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act and state regulations, every two

years, Sagrado prepares the Bi-annual Report on Drug-free Schools and Campuses Regulations

that is disseminated to the University community and the public through the website123. The

Center for Personal Development has psychologists, counselors and social workers on staff, and

the Pastoral Care Center provide counseling and support services to students and employees124.

The ODHR team manages the Employee Assistance Program through the University’s health

plan125.

3. FERPA (Privacy of Student Records). Sagrado, though the Office of the Registrar,

complies with its responsibility for the protection of student information and academic

records, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The

Registrar provides orientation and training to staff as they acquire access to an

academic record. Sagrado has a policy and a procedure to comply with FERPA’s annual

notification to students regarding their rights and responsibilities under the statute126.

Sagrado also provides written notifications whenever a third-party requests information

and the student has not provided prior authorization for its release127. Sagrado provides

119 Política sobre el Uso y Posesión de Marihuana (cannabis medicinal) en la Universidad (2017). 120 http://mi.sagrado.edu/ics/. 121 https://www.sagrado.edu/consumer-information/. 122 FEP Syllabus (2018). 123 Informe Biannual “Drugs-free Schools and Campuses Regulations, 2011-2013; Informe Biannual “Drugs-free

Schools and Campuses Regulations, 2013-2015; Informe Biannual “Drugs-free Schools and Campuses Regulations,

2015-2017. 124 Política sobre el Uso de Alcohol y otras Drogas (2012); Política para Empleados sobre Abuso de Alcohol y Uso de Sustancias Controladas, Narcóticos y otras Drogas (2017). 125 INSPIRA. 126 Notificación a Estudiantes sobre Derechos bajo la Ley de Derechos Educativos y de Privacidad Familiares. 127 https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/FERPA-Autorizacion-2.pdf.

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degree verification through National Student Clearinghouse, in compliance with FERPA,

with a written authorization (disclosure) from the student for Sagrado to provide

information of their academic degree128. This service is provided to students through the

website129.

Compliance with Laws, Regulations and Accreditation

Puerto Rico compliance. Sagrado is a non-for-profit corporation organized and existing and in

good standing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Sagrado is also compliant

and in good standing under the laws and regulations of the state licensing authority for

institutions of higher education.

From April 6 to 8, 2016, the existing licensing authority at the time, the Puerto Rico Council on

Education, conducted a comprehensive on-site review of all University operations to evaluate

Sagrado’s application for renewal of its state operating license. This reviewed covered the

following 9 areas: institutional mission; organizational structure; academic offering; faculty

academic and professional credential and experience; information resources; student services;

physical and equipment infrastructure; financial capability; and truthful representation. On

October 11, 2016, the Council notified that Sagrado complies with the legal and regulatory

requirements and renewed the operating license for a new five-year period from 2016 until

2021130. All recommendations issued during the review process have been adopted,

implemented and accepted by the Council.

Sagrado’s graduate and undergraduate programs have also been reviewed and approved by the

state licensing authority. This review requires a comprehensive application covering the

following areas: academic offering, faculty, availability of information resources and

educational technology, special labs, financial capability, and institutional policies131. The

licensing authority appoints an expert in each discipline to (1) review the application, (2)

physically inspect the facilities, and (3) validate the financial and human resources.

128 Autorización para la No Divulgación de Información de Directorio” del Expediente Académico. 129 https://secure.studentclearinghouse.org/tsorder/faces/TranscriptOrder#secondload. 130 Certificado del Consejo de Educación de Puerto Rico 2016-530 (11 de octubre de 2016). 131 Reglamento para el Licenciamiento de Instituciones de Educación Superior en Puerto Rico.

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Sagrado complies with all required state regulatory filings, including applications for new

undergraduate and graduate programs, approval of substantive changes to existing academic

programs, and notifications of material issues such as the strategic plan132.

Federal compliance. Sagrado complies with all applicable laws and regulations as a participant

in federal student financial programs133. Every year an independent external auditor conducts

an audit of the University’s compliance. During the period from 2008-2009 to 2016-2018, the

auditor issued clean, unqualified single audit opinions with no material deficiency findings134.

Auditor recommendations are well-received and implemented. Sagrado also complies with all

required IPEDS data submissions.135.

Accreditation. Sagrado also complies with all required filings and notifications of its different

accreditation agencies and is in good standing with all such accreditations: Middle State

Commission on Higher Education, Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, Council on

Social Work, Network of International Business Schools, Council for the Accreditation of

Educator Preparation, and International Association for Continuing Education and Training136.

Recommendation. In view of the University’s significant compliance obligations across its

operations, Sagrado should consider establishing a formal comprehensive compliance program

that (1) outlines all institutional requirements, (2) their time and mode of compliance so that

the governing bodies and the administration can follow and assess the University’s

performance in a timely, pro-active manner, and (3) identify all necessary corrective actions.

Sagrado’s General Counsel, who oversees institutional compliance, will address this

recommendation during the 2018-2019 academic year. This program should be reviewed and

approved by the internal auditor and the Board of Trustees’ Internal Audit Committee.

Periodic Review and Assessment

132 Certificado del Consejo de Educación de Puerto Rico 2017-278 (23 de junio de 2017); Certificado del Consejo de Educación de Puerto Rico 2017-284 (28 de agosto de 2017); Certificado del Consejo de Educación de Puerto Rico 2014-260 (3 de julio de 2014). 133 Letter of Determination from the U.S. Education Department (January of 2018). 134 Sigle Audit Opinions available for upon request. 135 IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2017; IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2016; IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2015;

IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2014; IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2013. 136 www.sagrado.edu/acreditaciones.

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Review of Policies and Procedures. Sagrado’s review of institutional policies and procedures

has historically responded to particular situations such as changes in law, situations that arise

on campus, or licensing and accreditation requirements. Since 2015, Sagrado has been

engaged in a comprehensive review of institutional policies and procedures to ensure legal and

ethical compliance as well as observance of professional best practices.

Each operational team has been responsible for assessing and updating the existing policies and

procedures in their areas with the support of the General Counsel and any other necessary

resource. Updated policies are then submitted to the appropriate governing body whether the

Academic or the Administrative Board, and in some cases, the Board of Trustees.

Approximately, 60 policies and procedures have been revised and reissued since 2015 in the

following areas: labor and employment, student life, sexual misconduct/Title IX, branding,

endowment, among others. Two prominent examples are the Faculty and Employee Handbooks

reviewed by the Academic and Administrative Boards and approved by the Board of Trustees.

The review process continues as Sagrado is currently reviewing policies in the areas of

intellectual property, academic integrity, information technology systems, among others137.

Review of Contracts. Since 2015, Sagrado’s General Counsel has conducted a comprehensive

review of all University contracts to generate University-wide standards and ensure compliance

with applicable legal requirements as well as ethical and professional standards. This review has

covered approximately 20 different contract models for professional services, consultants,

academic collaborations, University housing, facility leases, study abroad, authorizations for use

of image, voice and name, among others138.

Review of Governing Statutes and Regulations. Sagrado’s three governing bodies, the Board

of Trustees, the Academic Board and the Administrative Board, regularly review their governing

statutes and regulations.

The Board of Trustees has revised and updated its governing statute three times over the past

ten years in 2008, 2016 and 2018139. The Academic Board conducted a comprehensive review

137 Review Status of Inventory of Institutional Policies and Procedures. 138 Inventory of Model Contracts. 139 Estatutos Octava Revisión (2008); Estatutos Novena Revisión (2016), Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018).

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of its governing bylaws and regulations during the 2015-2016 academic year, and approved the

revised documents on June 17, 2016.140. Similarly, the Administrative Board conducted a review

of its governing regulations statute during 2016-2017 academic year, and recommended the

revised version for approval on March 17, 2017141. The Board of Trustees approved the revised

bylaws and regulations of the Academic Board and the revised regulations of the Administrative

Board on June 21, 2017142.

Recommendation. A recommendation resulting from this Self-Study is the establishment of a

policy for the periodic and systematic review of institutional policies and procedures. This

review should be part of the regular responsibilities of the operational teams responsible for

the implementation of each policy and procedure and should flow through the appropriate

governing bodies with participation of all appropriate stakeholders.

Institutional Ethics and Integrity

Sagrado’s mission commits the University to observe the highest ethical standards. As detailed

above, Sagrado complies with its legal and regulatory obligations and is engaged in a

continuous process of updating policies, procedures and practices in accordance with best

practices and the highest professional standards.

The mission tracking surveys conducted in 2007 and 2012 confirmed the community’s

knowledge and commitment to Sagrado’s mission143. During the academic year 2013-2014,

Sagrado collected data for the assessment of students’ ethical sense as a competency across

the curriculum. Assessment results showed the following:

• 95% of the participating students expressed respect for the ethical principles of the

university and its profession.

• 99% of the students identified examples of ethical principles in the educational

experience.

140 Estatutos de la Junta Académica (2016); Reglamento de la Junta Académica (2016). 141 Reglamento de la Junta Administrativa (2017); Acta de la Junta Administrativa (17 de marzo de 2017). 142 Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (21 de junio de 2017) available for upon request. 143 Estudio de Misión, Ambiente y Comunicación Institucional: Informe de Resultados 2007 -2012.

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• 100% of the students knew how to coexist with a plural and heterogeneous grouping

with diverse perspectives.

• 100% of the students systematically showed coherence between their ethical principles

and their actions.

According to this report, the majority of the participating students indicated that Sagrado

helped them to internalize and recognize the importance of justice in their actions, the value of

equality, the concept of integrity, and the value of freedom for their professional

development144.

Conclusion

Sagrado’s mission seeks to “educate persons” in “intellectual freedom” and “moral conscience”

to lead lives of ethical and social responsibility. Sagrado models the conduct that we expect

from our students by acting in accordance with the highest ethical and professional standards,

complying all applicable laws and regulations, following its internal policies and procedures, and

truthfully representing itself to internal and external audiences.

Recommendations

Sagrado should establish (a) a policy for the periodic review of all institutional policies and

procedures through the appropriate governing bodies, the Academic Board, the Administrative

Board or the Board of Trustees, and the participation of all appropriate community

stakeholders; and (b) formal program for institutional compliance under the direction of

University’s Chief Compliance Officer subject to review by the University’s internal auditor and

the Board of Trustees’ Audit Committee.

144 Informe del avalúo del aprendizaje estudiantil (2013-2014).

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Standard III: Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience

An institution provides students with learning experiences that are characterized by rigor and

coherence at all program, certificate, and degree levels, regardless of instructional modality. All

learning experiences, regardless of modality, program pace/schedule, level, and setting are

consistent with higher education expectations.

Compliance with the Standard and Criteria

The University meets the eight criteria of Standard III and is in compliance with the Commission’s

Requirements of Affiliation 8, 9 and 10. Evidence that demonstrates this can be reviewed in the

Documentation Roadmap.

Sagrado complies with Standard III.

Criterion Number

Standard III Criterion Meet

Criterion

C1 Programs leading to a degree or other recognized higher education credential, designed to foster a coherent student learning experience and to promote synthesis of learning

C2 Student learning experiences that are designed, delivered, and assessed by appropriate professionals who are:

C2a Rigorous and effective in teaching, assessment of student learning, scholarly inquiry, and service

C2b Qualified for their position and the work they perform

C2c Sufficient in number

C2d Provided with and use sufficient opportunities, resources, and support for professional growth and innovation

C2e Reviewed regularly and equitably based on clearly written, disseminated, and fair criteria, expectations, policies, procedures

C3 Academic programs of study are clearly and accurately described so that students are able to understand and follow degree and program requirements and expected time to completion

C4 Sufficient learning opportunities and resources to support both Sagrado’s programs of study and students’ academic progress

C5 Institution offers a general education program that has:

C5a Sufficient scope to draw students into new areas of intellectual experience

C5b A curriculum designed to acquire and demonstrate essential skills

C5c A program in non-US institutions without general education N/A

C6 In institutions that offer graduate and professional education, there are opportunities for students to develop research, scholarship, and independent thinking provided by qualified faculty

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Criterion Number

Standard III Criterion Meet

Criterion

C7 Adequate and appropriate institutional review and approval on any student learning opportunities designed, delivered, or assessed by third party providers

C8 Periodic assessment of the programs providing student learning opportunities

Compliance with Standard III

Sagrado’s Mission and Vision guide the design of the student learning experiences, whether

curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular. The student learning experiences seek to develop

in each student the institutional values outlined in Sagrado’s governing document: Christian

values; ethical and esthetical values; community, solidarity, justice and peace; integrity,

responsibility & honesty; dialogue & commitment; multi-cultural understanding; and creativity

and social change.

Sagrado’s Mission calls for the education of intellectually free and morally responsible persons,

who will exercise their own judgment and ethical and social responsibility and engage in the

construction of just, peaceful and solidary communities. Sagrado’s Vision calls for the Mission

to be accomplished within “a unique academic project” that offers “an innovative educational

experience in which the classroom is the world, in an environment characterized by a quality

community life and anchored in the principle that the human person and Christian values are

the center of the project.”

Sagrado’s Mission and Vision therefore reflect the double solidarity of the founding charism of

the Society of the Sacred Heart: solidarity in educating the whole person for the purpose of

solidarity in building a more authentically Christian society. For this educational Mission, the

world must be the classroom and the human person must be at the center of academic project.

All of Sagrado academic programs, whether at the undergraduate and graduate levels, each in

their particular discipline, aim at this double solidarity. The programs pursue an integral

education and solidary social impact. As the education aims at social impact, the academic

approach of the academic programs must be inter and transdisciplinary as social challenges are

generally beyond the purview of single academic discipline.

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The faculty, the structure of the programs, the core undergraduate general education

component, the curricular and co-curricular learning experiences, the transversal competencies

developed across all programs, the learning facilities and resources, and the assessment of the

programs, are all aligned to accomplish this fundamental double purpose in a multi-disciplinary

and innovative academic project.

Sagrado provides its students learning experiences at the curricular, co and extra-curricular

levels, characterized by the rigor and coherence necessary to accomplish the Mission and each

program’s disciplinary objectives.

The Academic Project’s Philosophical Framework

In 2012, Sagrado generated the document titled Marco Educativo de la Universidad del Sagrado

Corazón that reaffirmed the institutional Mission and outlined the philosophical framework for

the academic project.

145This philosophical framework calls for an education of the whole person that addresses all

aspects of human activity and aspires to help students develop an integrated view of

knowledge.

Sagrado’s Undergraduate Programs

Academic Units and Programs

Sagrado currently offers 49 undergraduate programs146 within 4 academic units: (a) the Ferré

Rangel School of Communication, (b) the Interdisciplinary Faculty of Humanistic and Social

Studies, (c) the Department of Business Administration and (d) the Department of Natural

Sciences.

145 This document encompasses the philosophical commitment of Universidad del Sagrado Corazón’s educational

Project as a Liberal Arts institution in the context of Puerto Rico in the second decade of the XXI Century. […]

The main purpose is to ensure the link between the University’s philosophy, values, Vision, Mission, and goals. It also secures the connection of these elements with its understandings, academic guidelines, and the profile of the main actors: students, faculty, and staff. (p. 1) 146 Academic Programs.

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Table 4 Undergraduate Academic Programs.

Undergraduate Academic Programs147 Active as of June 2017

Moratoriums

Closing

Ferré Rangel School of Communications

Associate of Arts in Photography Mar-18

Associate of Arts in Radio Production May-17

Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a major in Photography X

Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a major in Journalism X

Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a major in Digital Production X

Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a major in Radio Production and Marketing

X

Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a major in Advertising X

Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a major in Public Relations X

Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a major in Animation, Visualization and Interactive Technology 3D

X

Bachelor of Arts in General Communication X

Business Administration Department

Associate of Arts in Production and Marketing of Events May-16

Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in General Business Administration

May-18

Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Accounting X

Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Entrepreneurship

X

Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Marketing X

Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Tourism X

Bachelor of Arts in Production and Marketing of Events X

Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Management May-18

Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Computerized Information Systems

Mar-18

Interdisciplinary Faculty for Humanities and Social Sciences (FIEHS)

Associate Degree in Liberal Arts Mar-18

Associate Degree in Liberal Arts Online Mar-18

Bachelor of Arts in General Education X

Bachelor of Elementary Education Mar-18

Bachelor of Elementary Education with a major in English Mar-18

Bachelor of Elementary Education with a major in Bilingual Education May-18

Bachelor of Elementary Education with a major in Special Education Mar-18

Bachelor of Secondary Education with a major in English Mar-18

Bachelor of Secondary Education with a major in Mathematics Mar-18

Bachelor of Secondary Education with a major in Spanish Mar-18

Bachelor of Secondary Education with a major in History Mar-18

Bachelor of Secondary Education with a major in Bilingual Education Mar-18

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Social Sciences X

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Visual Arts X

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Dance X

147 During the review period, Sagrado closed 5 undergraduate programs in compliance with the state regulations due to minimal enrollment and placed another 13 programs in moratorium due to enrollment figures below regulatory thresholds. Sagrado complied with all required regulatory filings. Another 19 programs were placed in moratoriums during the academic year 2017-2018 for the same reasons.

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Undergraduate Academic Programs147 Active as of June 2017

Moratoriums

Closing

Bachelor of Arts with a major in International Studies X

Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies X

Bachelor of Arts with a major in General Humanities X

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Psychology X

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Justice Systems X

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Theatre X

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Social Work X

Natural Science

Associate of Sciences in Nursing X

Associate of Sciences in Nursing Online X

Bachelor of Arts and Sciences with a major in Web Technologies X

Bachelor of Sciences with a major in Biology X

Bachelor of Sciences with a major in Biotechnology X

Bachelor of Sciences with a major in Computer Science X

Bachelor of Sciences in General Natural Sciences X

Bachelor of Sciences with a major in Mathematics May-17

Bachelor of Sciences with a major in Chemistry X

Bachelor of Sciences in Nursing X

Bachelor of Sciences in Nursing Online X

Bachelor of Sciences with a major in Exercise Sciences and Health Promotion

X

At this time, Sagrado offers 21 minor concentrations distributed through the 4 academic units.

It specifically offers a minor concentration in foreign languages that allows students to take 4

courses (12 credits) in a foreign language.

The University also offers a signature multidisciplinary bachelor’s degree that allows students to

combine any three minor concentrations. While this program required that the minor

concentrations not belong to the same academic unit, in October 31, 2016 the Academic Board

approved an amendment to remove this restriction148.

All of Sagrado’s undergraduate programs have been reviewed and approved by the state

licensing authority. This review requires a comprehensive application covering the following

areas: academic offering, faculty, availability of information resources and educational

technology, special laboratories, financial capability and institutional policies. The licensing

authority appoints an expert in the discipline to review the application and often visits the

university to discuss the application and inspect the facilities and resources149.

148 Certificación de la Junta Académica 2016-03. 149 Reglamento para el Licenciamiento de Instituciones de Educación Superior de Puerto Rico (2012)

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Mission-driven Undergraduate Programs.

Sagrado offers special Mission-driven programs that seek to prepare professional in fields that

engage directly in solidary services. The Natural Sciences Department offers bachelor’s and

associate degrees in nursing and academic disciplines that usually become routes to graduate

studies in the health sciences. The Interdisciplinary Faculty offers bachelor’s programs in

education, social work, justice systems (akin to peace studies and conflict resolution) and

psychology (oriented towards social-community psychology). And the Ferré Rangel School of

Communications offers a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Students in all of these programs

distinguished themselves for their community engagement and services in Sagrado’s efforts

after Hurricane María. All of these programs have been part of Sagrado’s academic project for

at least twenty years, and thus have a long history of service to Puerto Rico.

All other programs are connected to the Mission in the way that Sagrado approaches them,

from the perspective of integral education and solidary social impact, but not necessarily

because the disciplines themselves seek to engage directly in solidary social services.

New Undergraduate Programs.

Since the 2008 Self-Study Sagrado has added twelve undergraduate programs: eight bachelors

and four associates degrees in all the academic units. Four of these programs include an online

component (AS and BS in Nursing and AA and BA in Liberal Arts)150.

In response to globalization and the current interest in preparing students to interact in a global

society, Sagrado designed and received approval to offer a BA in International Studies

(Certificación de CEPR 2010-062). This program differs from other related programs because it

emphasizes a transdisciplinary approach with emphasis on international relations, political

economy, political sciences, geography, sociology, anthropology and peace studies.

Two significant programs developed during this period are the Nursing AS and BS online

offerings (Certificación de CEPR 2012-075). Established in 2012, they seek to address a

particular need of recent immigrants in to the US from Latin American countries who held

advanced degrees in the medical fields, but were looking to develop a professional practice in

nursing. This program has all courses on line (core, departmental and specialized) and for the

150 Academic Programs.

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practical experiences the students come to Puerto Rico. The demand for seats in this program

has been incremental. in addition, the retention rates are higher than those of other programs.

A group of these students were in Puerto Rico during hurricane María and were instrumental as

part of Sagrado’s response and community outreach efforts151.

Three of the newest undergraduate programs are designed to enhance the liberal arts in the

curriculum and broaden Sagrado’s cultural industries area: Dance, Music and 3-D Digital

Animation, Visualization and Interactivity152.

The Dance program is the first of its kind in Puerto Rico and is the result of innovative

partnership with the Coda21 Dance School, which provides the highly qualified faculty and the

dance studios. This program sought to complement the existing and long-standing theater

program and expand Sagrado footprint in the performing arts. The Director of the Coda21

Dance School, Prof. Denisse Eliza, is an accomplished international performer and dance

teacher, who has studied in prestigious institutions and companies in Puerto Rico and

Europe.153

The Music program is fully aligned with Sagrado’s long tradition in the liberal and performing

arts as the first university in Puerto Rico to stage student theater productions back in the

1930’s. The development of the program responded to the intense and diverse musical

activities of Sagrado students, the need to complement with music the existing programs in the

visual and performing arts (dance, theater and visual arts) and film, television and radio, and

the opportunity to create innovative, interdisciplinary linkages to programs in the social and

natural sciences. The program was developed by Dr. Carlos Conde, who had a distinguished

career as an operatic performer, is currently an international voice instructor, and one of the

few performers holding a doctoral degree in music in Puerto Rico (DMA, SUNY, Stony Brooks).

The 3-D Digital Animation program responded to an opportunity to complement the Ferré

Rangel School of Communication with a discipline that has become critical to the

151 http://www.orlandosentinel.com/elsentinel/os-es-puerto-rico-huracan-maria-crisis-humanitaria-ayuda-

comunidad-sagrado-educacion-20170929-story.htm

https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/nota/inciertoeliniciodeclasesenelsagradocorazon-2361137/ 152 Academic Programs. 153 Bio Denisse Eliza.

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communication and media industries and that has increasingly important applications across

academic disciplines such as, for example, the use of 3-D visualization in the presentation of

scientific research results. The current leader of this 3-D Digital Animation program. Prof.

Fernando Montilla, is an alumni and Sun Coast Emmy Award winner, who had developed

programs at other institutions and was interested in developing an innovative, transdisciplinary

program at Sagrado154.

All three programs belong to an area that is one of the critical priorities in the 2017-2020

Strategic Plan and the RBK Project--the creative and cultural industries—and can contribute to

another of the critical priority areas—health and quality of life. All three programs offer

opportunities to expand the use of their disciplines in the pursuit of improved quality of life as

the arts are being increasingly engaged in practices of social and clinical healing.

The development of the Dance program began in 2012. The Academic Board granted its

approval in March 21, 2013 after receiving the positive recommendation of the Curriculum

Committee155. The submissions to the Curriculum Committee set forth the programs’ alignment

with the institutional Mission. The Board of Trustees approved the program in 2013. Once the

required comprehensive application and expert review, including site visits, the state licensing

authority also granted its approval (Certificate from the CEPR 2014-260 (June 27, 2014).

In 2016 the design of the 3-D Digital Animation and Music programs began and the Academic

Board granted its approval in Feb 24, 2017 and March 20, 2017 respectively after receiving the

positive recommendation of the Curriculum Committee156. As with other programs, the

recommendation from the Curriculum Committee is an explicit recognition of the alignment

with the institutional Mission. The Board of Trustees subsequently approved both programs in

March 30, 2017. The state licensing authority also approved both programs157 after the

required comprehensive applications and expert reviews, including site visits.

Structure of the Undergraduate Programs

154 Propuesta del Bachillerato de Animación, Visualización e Interactividad 3D. 155 Certificación 2013-04 de la Junta Académica. 156 Certificación 2017-02 de la Junta Académica; Certificación 2017-03de la Junta Académica. 157 Certificación de CEPR 2017-278 (23 de junio de 2017); Certificación de CEPR 2017-284 (25 de agosto de 2017).

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Sagrado’s undergraduate programs generally follow the same threefold structure: (a) a general

education core curriculum (48 credits), (b) the departmental and concentration requirements

(45 credits), and (c) electives, considered a space for student exploration and development (27

credits)158. All the programs require 120 credits for the completion, with some exceptions for

programs with special professional requirements.

Each undergraduate major generally follows the same curricular structure: departmental,

concentration, electives and capstone. The design moves the students from the broad base of

the general component to the departmental base of the major selected and from there to the

concentration courses and the exploratory electives. A final capstone courses challenge the

students to integrate their learning and experiences in a final project or other endeavor.

This current three-fold structure is the result of a research project by the Curriculum

Committee of the Academic Board in response to the 2008 Self-Study’s suggestions regarding

the need of further differentiation of Sagrado’s academic programs. The Committee’s research

covered the period between 2008 and 2016 and included a review of Sagrado’s historical

archives to identify curricular trends within the University and benchmarks of innovations in

other liberal arts universities throughout the world.

In 2016, the Committee presented a series of recommendations to reduce the total number of

credits for a bachelor’s degree to 120 and create a more flexible structure that would allow

students greater latitude in the design of their own learning experiences. In May 11, 2017, the

Academic Board approved the creation of a new undergraduate curricular structure159.

The general adjustment to 120 credits brought Sagrado’s programs in line with current best

practices in higher education and the more flexible structure anchored in a core-curriculum of

liberal arts would allow students to explore within their general education, pursue an in-depth

study in at least one academic discipline and to complement these studies with courses and

experiences in other areas of interest.

Before this curricular reform, the general curriculum was deemed too rigid as it specified many

of the particular general courses that a student must take and the departmental and

158 Certificación 2017-09 de la Junta Académica (18 de mayo de 2017). 159 Certificación 2017-09 de la Junta Académica (18 de mayo de 2017).

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concentration components were so large that a student often had very little space to pursue

electives, minor concentrations and another major concentration.

The Undergraduate General Education Component

Sagrado’s general education component is the expression of the commitment to an integral

education grounded in the liberal arts or the arts of liberty. Sagrado calls the liberal arts “the

arts of liberty” because their aim, since the times of the ancient trivium (grammar, logic and

rhetoric) and quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music), is to educate the free

person or, as the Mission aims, the intellectually free and morally responsible person.

The general curriculum is structured around six components that seek to provide Sagrado’s

students with a strong foundation in the arts and sciences. The approach is necessarily

multidisciplinary where connections between topics are fostered. These components are

designed around particular areas of knowledge to provide students an integral perspective:

• Arts and Humanities: culture and arts;

• Social Sciences: the social, economic and environmental aspects of the world, and the

wonders of how the human mind works and our behavior;

• Natural Sciences: biology and the physical and chemical components of matter;

• Languages: broadly defined to include social and linguistic communities and other

languages such as mathematics and programming;

• Theology and religious studies as an opportunity to reflect upon all this knowledge

through the lens of ethical and social responsibility frameworks.

• Preparation for university life: dedicated to the transition that first year students

arriving at the university directly from high school experience160

This structure was worked through the General Education Committee (ad hoc committee

named by the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs) and the Curriculum

Committee of the Academic Board. Several proposals were presented and discussed with

faculty in regular assemblies where they provided feedback. Once consensus was attained, the

160 Propuesta para la estructura curricular del Bachillerato de la USC

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proposed structure was presented to the Academic Board and the Board of Trustees and

formally approved161.

The approval of the new curricular structure also implied the approval of the redefinition of the

competencies (and subsequent reduction in number) and the seven key principles (following

Edgar Morin) that are fundamental issues for education in the 21st Century. The total number

of transversal competencies approved in 2017 are six of which the last two in the following list

are mission-centric:

• Communication (oral and written in Spanish and English, visual and digital)

• Critical inquiry (reasoning and analysis, scientific reasoning and quantitative analysis,

and problem solving)

• Research/innovation (search and discernment of the different types and sources of

information, and appropriate use of technology)

• Entrepreneurship

• Ethics (team work, awareness of ethics and human diversity)

• Social Justice (solidarity without exclusions).162

Edgar Morin’s seminal book Seven complex lessons in education for the future (1999) presents

the key issues that were followed during the curriculum revision in order to integrate different

disciplines in the General Education curriculum:

1. the absence of reflection on learning process itself and human knowledge,

2. the principles for interrelated knowledge beyond its division into disciplines,

3. teaching of the human condition,

4. teaching earth or planetary identity,

5. awareness of human and scientific uncertainties and teaching strategies to tackle them,

6. teaching the very process of human comprehension, and

7. the ethics of the human species.

This main structure was used by each academic unit to guide the curricula revision of each

program in order to adjust to the new credit distribution.

161 Certificación 2017-09 de la Junta Académica (18 de mayo de 2017). 162 Nueva estructura curricular (junio 2017).

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The Transversal Competencies: Across the Disciplines

One of the main objectives of Sagrado’s general component is the development of an

interconnected group of competencies that reflect the liberal arts in contemporary

terminology, as presented above. These competencies, however, are not addressed only in the

general curriculum, but throughout the curricula of the academic disciplines. Sagrado calls

them “competencias transversales” or transversal (or cross-sectional) competencies because

they are to be developed throughout the curriculum, whether in general, departmental,

concentration, elective or capstone courses. Sagrado’s Mission cannot be limited to the general

component, but must be present throughout the curriculum.

As discussed earlier, the current group of transversal competencies was established by the

Academic Board in 2017. This decision was the last chapter in a long process of internal

assessment by the faculty and the academic leadership. Sagrado was one of the pioneers in the

pursuit and assessment of competencies across the curriculum. The initial large groups of

competencies and other related, skills, experiences and attributes established back in 2008

proved to be extremely difficult to manage, particularly in the absence of strong information

technology systems.

Subsequently, as detailed in Standard V, each iteration or redefinition of competencies has

resulted in fewer numbers, better defined and simpler processes, that is, smaller set of core

competencies, a standard assessment methodology that was cost effective and the support of

an information technology platform. Between the 2008 Self Study and this report, the number

of competencies has been reduced from an ambitious 21 before 2008 to 14 in 2011163

decreasing gradually to the current six competencies164.

Throughout this process there have been significant and successful assessment processes in

particular programs, but only now is Sagrado in a position to anchor the pursuit and assessment

of its competencies in a systemic and standardized way with the support of its learning

management system. The pilot is scheduled for testing in the spring of 2019 with full

implementation slated for the academic year 2019-2020165. As previously stated in Standard I,

163 Modelo de avalúo de la efectividad institucional y del aprendizaje (2011). 164 Nueva estructura curricular (junio 2017, p. 7). 165 Procesos de avalúo del aprendizaje.

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one of the main recommendations of this Self-Study is the establishment of an independent

unit that is responsible for institutional intelligence, assessment, efficacy and planning,

supported with the staff and information systems necessary to oversee the assessment of the

transversal competencies and other learning outcomes.

Sagrado’s Graduate Programs

Structure of the Graduate Programs166

In 1985 the first master Programs started in Sagrado: MBA in Information Systems, MAC in

Public Relations, and MEd in Educational Technologies. These programs were located in the

corresponding academic unit. From 2002 to 2014 the graduate programs were housed in the

Associate Deanship of Graduate Studies. At the graduate level there were two offerings:

master’s programs and post baccalaureate certificates (PBC). During the review period, Sagrado

developed and offered 11 PBC. Currently only one is active (Production and Marketing of

Events), seven are in moratorium and three are closed.

Table 5 Graduate Academic Programs.

PBC

Major Description Approved Active Moratorium Closed

CPDJ Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Digital Journalism

Jan-09 Mar-18

CPCA Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Advertising Jul-07 Mar-18

CPCW Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Creative Writing (short story)

Feb-12 Mar-18

CPIT Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Information Technologies

Mar-09 May-17

CPITME Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Information Technology and Multimedia in Education

Nov-07 May-17

CPLOC Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Leadership, Organization and Community Action

May-13 Feb-17

CPMNO Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Management of Non-Profit Organizations

Sep-12 Feb-17

CPMWE Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Media Writing and Editing

Feb-07 May-17

CPPME Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Production and Marketing of Events

May-09 X

166 Decanato Asociado de Posgrados (2010-2014).

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Major Description Approved Active Moratorium Closed

CPPR Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Public Relations Feb-07 Mar-18

CPCW Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Scriptwriting Dic-04 May-16

Table 6: Graduate Academic Programs

MASTER

Major Description Approved Active Moratorium Closed

MA Master of Arts in Creative Writing specialization in Narrative

May-04 Mar-18

MAED Master of Arts in Education with a specialization in Early Childhood Education

Aug-04 Mar-18

MA Master of Arts in Justice Systems with a specialization in Human Rights and Antidiscrimination Process

Oct-05 Mar-18

MA Master of Arts in Justice Systems with a specialization in Mediation and Conflict Transformation

Oct-05 Mar-18

MA Master of Arts in Learning Design and Technology Nov-07 Mar-18

MA Master of Arts in with a specialization in Public Relations and Integrated Communication

Oct-18 (Jan-19)

MAC Master of Arts in Communication with a specialization in Advertising

Sep-00 Mar-18

MAC Master of Arts in Communication with a specialization in Digital Journalism

Jan-09 Mar-18

MAC Master of Arts in Communication with a specialization in Media and Contemporary Culture

Sep-00 May-16

MAC Master of Arts in Communication with a specialization in Media Writing

Sep-00 Mar-18

MAC Master of Arts in Communication with a specialization in Public Relations

Jul-85 Mar-18

MAC Master of Arts in Communication with a specialization in Scriptwriting

Jul-05 May-16

MAC Master of Arts in Communication with a specialization in Digital Narratives

Oct-18 (Jan-19)

MBA Master of Business Administration with a specialization in the Administration of Human Resources

Jul-98 Mar-18

MBA Master of Business Administration with a specialization in International Marketing

Mar-18

MBA Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Management Information Systems

Jan-03 Mar-18

MBA Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Taxes

Jul-98 Mar-18

MS Master of Sciences in Management of Non-Profit Organization

Jul-02 Feb-17

MS Master of Sciences with a specialization in Auditing of Information Systems

Dic-06 Mar-18

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Sagrado also offered 17 of master’s degrees. The master programs fluctuated between 33 and

48 credits. These programs were designed as high quality offerings that promoted research,

creativity, and commitment through local and global analysis and social impact.

The structure of these programs followed a common logical sequence: core courses;

specialization courses; electives and final project (thesis). The credit distribution for each of

these areas varied depending on the program. The programs also focused on the development

of 8 transversal competencies: (1) critical inquiry, (2) leadership (through values), (3) decision

making, (4) team work, (5) information technologies, (6) research/creation, (7) communication

(oral & written), (8) ethics167.

In 2010-2011 the University celebrated the 25th anniversary of the three original master

programs. For this celebration each of the programs selected a trend in the discipline and

invited a major scholar or distinguished professional in the field for a lecture series that

included other local scholars and professionals. As it turned out, the trends sought

independently resulted in a common thread of how technology (particularly new media (web

2.0 and the dawn of web 3.0) were transforming professional practices, relationships among

people and between citizens and the State, and finally ways of learning and teaching. The

master lecturers were168:

• Harry Lewis, Harvard University: “Way too much information”

• Deirdre Breakendrige: “From PR to Social Media Power”

• George Siemens, Athabasca U.: “The meaning of Connectivism for Learning Design”

For the period under analysis, Sagrado created one master program and six CPB. At the end of

that same period due to a dramatic drop in enrolment, all master’s programs were placed in

moratorium and three were closed. In an effort to update the graduate offerings, Sagrado

recently designed and presented for approval three new master’s programs of which two have

been approved by the licensing agency and will start in January 2019. Two additional programs

are under development.

167 Marco Educativo (2012); Decanato Asociado de Posgrado 2010-2014 168 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKmH7KLpo7Y; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN8dgheq9G4; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdHNmx6rVsw.

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The new programs are 24 credits, can be completed in a year, and are designed to incorporate

professional and academic trends including teaching modalities such as low residency

programs. This allows students to enroll in the programs even if they live outside the

Metropolitan area of San Juan (or even outside of Puerto Rico) and can take a percentage of the

courses on line but in a synchronous fashion so they can have a valuable and rich learning

experience in the context of a learning community. These courses are simultaneously taught in

face-to-face environments for the local student population. In addition, there are compulsory

face-to-face meetings that guarantee not only a personal engagement with faculty, but an

opportunity to develop networks and meaningful partnerships among graduate students.

Students in the graduate program are required to present an “end of career project” that may

take the form of a thesis (traditional or creative), a project designed and executed for a real

client, or an international experience project169. For this final test of knowledge and

competencies the student selects or is assigned (depending on the modality chosen) a Thesis

Director who is charged with the responsibility of guiding the research and supervising the

execution of the project with rigor and accuracy, as related to the field of inquiry. (C6) The

Thesis Director should be a faculty member with expertise in research and/or the topic chosen

by the student. He or she should have a terminal degree preferably in the discipline.

As with any other academic unit, any new programs are elaborated by the academic leadership

and the faculty, presented to the Academic Board and the Board of Trustees for approval and

then submitted to the accrediting and/or licensing organizations as required.

Sagrado’s Faculty

In Sagrado, faculty, students, staff, trustees and collaborators are all co-responsible for the

institutional Mission: all, in different roles, have a responsibility to live the Mission. The faculty,

however, plays a fundamental role. As leaders of the academic project, they have the sacred

responsibility of modeling the Mission with their example and guiding students’ integral

development.

Sagrado is blessed to have a faculty that is committed to and passionate about the Mission.

They are the heart of Sagrado. Through their research, creative productions, publications,

169 Manual de Normas y Procedimientos para Tesis (2012).

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speeches, events, involvement in student organizations, passion for teaching, and commitment

to their students, they embody the Mission of educating intellectually free and morally

responsible persons willing to construct communities of solidarity, in justice and peace.

Faculty as Embodiment of the Mission. A few examples of Sagrado’s faculty’s accomplishments

can eloquently attest to their fundamental role in the university community and Puerto Rico:

• Alba Brugueras (2017) President, Economist’s Asociation of Puerto Rico; Founding

Partner at Top Brains Group.

• Alfredo Nieves Moreno (2011) Las mecánicas del pájaro: Ver y audiover el cine de

Hitchcock. Columnist 80Grados.

• Antonio Vantaggiato: co-author of the STEMmED proposals for Sagrado (2011-16).

Higher Education Innovation & Open, Connected Learning: Back To The Future, In Virtual

Educa (2016).

• Anushka Ramos, books: “No me quieras”, “Autopsia” (Ediciones Aguadulce) &

“Claustrofobia” (EDP University).

• Carlos Conde, opera-performing-practice lecturer at the International Vocal Arts

Institutes in Tel Aviv, Virginia, and Montreal; the Sociedad Internacional de Valores

Mexicanos (SIVAM); the José Cuervo Academy and International Festival in Jalisco

(Mexico), the Juilliard School’s Pre-College DiVision.

• Francisco Arencibia expert in computational modeling in the modern biology curricula.

Arencibia-Albite, F., et al (2016). Cocaine sensitization increases subthreshold activity in

dopamine neurons from the ventral tegmental area. Journal of neurophysiology, 117(2),

612-623.

• Gabriel Paizy “Habla y redacta en buen español” (book). Columnist (El Nuevo Día) and

TV personality: “En buen español” Univisión.

• Iliana Ballester Founding Partner at Top Brains Group 2017. Director of Elemento 360

(student run Communication Agency).

• Javier Hernández (2016) Emprendimiento Creativo. Columnist and board member

80Grados.

• José Curet (2013) El Crimen del Cementerio. Tinta Roja, Ed.

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• María F. Barceló Miller Numbered member of Academia Puertorriqueña de la Historia

(2017).

• Nina Torres Vidal. Official translator for Esmeralda Santiago on Vintage Books.

• Nitza Luna. Exhibition “Naturaleza” at Fundación Ángel Ramos (2015). Curator since

2000 of the student and alumni exhibition PhotoFinish.

• Oscar Dávila. Historia, identidad y cultura: La expresión americana de José Lezama Lima.

San Juan: Instituto de Cultural Puertorriqueña, 2015 literary criticism award Concha

Meléndez.

• Sonia Fritz 15 Faros de Puerto Rico (documentary), winner of the Best Documentary of

the International Rincón Film Festival.

• Teresa Previdi “Ser Familia” (documentary) Audience’s award in PR Queer Film Festival

2018.

• Wanda Del Toro Distinguished Communication professor, Women's Civic Club of Puerto

Rico 2014.

The University has an adequate number of faculty members to fulfill its Mission, goals and

objectives. Table 7 shows the proportion of full-time faculty as opposed to adjuncts from 2008

to 2017.

Table 7 : Faculty profile by type of contract during the period 2012-2018.

Academic Year

Total Full Time Adjuncts

# % # %

2008-09 367 122 33% 245 67%

2009-10 354 126 36% 228 64%

2010-11 384 124 32% 260 68%

2011-12 422 126 30% 296 70%

2012-13 424 130 31% 294 69%

2013-14 476 132 28% 344 72%

2014-15 401 131 33% 270 67%

2015-16 451 102 23% 349 77%

2016-17 317 99 31% 218 69%

2017-18 460 98 21% 362 79%

Source: ODHR.

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Sagrado’s total faculty in 2008 was comprised of 367 individuals, 122 (33%) of whom were full

time and 245 (67%) adjuncts, as compared to 2017, when the faculty comprised of 460

individuals, of whom 98 (21%) were full time and 362 (79%) adjuncts. This evidences a change

in composition since last MSCHE visit (Source: IPEDS).

The reduction in full time faculty is mostly due to retirement. Many of the faculty members

have served the University for long periods of time. When the University implemented a

voluntary transition plan in 2015, 27 faculty members opted for retirement. Since then, another

8 also retired, and another 8 have left the University (Source: ODHR 1S 2018-19). The University

is currently in the midst of another voluntary transition and it is possible that additional faculty

members will decide to participate.

These transition plans provide windows to bring new faculty members on board to maintain

and develop a qualified faculty committed to the Mission. For example, Sagrado is currently

recruiting a faculty member to lead the journalism program, which is one of the fastest growing

programs in the Ferré Rangel School of Communication. This is a Mission-critical program due

the fundamental role that a strong and independent press plays in ensuring the health of a

democracy. Sagrado is committed to educating independent, ethical and courageous journalists

who will be true to the civic and professional responsibility to follow and report the truth

wherever it leads.

Despite the recent reduction in numbers, Sagrado retains an experienced and qualified faculty

that is responsible for the academic programs and the improvement of the student learning

experiences. The student-faculty ratio at Sagrado is a reasonable 20:1, which is slightly above

the U.S. average of (18:1), according to the National Center for Education Statistics170

Faculty Qualifications. Faculty qualifications are assessed in terms of the expertise needed to

address Sagrado’s diverse academic programs. The University’s faculty has conducted graduate

studies in recognized institutions of higher learning in Puerto Rico, United States, Latin America,

and Europe.

170 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=28

http://gpseducation.oecd.org/revieweducationpolicies/#!node=41720&filter=all

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Table 8 shows the number of faculty with terminal degrees. The number of faculty holding

doctoral and terminal degrees has been stable around a 27%. Currently, there are faculty

holding Ph.D. degrees or equivalent in all departments.

Table 8: Faculty profile by academic degree during the period 2012-2018.

Academic Year

Total Ph.D. or

Equivalent % Master’s % Bachelor’s % Other’s* %

2008-09 367 99 27% 236 64% 16 4% 16 4%

2009-10 354 95 27% 223 63% 18 5% 18 5%

2010-11 384 120 31% 230 60% 17 4% 17 4%

2011-12 422 117 28% 260 62% 30 7% 15 4%

2012-13 424 110 26% 267 63% 32 8% 15 4%

2013-14 476 132 28% 296 62% 33 7% 15 3%

2014-15 401 115 29% 246 61% 31 8% 9 2%

2015-16 451 124 28% 277 61% 33 7% 17 4%

2016-17 317 92 29% 187 59% 25 8% 13 4%

2017-18 460 123 27% 296 64% 17 4% 24 5%

*First level professional

Source ODHR.

Currently, the professorial ranks for Sagrado faculty are distributed in the following way: 51%

Professors, 16% Associate Professors, 13% Assistant Professors, and 19% Instructors. Once

again, this compares with data from 2008: 67% Professors, 10% Associate Professors, 11%

Assistant Professors, and 11% Instructors. The reduction in the number of professors is

primarily the result of faculty retirements. As shown in Table 9, the highest professorial ranks,

Professor, Associate and Assistant, constitute 80% of Sagrado faculty. Promotions occur

regularly which demonstrates an increase in the number of associate professors.

Table 9: Faculty profile by academic ranks during the period 2012-2018.

Academic Year

Total Professor

Associate Professors

Assistant Professor Instructor

# % # % # % # %

2008-09 122 82 67% 12 10% 14 11% 14 11%

2009-10 126 85 67% 14 11% 15 12% 12 10%

2010-11 124 86 69% 11 9% 15 12% 12 10%

2011-12 126 83 66% 15 12% 15 12% 13 10%

2012-13 130 85 65% 13 10% 16 12% 16 12%

2013-14 132 83 63% 15 11% 20 15% 14 11%

2014-15 131 82 62% 14 11% 19 15% 16 12%

2015-16 102 55 54% 10 10% 16 16% 21 19%

2016-17 99 53 54% 12 12% 17 17% 17 17%

2017-18 98 50 51% 16 16% 13 13% 19 19%

Source ODHR.

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Faculty Gender Diversity.

The faculty’s gender diversity has remained stable during the review period, with an increase in

the number of female faculty members. As of 2017, more than half of the professors or 58% are

female and 42% male. This compares with 2008 where the faculty profile by gender was 51%

female and 49% are male. The gender gap present in most universities around the world is not

a reality in Sagrado.

Table 10: Full time and adjunct faculty profile by gender during the 2012-2018 period.

Academic Year

Total Female Male

# % # %

2008-09 367 188 51% 179 49%

2009-10 354 182 51% 172 49%

2010-11 384 200 52% 184 48%

2011-12 422 228 54% 194 46%

2012-13 424 231 54% 193 46%

2013-14 476 261 55% 215 45%

2014-15 401 224 56% 177 44%

2015-16 451 245 54% 206 46%

2016-17 317 179 56% 138 44%

2017-18 460 269 58% 191 42%

Source ODHR.

Faculty Credit Load.

At Sagrado, full time faculty is expected to teach a minimum of 15 credits per semester. They

may opt to teach additional courses, if available, although it is not required or recommended.

The maximum faculty teaching load is 24 credits per semester171. At the graduate level, faculty

is required a terminal degree (mostly doctoral level). There is a limited group of faculty

members fully dedicated to the graduate programs; however, their teaching load can be

completed with undergraduate courses.

Faculty Development: Internal Training and Development.

All faculty members are expected to keep up-to-date in their fields, engage in academic

research and other scholarly activities, and community service. Faculty must submit yearly

reports to evidence the fulfillment of their academic and administrative responsibilities.

Professional development for the faculty is usually carried out through workshops and

conferences organized by the academic leadership and the Center for Faculty Support and

171 Manual de Facultad (2003); Manual de Facultad (2017).

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Educational Technology (CEDTEC). CEDTEC also provides training and support in the use of

educational technologies, assessment and innovative teaching methods. As reported in the PRR

(2013), this unit offered about 27 workshops on a yearly basis between 2008 and 2013 an

average of 300 faculty members took part in the sessions each year.

With the establishment of the Faculty Professional Development Program in 2013, full-time

professors are required to complete 12 hours of continuing education every year172. From 2013

to the end of this review period, an average of 690 faculty members participated in

approximately 70 sessions per year173. This represents a doubling of the number of participants

and sessions as compared to the last PRR.

All new faculty (whether full or part time) must complete an induction process. In this

workshop, professors are familiarized with the institutional Mission, objectives, rules, policies,

and procedures174.

Similarly, since 2008 every professor hired to offer online courses must be certified175. The

purpose of this workshop is to present faculty with the online instructional design strategies

and best practices for virtual learning experiences and the relevance of connectivity in the

achievement of the virtual community. In all, 180 professors (22 full-time, 158 part-time) from

all the academic units were certified through 35 workshop sessions aimed at developing the

faculty skills to offer both face-to-face and virtual courses to undergraduate and graduate

students176.

In order to better meet the professional development requirements of the faculty, two needs

assessments were carried out in years 2015 and 2016177. The information received was used to

prepare the biannual professional development activities calendar, which is submitted to the

Provost for evaluation and alignment with the institutional goals. These activities are organized

and promoted through CEDTEC and their documentation shows that between 2012 and 2017,

172 Programa Desarrollo Profesional de la Facultad (2013). 173 Faculty participate in multiple training and/or continuing education seminars or workshops. CEDTEC: Desarrollo Profesional; Resumen de actividades y asistencia. 174 Política de Mejoramiento Profesional para Profesores Nuevos y Parciales. 175 Proceso de certificación de la facultad para ofrecer curso a distancia. 176 Profesores certificados en el diseño de la experiencia de aprendizaje en línea (2008-2017). 177 CEDTEC 2015 (TOTAL); Resultado estudio de necesidades (octubre 2016).

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360 activities were carried out, such as workshops, conferences, webinars and informal talks

and 3,526 participants were recorded178. Additional faculty training is also provided through

other institutional projects, such as CVC, Neeuko, STEMmED, and LAD, which will be discussed

below.

One of the important recommendations of the Self-Study is to expand the programs for faculty

development in active and creative teaching-learning methodologies and practices inasmuch as

the new strategic direction will emphasize productive activity by students. This is one of the

critical priorities of the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan. A related recommendation is the

development of prototypes of the new learning spaces designed to support active and creative

learning methodologies.

Faculty Development: External Opportunities.

Sagrado also encourages its faculty to participate in external professional development

opportunities. Sagrado has been a member of New York’s University’s Faculty Resource

Network (“FRN”) since 1998179. The FRN holds a weeklong faculty development session every

summer at NYU that offers a variety of seminars for faculty from the participating colleges and

universities. Faculty members have to apply to participate in these summer sessions. The FRN

also offers conferences in which faculty from participating schools provide sessions for the

benefit of their colleagues in other institutions. Since the inception of the partnership in 1998,

93 of Sagrado’s faculty members have participated in a total of 140 programs, seminars, and

workshops.

Faculty also participate in other development opportunities such as international conferences

and workshops. They have to request authorization from academic unit director and the

Provost’s Office. Some recent examples include: Dr. Javier Hernández, 4to Congreso

Internacional sobre Industrias Culturales y Creativas, México October 2018; Dr.Amelisse De

Jesús, XXII Seminario Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Escuelas de Trabajo Social, Colombia;

Prof. Nibia Pastrana, Fellowship at Program in Latin American Studies, Princeton from August

19 to September 1, 2018.

178 CEDTEC: Desarrollo Profesional; Resumen de actividades y asistencia. 179 Participation Faculty Resource Network.

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Faculty Development: Promotion of Doctoral Studies. Sagrado also promotes the

development of its faculty by sponsoring faculty to continue and obtain their doctoral degree.

Sagrado provides release time covers all or part of the cost of the doctoral programs. Interested

faculty have to submit a proposal to their director and to the Provost. Since the PRR, Sagrado

has approved nine of such proposals. We are pleased to report that of those sponsored, five

members have completed their PhD through this program.

Table 11. Sponsored education for Faculty.

Sponsored doctoral

education Academic

Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

# of faculty

sponsored 2 4 4 7 6 5

completed 1 3 1

Faculty Development: Research and Creative Projects. Sagrado promotes faculty research and

creative projects within the context of its current character as a tuition driven, teaching

institution. Sagrado has a Center for Academic Research (CEINAC) that receives and evaluates

faculty proposals each semester and during the summer session180. In 2016, Sagrado appointed

a Director of Licensing, Accreditation and Research within the Provost’s Office to perform

CEINAC’s functions. Sagrado has approved 37 proposals with the highest number of proposals

during the academic year 2012 with 12 proposals181. In 2017, the Ferré Rangel School of

Communication, with the support of endowed funds, launched COMUNICA182, a center to

stimulate faculty research and creative activity. While located within the School of

Communication, the center is expected to support faculty across the departments and promote

multi-disciplinary projects. One of the recommendations of the Self-Study is support the center

and the faculty with additional resources to pursue faculty research and other creative and

professional opportunities. Thus, CEINAC is being evaluated and options are being examined as

to whether to relocate its resources and consolidate with the new initiative.

180 CEINAC: Programa de Descargues Académicos y/o Compensación Adicional para la Investigación/Creación. 181CEINAC (2012-2017). 182 http://insagrado.sagrado.edu/elemento/.

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Faculty Assessment. All of the above programs seek to support the faculty’s professional

development in their fields and the enhancement of their teaching skills. In order to assess the

success of these efforts and thus the institutional advancement of the Mission, the faculty is

evaluated in a variety of manners: peer-to-peer, student evaluations, and rank assessment.

These have already been introduced in the discussion of Standard II regarding Ethics and

Integrity.

Faculty Assessment: Peer-to-Peer Review. According to the Faculty Handbook full and part

time faculty should be evaluated by his/her peers on a yearly basis183. Each academic unit

director selects an evaluation committee which consists of three members: a representative of

the program; representative of the director; and an advocate chosen by the faculty member

under evaluation. The committee announces the classroom visit establishing a two week

window. The evaluation is guided by a specific rubric. Later the results are discussed with the

intention of improving the teaching experience. Even when it is mandatory for all faculty, as

mentioned, this evaluation is most commonly performed for faculty in the process of rank

assessment.

Faculty Assessment: Student Evaluations. Each semester students evaluate faculty members

through a questionnaire that was administered for several years by the Office of Institutional

Research and Assessment (OIRA). Historically, this questionnaire was administered on paper in

the classroom. During 2014 and 2015, the university attempted to the implement the Livetext

digital platform to gather and analyze assessment related data. As mentioned in Standard V,

due to the expense and level of inconvenience of this platform, the Academic Affairs Team and

the new Director of Institutional Assessment reinstituted in February 2016 the previous practice

with some modifications to allow electronic gathering of student responses.

Faculty Assessment: Rank Assessment. Finally, the faculty is subject to a comprehensive

evaluation by their peers and supervisors as part of the rank assessment process. To begin the

process, a faculty member who has complied with the appropriate time requirement for

promotion can submit an application accompanied by a portfolio or dossier that must address

five areas, for which the faculty member must provide substantiating evidence: student

183 Manual de Evaluación y Ascenso en Rango (2017, p. 25).

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evaluations, peer evaluations, director’s recommendation, and evidence of scholarly work

(publications, research, artistic productions), community involvement, professional association

membership, and any other pertinent information. The dossier is then evaluated by two

committees (departmental and institutional) and recommendations presented finally to the

Provost and President184.

This comprehensive review only occurs when a faculty member decides to apply for rank

promotion and thus usually takes place at five year intervals. There are no other comprehensive

review processes in the meantime. Not surprisingly, the faculty assessment process was one of

the areas that was subject to important recommendations during the Self-Study process. One

recommendation is the establishment of annual review process through the implementation of

a faculty performance management system. A pilot will be tested in the Spring 2019 with full

implementation scheduled for the academic year 2019-2020. This recommendation is closely

connected to one of the main recommendations of the Self-Study regarding the establishment

of an independent office responsible for institutional intelligence, assessment, efficacy and

planning that will implement a comprehensive assessment system supported by a robust

information technology platform.

Institutional Projects and Learning Spaces in Support of Academic Programs and Student

Learning Experiences

In addition to the faculty development and assessment outlined above, Sagrado supports

faculty and students and the academic programs through a robust network of institutional

projects and learning spaces. These projects offer curricular and co-curricular student learning

experiences that support the institutional Mission by promoting community engagement and

social responsibility and the development of the transversal competencies across the

curriculum.

Institutional Projects.

FEP (Freshmore Experience Project). Sagrado offers an introductory course for all incoming

first-year undergraduate students called the FEP course for its origin in the Freshmore

Experience Project started in 2011 as the proposal “Retaining and Graduating through

184 See: Standard II for details.

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Technologically-Based Empowerment” funded by Title V-HSI185. This required course introduces

students to university life, exposes them to Sagrado’s Mission and Vision and begins the

development of the transversal competencies and other life skills that they will need to

successfully navigate their college career186. This course has evolved and improved through the

years as a result of active feedback from students and faculty engagement in its development.

The following table outlines the student participation in the FEP, which tracks first-year

undergraduate enrollment.

Table 12: Students enroll in GEN and FEP courses.

Students enroll

Semester GEN 100 FEP 101 FEP 102 FEP 201 FEP 100

08-1S 131

09-1S 102

09-2S 3

10-1S 12

11-1S 21 93

11-2s 75

12-1s 151 51

12-2s 16 127

13-1s 398 103

13-2s 15 312

14-1s 572 247

14-2s 47 415

15-1s 556 64 278

15-2s 31 457 51

16-1s 607 59 288

16-2s 33 461 68

17-1s 70 279 753

17-2s 22 72 86

Total 269 2519 2062 1437 839

Community Engagement Center (CVC; Centro de Vinculación Comunitaria). This institutional

center runs Sagrado’s recognized undergraduate service learning program. It started in 1988

and is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Aligned to Sagrado’s Mission of social solidarity and Vision of the world as the classroom, the

CVC connects faculty and students with communities and non-profit organizations engaged in

valuable social initiatives and offers students significant active and creative learning

185 Retaining and Graduating through Technologically-Based Empowerment” Title V-HIS. 186 Prontuario FEP 100.

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experiences. Students learn by doing while providing critical social support. Participating

students develop their transversal competencies in an integrated manner: communication,

critical inquiry, research, innovation, team-work and ethical and social justice reflection187. As a

result of their community engagements, students have produced documentaries, marketing

and promotional campaigns, research protocols and data gathering for specific community

based research projects, accounting processes and data bases, and (as detailed in the next

paragraph) identified environmental risk factors and educational campaigns.

One of the signature projects of the CVC is the Caño Martín Peña Research Project. Every

semester since its start in the fall of 2000, students enrolled in the General Microbiology—Bio

206 course have done bacteriological analysis of the water from the Martín Peña Channel in

order to detect and quantify coliforms. The Martín Peña Channel is a water body that surrounds

a group of 14 underprivileged and high-population density communities to the immediate east

of the University. The community service-learning component allows the students to develop

their research and analytical skills, while engaging in profound reflections about social justice

and developing strategies to promote environmental justice through public awareness

campaigns. This project exemplifies Sagrado’s Mission of educating for “the construction of a

more authentically Puerto Rican Christian society.”

CVC’s assessment data for the 2012-2017 period shows that 187 sections of second and third

level courses were engaged in direct services to the community through the development of

488 projects188. As shown in the table below, students have dedicated 91,082 service hours

between 2008 and 2017.

Table 13: Average of the performance (2008-2017) Centro de Vinculación Comunitaria.

Centro de Vinculación Comunitaria 2008 al 2017

Courses Students Faculty Projects Organizations Hours of services

19 543 21 762 63 91,082

187 Guía Informativa para la Facultad con Cursos Vinculados. 188 Courses in the CVC Project are divided in three levels: 1: reflexión (1st and 2nd year courses), research (3rd year courses), consulting, product development and services (4th year courses) – Niveles de Vinculación Comunitaria; Datos del Proyecto Aprendizaje en el Servicio - CVC 2008-2012.

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In 2015, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognized these efforts

and granted Sagrado the Community Engagement Classification (2015-2025)189.

STEMmED II. Sagrado is committed to developing its undergraduate natural sciences programs

to prepare students to engage many of the health and environmental challenges in today’s

world. The STEMmEd II Project (2011-2016)190 was the sequel to the STEM Project (2009-2010)

described in the PRR and built upon its predecessor's work. The project sought to strengthen

Sagrado’s science culture and the development of the transversal competencies in critical

inquiry, research and innovation. Seven state-of-the-art labs were remodeled and have been in

continuous use during the project's life and beyond.

The faculty designed and developed a student centered pedagogical model191. The projects had

an impressive array of accomplishments: (a) a strong tutoring and mentoring program; (b) the

remodeling of seven science laboratories; (c) faculty professional development, including 45

workshops; and (d) the redesign of 41 courses with strong faculty participation and 5 new

courses including Scientific Journalism in collaboration with faculty from the Ferré Rangel

School of Communication. This project was funded by a Title V-HSI grant and accordingly

supervised and assessed. (C4; C7) Sagrado sought to continue this important project with a

third consecutive STEM grant in 2016, the proposal was not successful.. In 2018, Sagrado

submitted a proposal for an NSF grant for scholarships in the STEM disciplines and is currently

waiting for the adjudication.

During the review period, one of Sagrado’s natural science students in biology, Adolfo

Rodríguez Velázquez, was awarded a NSF fellowship and is currently pursuing doctoral studies

in biology with a focus on tropical ecology and a specialty in herpetology. Adolfo was actively

involved in the STEMmEd II project and combined his main major in biology with a double

major in film, opening important linkages between science and communications. Another

student Leilani Lotti combined chemistry and computer sciences and was selected by the

American Chemestry Society to participate in the International Research Experience for

Undergrads (IREU) where she was able to collaborate on an on-going research at Hannover

189 https://www.sagrado.edu/wp-content/uploads/English_catalog.pdf. 190 STEMmEDII House of Science. 191 http://insagrado.sagrado.edu/logros-obtenidos-en-cinco-anos-del-proyecto-stemmed-ii/.

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University in Germany. She is currently pursuing doctoral studies in Chemistry at Ohio State

University. Leilani was also very actively involved in the project. Adolfo and Leilani are

examples of the engaged students that Sagrado aims to continue developing in the natural

sciences.

Centro de Lenguas y Culturas (CLC; Center for Language and Culture). The CLC192 is an area

designed to foster and strengthen multicultural awareness and inclusiveness. It houses two

programs: Language Tutoring and Language Across the Disciplines (LAD). The Language tutoring

is the language laboratory where faculty and tutors design exercises and experiences where

students can practice their language skills beyond the classroom time, for all languages taught

in Sagrado including Spanish and English. In view of the priority for the development of oral and

written communication skills in both Spanish and English, in 2001 Sagrado received a FIPSE

(Funds for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) grant and Sagrado launched LAD to

support of undergraduate courses in all academic programs. The LAD provided services such as

taping of oral exercises for later analysis, text editing, coaching for presentations, etc. The 2015

and 2017 assessments reveal that the LAD worked with 1171 students in 66 course sections193.

Instituto de Artes Musicales (IAM; Institute of Musical Arts). In order to provide a platform for

the development of the undergraduate music program, the interdisciplinary integration of

music throughout the curriculum and the support of student association and groups engaged in

musical and artistic performances, in 2016 Sagrado launched the Institute of Musical Arts.

Music is one of the seven liberal arts and Sagrado could not be conceived without a robust and

interdisciplinary musical component. The IAM has specialized rooms and musical instruments

that have served 110 students from 2015-2016 through 2016-2017. Since the creation of the

IAM, the university choir has grown from approximately 20 students to over 50. In May of

2017, Sagrado’s student a cappella group Staccato held a joint concert in the chapel with Yale’s

Red, Hot and Blue194. The IAM has also established a new tradition by holding an annual

Christmas concert in the chapel with distinguished student performers and musical groups.

192 https://es.slideshare.net/lenguasycultura/estudiantes-bienvenidos-a-lad-aug-2012. 193 Presentación LAD (p. 6). 194 http://insagrado.sagrado.edu/juntemus/

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Practices Courses and Internships. In order to accomplish the Mission of integral education for

solidary social impact and the Vision of the world as the classroom, it is critically important that

student have experiential learning opportunities in real-world scenarios. All of Sagrado’s

undergraduate programs offer either practice courses or internships, and in some cases both

learning experiences. The courses and internships offer students an opportunity to develop

their transversal competencies and professional and life skills, while gaining valuable practical

experiences under the supervision of an expert in their field of study. The following table

outlines the courses available under each academic program:

Table 14: Practice courses..

Academic Units Practicum and Seminar

FIEHS EDU 401- Preschool Education Practicum And Seminar EDU 403- Elementary Education Practicum and Seminar EDU 405- Primary Education (K-3) Practicum and Seminar EDU 407- Secondary Education Practicum and Seminar EDU 470- Seminar and Montessori Teaching Practicum Internship I EDU 471 - Seminar and Montessori Teaching Practicum Internship II EIN 408- Practicum in International Studies SJU 414- Professional Internship in The Justice System PSI 440- Practicum in Psychology TSO 403- Social Work Practicum I TSO 422- Social Work Practicum II

Business Department ADM 498 - Management GME 499 - Marketing TUR 498 - Tourism CON 499 - Accounting PME 499 - Practicum in Production and Marketing

School of Communication Ferré Rangel l

CMU-490 Professional Practicum CMU-300 Communication Internship

Department of Natural Science

ENL 101 - Fundamentals of Nursing - Clinical ENF 108 - Medical Surgical Care Adult ENF 201 - Mother and Neonate Care ENF 204 - Pediatric Nursing ENF 205 - Psychiatric Nursing

Communications Center. The Centro de Comunicación195 (Communication Center) is part of

the Escuela de Comunicación Ferré Rangel (ECFR; School of Communication Ferré Rangel) and

offers students co and extra-curricular experiential learning opportunities in preparation for the

world of media. The Center provides a workshop for students to develop their transversal

195 https://www.sagrado.edu/centro-de-comunicacion/.

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competencies in an integrated manner through the production of media content. Its facilities

include television production studios with master control, lighting and draping systems, digital

cameras, sound production studios, digital audio workstations and editing stations, as well as

photo-studio spaces and photography lab. A former classroom near the ECFR was refurbished

as a 40-seat digital cinema (Sala de Cine) screening room for courses in digital cinema and

production with a state of the art sound system and projection equipment. The

Communications Center is not only a laboratory for students, it also provides services all other

units in Sagrado. During the review period, it responded to over 30,000 requests for audiovisual

equipment196.

Tele-Radial Unit. Like Communications Center, the Tele-Radial Unit is another project of the

ECFR aimed providing co and extra-curricular experiential learning opportunities to allow

students to further develop their transversal competencies in an integrated manner. The unit

runs two digital radio stations, Radioactiva and Radiorama, and production studio, Tele-

Sagrado, and the web-platform, Sagrado TV. The radio stations and WebTV are fully managed

by students as part of doing by learning educational ethos. Table 13 shows that, during 2012-

2017, 349 students have benefited from these opportunities and 36 radio programs were

produced.

Table 15: Quantity of programs produced and students’ participation.

StudioLab or Creative Technologies Studio. This is third institutional project connected with

the ECFR that seeks to provide students curricular and co-curricular experiential learning

opportunities in digital media. It was created in 2015 to support academic programs,

collaborations, and continuing education courses in 3D animation, visualization, and interactive

196 https://www.sagrado.edu/centro-de-comunicacion/.

Year Number of programs produced Students who have benefited from these opportunities 2012 17 153 2013 4 69 2014 6 50 2015 3 26 2016 1 8 2017 5 43 Total 36 349

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techniques. StudioLab is equipped with a network of graphics workstations, specialized

software, 3-D printers and other and state of the art equipment that have served students in

their academic courses and co and extra-curricular projects, as well as high school students,

enthusiasts and professionals through boot camps, workshops and seminars197.

Sagrado Global (SG; Center for Global Education and Professional Development) In order to

accomplish Sagrado’s Vision of the world as the classroom and promoting a global orientation

and multicultural sensitivity, student mobility and exchange programs have been consistent

part of Sagrado’s co-curricular programs for years. In 2015, the Sagrado Global office was

constituted to consolidate in one operating unit all incoming and outgoing student programs,

including special incoming programs with colleges and universities outside Puerto Rico such as

faculty led programs. The following tables reveal the outbound and inbound student traffic for

the past ten years.

Table 16: Students in outgoing Internships.

OUTGOING (STUDENTS OF SAGRADO)

Years # Students Academic Unit Country

2008-09 42 19 ECFR; 9 ADM; 13 FIEHS; 1 NAT 15 United States; 10 Latin America; 17 Europe

2009-10 44 29 ECFR; 6 ADM; 7 FIEHS; 2 NAT 10 United States; 14 Latin America; 20 Europe

2010-11 27 13 ECFR; 8 ADM; 5 FIEHS; 1 NAT 6 United States; 7 Latin America; 14 Europe

2011-12 31 13 ECFR; 7 ADM; 7 FIEHS; 4 NAT 10 United States; 6 Latin America; 15 Europe

2012-13 38 19 ECFR; 6 ADM; 10 FIEHS; 3 NAT 22 United States; 4 Latin America; 12 Europe

2013-14 39 20 ECFR; 10 ADM; 9 FIEHS; 0 NAT 16 United States; 8 Latin America; 15 Europe

2014-15 39 14 ECFR; 9 ADM; 12 FIEHS; 4 NAT 17 United States; 2 Latin America; 20 Europe

2015-16 39 18 ECFR; 9 ADM; 10 FIEHS; 2 NAT 16 United States; 9 Latin America; 14 Europe

2016-17 38 14 ECFR; 6 ADM; 14 FIEHS; 4 NAT 7 United States; 5 Latin America; 24 Europe; 1

Canada; 1 Asia

Totals 337 159 ECFR; 70 ADM; 87 FIEHS; 21

NAT 119 United States; 65 Latin America; 151 Europe;

1 Canada; 1 Asia

Table 17: Students in incoming Internships.

INCOMING (STUDENTS VISITORS OF EXCHANGE)

Years # Students Country

2008-09 13 7 United States; 5 Latin America, 1 Europe

2009-10 15 11 United States; 2 Latin America, 2 Europe

2010-11 12 9 United States; 2 Latin America, 1 Europe

2011-12 16 11 United States; 4 Latin America, 1 Europe

2012-13 13 8 United States; 4 Latin America, 1 Europe

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INCOMING (STUDENTS VISITORS OF EXCHANGE)

2013-14 30 14 United States; 7 Latin America, 9 Europe

2014-15 29 6 United States; 8 Latin America, 13 Europe; 2 Canada

2015-16 46 4 United States; 7 Latin America, 34 Europe; 1 Canada

2016-17 62 9 United States; 2 Latin America; 45 Europe; 3 Canada; 3 Asia

Totals 236 79 United States; 41 Latin America; 107 Europe; 6 Canada; 3 Asia

Recently, in 2017, Sagrado Global was integrated with the career development office and

renamed the Center for Global Education and Professional Development. One of the objectives

of this consolidation is to promote student exploration of internships and employment

opportunities outside Puerto Rico as another way of developing the students’ global orientation

and multi-cultural sensitivity.

Since 2016, after recognizing the need to improve career services and increase the

opportunities available to students, Sagrado Global has been implementing the online platform

Simplicity to connect students with opportunities all over the world. Many colleges and

universities in the U.S. use the same platform. Sagrado named its platform “Sagrado Jobs” and

works with students to create their profiles in the platform in order to be in position to apply

for opportunities as they come along. Sagrado Jobs is available a 24 hours a day and provides

students with free didactic resources such as webinars, templates and career advice in order to

strengthen their employability skills.

The creation of this new unit has allowed further employability opportunities for the students

through work, co-curricular and international experiences, thereby addressing what was

previously considered a weakness in the SSR.

Neeuko Collaborative Innovation Center. In 2006, Sagrado was the first University in Puerto

Rico to establish an undergraduate program in entrepreneurship (Certificación CEPR 2006-131).

Since then Sagrado has been considering how adopt entrepreneurship and innovation as one of

the transversal competencies to be developed across the curriculum. Sagrado understands

entrepreneurship and innovation as a mindset—combination of skills and attitudes--applicable

to all disciplines. The Mission specifically calls for educating persons “willing to engage in the

construction” of solidary communities. In 2016, Sagrado launched the Neeuko Collaborative

Innovation Center to gather and direct the efforts to develop these competencies throughout

the university and to promote projects and initiatives for solidary social impact.

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From its origin, Neeuko was conceived as a space to serve students, faculty and the community.

It includes co-working stations, meeting rooms, a modern fabrication lab and specialized

equipment to develop entrepreneurial or socio- cultural projects for students and

organizations. Neeuko has collaborations with three of the four academic departments, and

eight student projects. Approximately 423 students enrolled in related courses during the 2016-

17 academic year. Neeuko has developed 15 socio-economic and educational alliances. Over

108 high school students have participated in innovation programs, and approximately 600

people have participated in workshops, seminars and entrepreneurship talks198.

Mother María Teresa Guevara Library. All of the above academic programs and institutional

projects are supported by the programs in the Mother María Teresa Guevara Library, a modern

center for information literacy and research. In 2013, it established a Digital/Virtual Reference

service: “Ask the librarian” that is a 24/7 on line service via chat or email. A redesign project

concluded in 2014 converted the main floor of the Library into a Learning Commons with 12

group study rooms and a service desk to handle student requests for loans of equipment such

as laptops, tablets, and scientific calculators. An average of 1,036 students each semester use

the information resources through the Proyecto de Investigación y Competencias de

Información al Currículo (PICIC199) and other projects. An average of 2,228 technological

equipment loans are processed, and an approximately 9,300 requests for use of the library’s

study rooms are serviced on a yearly basis. Students and faculty have remote access to the

Library’s digital repositories. During 2014 the Library was further remodeled to provide

additional study and gathering spaces for students in the ground floor overlooking the main

quad. Currently, the third floor of the Library is in the initial stages of a redesign project to

provide multi-functional spaces for students and faculty.

Learning Spaces

Sagrado supports students and faculty, the academic programs and the institutional projects

with a network of learning spaces that complement the university’s classrooms and campus.

198 Informe Anual Neeuko 2016-2017. 199 PICIC.

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Each of these learning spaces is properly supplied with the equipment necessary to support the

learning objectives.

Arts. The programs in the visual and performing arts use the following the learning spaces: (a)

three art studios (two visual and plastic); (b) art gallery; (c) experimental theater; (c)

performance arts theater; (d) Coda21 dance studios; and (e) music rooms (individual rooms and

ensemble rooms),

Communications. The Ferré Rangel School of Communications includes the following studios

and facilities to support its academic programs: (a) three audio-visual production studios; (b)

two radio stations; (c) two photography studios; (d) multiple sound mixing and film editing

rooms; (e) a communications center for distribution of audio-visual equipment and support of

technology; (f) a digital animation studio; (g) a research center; and (g) a student-run

communications firm.

Natural Sciences. The natural science programs use 11 natural science laboratories, seven of

which were remodeled in 2016 with funds from a STEMmed II Grant received in 2011. The

laboratories are distributed across the following fields: (a) general biology/genetics (3

remodeled); (b) biochemistry (remodeled); (c) molecular and cell biology (remodeled); (d)

microbiology; zoology/anatomy/physiology; (e) general chemistry (remodeled); (f) organic

chemistry; and (g) instrumental chemistry200.

Nursing. The nursing program has its own nursing Auto Tutorial and Nursing Skills Laboratory

Program to allow Nursing Program students to practice and develop their skills in nursing care.

The laboratories feature a highly sophisticated computer equipment similar to the ones that

students will use in hospitals and health agencies. The Nursing Skills Training Manikins

(simulators) are a key component in practical training by providing the students with the

opportunity to study a patient's scenario and develop the best response strategies.

Theology and Social Justice.

The Pastoral Center includes a classroom, a learning center with computers and other learning

spaces to support its Mission.

On-Line Programs and Courses

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Sagrado offers three different modalities of web-enhanced courses: full on-line, hybrid or

blended (usually 50% on-line), and face-to-face courses with on-line repositories. The on-line or

hybrid courses are an important part of Sagrado’s curriculum design for three reasons: access

to quality education; time flexibility; and student success. Access: over 2/3 of students who

participated in the graduation exit survey for the past three years (2016, 2017, 2018) indicated

they had part or full time jobs during their time at the University (see Standard IV). This fact has

implications on students’ time availability or lack thereof201. Time flexibility: one of the main

advantages of an on-line or hybrid course is that materials are available 24/7 and students can

examine and retrieve them at their convenience and as many times as needed. If the course has

a synchronic video element that is recorded, then this experience is available to be explored at

different rhythms. Student success: literature on this topic establishes that web-enhanced

courses improve learning outcomes and retention and facilitate interaction among students,

and between students and their instructor.

As mentioned earlier, Sagrado has on-line programs: AS and BS in Nursing and AA in Liberal

Arts, which allowed the University to be fully approved by MSCHE to offer this modality. The

latter of these is in moratorium and the Nursing programs have been successful. These

programs are defined as low residency because most of the curriculum is taught through

distance education and there is a sequence of on-campus visits for the clinical rotations which

must be in hospital (or hospital-like) settings and supervised by licensed nursing faculty.

Because of the On-line Nursing Program, all General Education courses have been redesigned

as deliverable fully on-line. This represents close to half of the curriculum (45%) since General

Education courses during the period under analysis totaled 66 credits of 135. Sagrado’s on-line

offerings at this point are asynchronous. However, the Sagrado On-Line program developed as

a solidarity measure after Hurricane María, provided the opportunity to test synchronous video

201 According to the Retaining and Graduating through Technologically Based Empowerment (Title V), a total of 17

courses were developed or re-designed on the last year of the proposal (2013-2014) and were assessed by an

external evaluator. The assessment results showed that most students choose these courses because of their

convenience (work or other responsibilities interfere with their class schedule). Title V External Evaluation Report,

Four Year (2013-2014) Final Report.

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conferences as part of the experience and proved to be so successful that it is the chosen

model for future on-line course development.

In order to enable faculty to better design on-line courses, the University (through CEDTEC)

created the Proyecto Medular de Educación A Distancia (2012)202 which established the

guidelines for the development and assessment of online courses. CEDTEC also regularly

offered student opinion surveys for online courses203. In an analysis produced by CEDTEC204, as

of 2017, all academic units had total of 233 courses that had been redesigned both at the

undergraduate and graduate levels.

Communication of Academic Programs

Sagrado’s undergraduate and graduate programs are communicated through the university

catalogues and the internal portal (mi.sagrado.edu). Course syllabi are available in the

institutional portal. Information about the programs, institutional projects, learning spaces and

student support services is provided and updated in the official web-site and communicated

through a wide-array of media such as newspapers, television and film, social networks,

brochures and other handouts.

Before the new 120-credit undergraduate curricular structure became effective in 2017, the

academic leadership team held a series of town hall meetings with faculty, students and staff to

explain this change and discuss the transition process for students that had approved 60 credits

or less. These students received an orientation to allow them to make informed decisions on

whether to change to the new curriculum or remain with their existing one. Professional

counselors were trained in order to work with these students. The admissions’ office staff was

also trained in order to explain the new curricular structure to prospective students and their

families.

In all these efforts at internal and external communications, Sagrado strives to portray its

information as accurately and completely as possible. The Integrated Communications team

works with Academic Affairs team and, if necessary, the General Counsel, to ensure that all

202 Proyecto Medular de Educación a Distancia; Datos sobre los Cursos en Línea. 203 Cuestionario Opinión Estudiantil Sobre los Cursos En Línea.

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academic marketing and promotional materials are accurate and in compliance with applicable

laws and regulations.

Assessment of Academic Programs and Institutional Projects

Sagrado’s academic programs are subject to assessment processes every several years. As

detailed in PRR, Sagrado has performed two prior academic priorization studies following the

Dickeson model and taken some actions to improve the marketing and promotion of some of

the lowest performing programs and take other actions to improve program contents205. In

2016, Sagrado performed another study with the support of a consulting firm, Quality for

Business (QBS), the same firm that supported the strategic planning process from 2016 through

2017. This study analyzed the financial viability of each program and assisted in the

development of a profile of the parameters for a viable program in terms of enrollment and

faculty composition (see Standard VI).

Each program should have a sufficient number of faculty members to form a strong unit that

will drive the program’s development and a sufficient numbers of students not only to make it

financially sustainable but also to ensure a high quality learning experience for the participating

students. The parameters developed through this study, in conjunction with other important

criteria such a Mission alignment, have informed the changes in Sagrado’s academic programs

and will continue to inform development of the program review process called for in the 2017-

2020 Strategic Plan (see Standard V).

One of the critical recommendations of this Self-Study is precisely the need to establish a

periodic process for program review properly supported by assessment data and grounded in

criteria that align with the Mission and Vision and also recognize the financial and operations

realities of the university. The establishment of this process and the evaluation of the existing

programs is one of the key results of the institutional goals for 2018-19.

Conclusion

All of Sagrado academic programs, whether at the undergraduate and graduate levels, each in

their particular discipline, are aligned with the institutional Mission of integral education and

205 Proyecto de Priorización de Programas Académicos (2008); Proyecto de Priorización de Programas Académicos basados en el Modelo Dickison (2012).

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solidary social impact. The faculty, the structure of the programs, the core undergraduate

general education component, the curricular and co-curricular learning experiences, the

integral competencies or abilities to developed across all programs, the institutional projects,

the learning facilities and resources, and the assessment of the programs, are all aligned to

accomplish this fundamental double purpose in a multi-disciplinary and innovative academic

project.

Recommendations

As outlined above, the recommendations resulting from the review of this Standard III are the

following: (a) establish a system for the periodic review of academic programs; (b) implement

an annual faculty performance management system, that includes assessment by peers,

supervisors and students; (c) expand its programs for faculty development in active and

creative teaching-learning methodologies; (d) support the new research center with additional

resources to pursue faculty research and other creative or professional opportunities; (e)

develop prototypes for new learning spaces to support active and creative learning.

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Standard IV: Support for the Student Experience

This standard is still being worked on:

Across all educational experiences, settings, levels, and instructional modalities, the institution

recruits and admits students whose interests, abilities, experiences, and goals are congruent with

its mission and educational offerings. The institution commits to student retention, persistence,

completion, and success through a coherent and effective support system, sustained by qualified

professionals, which enhances the quality of the learning environment, contributes to the

educational experience, and fosters student success.

Compliance with the Standard and Criteria

Sagrado meets the six criteria and all sub-criteria of Standard IV and the Requirements of

Affiliation #s 8 and 10. Evidence that demonstrates that SAGRADO meets Standard IV can be

reviewed in the Documentation Roadmap and is analyzed in the following section.

Sagrado clearly complies with Standard IV.

Criterion Number

Standard IV Criterion Meet

Criterion

C1 Clearly stated ethical policies and processes to admit, retain, and facilitate student success:

C1a Including accurate and comprehensive information about expenses, financial aid, scholarships, grants, loans repayment, and refunds

C1b With a process by which students who are not adequately prepared for the study at the level where they have been admitted are identified, placed, and supported in attaining appropriate educational goals

C1c Including orientation, advisement, and counseling programs to enhance retention and guide students throughout their educational experience

C1d With processes designed to enhance students’ success in achieving their educational goals

C2 Policies and procedures regarding evaluation and acceptance of transfer credits earned in various ways

C3 Policies and procedures for the safe and secure maintenance and appropriate release of student information and records

C4 Student life and other extracurricular activities are regulated by the same academic, fiscal, and administrative principles and policies that govern all programs

C5 Adequate and appropriate institutional review and approval of student support services, designed, delivered, or assessed by third-party providers

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Criterion Number

Standard IV Criterion Meet

Criterion

C6 Periodic assessment of the effectiveness of program supporting the student experience

Compliance with Standard IV

As a mission-driven institution devoted to the education of the whole person, Sagrado is

committed to the success of each of its students This commitment can be traced back to St.

Magdalene Sophie Barat’s remarkable declaration that “[f]or the sake of one child, I would have

founded the Society”

206. Since 2015, Sagrado’s organizational chart reflects this commitment by placing the

“students” at the top of the chart and all academic, student affairs, administrative units and the

Board of Trustees in service of the students207.

Sagrado would like to celebrate the graduation of each of its admitted students. Although

graduation rates have been steadily improving since PRR 2013, from 31% in 2014 to 36% in

2017, the University is far from accomplishing its aspiration. As stated in the Strategic Plan208

the University is working towards increasing the graduation rate from the actual 36% to 50% in

2021. The long-term goal is to consistently exceed 50%209.

For the past five years Sagrado has graduated an average of 33.8% of its first-year

undergraduate students within six years and 41% in eight years. The overall graduation rates of

all undergraduate students is 33.6% within six years. These graduation rates place Sagrado in

the second tier of graduation rates among Puerto Rico institutions of Higher Education, which

have first year graduation rates in the range of 11% to 71%210. Despite these graduation

figures, IPEDS data reflects that Sagrado consistently places among the top three universities in

Puerto Rico in awarding bachelor’s degrees from a group of an average of 24 comparable

private non-for profit-degree granting institutions of Higher Learning in Puerto Rico211.

206 https://www.sacredheartusc.education/page/roots/founding-mothers/st-madeleine-sophie-barat/quotes-by-st-madeleine-sophie-barat 207 Organigramas Foco Estudiantes 208 Plan Estratégico 2017-2020 209 Retención, Matrícula Y College Board para Middle State 210 Compendio Estadístico sobre Educación Superior de PR 211 IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2012; IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2013; IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2014;

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Sagrado understands that to improve the graduation rates and thus deliver on its commitment

to each student, there is a need of a comprehensive, integrated and well-functioning student-

support network that addresses all aspects of the students’ development: intellectual, spiritual,

psychological, cultural, social, moral and physical. It is part of Sagrado’s Vision to promote an

integral education of the whole person and this education is not limited to the classroom or the

academic learning spaces.

The University has been progressing in the establishment of this student-support network to

complement and integrate seamlessly with the academic project. The Office of Admissions is

the first team in a network which connects all the student-support units in Student Affairs and

eventually links with Academic Affairs, Administration and the Board of Trustees. This network

is anchored in policies, regulations and procedures that are faithfully followed.

The Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs leads this student-support network, except for

the Office of Admissions which is fully integrated into the marketing function with the

Integrated Communications Team. In view of the student-centeredness of the Mission, since

2015, the Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs reports directly to the President rather

than to the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. Sagrado has also appointed a Chief

Retention Officer within Student Affairs who is responsible for coordinating all efforts related to

student retention, persistence and graduation.

To complement these changes within the administrative structures, in 2018 the Board of

Trustees also created a Student Affairs Committee to address and oversee all student affairs,

admissions, enrollment, retention and graduation rates, graduate studies and post-graduation

career placement matters. This Committee will invite student participation and will be the

main channel for bringing student concerns to the attention of the Board212. The current

Chairperson of the Board, Vanessa Lugo, was the first Chairwoman of this important committee

and the one responsible for its development. From 2008 to 2016, the Board of Trustees had

addressed these issues in two separate committees

IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2015; IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2016 IPEDS Data Feedback Reports 2017 212 Estatutos Décima Revisión BoT (2018)

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This development at the Board of Trustees will complement the students’ ongoing participation

in the Academic and Administrative Boards, where they already have official representation213.

As related in the discussion of Standard I, students also participated in the Steering Committee

that led to the development of the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan and actively participated in the

March 2017 meeting of the Board of Trustees that approved the plan214.

As discussed in this Standard, student participation in these official governing bodies, as well as

their constant engagement with university leadership, faculty and staff through student

assemblies, multiple meetings with members of the Executive Leadership Team and other

formal and informal activities with students and student organizations, are critical to the

continuous assessment that drives the improvement of this student-support network. The

development of this comprehensive and integrated student-support network has been a

consistent institutional priority and figures prominently in the 2018-19 institutional objectives

and key results.

Sagrado’s Student-Support Network.

Sagrado is committed to improving retention and graduation rates and promoting student

success through the continued development and improvement of a comprehensive, integrated

and well-functioning student-support network, supported by a robust information-technology

system that allows the timely sharing of information across the network and thus facilitates

effective interventions and meaningful assessments. The University also has a set of policies

and procedures, some reviewed and discussed in Standard II, to make sure admitted students’

interests, competencies, experiences and goals are congruent with the Mission.

Many of the units of this network have been in place for years providing valuable services to

students with committed, qualified and dedicated staffs. Each of these units engaged in the

continuous assessment and improvement of their operations. These units, however, were

primarily connected with each other through informal connections. There was no information

technology system connecting these different units and facilitating the coordination of their

213 Estatutos Junta Académica; Reglamento de Junta Administrativa 214 Plan Estratégico 2017-2020

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services. Sagrado is currently trying to integrate these units into a system supported by

technology with the expectation that it can move from a reactive and fragmented to a more-

proactive and integrated stance that can work with students in a more effective manner to help

them accomplish their educational and life goals, persists and graduate.

The new information technology system, Jenzabar, was selected in 2015 after a comprehensive

review of the alternatives by the Integrated Information Technology Team. Sagrado’s existing

academic-student system POISE, which had served the University well for close to 30 years, was

at the time totally unsupported by the supplier. Jenzabar was the successor to POISE and thus

the affordable alternative. Its implementation would take place in phases with the first

focusing on the core of the system in the admissions, registration, student billing, financial aid

and institutional portal modules and the initial deployment of the learning management

system. Phase I was launched in March 2017 after an accelerated twelve months preparation

calendar. Phase II, which would include the full deployment of the student life, student

advising and retention modules, the learning management system and the mobile application,

was scheduled for implementation throughout the 2017-2018 academic year. Hurricane María

also delayed this implementation schedule for a full academic year as Sagrado had to focus on

strengthening its IT infrastructure in response to the emergency and continuing with the

implementation of Phase I. As of today, all of the Phase II modules are in the process of

implementation. At this point Sagrado’s efforts are invest in entering and validating the data

necessary to star assessing students’ outcomes directly from the new Platform.

This student-support network is composed of the following units by area of service or student

engagement:

I. Admissions, retention and graduation:

• Admissions: the Office of Admissions part of the Integrated Communications

Team

• Orientation and Introduction to University Life: Student Welcome Day and The

Freshmore Experience Project

• Retention Projects: Tittle V-HIS proposals and STEMmED

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• Advising, Academic and Professional Counseling: Academic Counselors per

program, @SER, the Retention Services Unit, the Student Support Program

(“PAE”), and Title V proposal

• Psychological Counseling and Support: the Center for Personal Development

II. Student support services

• Special and/or Academic Needs: @SER, the Retention Services Unit and the

Student Support Program (“PAE”)

• Financial Aid: the Integrated Services Administration (“ASI”)

• Spiritual Counseling and Support: the Marta Miranda rscj Campus Ministry

• Community Services and Volunteership: the CVC, the Marta Miranda rscj Campus

Ministry and the Center for Volunteership Development

• International Mobility: The Center for Global Education and Professional

Development

• Security: Office of Integrated Security and Risk Management

• First Aid Services Medical Emergency Services: the Integral Security and Risk

Management Office

III. Student life, extracurricular activities and other services

• Student Council and Student Associations

• Student Recognition

• Athletics: Sports Team, Wellness Program and new Director

• Residential Life: Student Residences Halls

• Dining Hall/Cafeteria and Convenience Store

• Cleaning and Custodial Services

• Transportation: the Dolphy Transport System

IV. Post-graduation placement

• Career Development: The Center for Global Education and Professional

Development

• Student Co and Extra Curricular Transcript and Portfolio

V. Policies and regulations

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• Student information and security of student information

• Admissions and Financial Aid Policies

• Transfers Students Policy

• Prior non-academic learning

• Student rights and responsibilities

• Student Disciplinary Procedures: Deanship of Student Affairs

VI. Periodic assessment of the Student Experience

One important recommendation, as a result of this Self-Study, is to leverage the

implementation of the new Jenzabar academic-student platform to more closely integrate this

network and improve its systemic performance. The objective is an effective, comprehensive

and holistic student-support network focused on providing integrated services and an

enhancing the student life experience from enrollment through graduation (and eventually

beyond graduation). This network should complement the academic project to accomplish the

Mission of an integral education for positive social impact by addressing all co-and extra-

curricular aspects of the student experience: integral health and quality of life; spiritual growth;

student outreach; professional and career development; international experiences; community

engagement and volunteership; financial counseling and support; athletics and wellness; and

residential life.

This section will address each of the units of the system as well as discuss special, federally-

funded programs to support student retention, persistence and graduation.

Admissions, retention and graduation

• Admissions. Sagrado has an Office of Admissions that, following the recommendation of

the 2008 SSR, is now fully integrated into the marketing function as part of the

Integrated Communications Team. This team is the partial successor of the Institutional

Research and Planning Office in as much as it gathers all institutional marketing,

communications, and public relations functions, as well as the promotion and

admissions function.

The Office of Admissions is responsible for all undergraduate and graduate admissions

with the necessary support from other university teams, especially Academic Affairs.

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The Office is usually the first point of contact with prospective students and their

families and thus a critical vehicle for the communication of Sagrado’s Mission. Until

2017, the Office of Admissions was known as the Office of Recruitment and Admissions

and divided into two smaller units, the Recruiting and the Admissions Offices, each with

its own director and both under the supervision of the Director of Admissions and

Enrollment. Following the recommendation of an external assessment at the end of

2017, the office was restructured into a single cohesive unit and additional staff was

recruited to strengthen the office’s effectiveness.

Sagrado’s undergraduate admission follows criteria set forth in the institutional

catalogue. A formula of admission is applied to prospects based on the student’s high

school grade point average and College Board (CEEB) results. Students who do not meet

the formula threshold are referred to two different evaluating committees, depending

on their CEEB scores, which can ultimately decide whether the student should be

admitted. Assessment results reveal that students who meet the formula threshold

exhibit greater retention and graduation rates, than students who are admitted by

committee determination215.

One recommendation of this Self-Study is the necessity of an in-depth evaluation of the

performance of undergraduate students admitted through the committee process,

rather than by the admissions formula, to determine whether the admissions criteria

should be revised and/or special measures taken to support these students to improve

their persistence, retention and graduation rates.

During 2015 and 2016, Sagrado engaged an admissions consulting firm to develop and

implement special admissions efforts aimed at high school students in the mainland

U.S. Sagrado decided to suspend this program after a year because the experience gave

the Executive Leadership Team an acute sense of the preparations that the University

needed to make to receive English-speaking U.S. students, from the availability of a

curriculum that could be navigated in English to staff in all critical student offices that

could appropriately service English-speaking students. Sagrado has been engaged in

215 One year retention

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these preparations and expects to develop a mainland U.S. admissions effort within the

next two fiscal years.

Sagrado’s graduate admissions process is also described in detail in the University

catalogue. All prospects should comply with general as well as specific requisites set for

the different academic programs. The application is available online216 and prospects

have two ways of applying for admission (regular or special), depending of their interest

in pursuing the whole master or just taking a sequence of courses without achieving the

degree. A set of policies and regulations regarding student validation and transfer of

credits is included in the Catalogue.

• Orientation and Introduction to University Life. A student’s successful introduction to

university life can be critical to the student’s ability to persist and complete his/her

studies. Sagrado has two special projects to provide an effective orientation for

incoming students.

o Student Welcome Day. As discussed in the section on Standard I, the Student

Welcome Day is the initial orientation into Sagrado that all incoming

undergraduate students receive217. In this orientation, students had the first

formal exposure to all support services and support staff. This event is assessed

every year to continue improving its quality218. In its latest iteration, held on

August 2018, the Provost and the Academic Directors for the first time made a

presentation of Sagrado’s academic programs.

o Freshmore Experience Project (“FEP”). The FEP course, already discussed in

Standard III, is the curricular complement to the Student Welcome Day. This

project has been the subject of constant assessment and student feedback, as

stated in the 2008 SSR (p.63) and 2013 PRR (p,46)219. The FEP course has evolved

from a course designed specifically for students with less than 500 points in any

part of the CEEB Test (from 2000-2011) to a three-credit course that is part of all

216 http://www.sagrado.edu/en/apply/ 217 Manual de Estudiante Nuevo Ingreso 218 Actividades “Enciende la Llama” 219 SSR 2008 ; PRR 2013

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the academic programs (2012-2017). The Admissions Office is responsible for

enrollment students in FEP during the first semester after admission.

The current version, developed during the academic year 2017-2018 and

implemented in the Fall of 2018, was designed to provide a comprehensive

introduction to important university services and to the development of skills

critical to a student’s self-management such as self-awareness, academic and

career empowerment and conflict resolution. An important part of FEP is the

detailed discussion that take place regarding different important policies and

procedures as well as university support services that will assure student success,

as briefly mentioned in Standard II. This course now requires engagement with a

student’s counselor to assess the student’s transition into university life, to have a

better understanding of student’s academic, financial and vocational needs as

well as the integration of career orientation as part of the advising process220.

In addition to the above formal programs, there is a wide variety of orientation

processes on campus, some run by Student Affairs and other by the students

themselves, often through student associations.

• Retention Projects. In view of Sagrado’s commitment to student success through

graduation, it has historically pursued federal grants to support the retention efforts.

Trio Student Support Program or PAE is a federally funded program that has allowed the

University to annually support a special group of 600 at risk students for the past 40

years. During this past ten years, as explained below, Sagrado has developed other

programs to improve retention rates:

Table 18: Comparison of retention rates between regular students and students who

participated in federal programs.

All PG

Cohort # Est Retention

2nd Sem. 1 year 4th Sem. 2 year 6th Sem. 3 year

2011 1005 88.6% 73.1% 67.0% 60.2% 57.3% 53.0%

2012 847 89.5% 75.7% 69.4% 59.1%

220 Resumen de Hallazgos y Recomendaciones del Proceso de Evaluación, 9 de enero de 2018

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2013 700 91.9% 75.3%

TITLE V

Cohort # Est Retention

2nd Sem. 1 year 4th Sem. 2 year 6th Sem. 3 year

2011 93 91.4% 73.1% 68.8% 62.4% 62.4% 57.0%

2012 176 89.8% 76.1% 73.9% 63.6% 2013 395 93.4% 81.5%

PG WITH OUT TITULO V

Cohort # Est Retention

2nd Sem. 1 year 4th Sem. 2 year 6th Sem. 3 year

2011 912 88.3% 73.1% 66.8% 60.0% 56.8% 52.6%

2012 671 89.4% 75.6% 68.3% 58.0%

2013 305 89.8% 67.2%

o Title V Retention Grants. During the review period, Sagrado sought and

received two Title V-HSI grants to enhance retention efforts. The first Title V

Program, Retaining and Graduating Through Technology (2010-2015)221, sought

to redesign existing services to improve their efficacy and to develop new ones.

This grant allowed Sagrado to develop an early alert information technology

system, a set of online courses for students who could not continue attending

classes, and financial coaching and tutoring services, among others.

Unfortunately, the early-alert system implemented through this grant was not able to

provide a sustainable basis for institutional retention efforts. The first system, “Early

Alert by Educational Dynamics,” operated for only two years when the supplier phased-

out the program. Its replacement, Starfish, suffered a similar fate and in 2015 the

University was forced to seek a new system. At the time, the Integrated Information

Technology Team was evaluating alternatives to succeed POISE and the decision was

made to wait until the selection of the new academic-student platform to implement

the new early alert system. The new Jenzabar has a student retention module that

includes an early alert system. Implementation is currently ongoing, and the early alert

system went operational in September 2018.

221 Annual Performance Report 2015

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Table 19: Early alert system request.

Request for intervention

Year 2011-2012 Year 2012-2013 Year 2013-2014 Year 2014-2015 Totals Aug /

Dec Jan / May

Aug / Decr

Jan / May

Aug / Decr

Jan / May

Aug / Decr

Jan / May

RFI attended through the Early IQ system

28 43 67 77 117 679 243 1,254

RFI attended outside the Early IQ system

2 1 1 8 0 324 100 436

Totals 0 30 44 68 85 117 1003 343 1,690

Action Plans

AP developed through the Early IQ system

25 50 67 82 129 600 953

AP developed outside the Early IQ system

2 1 1 7 0 50 61

Totals 0 27 51 68 89 129 650 0 1,014

The second Title V- HSI Project (2016-2021), Active Learning to Empower

Students and Increase Retention and Graduation, is still operating, and allows

the continuation of the student support services and retention initiatives. The

project aims to increase student enrollment, retention and graduation rates by

revamping teaching-learning modalities, providing counseling and student

support services, optimizing the use of technology and furthermore by

innovating and customizing classes and support services that motivate

exploration, empowerment and intellectual curiosity.

Therefore, the project has four main components:

▪ Creation of transformative learning environments

▪ Reshaping teaching and learning

▪ Integration of co-work and learning incubator spaces, and

technologically upgraded classrooms

▪ Revamping the student learning outcomes assessment system.

This grant fosters student centered practices and has been influencing the

University's ability to promote a student experience that integrates support,

human warmth and high technology to guide the student in his or her university

life. By training faculty and service providers Sagrado is empowering them to be

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better equipped and motivated to work towards excellency in their tasks and

responsibilities.

Through this project Sagrado has been able to provide supplemental activities

such as: Empowerment focused Counseling, restoring and improving an Early

Alert System, creating co-working learning spaces, providing peer tutoring and

mentoring, facilitating professional development opportunities for faculty and

support personnel, curricular revision to promote innovation in academic

programs and teaching strategies, Enabling on-line access to academic process

for students.

Tabla 20: @SER tutoring.

Period Area

2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017*

Students Number

of Services

Students Number

of Services

Students Number

of Services

Students Number

of Services

1st. Semester

Spanish 25 34 14 19 32 69 23 50

English 47 68 16 63 14 30 16 43

Math 90 159 110 184 68 145 53 220

Accounting 56 115 59 120 57 150 17 30

Science 5 6

Others 38 64 27 54 17 33 2 2

2nd. Semester

Spanish 25 36 7 12 9 18 43 105

English 66 89 38 73 20 43 14 48

Math 123 188 100 172 100 191 93 300

Accounting 76 119 48 92 59 173 18 32

Science 62 332

Others 23 26 13 23 12 25 1

Summer I

English

Science 7 10

Math 1 19 35

Total 569 898 433 812 388 877 373 1,213

Table 21: Tutoring services offered PAE.

Period Area

2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017

Students

Number of

Services

Students

Number of

Services

Students

Number of

Services

Students

Number of

Services

1st. Semester

Spanish 129 1,138 112 1,015 132 1,132 121 896

English 101 1,080 91 665 87 760 73 582

Math 83 820 92 614 69 706 74 649

Workshops 88 178 44 88 87 174 37 74

2nd. Semester

Spanish 59 338 61 372 52 395 46 326

English 97 750 92 656 72 516 56 369

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Math 75 474 59 471 72 448 69 622

Workshops 21 42 23 46 25 50 15 30

Summer I

Spanish 2 8 2 18 0 0 0 0

English 1 10 1 9 0 0 0 0

Math 4 20 6 30 0 0 0 0

Total 660 4,856 583 3,984 596 4,181 491 3,546

• STEMmED. The STEMmED grant was discussed in the Standard III Section. One of the

results of this grant was an increase in the retention rates for students in Natural

Science programs (except Nursing). STEMmED project was funded by the first Title V-

HIS program granted in 2010. State-of-the-art labs were remodeled, and a student-

centered pedagogical model was designed and developed. STEMmED's developed and

excellent tutoring and mentoring program; a research infrastructure; a pertinent and

relevant faculty professional development and course redesign with active faculty

participation.

The initial retention rate for the baseline 5-year freshman Natural Sciences students

was an average of 71%. As discuss in the STEMmED: Comprehensive Final Report

(2011-2016, p.2)222. The retention rates for the Natural Sciences Department (except

Nursing) increased by 16%. The Project closed with an of 87% STEMmED freshmen

retention rate and a five-year average of 87.6%, well above the baseline.

• Advising, Academic and Professional Counseling. Sagrado’s Mission of integral

education requires attention to other aspects of the students development beyond the

academic in order to contribute to the students’ persistence. In 2012, Sagrado

established the @SER or the Center for Student Services and Retention as a one-stop

center with professional counselors and other trained staff who can work with

undergraduates to facilitate the necessary student support services in one location223.

The Center manages the early alert system, administers and processes reasonable

accommodations documentation and protocol, provides professional and vocational

counseling as well as academic orientation regarding student’s curriculum, and, with the

assistance of the Title V-HSI program, coordinates tutoring and other support services.

222 Stemmed Comprehensive Final Report, p.2 (2011-2016) 223 PRR 2013

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After hurricane María the University saw the necessity to revise the Center’s objectives

to balance up the student support network. The Center’s main purpose should be to

promote student’s empowerment with their academic goals, support them through

their self-knowledge process, assist those undecideds with their vocational aims and

give them the necessary counseling for them to persist and graduate.

From the end of the 1990’s trough 2016, students who had approved more than 61

credits, would have been assigned a professor from to his/her major to give them advice

regarding course recommendations. In 2016, after assessing the effectiveness of having

faculty engaged in this limited role, @SER assumed all these functions and began

providing both professional counseling and advice regarding course selection. Under the

new Title V-HIS project, faculty will start serving in a mentorship capacity to

complement the Center’s services.

• Psychological Counseling and Support. A student’s mental health is fundamental to

their ability to successfully manage the challenges of university life. Sagrado is

therefore committed to working with students to address their mental health issues as

part of their integral development and adaptation to being part of a collegial

community.

Since the binning of the 1990’s Sagrado has maintained a Center for Personal

Development led by Dr. Julio Fonseca, a psychologist and member of the faculty. The

Center is currently staffed with psychologists and counselors, and supported by

graduate students from the Carlos Albizu University. They provide psychological

counseling and other personal and emotional development services to students. The

graduate students also provide office hours in the residence halls. One troubling trend

over the past years has been a significant and steady increase in the number of students

who use the Center’s services. One recommendation of this Self-Study is to analyze this

data in depth in order to determine possible causes and measures that Sagrado can take

to improve students’ ability to successfully manage themselves and the challenges of

university life224.

224 Centro de Desarrollo Personal

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Student support services

• Special and/or Academic Needs. Sagrado’s mission calls for solidarity with each student

in his or her individuality and a commitment to her personal development. Sagrado

embraces three distinctive initiatives for those students identified as vulnerable during

the admission process or within their first academic year and who may need special

support in order to attain their educational goals: (a) the Student Support Program or

PAE, the largest Federal Trio program in Puerto Rico, which services 600 first generation

students with disabilities or special academic or economical needs; (b) special

accommodations for students with disabilities, and (c) preliminary courses for students

who need to develop certain skills in order to engage in university level work. Other

units within the student-support network such as the Pastoral Care Center, the Center

for Personal Development and @SER also provide special attention to these vulnerable

students providing academic tutoring and mentoring.

• Financial Aid. One of Sagrado’s aspirations is that the lack of financial resources should

not be an impediment to a student’s ability to complete her studies at Sagrado. This

aspiration has become even more important in view of Hurricane’s María impact on the

financial condition of many of the students and their families. A survey conducted after

the hurricane, where 2,073 students participated, indicated that 49.9% of them did not

have a job and that another 21.1% had received a reduction in their hours225. That is

why one of Sagrado’s aspirations is to strengthen the endowment to reach more

unprivileged students.

Sagrado spends an annual average of $1,850,000 in student financial aid, or about 5% of

annual tuition revenues. Over the five year period from 2012 to 2107, the percentage

of students receiving financial aid has returned to the 2012 high of 86%.

Similarly, the number of students participating in work-study programs has also

returned close to the 2012 high of 682 students.

225 Encuesta Estudiantes posterior Huracán María, 2017

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Table 22: Students who participated in the Work Study Program.

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017

682 468 488 610 659

With the commitment of the Board of Trustees, the Finance Team is currently assessing

all of Sarado’s institutional financial aid programs in order to find ways to increase and

maximize the impact of the institutional resources devoted to student financial aid. In

the meantime, Sagrado’s financial aid policies, programs and procedures are

communicated in the institutional website and portal.

The Student Integrated Service Center or ASI is the central facility responsible for

supporting and servicing students with respect to their financial aid and the university’s

financial processes. As stated in the 2013 PRR and presented in the following table, ASI

periodically assesses student satisfaction and as a result implements measures to

improve its services. Two examples are the implementation of Turnos.pr and the direct

deposit program. In order to reduce waiting time and quality of service, in June 2013,

ASI implemented a new system (Turnos.pr) to provide automatic turns to students for

the different kinds of ASI services. In 2015, this system was updated to send students

text messages when they were about to be called so they did not have to stand in ASI

while waiting to be called. In 2013, ASI also implemented a direct deposit program to

speed up student receipt of financial aid, loans surplus amounts and other

reimbursements. A new module was also implemented for a faster notification of

students’ loan approvals.

Figure 2: Number of students attended by year in ASI.

34

,42

9

31

,46

7

34

,47

6

63

0 35

,78

5

35

,65

1

37

,26

5

2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015* 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018

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Figure 3: Students satisfaction with ASI services.

• Spiritual Counseling and Support. As a Catholic institution committed to integral

education of students willing to engage in the construction of a more authentically

Christian Puerto Rican society, Sagrado’s Pastoral Care Center plays a mission critical

role. It directs all campus ministry efforts, provides spiritual counseling and support and

engages in community service activities. Some of the Center’s most important

initiatives such as the Comesa soup-kitchen for students in need and the Conéctate

program for solidary leadership development were introduced in the discussion of

Sagrado’s Mission in Standard I.

The Center connects with all areas of the university through a constant feedback loop.

The Center receives a high number of student visits and thus gathers information on

student assessment of services, events and activities across the University. The Center’s

staff then reaches out to the different units to provide feedback and prompt the

necessary adjustments or reinforce good performance. The Center’s Director inclusion

in the Executive Leadership Team allows a forum for discussion of issues that merit

consideration at that level.

• Community Services and Volunteership. Sagrado’s mission aims at the social solidarity

of educating persons for “the construction of a more authentically Christian Puerto Rican

society, a community of solidarity in justice and peace.” Accordingly, it is also mission

critical to provide community engagement and service opportunities for students.

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The Standard III discussion outlined Sagrado’s Community Engagement Center (CVC)

which manages the service learning program of the academic project. There are at least

two other units that also provide opportunities for community engagement. The Center

for Volunteership Development, under Sagrado’s auspices since 2009, trains students

for volunteer services and organizations for managing volunteers. The Center organizes

different activities every year in which student volunteers can participate. Some

prominent examples are the annual coastal cleanup with Scuba Dogs, the housing rehab

with Habitat for Humanity, and the Casa Manuel Fernández Juncos with Starbucks Re Do

It Day. Since the 2013-2014 academic year, there has been a marked increase in

student volunteer participation and the number of volunteer hours.

Table 23: Voluntary hours.

Years Sagrado students Voluntary hours

2013-2014 89 8,752

2014-2015 236 5,585

2015-2016 667 15,407

2016-2017 1,288 31,792

Average 570 15,384

The Pastoral Care Center, referenced in the discussion of Standards I and III, also

provides opportunities for community engagement and service. The Center runs the

volunteer soup-kitchen Comesa for the benefit of students in need. In 2015, the Center

sent a group of students in community service trip to Costa Rica. In 2017, another group

of students visited the Casa Pueblo project in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, for a week to

collaborate in the care of the Model Forrest. Since 2017, the Center has coordinated

student volunteer services in the Cantera Cultural Center and the Villa Palmeras

community, two underprivileged communities in Sagrado’s immediate vicinity.

• International Mobility. Sagrado’s Vision states that the classroom is the world and, as

discussed with respect to Standard III, Sagrado has a Center for Global Education and

Professional Development to promote the students’ international mobility through

exchange programs, internships and other opportunities226. The Center is also

226 Outgoing and Incoming Students USC 2008-2017

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responsible for receiving and assisting international students who come to Sagrado

through exchange and other academic programs. The University has a selection of more

than 218 partners institutions in more than 30 countries of the world where students

can participate in student exchange programs227.

• Security. Sagrado is committed to providing a safe and secure campus for the students,

faculty, staff and visitors. In 2015, the Office of Campus Security evolved into the Office

of Integrated Security and Risk Management unit to consolidate health-related

emergency services, previously under the Athletics Department, and campus safety,

emergency response and related risk management.

Since the PRR, the University has made the following improvements: placed 27

electronic phone emergency system (blue lights posts) strategically situated around the

campus to facilitate communications directly with the Office of Integrated Services and

Risk Management if they have been victims of a crime or fill threatened. The University

also modernize the system of security cameras and established a command center in

the security office. At this moment, there are 139 security cameras operating 24/7

situated tactically around campus, including both students residencies.

Sagrado complies with all regulatory reporting requirements and the mandatory reports

are published in the institutional website and internal portal228. Security services are

assessed in the exit survey for graduating students. This survey shows a modest

improvement from 67% (excellent/satisfactory) in 2012 to 76% in the same category in

2017.

• First Aid Services: Medical Emergency Service. Sagrado has paramedics on duty 24

hours a day to provide immediate emergency services to students and other members

of the community. Prior to 2015, these services were given by nurses on the university’s

staff. Due to difficulties in ensuring that these nurses could be available 24 hours a day,

seven days a week, in 2015 the university decided to subcontract these services to the

same third-party that provides campus security services. This third party was in a

227 Universidades Disponibles para Movilidad Estudiantil 228 https://www.sagrado.edu/en/integrated-security-and-risk-management/

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position to guarantee paramedic services at all times, especially when there are

students living on campus.

Student satisfaction with medical emergency services is assessed in the survey for

graduating students. Emergency medical services show a slight improvement from 50%

(excellent/satisfactory) in 2012 to 54.2% in the same category in 2017. It is necessary to

inquire further to understand the reasons for these results.

Student life, extracurricular activities and other services

• Student Council and Student Associations. Student government and student

associations play important roles in the students’ integral development as they provide

platforms for student to develop and exercise critical skills in leadership, teamwork,

communications, planning, execution and problem-solving, among others, and execute

important student-led projects and initiatives. Sagrado’s student government includes

two official bodies, the Student Council and the Student Residents Council, which are

discussed below.

• The Student Council. The Student Council is elected annually via direct student vote. It

represents the student body in Sagrado’s two governing bodies, the Academic and

Administrative Board, and in the specially designated Strategic Planning Steering

Committee. The Council will also be invited to meetings of the Board of Trustees’

Student Affairs Committee.

For the past three academic years (2014-2017), the Student Council elections have been

organized by students and supervised by Student Affairs. Student candidates have used

a variety of strategies to increase student participation. These strategies have proved

successful as the percentage of participation increased from a low of 17% in 2014 to a

high of 30% in 2016.

Table 24: Student participation in student council votes.

Election Year (march)

Students Participation

Second Semester Enrollment

Percent of participation

Student Council

2014 838 4,981 17 2014-2015

2015 803 4,548 18 2015-2016

2016 1,258 4,234 30 2016-2017

2017 828 3,970 21 2017-2018

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Since the academic year 2013-2014, Student Affairs, in conjunction with the Pastoral

Care Center and the Center for Personal Development, has sought to develop the

leadership skills of Student Council members through a series of workshops the summer

before the start of the semester in August. These workshops are usually led by experts

in the workshop’s guiding themes such as solidary leadership, conflict management and

resolution, group dynamics, and spiritual growth. The workshops have been assessed

using the institutional rubrics for student learning229.

• Student Associations. Since most of Sagrado’s undergraduate students do not live on

campus, one of the main institutional challenges is how to increase student

participation in student associations and extracurricular activities, as these experiences

play important roles in a student’s integral development. One of the major

accomplishments of the review period has been a marked increase in the number of

student associations from 34 in 2013-2014 to 52 during the academic year 2016-2017.

Table 25: Student Associations.

Student Associations 2013 - 2014

2014 - 2015

2015 - 2016

2016 - 2017

2017 - 2018

Department of Business Administration

3 3 4 6 4

School of Communication Ferré Rangel

6 7 10 8 6

FIEHS 7 11 14 14 7

Natural Sciences Department 7 10 11 10 10

VP of Student Affairs 11 9 13 14 11

Total 34 40 52 52 38

• Student Assemblies and Meetings. Every academic year the Student Council holds two

student assemblies, in which students are invited to present any issues before the

Council and the university administration. The Student Residents Council also holds

open meetings every academic year for students to raise any issues related to the

229 Avalúo Taller Liderazgo Estudiantil, 2015, Taller de Liderazgo Estudiantil, 2013, Taller de Liderazgo Estudiantil,

2016

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residences or other matters or concern. These assemblies and meetings allow

Sagrado’s leadership to assess the students’ concerns and incorporate them into

institutional priorities and actions plans230. The Student and the Residents Councils

subsequently receive feedback on the measures to be taken.

Two important campus initiatives have resulted from these efforts: the Universal Space

and Sagrado Verde. The Universal Space is a class period that is reserved for the

Student Council and the student associations three times per semester. No classes are

scheduled during these three dates. The Student Council and diverse associations plan

and organize different kinds of events and activities and all students, faculty and staff

are invited to participate.

Sagrado Verde is an ecological initiative aligned with Sagrado’s mission. The

International Studies Association runs the program in conjunction with the Facilities,

Conservation and Services Team (ICS). The Pastoral Care Center’s Conéctate initiative

also participates as it has a dimension of eco-spirituality. Sagrado Verde was launched

on August of 2016, and by April of 2017, the project had collected over 25,000 pounds

of recyclable material (11,500 paper, 6,500 textiles, 7,260 pounds of cardboard and

aluminum) and had reduced plastic bottle water consumption by the equivalent of

17,200 bottles. The Student Council President for the 2016-2017 academic year, José

Carlos Sánchez, captured the essence of Sagrado Verde when he stated:

“The ideal education of the future professional is not limited to the classroom. It is

based on the power of being educated with the commitment for social responsibility. In

Sagrado, this is seen on a daily basis and Sagrado Verde is a living example.” (José Carlos

Sánchez, former President of the Student Council, 2017. Translated by Committee

VIII)231.

230 Report and actions taken 11/18/2014 (Asamblea Estudiantil, 18 de noviembre de 2014); Act (Acta de la

Asamblea Estudiantil, 23 de noviembre de 2015), Actions taken 11/23/2015 (Asamblea Estudiantil, 23 de

noviembre de 2015), Minute (Minuta de la Asamblea Estudiantil, 18 de octubre de 2016), Actions taken

10/18/2016 (Asamblea Estudiantil, 18 de octubre de 2016), Minute (Minuta de la Asamblea Estudiantil, 28 de

marzo de 2017), Actions taken 3/28/2017 (Asamblea Estudiantil, 28 de marzo de 2017), Report and actions taken

11/11/2017 (Asamblea Estudiantil, 11 de noviembre de 2017).

231 http://insagrado.sagrado.edu/uscverde/

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• Student Recognition. Sagrado believe that it is important to celebrate student

accomplishments. There are three official award ceremonies in addition to

Commencement.

Achievement Night recognizes students’ outstanding academic accomplishments, as

well as the leadership, civic engagement and personal growth of distinguished students

nominated by the community—three elements clearly aligned with the Mission.

Students receive the distinguished Portico Medal in recognition and celebration of their

accomplishments. The Monogram Awards are organized by the Athletic Department

and recognize the student-athletes’ sports and academic accomplishments. The

Student Support Program Achievement Day recognizes and celebrates the civic

engagement, effort and personal growth, leadership and academic progress of students

participating of this program.

In 2015, the Student Council decided to institute its own awards ceremony, the Socorro

Fernández Julia, rscj Awards. The awards are named in honor of Socorro Juliá

Fernández, rscj, a Puerto Rican religious of the Sacred Heart who has dedicated her life

to Sagrado and its students. She served in various administrative roles and then as a

trustee until her retirement in 2017. She is known for her passion and profound

commitment to the cause of the students. Indeed, she is living witness of Sagrado’s

Mission and its impact on the graduates. The awards seek to recognize the

performance of student associations in different categories inspired by her service and

aligned with the Mission such as commitment and community service, among others.

• Athletics. Sagrado’s mission of integral education must also address the student’s

physical and mental health and wellbeing. The Athletic Department has a dual

responsibility in this area. First, the Department must lead the sports teams in a

manner consistent with the Mission of integral education, that is, with a view to the

holistic development of students-athletes. Second, the Department must also promote

programs for healthy lifestyles among students and the rest of the university

community.

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o Sports teams. Sagrado has been a member of the Interuniversity Athletic League

or LAI since 1979. Both female and male students participate in a diverse range

of sports: volleyball, basketball, soccer, tennis, athletics, track and field,

swimming, weightlifting and judo. Sagrados’ students won 62 medals from 2013

to 2017. Sagrado has invested an average of $397,000 each year in scholarships

that have benefited an average of 115 athletes per year during the period

evaluated in this Self-Study.

Table 26: Athletic students per year who received scholarships.

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 Average

133 126 129 93 95 115

$469,224.00 $415,014.00 $406,007.00 $346,185.00 $346,185.00 $396,523.00

o Wellness Programs. The Athletic Department has also consistently promoted

activities and programs, in conjunction with the faculty of the Exercise Science

program, to promote the healthy lifestyles of the university community. The

annual Evolution Challenges is one of the most prominent examples of these

initiatives.

Another of this project is "Ponte Fit", a program to promote a healthy lifestyle

among students through guided exercise. The Department also developed a

program for employees, named #SAGRADOFITNES, whose exclusivity is the best

option to raise spirits, improve health and fitness and increase productivity at

work.

The athletic facilities, including the swimming pool and gym, are free to use by

all students.

o New Athletic Director. During academic year 2015-2016, after the retirement of

Sagrado’s long-serving Athletic Director, a new Director was hired following a

rigorous selection process managed by the Organizational Development and

Human Resources Team. The new Director, María E. Batista-Santaella, was an

alum, former swimming champion and accomplished leader in Puerto Rico’s

sports scene, who had directed all the sports operations of the Capital City of San

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Juan. She implemented a series of improvements, including a new system to

award athletic scholarships tied to the assessment(link) of three performance

indicators: sport execution, physical condition, and academic progress.

• Residential Life. While most of Sagrado’s students do not live on campus, the students

who do so play a crucial role in campus life because they are generally the movers

behind student university activities. The residential experience, moreover, provides a

unique opportunity to advance the mission of an integral education. It is one Sagrado’s

long term goals to improve the residential character of the university experience.

Sagrado believe that living independently away from one’s home can be an important

formative experience that advances a student’s integral growth and maturation.

• Residence Halls. Sagrado has two separate residence halls for men and women within

campus. The men’s residence hall has capacity for 202 students, and the women’s

residence hall for 363 students. Residents elect a Residents’ Council to represent them

and coordinate hall activities and functions.

Figure 4: Occupancy of the residencies per year.

The Council organizes social activities such as a welcome party at the beginning of the

academic year to receive new residents and holiday dinners and special events to

celebrate and promote residents’ integration. The Council also works with the Pastoral

Care Center and the Center for Personal Development to sponsor activities and

workshops that focus on personal development. The Council also holds regular

1428 1380

15881659

14311316

1474

2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

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meetings of residents to receive student input regarding life in the halls. After

evaluating these meetings, in 2010, Student Affairs recognized that it needed to collect

specific data on occupancy important to better understand student’s needs.

Generally, residents raise two kinds of issues: (a) concerns about the regulation of

student life in the halls and (b) requests for infrastructure improvements. Student

Affairs brings the latter for consideration through the annual process for the capital

improvements budget. Most of the requests relate to the women’s residence hall

because it is the older of the two. In response to student requests, the lobby of the

women’s hall was remodeled, the hallways’ repainted and the lighting changed in 2016.

In 2016, a process was started to consider the possible engagement of a third party to

conduct major renovations to both residence halls This process was detained by the

impact of hurricane María. In view of potential influx of funds from insurance proceeds

and grants from the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Emergency

Management Administration, Sagrado is currently evaluating the possibility of moving

forward with some or all of those renovations. In the meantime, the University is

piloting a remodeling of a bathroom and a kitchen in the women’s hall. Once finished,

the Sagrado’s will assess student response before proceeding with the remaining

bathrooms and kitchens.

With respect to student concerns about the regulation of student life, in 2016 Student

Affairs began a participative process with the students to review the University

Residences Handbook. Student Affairs conducted a series of surveys in which 357

residents participated (a response rate of approximately 54%). The results were

subsequently discussed with the residents during various meetings throughout the

academic year.

Table 27: Requests of the students in the March 2016 residents’ survey.

Requests Yes(%) No(%)

Visits in the rooms 61.1 37.3

Activities with drinks 52.1 46.8

Share the residences 52.7 45.9

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The student community reached a consensus, and as a result, the University Residences

Handbook was amended to allow overnight visitors with the previous consent of the

roommate and the Residence Halls Director, and to allow opposite sex visitors in the

common areas of each floor of the halls.

• Other University Residences. Sagrado also has some apartments in the immediate

perimeter of the university. They provide accommodations for 40 students. While

these apartments are technically off-campus, the properties are adjacent and thus have

direct access to the university. Moreover, Sagrado has other residential properties in

the perimeter and is currently evaluating plans to improve them and make them

available to students to enhance the university’s residential character.

• Dining Hall and Convenience Store. In order to maintain a thriving community life

within campus, it is important to provide basic services to students and other members

of the community. Sagrado has a dining hall in the St. John Paul II Student Center and a

smaller cafeteria in Barat Hall, Sagrado’s main academic building, both operated by the

same third party. Sagrado also has a convenience store in the Student Center but run by

a different third party. These services are assessed in student exit surveys upon

graduation. For the period under analysis, an average of 62% of the students have

consistently indicated that the service and foods at the cafeteria are good or excellent.

However, student satisfaction with the services dropped from 67%

(excellent/satisfactory) in 2012 to 61% in the same category in 2017. For the campus

store, an average of 74.5% of the students said the services and merchandise at the

campus store were good or satisfactory.

Table 28: Exit surveys results.

2012 (n=269) 2016 (n=309) 2017 (n=511)

Excellent / satisfactory

Regular / deficient

Does not apply

Excellent / satisfactory

Regular / deficient

Does not apply

Excellent / satisfactory

Regular / deficient

Does not apply

Cafetería 67% 32% 1% 58% 29% 13% 61% 36% 3%

La Tiendita @Sagrado

68% 19% 13% 81% 14% 6%

Seguridad 67% 29% 4% 63% 24% 13% 76% 19% 5%

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There is room for improvement in both quality of food and services and this is an area of

opportunity. Since 2017, Sagrado has been planning a process for the improvement of

these operations and the possible addition of new locations within campus. A group of

campus stakeholders is advising the Finance and Operations Team in this process.

• Cleaning and Custodial Services. Sagrado prides itself with high maintenance standards

for the esthetical appearance of the campus. The cleaning and custodial services are

operated by a third-party and the provider receives and constantly responds to

feedback from staff, faculty and students. Although Sagrado reviews the services for

compliance with contractual obligations and there is constant coordination to ensure

satisfactory performance of services, this and other third-party providers are not part of

a formal institutional assessment process. Accordingly, one of the recommendations of

this Self-Study is to establish such a formal assessment process for all third-party

providers.

• Transportation. Sagrado is an urban campus within close proximity of the Sagrado

Corazón metro train station. In order to provide safe and easy access to the campus, a

third-party operates shuttle to and from the train station. The shuttle is called “Dolphy”

because Sagrado’s mascot is the dolphin. There are four round trips per hour from

Monday through Friday. The service hours are varied and tied to the class schedules. A

higher number of shuttle buses are available during peak periods. For academic year

2016-2017, a monthly average of 8,000 on-board passengers used the Dolphy.

Post-graduation placement and portfolio

• Career Development Services. Since 2005 through 2017 the University offered career

services through the Employment Formation Center in Student Affairs. The students

received information on how to prepare their resume, market it within their industry or

labor market, and develop effective interview techniques. Also, the Center attended the

requests from employers to recruit students for part-time employment opportunities

and full-time opportunities for alumni.

Furthermore, the students had access to orientations, workshops and referrals to job

opportunities since their first year of studies at the University. The Center organized job

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fairs twice a year and interested students were placed in voluntary practices in real work

scenarios. The assignment of students for supervised practice was coordinated with the

faculty and collaborative agreements were established with the private sector to refer

them for internships and practices in their area of concentration. As part of the

collaborative agreements, students were placed in job opportunities in and outside the

University under the Federal Work and Study Program. These allocations of students

were held each semester.

In 2015, Sagrado hired an external consultant to redesign the post-graduation

placement services for students as well as to offer them an online tool to meet their

career reediness needs. From August to December 2015 an assessment and

presentation phase of the Sagrado Jobs project was prepared and presented to the

Presidency and the Executive Leadership Team. In March 2016, a contract with

simplicity, the platform provider for Sagrado Jobs, and Vault was signed. A

customization phase began and was completed by July of that year. A site

demonstration was organized for administrators, student leaders and the faculty. During

November 2016, Sagrado Jobs launched to 3,800+ students, the first of its kind in Puerto

Rico. In June 2017 a new team was assigned to lead the career prep efforts and the

international programs/internships agenda. In the summer of 2017, the services of the

Center were now channeled through the Center for Global Education and Professional

Development and the Federal Work Study program was assigned to the Student

Financial Aid offices.

In the next steps of the Sagrado Jobs platform implementation, students not only will

develop their professional profile, they also will be able to design a professional

portfolio where they can publish and highlight their academic work.

Sagrado is currently developing a system to track its students' employment post-

graduation. It is one of the key-results for the academic year 2018-2019. Currently,

student employment is verified at the alumni survey administered at graduation and by

individual programs in accordance with their accreditation requirements. From 2016 to

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2018 in the alumni survey (undergraduate and graduate), near 68% average of the

participants indicated that they were employed part or fulltime.

• Student Co and Extra-Curricular Transcript and Portfolio. Co and extra-curricular

activities play a decisive role in accomplishing Sagrado’s institutional mission of integral

education for social solidarity. In 2013 Sagrado took the important step of capturing

students’ participation in these activities in a co and extra-curricular transcript232. As a

result, the undergraduate students receive two transcripts upon graduation: the

academic or curricular transcript, which reflects the grades obtained in academic

courses and the co and extra-curricular transcript, which reflects each student’s

participation in co and extra-curricular activities such as service learning courses,

volunteer work and student leadership in student government or student associations233

he combination of both transcripts gives a more accurate representation of the

students’ achievements and communicates the integral or holistic character of

Sagrado’s education. The new Jenzabar platform already allows the generation of this

second transcript.

This co and extra-curricular transcript should serve as a good driver of the integration of

the different units within the student-support network. In order to faithfully reflect a

student’s participation in these activities, there needs to be a system across units,

supported by technology, to gather and report information in a standard manner. One

of the recommendations of this Self-Study is to ensure that this system is properly

established and deployed in all relevant units so that all relevant student activities are

captured across the university and subsequently reported for inclusion in the transcript.

The goal is to offer a faithful and comprehensive representation of students’ co and

curricular engagement. As the students reflect on their co and extracurricular

experiences that will be recorded in the transcript, they can better prepare for future

career and employment opportunities. Student Affairs is responsible for the continued

development of this project.

232 Transcripción Extra y Cocurricular, 5 de mayo de 2014. 233 Ejemplo Transcripción Extra y Cocurricular

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Another important recommendation from this Self-Study is to consider how to

incorporate the assessment of transversal competencies into the students’ extra-

curricular activities in order to provide another measure of student

development. Sagrado’s Mission calls for the development of these competencies not

only in curricular activities, but throughout the students’ broad engagement in

university life. Accordingly, the institutional and learning assessment system should

attempt to reflect how co and extracurricular activities are contributing to this

important objective. The effective incorporation of these activities into the assessment

system would also provide sound basis for a more in depth evaluation of these activities

and their contribution to the institutional Mission. Student Affairs is responsible for

evaluating this recommendation.

Policies and regulations

• Student information. The Office of the Registrar, under Academic Affairs, manages the

institutional responsibility for the protection of student information and academic

records, as required by FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as

amended). Sagrado’s compliance with these requirements was discussed in Standard II.

• Security of Student Information. As stated before, Sagrado is committed to protecting

the integrity, privacy and confidentiality of student information and academic records,

as required under FERPA, all other applicable laws and regulations and the highest

professional standards. Incoming students and their families receive orientation about

the applicability of these laws. This information is also available in the institutional

catalogues, the official website and the internal portal (mi.sagrado.edu).

The student’s identification verification and network credentials and authentication

processes, as reported in the PRR, were administered through the Student Information

System in the previous POISE platform. As indicated before, this system was replaced by

the new Jenzabar platform in March 2017 and this system also provides the

functionality to manage FERPA standards.

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Sagrado’s information security policies and procedures fully comply with industry

standards. Today, Sagrado has not detected any security breaches in its technology

infrastructure.

Nevertheless, as part of an ongoing assessment and improvement process some actions,

have taking place since 2016 to minimize the risks of losing any information asset, as

follows:

o Current Information security policies and procedures are under a review and

an active security service was contracted to monitor and detect any intrusion

in network environment on a 24x7 basis.

o An internal network restructuration was performed to assure the availability,

management and security of Sagrado’s network infrastructure. System

Security Controls have been activated in order to restrict unauthorized access

to institutional and academic information: Firewall rules, operating systems

standardization on an integrated platform, single sign on in main platforms,

virtual private network (VPN) access, network segmentation and IP

readdressing have been implemented among other security initiatives.

o As a critical resource, the Internet access was improved, increasing the

bandwidth and setting a fault tolerance strategy with multiple vendors and

technologies redundancy.

o To improve the availability and accessibility of Sagrado’s application

platforms, the core student information system (Jenzabar) was uploaded to a

cloud environment.

Technology infrastructure and security is evolving day by day. In Sagrado, information

security and privacy is a priority. The IT Team is constantly adapting and improving the

systems’ platforms and techniques, as well as procedures and policies, to keep Sagrado

in compliance with the highest industry standards.

• Admissions and Financial Aid Policies. All policies and procedures regarding admissions

for undergraduate, graduate, transfers, international or special students are clearly set

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forth in Sagrado’s catalogs and available in the institutional website and portal234.

Similarly, the website and the portal contain all official policies and regulations

regarding tuition and fees, room and board, federal and institutional financial aid,

student loans, work-study, financial aid appeals, repayments and refunds. From 2013 to

2017 all prospective students receive a manual with all relevant information. Recently

this handbook has been digitalized and enrolled student received it through the

institutional email235.

• Transfer Students. Sagrado welcomes transfer students for both levels (undergraduate

and graduate) that meet the admissions requirements. The official catalogue, website

and portal contain all the policies and procedures regarding the admission of transfer

students and the acceptance of transfer credits. Generally, undergraduate transfer

students must have a minimum GPA of 2.50 and be in good standing in their institution.

One of the recommendations of this Self-Study is to improve the process for the

evaluation of transfer credits through the effective integration of information

technology. The process has been manual and thus difficult to manage during high

volume moments in the admissions cycle. The redesign of this process is one of the key

results for the current academic year 2018-19. It is necessary to have a more agile

process that can perform the evaluations in a timely and accurate manner, particularly

during high volume admissions periods.

Another recommendation is to track transfer students’ persistence, retention and

graduation separately from other undergraduate students in order to assess their

performance and determine whether the admissions criteria should be revised and/or

special measures taken to support these students.

• Prior non-academic learning. Sagrado has a program, described in detail in the PRR, for

accepting and granting undergraduate or graduate credit for non-traditional learning

experiences236. Students can approve no more than 36 credits (nine credits for graduate

students) using either a challenge exam or a portfolio. This program is seldom used at

234 https://www.sagrado.edu/catalogo/ 235 Manual de Estudiante Nuevo Ingreso 236 Programa de Convalidación de Experiencias de Aprendizane No Tradicionales. marzo 2015.

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Sagrado and therefore data regarding its use has not been collected and assessed. One

of the recommendations of this Self-Study is to evaluate and benchmark this program

and determine whether there is an opportunity to modify its application to reach more

non-traditional students.

• Student rights and responsibilities. As stated in Standard II, students’ rights and

responsibilities are set for in the Students Handbook237. All policies regarding consumer

information are published in the external website and internal portal for prospect and

enrolled students to follow. Sagrado has policies regarding matters such as: Title X,

Bullying, Financial Norms and Grade Review, among others.

• Student Disciplinary Procedures. Student Affairs is responsible for the University’s code

of student conduct. It is the goal of the institution to convert all disciplinary procedures

into learning experiences that will contribute the students’ personal development.

All referrals for disciplinary intervention are investigated following the University’s

policies and procedures. Depending on the severity of the violation, preventive and/or

disciplinary measures are taken always taking into consideration the best interests and

safety of the students. Disciplinary measures might include, when adequate, an activity

that should promote introspection and reflection about consequences of engaging in

such violation, and community service hours, among other progressive discipline

strategies.

Periodic Assessment of the Student Experience

As the above summary demonstrates, Sagrado is committed to maintaining and developing a

robust student-support system to complement the academic project in furtherance of the

Mission. As related above, the components of this support system consistently engage in the

assessment of their operations in order to improve their services. There is a clear record of

constant adjustment in response to performance quality and student concerns. Sagrado is very

responsive to student needs and concerns and is actively seeking ways to improve the student

experience. The remaining challenge is to gather all of these individual assessment practices

into a comprehensive system of institutional assessment, supported by technology, that will

237 Reglamento de Estudiantes, 2012.

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integrate all units in standard practices using shared criteria and allow visibility of performance

across the university in order to drive systemic improvement, by assessment238 and survey239.

Sagrado is a student-centered institution, therefore its main objective is always to ensure that

there is consistency between what any person interested in becoming a student understands

are his or her goals and what is required in order to successfully complete a degree. There is a

system of structures, programs, and personnel in place that support the students’ experience

and this system is continually being improved.

The establishment of institutional goals and key results to implement the 2017-2020 Strategic

Plan during the academic year 2018-19 is a critical step in this direction. These goals and key

results have been shared with all faculty and staff and will drive the staff performance

management system as well as the pilot for the faculty performance management system. One

remaining piece is the establishment of an independent office for institutional intelligence,

assessment, efficacy and planning, integrated to the Executive Team, that will be responsible

for developing, and implementing this assessment system and incorporating its findings to drive

and improve institutional decision-making. The independence from all other operating units is

critical since this office will be assessing the performance of all such units. This office will be

responsible for ensuring the university’s meaningful participation in NSSE and FSSE surveys, and

all others than can contribute to the institutional Mission. Sagrado participated in the NSSE

survey in 2010, 2012 and 2014240 as presented in the 2013 PRR 2013. Although the PRR also

recommended that the University should also engage in the FSSE (Faculty Survey of Student

Engagement) and there has been no participation in such survey to date.

Conclusion

Sagrado has a student-centered Mission of an integral education for social solidarity. All

members of the Sagrado community are co-participants and co-responsible for the

accomplishment of this mission. This Mission requires a university-wide effort because it

cannot be achieved only in the classroom or the formal academic learning spaces. This Mission

238 Plan de avalúo de aprendizaje por unidad Decanato de Estudiantes; Resultados pan de avalúo de aprendizaje

por unidad Decanato de Estudiantes 239 Estudio Vida Estudiantil, febrero 2015 240 NSSE 2014 High-Impact Practices

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is achieved in every student engagement, curricular, co or extra-curricular, on campus and

outside. As demonstrated above, Sagrado is committed to a coherent and effective student-

support system, from admission through graduation, to enhance the quality of the student

experience and promote students’ success.

Recommendations

Sagrado should: (a). Leverage its new Jenzabar academic-student technology platform, which

includes student-life, advising and retention modules, to improve and more closely integrate

this student support network to accomplish institutional retention, persistence and graduation

goals, (b). Strengthen the network by integrating the assessment practices of each of the

operating units into a cohesive-system that can provide timely and accurate data on student

performance and experience to support agile decision-making and execution, (c).Consider how

to effectively integrate third-party providers into this assessment system,(d). Consider how to

incorporate the assessment of the transversal competencies into the students extra-curricular

activities in order to have a fuller picture of students’ development. (e). Establish a formal

program for participation in the NSSE and FSSE surveys, (f). Evaluate in depth the performance

of undergraduate students admitted through the committee process, rather than by the

admissions formula, to determine whether the admissions criteria should be revised and/or

special measures taken to support these students to improve their persistence, retention and

graduation; and whether it is necessary to revise the incoming students’ profiles to better align

student services and support, (g). Improve the process for the evaluation of transfer credits

through the effective integration of information technology, (h). Track transfer students’

persistence, retention and graduation separately from other undergraduate students in order

to assess their performance and determine whether the admissions criteria should be revised

and/or special measures taken to support these students, (i). Evaluate and benchmark the

program for credit for non-academic learning to determine whether there is an opportunity to

modify its application to reach more non-traditional students.

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Standard V: Education Effectiveness Assessment

Assessment of student learning demonstrates that the institution’s students have accomplished

educational goals consistent with their programs of study, degree level, the institution’s mission,

and appropriate expectations for institutions of higher education.

Sagrado meets the five criteria and all sub-criteria of Standard V and is compliant with the

Commission’s Requirements of Affiliation 8 and 10. Evidence that demonstrates that Sagrado

meets Standard V can be reviewed in the Documentation Roadmap and are analyzed in this

section.

Sagrado complies with Standard V.

241 Addressed in tandem with Standard IV

Criterion Number

Standard V Criterion Meet

Criterion

C1 Clearly stated educational goal at the institution and degree/program levels which are interrelated with one another and with the institution’s mission

C2 Organized and systematic assessments conducted by appropriate personnel in order to:

C2a Define meaningful curricular goals with defensible standards for evaluation

C2b Articulate the preparation of students for successful careers, meaningful lives

C2c Support and sustain assessment of student achievement and communicate results to stakeholders

C3 Consideration and use of assessment results for the improvement of educational effectiveness by some combination of:

C3a Assisting students in improving their learning

C3b Improving pedagogy and curriculum

C3c Reviewing and revising of academic programs and support services

C3d Offering a range of professional development

C3e Planning and budgeting for academic programs and services

C3f Informing appropriate constituents about the institution and its programs

C3g Improving key indicators of student success

C3h Implementing other processes and procedures to improve educational programs and services

C4241 Adequate and appropriate institutional review and approval of assessment of services delivered by third-party providers

C5 Periodic assessment of the effectiveness of assessment processes for improvement of educational effectiveness

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Compliance with Standard V

Sagrado understands that it is a learning organization and that the success of the Mission

depends on continuous innovation and improvement driven by robust assessment practices.

This is the reason why of one the five priorities of the Strategic Plan 2017-2020 is the

development of an innovative community of service and continuous improvement. The two

preceding strategic plans emphasized as priorities “an administrative and academic

organization that promotes creativity and initiative” and the 2014-2017 plan, further specified

an organization with “institutional and learning assessment as the basis for planning and

resource allocation.”

Table 29:Evolution of Institutional Goals.

Institutional Goals

Marco Educativo 2012 Vision 2017 Vision 2020

Goal 1

To promote the search for knowledge in an

environment of intellectual liberty

through an integrated, participatory, and

personalized education that is relevant to the

world around us.

Center the educational project on the student

through an integral humanistic, multi and

interdisciplinary education by providing more opportunities

for students and faculty to engage in diverse cultural and

learning practices.

Educate citizens with the competencies, knowledge and skills needed for a productive insertion in society by way of an academic offer

that is interdisciplinary, flexible, innovative, different, and pertinent

to the challenges of the 21st century.

Goal 2

To propitiate the development of a

moral conscience based on Christian values,

fostering social commitment based on justice, brotherhood,

sisterhood, and peace.

Support students to achieve their academic goals through services designed for them as center and reason to exist by means of a teaching and non-teaching staff committed to the institutional values and

prepared to meet 21st century challenges.

Redesign the interaction model between the surroundings and the

academic project based on innovation, social responsibility, and entrepreneurship in order to impact the immediate context: business of

all levels and sizes, non-profit sector, community-based initiatives, and

government, among others.

Goal 3

Develop strategies, possible actions to increase funding,

and revenues and reach efficiency levels that will allow

financial stability for the University.

Promote an experience that integrates coaching, human touch

and high-tech to support students in their academic life by means of

spaces, (co)curricular and extracurricular activities that allow

for integral growth, commitment and result in a sense of pride and

belonging.

Goal 4

Strengthen the organizational structure and routines through

continuous improvement of processes that will increase efficiency and productivity.

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Institutional Goals

Marco Educativo 2012 Vision 2017 Vision 2020

Goal 5

Develop innovative strategies, possible actions to increase funding, and revenues and reach efficiency

levels that will allow financial stability for the University.

Source: USC’s Educational Framework; Marco Educativo de la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, 2012; Strategic Plan Vision 2014-2017; and Strategic Plan Vision 2017-2020.

The University has developed a strong learning assessment culture since the last decennial visit.

The academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels have always shown the

program’s goals and the student learning outcomes that are aligned with the institutional

Mission. Since 2008, in response to the Visiting Team’s suggestions regarding then Standard 14,

Sagrado has been engaged in systematic efforts to assess the academic programs regarding the

accomplishments of program goals and learning outcomes. An assessment plan was developed

in 2011 and an office designated to oversee its implementation.

All academic departments have established and revised different assessment systems with

different levels of success. The Ferré Rangel School of Communication (Communication School)

and the accredited academic programs in Nursing, Social Work and Education have maintained

consistent assessment practices given their discipline accrediting requirements. Other

departments have tried different approaches. Some academic support units such as the Center

for Community Engagement (CVC) and the Madre María Teresa Guevara Library have also

implemented effective assessment systems. The assessment practices have led to multiple

revisions to programs, services, curricula and syllabi, as well to the academic support programs.

The objective has been to develop an effective learning assessment system that is appropriate

to Sagrado’s organizational scale, structure and resources. Sagrado has learned, through the

challenges of the implementation of an assessment plan, the need for a simple, manageable

and uniform system that would not place undue burdens on the faculty, who usually teach five

courses per semester. The initial assessment models considered a large number of

competencies (prior to 2008, as many as 21) and little or no uniformity in the rubrics and

scales242 used to measure them.

242 Examples of rubrics: pensamiento crítico, comunicación escrita, trabajo en equipo, investigación

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Sagrado’s academic leadership has consistently tried to streamline the system by simplifying

and standardizing competencies to be measured, as well as rubrics and scales. In 2017, Sagrado

conducted a survey to gather faculty assessment of learning assessment practices from 2012

through 2017 and confirmed the need for simplicity, ease of execution and appropriate

technological support243. The University’s assessment processes have not been historically

supported by a strong information technology system. An attempt to implement one

technology platform from 2013 to 2015 did not succeed because the system was too costly and

unwieldy to implement.

Accordingly, in view of the 2017 implementation of the new Jenzabar academic-student

information technology platform, the University decided to conclude the existing assessment

practices during the 2016-2017 academic year in order to establish a new system with the new

platform. The new system has been in the planning stages since the hiring of a Director of

Assessment in February 2016 and the planning for Jenzabar’s implementation. The

implementation of this plan was delayed due to the impact of hurricane María in September

2017 and is scheduled to be piloted and tested in Spring 2019, for full deployment in the 2019-

2020 academic year.

Sagrado’s Academic Programs: Clearly Stated Educational Goals and Learning Outcomes

Aligned with the Mission.

All of Sagrado’s undergraduate and graduate programs set forth clearly stated educational

goals and a student profile that outlines the intended learning outcomes. Such goals and

outcomes align with Sagrado’s Mission, Vision and Institutional Values.

Under Puerto Rico law, all new academic programs have to be approved by the state licensing

authority, currently called the Puerto Rico Council on Education but soon to evolve to a new

board in accordance to a reform statute enacted in 2018. The licensing process requires the

submission of a substantial application that must meet statutory and regulatory requirements.

One of those requirements is that each academic program include the proposed educational

goals and learning outcomes consistent with the goals of higher education in the proposed field

of study. All of Sagrado’s programs have been appropriately licensed and thus all comply with

243 Informe de encuesta a la facultad sobre resultados de avalúo – cierre de ciclo 2012-2017

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this requirement. Each program has curricular matrix that indicates the goals, the student

outcomes and the specific courses that address each of these outcomes244.

The internal governance process requires that each new program245 be first approved by the

Academic Board, pursuant to a recommendation of the Curriculum Committee, and then by the

Board of Trustees pursuant to a recommendation of the Academic Affairs and Honorary

Degrees Committee. One of the objectives of this double review is to ensure that all academic

programs are consistent with Sagrado’s Mission, Vision and Institutional Values.

The Assessment of Student Learning at Sagrado

Sagrado’s commitment to its Mission requires a constant review of institutional efforts in all

areas—academic, student support and administrative--to ensure that the University is

consistently achieving the Mission and delivering on the educational commitment to its

students, their families and the community. Continuous assessment keeps the Mission alive and

responsive to the needs of the students and the challenges of the times. Sagrado’s history,

related throughout this Self-Study, reveals a community that is constantly innovating.

Sagrado’s longstanding commitment to learning assessment was summarized in a 2008 report

regarding the institutional assessment practices from 1986 to 2008 prepared in connection with

the SSR (2013). The 2008 Visiting Team recognized Sagrado’s efforts and recommended that

Sagrado develop a formal, written and outcomes-based assessment plan and assign

responsibility to an individual who would assume leadership to assure institution-wide

integration of the process246. Sagrado followed this recommendation and in 2011 approved a

formal institutional and learning assessment plan and Academic Affairs was charged with

responsibility for the implementation of the learning assessment component of the plan247. In

2012, Sagrado issued a conceptual framework for the academic project to frame the learning

assessment efforts248.

The 2011 Assessment Plan and its Revision. The 2011 Assessment Plan set forth 14 student

learning outcomes for undergraduate programs and 8 for graduate programs. This represented

244 Examples of curricular matrix 245 Protocolo para el desarrollo de programas nuevos. 246 Informe enviado por MSCHE 2008 247 Institutional Strategic Assessment and Planning for Universidad del Sagrado Corazón 1986-2008 248 Modelo de Avalúo de la Efectividad Institucional y del Aprendizaje

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a significant reduction from previous assessment efforts that outlined 21 learning outcomes for

undergraduate programs. A trend was beginning to emerge as the understandable aspiration of

a comprehensive assessment system that covered all desirable competencies faced the realities

of implementing a complex system within the organizational structures of a diverse teaching

institution with no supporting information technology system.

Prior to the implementation of the 2011 Assessment Plan, the University retained the services

of an external consultant, Linda Suskie, to conduct a pre-implementation review. One of the

recommendations was to further simplify and streamline the process by focusing on 7

undergraduate learning outcomes rather the proposed 14, and on 5 graduate learning

outcomes rather than the 8 original ones. The revised assessment plan was scheduled to begin

in the academic year 2013-2014 and would extend through 2016-2017, the last of the 2014-

2017 Strategic Plan249. The 2011 Assessment Plan had the following schedules for

undergraduate and graduate learning assessments.

Table 30:Undergraduate transversal competencies calendar.

Competencies A Y 2012-13

A Y 2013-14

A Y 2014-15

A Y 2015-16

A Y 2016-17

Professional competency X X X X X

Ethics X X

Critical thinking X X

Team working X X

Written communication in Spanish and English X X

Research X X

Human diversity X X

Verbal communication in Spanish and English X X

Table 31: Graduate transversal competencies calendar.

Competencies A Y 2012-13

A Y 2013-14

A Y 2014-15

A Y 2015-16

A Y 2016-17

Professional competency X X X X X

Communicate effectively orally and in writing X

Professional competency X X X

Ethics X X

Team working X X X

Research X X X

Decision making X X

249 2014-2017 Strategic Plan

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Implementation Challenges. The implementation of the revised assessment plan was

supposed to be supported by a new information technology platform called LiveText. This

platform was a stand-alone system not integrated with the university’s academic-student

information platform at the time, POISE, which was already unsupported and in need of

replacement. For the first academic year of the plan, 2013-2014, all five academic units

presented student learning assessment reports. In 2014-2015, three academic units presented

full assessment reports, while the other two units presented information that did not include

information on all applicable courses250.

Three factors affected the process during 2014-2015. First, the University could not sustain the

use of the LiveText platform due to its high cost and the need for voluminous manual collection

and entry of data into the stand alone system. The burdens on the faculty were substantial.

They had to gather the data and enter it into the system. These responsibilities were

subsequently transferred to the Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning Office, thus

creating a massive data entry bottleneck. Second, the process was not standardized. There was

not a uniform assessment framework across all academic units. The student learning outcomes

regarding the transversal competencies were the same, but different academic units developed

different rubrics, grading scales and assessment levels for each of the learning outcomes. The

lack of uniformity hampered execution as each academic unit struggled to define the

measurement instruments that it considered appropriate for its programs.

Third, 2014-2015 was the year of the presidential transition and the Dean of Academic and

Student Affairs (the Chief Academic Officer), the Director of the Humanities and Social Sciences

Interdisciplinary Faculty (the largest faculty responsible for the general education component

and the largest group of programs) and the Director of the Office of Institutional Research,

Assessment and Planning, all retired. The Director of the Information Resources Center (the

Chief Information Officer) returned to the faculty. These events challenged continuity of

operations, including how to move forward the learning outcomes assessment plan in view of

the problems with the technological platform and the leadership transition in Academic Affairs.

250 Institutional Assessment Report 2013-2014, 2014-2015

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At the beginning of the 2015-2016 academic year, after a selection process that lasted the first

six months of the year, Sagrado engaged a new chief academic officer, now titled Provost and

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, who would be responsible only for academic

affairs. The Provost immediately led a process for the selection of a Director of Assessment

within Academic Affairs, who assumed her duties on February 2016. The new director took

control of the process, met with each academic unit, gathered the available assessment data,

and proceeded to close the assessment cycle251 from 2012 through 2017 with a survey of the

faculty regarding the assessment processes during the period. This survey confirmed the need

for simplicity, standardization and ease of execution, with appropriate technological support.

The New Assessment Plan. By February 2016, Sagrado had already selected its new Jenzabar

student-academic information platform as the replacement for POISE, and the Director of

Assessment participated in the planning for its implementation in order to launch a new

comprehensive institutional and learning assessment system that could rely upon the new

platform. In September 2016, the President made a presentation to the faculty and outlined the

new assessment system converted with the Jenzabar platform as an institutional priority252.The

learning assessment system would be implemented in Phase II of the Jenzabar implementation

once the new learning management system became fully operational across the university. This

would take place during the 2017-2108 academic year. Hurricane Maria significantly affected

Jenzabar’s implementation and thus forced the postponement of the learning assessment

system until the 2018-2019 academic year

As a result of the 2017 curricular reform that brought all undergraduate programs within a

structure of 120 credits, the undergraduate transversal competencies and student learning

outcomes have once again been streamlined to the following five: Critical thinking,

Communication, Research/exploration, Ethics, and Innovation/entrepreneurship. These are the

five mission-critical learning outcomes that will be incorporated into the assessment plan that

will be implemented during 2018-2019. The new plan will use a standard assessment template

across all academic programs.

251 Informe de encuesta a la facultad sobre resultados de avalúo – cierre de ciclo 2012-2017 252 Reunión Ordinaria Claustro (2016)

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Figure 5: Assessment cycle.

Sagrado’s Dissemination and Use of Learning Assessment Results.

Throughout the review period Sagrado has remained committed to establishing an learning

assessment system that is appropriate to its organizational scale, structure and resources as a

teaching institution. The challenges of implementation have confirmed the need for a simple,

manageable and uniform system that would not place undue burdens on faculty.

Despite these challenges, several units within Sagrado continued to move forward with their

learning assessment efforts. The Ferré Rangel School of Communication, the Natural Sciences

and the Education departments continued to report assessment results through 2015-2016,

while the Business Administration and the Humanities and Social Sciences conducted

assessment on various courses. The Ferré Rangel School of Communication continued for

2016-2017. Similarly, all three programs with specific accreditations continued with their

learning assessment practices throughout the 2013-2017 period: Nursing, Social Work and

Education. Several academic support units, the Center for Community Engagement (CVC), the

Madre María T. Miranda Library and the Language Across the Disciplines program (LAD)

conducted their own assessments during the same period. The federally funded STEMmed and

“Retaining and Graduating through Technologically-Based Empowerment” programs also

conducted their own assessment programs.

The results obtained from these efforts were communicated and discussed within each of the

appropriate academic and academic support units, mostly in faculty meetings. Other means

such as videos, emails and digital bulletins were also used, but there was no systemic

communication strategy. Much in the same way that each academic unit and academic support

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unit designed its own assessment measuring instruments, the dissemination and discussion of

the results also followed different paths. The Ferré Rangel School of the Communications and

the accredited programs consistently discussed the results in faculty meetings. Similarly, the

academic support units and the federally funded programs also internally discussed their

assessment results.

As detailed below, these academic and academic support units used their assessment results

for meaningful steps to improve educational effectiveness:

Table 32:Actions taken of Assessment of Students Learning Outcome in Accredited Programs.

YEAR PROGRAM

2013-14

Education Nursing Social Work

Conducted undergraduate learning outcome assessment for ethics and critical thinking competences through direct and indirect methodologies, and the dissemination of results and syllabi reviews.

• Identified students at risk in task completion and outlined an action plan (Ad Hoc committee)

• Created the Callista Roy and nursing process rubric, to meet the SLO, and integration of social network.

• Researched evidence papers for cultural diversity.

• Integrated cultural activities to different courses.

• Supported the Nursing Students Association.

• New strategy and rubric (Analytic Memo) was created and implemented (ENF 332) to assess cultural diversity.

• Reviewed the course test (Unit Three).

• Modified clinical performance rubric, adding criteria for quality and safety.

• Initiated evidence base skills during the Cornerstone Course (ENF 101) through a library workshop.

Modified social work curricula, included new rubrics.

2014-15

Conducted undergraduate learning outcome assessment for ethics and critical thinking competences through direct and indirect methodologies, and the dissemination of results and syllabi revisions.

• Performed a checklist (guide) that include the steps for using technology during administration of medication.

• a workshop of administration and dosage of medication

• Integrated using critical thinking questions for the discussion of medication administration safety and use of technological equipment (January 2015).

• The teaching strategy for this SLO: changes in health-care policies (January 2015), learning for SLO public policy and health services impacting the uninsured population. Adapted a movie to integrate aspects of public mental health policy, facilitating access to appropriate care, use of less restrictive environments, mental health client’s rights, restrictions, alternatives and the recovery model, and standards of practice.

• Used a study guide with critical thinking questions that direct the student to the discussion of public policy and health system issues.

• Used a study guide rubric to assess SLO.

Added a self-evaluation for students in SW Practicum (TSO 403, TSO 422), in addition to external collaborators. Collaborators were consulted for the development of a pilot study (TSO 217) to improve practicum behavior.

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Table 33:Academic Support Units Assessment..

YEAR UNIT

Library: Information

literacy and Technology

LAD: Written and oral communication

STEMmED: Research

CVC: Ethics/Social Awareness

2013-2014

Integrated the competence into the courses through the

Curriculum Information Literacy Integration

Project, (PICIC). Developed the infor-mation literacy rubric

used by faculty. Discussed and revised

workshops with librarians and fa-culty.

Changed method-logies and activities in order to strengthen the design. Executed work-shops with an attendance of

1,069 students.

Used pre-post rubrics for 39 sections for

Spanish oral communication, where 89.7% demonstrated a higher outcome in post

rubrics. For Spanish written communication, 39 sections participated,

and 51.3% of those sections demonstrated

improvement in the post rubric. Preparation of resume and letter of presentation were used

in 3 sections of exit courses (CMU 480 & TEL

480).

8 redesigned courses (BIO 309, CCO 330, QUI

401, MAT 200, MAT 415, INF 252, CCO 340,

INF 201) & 1 new course was designed (QUI 312),

as a result of the 3rd year in grant. Research

was conducted by faculty members (3) and

students (6), some of them with collaboration of other post-secondary institutions. 6 students

were engaging in research. TEDx

USagradoCorazón was conducted for the first

time & faculty designed rubrics for assessment.

Assessment was conducted through

mentorship rubrics. 18 courses (at

undergraduate and graduate level) and 53 sections participated in this program, with an

impact of 677 students, 27 faculty members, 51

entities, 114 projects organized by students and 14,200 hours of

service. Revised rubrics for level I courses participating in

CVC, and designed guidelines for level II &

III courses.

2015-16

• Emphasized the importance of being guided by the rubric to meet all criteria. Developed a research criticism guide for the EBP task.

• Used research papers for evaluation. Papers submitted were returned to 90% (18/20) of the students, specifying that they should follow the instructions and use nursing research journals.

• Corrections to the works delivered to follow the rubrics as published on the Moodle platform.

• Reinforced the use of nursing journals.

• The evaluation strategy will be changed to a study guide with questions aimed at required skill.

• Continued to integrate health policies and financing of services in the tasks.

Analyzed (using SPSS) results from pilot study (TSO 217) to improve practicum behavior.

2016-17

New courses in Sign language, Secondary history, Practicum, update clinical experiences and rubrics.

• Reinforce responsibility and importance of turning in assignments on due dates.

• Evaluation results: 1st semester average: 95% compliance; 2nd semester: 89% compliance.

• A workshop was offered to faculty about nursing process, Callista Roy, and NANDA, through case study discussion (2nd semester).

• Reinforcement of data categorization, NANDA, NOC & NIC.

Modified rubrics and the creation of rubrics Excel with CEDTEC.

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YEAR UNIT

Library: Information

literacy and Technology

LAD: Written and oral communication

STEMmED: Research

CVC: Ethics/Social Awareness

2014-2015

Activities were identified for

information literacy, including ethics in the used of information. Executed workshops

with an attendance of 1,187 students.

Used pre-post rubrics for 39 sections for

Spanish oral communication and 33

sec-tions for Spanish written communication.

In average, the differences were higher in post rubric for both

com-petences. Preparation of resume and presentation letter were used in 6 sec-tions of CMU 480, HUM 480

& TEL 480.

10 courses were identified for review and

a new course of Scientific Journalism was developed (CAN

340). 5 students participated for the first

time in research activities with faculty.

The 3rd TEDx USagradoCorazón was held in 2015 with 10

faculty members.

19 courses (at undergraduate and

graduate level) and 37 sections participated in this program: Impact:

601 students, 22 faculty members, 63 entities, 105 projects organized by students and 12,020

hours of service.

2015-2016

Developed exercises and simulations in

library workshops (with the attendance of 1,067 students), instructional

module, and informational material.

Recommended changes in course syllabi and

level of competence in the School of

Communication (CMU 101).

Faculty members continued their research

engaging with 7 students (including 2

first time doing research).

19 courses (under-graduate and graduate

level) & 36 sections participated in this

program. Impact: 540 students, 21 faculty, 54

entities, 89 projects organized by students and 10,800 hours of

service.

2016-2017

Revised informational material and continued

with information literacy library

workshops (with the attendance of 719

students).

24 sections participated in oral and written

communication, with a total of 439 students.

During this term, changes were

performed and informed to students

and faculty. These changes were done in

schedules and area utilization.

45 faculty workshops, 16% re: assessment; 41

science courses redesigned (Math, Chemistry, Biology, Physics & Computer

Science) or newly designed, 76% approved

by institution 33 students (headcount)

participated in research with faculty members; 3 TEDx USagradoCorazón

16 courses (at undergraduate and

graduate level) and 35 sections participated in this program. Impact:

533 students, 18 faculty members, 48 entities,

74 projects organized by students and 10,620

hours of service.

The Ferré Rangel School of Communication School, as mentioned earlier, did performed

systematic assessment of their programs (both undergraduate and graduate) and as a result,

created internal committees dedicated to curriculum review (2013-14), which started their

work in 2014-15 and concluded in 2017.

The academic units that did not carry out systematic assessment processes due to the

implementation challenges discussed above did carry out assessment efforts and took several

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measure to improve their programs. For example, the Natural Sciences Department revised the

rubrics used in the capstone course 480 to assess oral and written communication, research

and information literacy skills. Students performed at or above expectations in oral

communication and information literacy skills, but below expectations in written

communication skills. The faculty made changes in the course activities to increase more

scientific writing experiences.

Within the Interdisciplinary Faculty (FIEHS) which houses several academic programs and

General Education, the courses are consistently assessed with pre- and post test, minute

papers, and other indirect measurements. Results are incorporated into the corresponding

syllabi. In a similar fashion, the Business Administration Department assessed courses and

shared their results in newsletters.

While there are significant instances of corrective actions across academic units, it is evident

that there is a pressing need to implement a robust learning assessment system. After the

lessons of the repeated attempts of the past 5 years and the faculty’s 2017 assessment of their

own assessment efforts, Sagrado is now poised to take this important step with the new

assessment plan to be piloted in the Spring of 2019 and integrated with the new learning

management system.

Sagrado’s Alumni

In keeping with Sagrado’s history of defying the times and opting for hope and solidarity,

Sagrado has continued to innovate and offer students meaningful paths forward to accomplish

the Mission of integral education for positive social impact.

In 2017, Sagrado revised and opened the undergraduate curriculum to grant students more

flexibility in designing their own educational experience. After hurricane Maria and further to

our refined 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, Sagrado has developed the RBK Project to further

redesign the academic programs to stimulate student productive, creative and entrepreneurial

activity across all disciplines, with an emphasis on active, creative and community engaged

learning experiences; and to integrate the students’ holistic development into the curriculum

through a discernment and coaching component through all years of study.

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While the new assessment system is implemented and the RBK program redesign implemented

in time for the 2020-2021 academic year, perhaps the best evidence that Sagrado fulfills its

institutional mission is the exemplary performance of our alumni253. They are leaders across

diverse fields as presented in the following table where a sample of recent alumni are included.

Table 34: Distinguished Alumni (2009-2017).

Student Program Graduation Actual Position

Julio René Rivera Rodríguez Accounting 2009 CPA / Senior Associate Auditor en KPMG

Lucas Gordils Molina Communication 2009 Operations Project Manager, Lehigh Valley Health

Network, en Allentown, Pennsylvania

Sheryll Pérez Colón Communication 2009 Assistant Vice President of Corporate

Communications, Medical Card System, Inc. (MCS)

Jessie Ann Acevedo Oramas Communication 2010 Brand and Communications Manager, Shell Oil

Company, en Houston, Texas

Marissa Gasparoli Muñiz Communication 2010 President 7.29 Events

Pablo Rehbein Muñoz Communication 2010 Communications Specialist at the Puerto Rico AARP

Managing Editor of the AARP Puerto Rico Blog

Aixa Romero Cintrón Communication 2011 Client Partner Facebook, Cisneros Interactive

Reseller Official Facebook

Anuchka Ramos Ruiz Justice System 2011 Professor and author

Azyadeth Vélez Candelario Communication 2011 Associate Director, Press Office, Universidad de

Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (RUM)

Grace Meinhofer Torres Communication 2011 Regional Communications & Marketing Director at

American Red Cross, en Miami, Florida

Ivette Sosa Guzmán Communication 2011 News Reporter at Telemundo Puerto Rico

Luz Marina Zuluaga Rodríguez

Communication 2011 Brand Manager, Fondos Unidos de Puerto Rico

Rosa Vargas Muñoz Communication 2011 Operations Supervisor and Corporate

Communications, Arcos Dorados

Cristina Vargas Márquez Communication 2012 Director Market Strategies Division, Estudios

Técnicos, Inc.

Lcda. Krytal Laracuente Communication 2012 WAPA News Reporter

Bárbara Cardenales Torres Communication 2013 Community Leader and staff for Foundation for

Puerto Rico for economic development projects.

Carlos R. Cobián Relaciones

Públicas 2013 Chief Executive Officer, Cobian Media

Edgardo Sanabria Mariani Communication 2013 Executive Producer at NBC Universal Telemundo

Enterprises, en San José, California

253 https://exalumnos.sagrado.edu/

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Student Program Graduation Actual Position

GlaelisSierra Gómez Communication 2013 Senior Account Executive, Williams Whittle, en

Alexandria, Virginia

Zulmarie Ayala Business

Administration 2013

Entrepreneur. Founder of Statera Snaks. (healthy snaks)

Rigoberto Cintrón Colón Natural Science 2014 Neurobiologist|Physiologist - Ph. D Candidate at Scripps Research Institute at La Jolla, California

Rocío Badía Acevedo Communication 2014 Sales Manager, Metro Puerto Rico

Sandra Caro Torrado Communication 2014 Sandra Caro Public Relations

Sylvia Escoto Camacho Communication 2014 News Reporter, Noticentro, WAPA-TV

Candy R. Colón Torres Communication 2015 Executive Assistant To The President at Nova Terra

Inc. and Marketing Manager

Eileen Medina Chárriez Communication 2015 Communications and Marketing Manager, Caribe

Girl Scout Council

Katelin López Torres Communication 2015 Communications Coordinator, Amnisty International

of Puerto Rico

Adolfo Rodríguez Velázquez Natural Science 2016 Master's UPRRP

Dolly M. Serrant Communication 2016 Director, Commission on Hispanic Affairs of Indiana

GabrielaAllende Heres Communication 2016 Public Relations Account Executive, Badillo Nazca

Saatchi & Saatchi

Jeffrey Martínez Pedroza Communication 2016 Brand Communications Manager, San Jorge

Children's Hospital

Juan E. Lappots Abreu Estudios

Internacionales 2016 Human Resources Director, Abreu, Mejías y Asso.

Juan Gumá Yglesias 2016 Sr. Communications Specialist at Honeywell

Aerospace

Luis Miguel Rodríguez Communication 2016 Entrepreneur Creator cap brand: Suxess.

Diosa Ruiz Alicea Advertising 2017 Service Representative Pizza Grill Plaza

Edenmarí Class Montijo Communication 2017 Manager, Oraganizational Development and

Communications. Fundación Ángel Ramos

Karla M. Rodríguez Hornedo Communication 2017 Communications Director, Cámara de Mercadeo,

Industria y Distribución de Alimentos (MIDA)

Raquel Rivera Torres Communication 2017 Director, Corporate Communications, Grupo Ferré

Rangel

One recent alumni merits special mention, Yanna Otero254, a 2017 Summa Cum Laude graduate

in Education, became the first Fulbright U.S. Student participant in Sagrado's history. She spent

254 Yanna Otero

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one year teaching English in Busan, South Korea, and has decided to remain for another

year. She keeps a blog of her experiences255.

The personal and professional performance of Sagrado’s graduates and the results they obtain

in many licensing exams demonstrate beyond doubt that Sagrado accomplishes the goals and

learning outcomes of its academic programs and fulfills the institutional Mission.

Table 35:Passing Rates PCMAS (Programa para la Certificación de Maestros).

Year Passing rate USC Passing rate PR

2008 – 09 100% 82%

2009 – 10 91% 85%

2010 – 11 88% 85%

2011 – 12 Not available Not available

2012 – 13 93% 80%

2013 – 14 86% 85%

2014 – 15 Not available Not available

2015 – 16 95% Not available

2016 – 17 93% 93%

2017 – 18 Pending Pending

Table 36: On campus Nursing..

Year Nursing (BSN) Nursing (ASN)

Passing Rate PR National Mean Passing Rate PR National Mean

2008-09 No data No data No data No data

2009-10 No data No data No data No data

2010-11 100% 68% No data No data

2011-12 92% 78% No data No data

2012-13 92% 82% 100% 76%

2013-14 100% 86.6% 100% 73%

2014-15 No data No data No data No data

2015-16 No data No data No data No data

2016-17 86% 78% 100% 55%

2017-18 100% 71% There were no

candidates Unknown

2018-19 Pending Pending Pending Pending

Conclusion

Sagrado has been graduating men and women of high character who have gone on to make

important contributions to Puerto Rican society. Sagrado has accomplished these results due

255 Blog

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to its profound commitment to its students and their families to deliver on the promise of the

Mission.

One of the positive outcomes of Sagrado’s attempts to implement a comprehensive assessment

system is that an assessment culture has taken root and the community is keenly aware of the

importance of assessment as a driver for continuous improvement in the service of the Mission.

The elements are in place: a well-known Mission, a Guiding Vision, deeply engrained

institutional Values, academic programs with clear educational objectives and learning

outcomes, a clear set of transversal competencies aligned with the Mission, a strong

assessment culture born of repeated attempts to implement an effective system and a deep

history of innovation in response to the challenge of the times.

Sagrado is confident that once the necessary assessment system is completely in place, the

University can continue to improve its educational project to educate intellectually free,

ethically responsible men and women, who are prepared and willing to meaningfully confront

the challenges of the times and engage in the construction of the solidary, just and peaceful

communities that the 21st century so urgently needs.

Recommendations

Sagrado should continue with the planned implement of the new institutional and learning

comprehensive assessment plan and support this implementation by establishing an

independent unit reporting to the President that is responsible for institutional intelligence,

assessment, efficacy and planning, that is supported with the staff and information systems

necessary, to fully integrate the system into Sagrado’s culture and organizational structures,

and thus provide continuous assessment to support innovations in all institutional areas.

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Standard VI: Planning, Resources and Institutional Improvement

The institution’s planning processes, resources, and structures are aligned with each other and

are sufficient to fulfill its mission and goals, to continuously assess and improve its programs

and services, and to respond effectively to opportunities and challenges.

Sagrado meets the nine criteria of Standard VI and is compliant with the Requirements of

Affiliation 8 and 11. Evidence that demonstrates this can be reviewed in the Documentation

Roadmap and is analyzed in the following section.

Sagrado complies with Standard VI.

Criterion Number

Standard VI Criterion Meet

Criterion

C1 Institutional and individual unit objectives are clearly stated assessed appropriately, linked to mission and goal achievement, reflect conclusions drawn from assessment results, and are used for planning and resource allocation

C2 Clearly documented and communicated planning and improvement processes that provide for constituent participation and incorporate the use of assessment results

C3 A financial planning and budgeting process that is aligned with the institution’s mission and goals, evidence-based, and clearly linked to the institution’s and units’ strategic plan/objectives

C4 Fiscal and human resources, as well as physical and technical infrastructure support operations

C5 Clear assignment of responsibility and accountability

C6 Comprehensive planning for facilities, infrastructure, and technology that includes consideration of sustainability and deferred maintenance and is linked to the institution’s strategic and financial planning

C7 Annual independent audit confirming financial viability with evidence of follow-up on any concerns in the audit’s accompanying management letter

C8 Strategies to measure and assess the adequacy and efficient utilization of institutional resources required to support mission and goals

C9 Periodic assessment of the effectiveness of planning, resource allocation, institutional renewal processes, and availability of resources

Compliance with Standard VI

Sagrado’s Mission guides the University’s planning, operational and capital budgeting and

decision-making processes. The University has a formal, standardized and participatory budget

planning process in which expenditures and capital needs are evaluated in accordance to the

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Mission, the Vision and the institutional Values and priorities. Budgets are developed in

consultation with all operational units, reviewed by a multi-sector team and the Administrative

Board. The budget is also presented to the Board of Trustees’ Finance and Investment, and

Infrastructure and Technology Committees and, upon their recommendation, eventually

approved by the Board of Trustees. The administration and these two Board committees review

operational and capital budgetary performance on a periodic basis.

Sagrado is currently seeking to embed its robust budgetary process into an integrated and

systematic planning, budget and assessment process anchored in the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan

and supported by the necessary information technology systems. This plan was developed in a

participatory process led by a steering committee representing all community stakeholders. It

was approved by the Academic and Administrative Boards and the Board of Trustees in March

2017. After the extraordinary events of the Fall 2017, the plan was placed on hold for an

academic year. It has now been refined, reaffirmed and translated into institutional objectives

and key results for 2018-19 and approved by the Board of Trustees.

Sagrado’s performance management system initiated in the Spring of 2017, and implemented

in 2017-2018, which will incorporate the 2018-2019 institutional objectives and key results

derived from the Strategic Plan. For 2019-2020, the budget planning process will be expressly

linked to the institutional objectives and key results.

Sagrado’s planning, budgeting and decision-making processes has allowed the University to

develop the fiscal and human resources, as well as the physical and technology infrastructure,

necessary to support, sustain and grow the Mission into the future. The improved processes

will build on this foundation and place Sagrado in a stronger position to provide an innovative

response to the challenges of the times.

Institutional Planning.

Institutional Priorities. Sagrado’s Mission, Vision and institutional Values guide the University’s

decision-making regarding operational expenditures and capital investments. Sagrado has

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developed three strategic plans during the review period: 2008-2013256, 2014-2017257 and

2017-2020258 that expressly reaffirm the Mission, the Vision and the institutional Values.

Explained in Standard I , all three share the following areas of emphasis: the nature of the

educational experience, the context or environment in which educational experience takes

place, and the feasibility of that experience. The Mission focuses specifically on the character

and objectives of the education and thus each strategic plan begins by focusing on the nature of

the educational project. The Vision focuses on how the educational project is accomplished and

thus each plan engages the community and the environment necessary to nurture that project.

And each plan finally turns to the kind of organization and institutional viability necessary to

sustain the Mission. These three areas provide the three institutional priorities that have

guided the University’s direction through all three strategic plans.

The character and quality of the learning experience. All plans focus on integral education for

social solidarity: an integral education of the whole person through an interdisciplinary

approach grounded in the liberal arts and the development of specific transversal competencies

across academic disciplines, and aimed at solidary social impact.

The character and quality of the community experience. All plans focus on the quality of the

community and the community’s engagement with the broader world: a student-centered

University community anchored in the dignity of each person and its Christian values,

meaningfully engaged in the world, and committed to providing students the integral

experiences, services and support necessary to accomplish their educational and life objectives.

The character and viability of the organization. All plans focus viability of the organization: an

effective and innovative organization, characterized by institutional ethics and integrity, with

sufficient resources to sustain and accomplish the Mission and institutional goals.

Although all three priorities are conceptually distinct, all are necessarily interrelated. Sagrado is

both a community and an organization engaged in an educational project in furtherance of its

Mission and thus the community and the organization must support and model the integral

education for social solidarity that Sagrado aspires to accomplish.

256 Fundamentos para el Plan Estratégico Institucional Visión 2013 (2008). 257 Plan Estratégico Visión 2014-2017. 258 Plan Estratégico 2017-2020.

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The Strategic Plans. All three strategic plans during the review period were developed with

different levels of community participation. The 2008 Self-Study and the 2013 PRR discuss the

process for the development and implementation of the 2008-2013 Strategic Plan, and the

2013 PRR the process for the development of the 2014-2017 Strategic Plan. As related in the

introductory discussion regarding the presidential transition, further work on the 2014-2017

Strategic Plan could not continue due the challenges of that transition in the midst of Puerto

Rico’s complicated economic and fiscal scenario. In a span of the two years, from 2015 to 2017,

the University had to replace most of its leadership team. As the President explained to the

faculty in September 9, 2016, those two years were dedicated to an in-depth assessment of the

University’s operations, managing the leadership transitions and starting basic infrastructure

projects that he had detailed in previous faculty meetings, including the institutional and

learning assessment systems in conjunction with the Jenzabar platform.259

During the latter half of the 2015-2016 academic year, Sagrado had already begun a series of

initial discussions with faculty and the Executive Leadership Team in preparation for the

development of the new strategic plan. At the beginning of the 2016-2017, the President

appointed a Strategic Planning Steering Committee with representation from all sectors of the

community including students, faculty, administration, trustees and alumni260. At the time,

Sagrado was managing a leadership transition, its re-licensing process with the state licensing

authority and the beginning of its MSCHE self-study process. Although related, each process

required a separate team in charge and thus a special representative committee made sense

for the important task of formulating the new strategic plan. The Steering Committee led a

community-wide consultation process as presented in Figure 6.

259 Informe del Presidente: Reunión Ordinaria del Claustro (12 de febrero de 2016); Informe del Presidente: Reunión Ordinaria del Claustro (9 de septiembre de 2016). 260 Comunicación a la comunidad (19 de octubre de 2016).

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Figure 6: Strategic Plan and MSCHE reaccreditation timeline.

The Steering Committee conducted multiple open sessions with the community, met with

faculty, students and staff, held sessions with the strategic planning committees of the

Academic and Administrative Boards and opened an online portal to receive comments261. The

process lasted from September 2016 through March 2017, when the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan

was presented to and approved by both the Academic and Administrative Boards262 and then to

the Board of Trustees for final approval263. The plan was then presented to Puerto Rico’s

Council on Education in compliance with regulatory requirements, which accepted and

approved the plan on June 7, 2017264.

The plan included specific objectives and activities at the institutional and unit level and was

scheduled to begin implementation during the 2017-2018 year. As previously explained, the

261 http://vision2020.sagrado.edu/. 262 Certificación de la Junta Académica (17 de marzo de 2017); Acta de la Junta Administrativa (17 de marzo de 2017). 263 Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (30 de marzo de 2017), available for review upon request. 264 Carta de Determinación del Consejo de Educación de Puerto Rico (7 de junio de 2017).

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initial implementation had to be delayed due to the impact of hurricane Maria. In the

aftermath, first the academic leadership and then the whole Executive Leadership Team

engaged in a profound reflection of what Sagrado’s Mission requires in response to the

challenges of the times. After a series of intense sessions of the Executive Leadership Team

during August 2018265, the Strategic Plan was refined, translated into institutional objectives

and key results for the academic year 2018-2019 and eventually presented to the whole

community and approved by the Board of Trustees in October 2018266. The concept of “key

results” was introduced to identify the specific results necessary to accomplish each objective.

The 2017-2020 Strategic Plan. The main difference between the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan and

its predecessors is that the current plan calls for a redesign of the interactions between the

University and its surroundings to emphasize the promotion of innovation and social

entrepreneurship for solidary social impacts267. In the aftermath of hurricane Maria, the

redesign of Sagrado’s community impact strategies became an urgent priority. Puerto Rico

needs to develop its own engines of economic and social activity, based on our own intellectual

capital, to develop an equitable, sustainable and solidary economy that works for all our

citizens. As explained in Standard I, the experience of hurricane Maria allowed us to distill to

their essence the five strategic priorities of the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan.

Academic Priorization. At the same time as Sagrado was developing and implementing its

strategic plans, a parallel and related process of academic priorization was taking place as well.

During the Summer of 2008 Sagrado started a participatory planning and assessment process of

all academic programs based on the Dickenson Model that was repeated in 2012 with a revision

in 2013268. The local consulting firm Estudios Técnicos, Inc. supported both efforts. As detailed

in the PRR, Sagrado examined each academic program and adopted specific response

strategies: a moratorium and closing timeline or an active revitalization effort. As detailed in

the discussion of Standard IV, there has been a gradual reduction in the number of academic

programs as a result of these priorization efforts.

265 Agenda Executive Team Workshop; Presentación de las Ideas a la Ejecución (2018). 266 Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (11 de octubre de 2018), available for review upon request. 267 Plan Estratégico 2017-2020. 268 Proyecto de Priorización de Programas Académicos (2008); Proyecto de Priorización de Programas Académicos basado en el Modelo Dickenson (2012).

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As explained in the discussion of Standard III, a third assessment was carried out between 2016

and 2017 with the assistance of consulting firm QBS in order to support the new strategic

planning process. Indeed, the same firm worked closely with the Steering Committee in

developing the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan. This study analyzed the financial viability of each

program and assisted in the development of a profile of a viable program in terms of

enrollment and faculty composition269. Each program should aspire to have sufficient faculty

members to drive the program’s development and a sufficient number of students to maintain

both pedagogical excellence and financial sustainability. One of the key results of the 2017-

2020 Strategic Plan is the development and application of a standard set of criteria that can be

regularly applied to evaluate Sagrado’s academic programs270.

All of these assessments recognized that financial criteria cannot be the deciding criteria for

program evaluation, but all strive to accomplish an equitable institutional balance between all

relevant assessment factors, particularly mission-alignment, academic excellence and financial

sustainability.

Financial Planning.

While the strategic plan framework was under construction for translation of priorities into

specific institutional and unit objectives and key results, the institutional priorities guided

Sagrado’s planning, assessment and resource allocation through Sagrado’s robust budgetary

process. The priorities have remained constant with the student at the center: (a) the quality of

the integral education for solidary social impact; (b) the quality of the community experience

and engagement; and (c) the financial and operational viability of the organization. These three

institutional priorities aligned with the Mission, the Vision and the institutional Values have

guided decision-making regarding the annual plans and operational and capital budgets at the

institutional and unit levels.

For the specific period between 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 prior to the development of the

2017-2020 Strategic Plan, Sagrado’s Leadership Team developed the specific priorities that

guided institutional efforts as a result of the team members’ assessments of their operational

269 Quality for Business Success: Informe de Situación Operativa; Diagnóstico del Modelo Académico Actual (2016). 270 Plan Estratégico 2017-2020.

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areas. The results of these assessments and the institutional priorities for each year were

presented the Board of Trustees and to the faculty and the administrative personnel. Many of

the priorities during this period involved laying the groundwork with operational platforms in

different areas and the recruitment of human resources.271

The Budgetary Process. Sagrado is blessed to have a strong budgetary process with community

participation and active involvement of the Board of Trustees. Indeed, the Board of Trustees

has played a critical role in steering the University’s financial management through challenging

times. As Puerto Rico has suffered from prolonged economic contraction, fiscal

mismanagement and default and extended migration, Puerto Rico’s higher education sector,

generally tuition dependent, has been seriously affected as well with declining enrollments and

revenues. The Board of Trustees has been a steadying presence. The current Chairperson of

the Board’s Finance and Investment Committee has served on the Board for 14 years. The past

two Chairpersons of the Board, in place from 2011 through 2018, were chief executive officers

of publicly-traded Puerto Rico corporations272.

The process for the annual operational and capital budgets usually starts early in the second

semester once there are reliable enrollment results for the semester. The Finance Team

establishes a timeframe with a detailed budget work plan that includes training and orientation

for the different operational units273. The first step in the process is update to the enrollment

analysis and projections to forecast undergraduate and graduate enrollment for the next year.

This step is performed with the analysis and input from the marketing and admissions and

retention teams. The Finance Team then evaluates a variety of factors to determine whether

any adjustment in tuition, fees and other charges is necessary. The analysis varies from year to

year but usually considers factors such as the current level of student charges, comparative tuition

and fees at other institutions, the availability of financial aid programs, and any extraordinary events

271 Informe del Presidente: Reunión Ordinaria del Claustro (9 de septiembre de 2016); Informe del Presidente: Reunión Ordinaria del Claustro (12 de febrero de 2016). 272 https://www.sagrado.edu/en/board-of-trustees/. 273 Budget Call Letters (2012-2013; 2013-2014; 2014-2015; 2015-2016; 2016-2017; 2017-2018); Budget Calendars (2012-2013; 2013-2014; 2014-2015; 2015-2016; 2016-2017; 2017-2018); Directors – Budget Construction Module Use Training - Kuali (2016); Work Plans (2014-2015; 2015-2016).

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impacting operational costs. The resulting adjustment is applied to the enrollment forecast in

order to establish the baseline tuition and fees revenue levels for the next fiscal year. This

baseline and other revenue from alternative sources establish the total availability of funding

and thus the parameters for the budget process.

The process continues with each member of the Executive Leadership Team reviewing the

situation of his/her own area of operations and making an assessment of needs in view of the

institutional priorities. There are, in effect, four kinds of needs: (a) basic infrastructure needs for

each area to adequately perform its operations in accordance with the university’ standards of

quality; (b) compliance and regulatory needs to meet applicable legal, regulatory or accreditation

requirements; (c) preservation and maintenance needs of physical assets; and (d) strategic or

improvement needs to improve or enhance operations. For example, the need for additional

routers to provide the campus with Wi-Fi coverage or the need to fill a staff vacancy to provide

student services are examples of basic infrastructure needs. The need to repair staircases and

access ramps in accordance to regulatory requirements or faculty release time or additional

resources to work on a program accreditation are examples of compliance or regulatory needs.

The replacement of A/C units and electrical equipment are examples of preservation and

maintenance needs. And new laboratories for the nursing department or the remodeling of the

experimental theater are strategic or improvement needs.

Every operational area is familiar with its own needs and discusses them every year within its

own internal teams. After this internal consultation, every area leader prepares a budget request

for operational and capital expenditures. The Facilities, Conservation and Services (ICS) Team

and the Integrated Information and Technology (ITI) Team play a critical role in this process

because they receive each area’s request and then they submit institutional capital requests for

the physical and technological infrastructure improvements, respectively. These requests reflect

their assessment of the needs in these areas after engaging with operational units across the

University and in their own experiences executing their different projects. The Financial Planning

Director gathers, organizes and evaluates all the requests received from all operational units.

The Executive Leadership Team determines whether there are any strategic projects that merit

special attention during the process.

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A budget committee appointed in 2016 with multi-sectorial representation from academic,

student and administrative affairs, alongside the Vice-president for Finance and Operations

and the Financial Planning Director, meets with each area leader to discuss the budget request

and its alignment with institutional priorities. The committee may challenge assumptions,

request additional information or justification and even require further revisions or

resubmissions. This rigorous and challenging process allows the committee to have a better

understanding of the situation in the different operational areas and have a sound basis to

recommend the proper allocation of resources in accordance with institutional priorities.

This is an intense, participatory process, that eventually leads to a draft budget proposal that

is presented to the Administrative Board for review and recommendation274. The

Administrative Board has representatives from the faculty, students and staff. Once these

recommendations are recorded, the final draft with any necessary decision points are

presented to the President for decision and eventual submission to the Finance and

Investment and Infrastructure Committees of the Board of Trustees for review and approval

and eventually to the full Board, which gives final approval275. This is an organic and active

process with active internal discussions and many compromises. The following flowchart

outlines the process:

274 Acta de la Junta Administrativa (28 de mayo de 2010); Acta de la Junta Administrativa (23 de mayo de 2014); Acta de la Junta Administrativa (4 de junio de 2015); Acta de la Junta Administrativa (16 de junio de 2017). 275 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018); Budget presentations to the Board of Trustees available for review upon request.

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Figure 7: Budget Flowchart.

Once approved by the Board of Trustees, the budget is available to all units at the beginning of

the fiscal year276. The Finance Team uploads the opening balances into the Kuali Budget

Module, each identified by account/object code, and thus provides each unit with a useful tool

to keep track and control of the assigned funds277. As discussed in the PRR, the implementation

of the Kuali ERP and the eThority reporting system was a major accomplishment of the review

period as they provided the University with a robust system to support financial and

operational accountability and visibility. The new reports facilitate accountability, control and

assessment and lead to better decisions in the financial planning, budgeting and resource

allocation process.

Periodic Intra-year Assessment. Sagrado recognizes that even with all considerations and

details captured in the budget, deviations from the budget may and often arise. Adjustments to

the budget (surplus or reductions) are made, considering the order of priorities aligned with the

institutional goals to expand its services and maximize market opportunities using prudent

budgetary practices. If any saving is identified, the available funds are redirected to other units

in need, bearing in mind the priorities. The budget also includes a reserve for unexpected

276 Approved Budget Letters (2013-2014; 2014-2015; 2015-2016; 2016-2017; 2017-2018). 277 Instrucciones de Acceso al Presupuesto – Kuali (2015-2016); Instrucciones de Acceso a Presupuesto “Avaliable Balances” – Kuali (2017-2018).

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situations.

Periodic revision of accounts (income and expenses) is made by the Finance Team after the

enrollments closing dates (October and March). Variances are communicated to the Executive

Leadership Team and, if necessary, adjustments are made to budget accounts. Variance reports

are prepared and submitted to the Finance and Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees

and to the Board of Trustees278.

Prior to 2017, Sagrado used to monitor and report income and expenses twice in each semester

to revise projections based on actual enrollments. In late 2017, the Finance Team started to

issue financial statements on a monthly basis and thus more closely monitor any variances

against the budget and the prior year, and make timely adjustments. The objective was to

provide more flexibility and enable the university to respond quicker to situations that require

may deviation from the budget and even to pursue strategic opportunities. One example of this

institutional agility is Sagrado’s response to hurricane Maria. The University responded quickly

to the demands of the external environment and was able to resume and maintain operations

and thus assist students, faculty and staff and eventually communities near the university and

many others across Puerto Rico.

Facilities Planning

As indicated above, the Facilities, Conservation and Services (ICS) Team is responsible for the

university’s facilities and physical infrastructure. As part of Finance and Operations, the ICS

Team is responsible for facilities planning and preparing the annual proposed capital budget for

facilities and physical infrastructure.

Sagrado is located in a 34-acre urban campus. As discussed in PRR, Sagrado developed Facilities

Master Plan in 1998 and that has continued to evolve over the years in response to the

University’s needs and strategic initiatives.279 As part of the financial planning and budgetary

process, every year ICS develops a work plan of improvements, renovations and remodeling, as

well as the necessary investments for deferred maintenance and the construction of any new

structures. ICS organizes the work plan into the following categories: compliance, savings and

278 Presentations of budget deviations to the Board of Trustees, available for review upon request. 279 Informe Final Plan Maestro (mayo 1998).

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energy, sustainability, major repairs, a/c and permanent improvements. The work plan is then

aligned with institutional priorities during the budgeting process. The primary sources of

income for improvements to physical plant and facilities are: capital funds corresponding to a

portion of the non-cash depreciation expense and federal funds for capital improvements. All

AFICA improvements have been performed.

Technology Planning

Also as reported above, the Integrated Technology and Information (ITI) Team is responsible for

Sagrado’s information technology infrastructure and thus for technology planning and

preparing the annual proposed capital budget for technology.

The ITI Team constantly updates its plans, which have evolved through the review period due to

advances in technologies and the need to update unsupported systems and better support

Sagrado’s needs and institutional objectives. The primary sources of funds for technology are:

capital funds corresponding to a portion of the non-cash depreciation expense and federal

funds for capital improvements. The ITI is engaged in a continuous assessment and

improvement of Sagrado’s infrastructure.

Strategic Improvements and Investments

As discussed above, Sagrado is operating in a challenging environment of depressed economic

conditions in Puerto Rico, a reduced pool of candidates resulting from a declining population,

and highly competitive higher education sector. This context is well documented in the U.S.

credit rating agencies reports on Sagrado’s public debt.

Within this complex reality, Sagrado’s financial, facilities and technology planning and its

budgetary processes have allowed the University to maintain a stable financial condition while

continuing to push forward its strategic initiatives in support of the Mission. During the review

period, Sagrado invested in strategic improvements to both strengthen its operational capacity

and improve the students’ learning and community experiences. The guiding criteria has been

modest investments for significant impact.

Technology Infrastructure. The University’s technological infrastructure has been significantly

upgraded through the new Kuali Financial System for finance and operations and the new

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Jenzabar student-academic information technology platform, both critical investments for the

future of the university. These new systems have been complemented with significant

upgrades to the underlying network, server and security infrastructure.

Student Learning Spaces. There have been significant improvements to the students’ learning

spaces in all four of the University’s academic units. Pursuant to a substantial endowed gift

from the Ferré Rangel Family, Sagrado significantly remodeled the facilities of its flagship

communication department, now renamed the Ferré Rangel School of Communication. Several

federal grants made possible the renovation of 7 natural sciences laboratories and significant

upgrades to classroom technology. Many classrooms and learning spaces in Barat Hall, the

main classroom building, have been significantly renovated such as the nursing program

laboratories, the experimental theater and the art studios. New learning spaces have been

developed such as the Neeuko Collaborative Innovation Center, the new campus space for

innovation and entrepreneurship and closely connected with the Business Department; the

StudioLab Creative Technologies Studio for digital animation and virtual reality that is part of

the Ferré Rangel School of Communications; and the Musical Arts Institute in the Humanities

and Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Faculty.

Student Gathering Spaces. Similarly, there have been significant improvements to many

student gathering and social spaces, perhaps the most significant of which is the Marta Miranda

rscj Pastoral Care Center, which was completely renovated and reopened in 2015. The offices

of the Student Council and the student associations were moved to a larger location next to the

St. John Paul II Student Center, the Pastoral Care Center and the Students Walkway, and

completely renovated. The ground floor of the Madre María Teresa Guevara Library,

overlooking the main quad, was rearranged and converted into study and gathering spaces for

students with new furniture and equipment. And the lobby of the Women’s Residence Hall, a

critical gathering space, was also renovated. All of these spaces are Mission-critical as they

make important contributions to the quality of the students’ experience on campus.

Administrative Support Areas. There have also been significant improvements to

administrative support areas. In view of the critical importance of the University’s human

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resources, the offices of the Organizational Development and Human Resources Team have

been renovated in order to provide a more welcoming environment for employees. As in many

of the renovated spaces, students’ artistic creations were used in the renovation. Academic

Affairs, the Registrar and ITI have also been renovated. Lastly, the Board of Trustees’

Committee Room where all committee meetings are held has been renovated and decorated

with paintings from the students.

Properties for Future Development. Finally, Sagrado took advantage of a unique opportunity

and in 2016 acquired three urban repossessed properties one block in front of the University

and in the main Ponce de Leon Avenue to hold for future development. Two of these

properties will be renovated in 2019 under a grant from the Economic Development

Administration to support the business development program of the Santurce: Nuestro Barrio

Project.280

Financial Condition and Institutional Resources

As a result of the above planning and budgetary processes, Sagrado has maintained the fiscal

and human resources, as well as the physical and technical infrastructure, necessary to support

institutional operations and deliver a student learning experience in accordance with the

Mission.

Financial Condition. Sagrado’s strong financial management and the support of the Board of

Trustees has allowed the University to maintain a stable financial condition and outlook during

the challenging times in Puerto Rico. Besides the downward pressures on revenues due to

declining enrollments, the only other items exerting pressure on the university’s financial

condition were the accrued pension costs and the investment results on the Endowment Fund

and the Pension Plan Fund.

280 http://nuestrobarrio.org.

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Table 37: Condensed Statements of Financial Position FY2013-2017 (in thousands).

Sagrado has been able to manage the downward pressure on revenues due to enrollment

declines with effective cost controls, including a voluntary transition plan for employees during

2015 in which 79 employees of 424 participated281. The accrued pension costs and the

investment results, on the other hand, have been beyond the University’s ability to effectively

control and forecast.

In 2006, Sagrado’s defined benefit pension plan was frozen, but not terminated282. Accordingly,

the University is still required to make contributions and record pension plan liabilities on its

statement of financial condition based on actuarial assumptions that change over the years due

to a variety of factors, including regulatory changes, changes to mortality tables and discount

rates, and the investment performance of the pension plan fund. During the review period, the

minimum pension liability adjustment fluctuated between positive and negative adjustments,

but for fiscal year 2014-2015 the adjustment was $5,709,161 and for the fiscal year 2015-2016

was $2,844,472 for a combined negative adjustment of $8,553,633, which adversely impacted

the University’s net assets. As discussed below, these adjustments created some regulatory

281 Comunicación del Plan de Transición Voluntaria (2015). 282 Presentación del Plan de Pensión de los Empleados de la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (4 de junio de 2015).

Audited

2013

Audited

2014

Audited

2015

Audited

2016

Audited

2017

Assets:

Cash and cash equivalents 3,253$ 2,588$ 1,312$ 360$ 463$

Investments 2,837 - - - -

Accounts receivable, net 4,885 5,122 4,623 4,586 4,042

Other current assets 1,462 1,063 698 491 359

Current Assets 12,437 8,773 6,633 5,437 4,864

Investments 21,059 26,753 24,789 21,067 23,892

Capital Assets, net 42,280 45,794 46,262 47,158 44,853

Other non-current assets 4,328 3,991 3,547 2,686 2,247

Total Assets 80,104$ 85,311$ 81,231$ 76,348$ 75,856$

Liabilities:

Current liabilities 4,673$ 5,975$ 5,549$ 6,071$ 6,793$

Bonds payable 23,133 22,299 21,449 20,283 19,431

Other non-current liabilities 3,036 2,929 2,645 2,577 1,908

Accrued Pension costs 7,427 4,815 8,594 11,938 9,317

Total Liabilities 38,269 36,018 38,237 40,869 37,449

Net Assets:

Unrestricted 28,355 33,919 28,079 23,565 24,954

Temporarily restricted 1,514 1,718 1,578 5,718 12,073

Permanently restricted 11,966 13,656 13,337 6,196 1,380

Total Net Assets 41,835 49,293 42,994 35,479 38,407

Total Liabilities and Net Assets 80,104$ 85,311$ 81,231$ 76,348$ 75,856$

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pressures that were quickly and adequately resolved.

Table .38Condensed Statement of Activities and Changes in Net Assets FY 2013-17 (in

thousands).

Sagrado has been able to mitigate some of the volatility of these adjustments by more active

management of its Endowment and Pension Plan funds to realize and maintain investment

gains and by increasing the amount of temporarily and unrestricted assets in its Endowment

Fund. When adjusted for items beyond Sagrado’s operational control such as the pension

liability adjustment and expenses and the investment results, and for extraordinary one-time

charges such as the cost of the transition plan, Sagrado has been able to maintain positive

increases in net assets before pension costs, depreciation, interests and gains (losses) on

investments. For the fiscal year 2016-2017, these increases were 8.6% of total operating

revenues.

Audited

2013

Audited

2014

Audited

2015

Audited

2016

Audited

2017

Tuition and fees, net of scholarships 37,631$ 35,630$ 32,468$ 30,697$ 30,249$

Auxiliary enterprises and other revenues 14,137 9,267 8,157 7,464 8,055

Total Operating Revenues 51,768 44,897 40,625 38,161 38,304

Instruction and Academic Support 23,701 21,988 21,138 20,583 19,335

Student Services and Student Aid 6,439 6,212 6,158 6,758 6,938

Institutional Support 10,371 10,104 9,927 11,496 11,244

Other Expenses 3,445 3,163 3,531 3,549 3,238

Total Operating Expenses 43,956 41,467 40,754 42,386 40,755

Increase (decrease) in unrestricted net assets before Minimum Pension

Liability Adjustment 7,812 3,430 (129) (4,225) (2,451)

Minimum Pension Liability Adjustment (5,076) 2,134 (5,709) (2,844) 3,840

Increase (decrease) in unrestricted net assets 2,736 5,564 (5,838) (7,069) 1,389

Increase (decrease) in temporarily restricted net assets (9,390) 197 (140) (482) 6,355

Increase (decrease) in permanently restricted net assets 7,208 1,698 (319) 37 (4,816)

Change in Net Assets 554$ 7,459$ (6,297)$ (7,514)$ 2,928$

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Table 39: Condensed Statement of Activities and Changes in Net Assets - Alternate

Presentation FY 2013-17 (in thousands).

Financial Resources.

Revenue from Tuition and Fees. Sagrado is a tuition driven institution. As shown in Table ___,

Tuition and Fees decreased from $37.6 million for FY 2013 to $30.2 million for FY 2017,

primarily as a result of enrollment decreases as shown in Figure ___. The decreased in

enrollment was caused basically as a result of economic conditions in Puerto Rico and changes

in demographics which have impacted institutions of higher education. For many students,

tuition cost is a determining factor in the decision to seek higher education. Sagrado is aware of

the cost sensitivity of prospective students and their families. True to its Mission, Sagrado has

implemented modest increases to cost per credit and fees, and has not increased tuition and

fees for the past two fiscal years.

Audited

2013

Audited

2014

Audited

2015

Audited

2016

Audited

2017

Total Operating Revenues - unrestricted 51,145$ 43,964$ 40,625$ 38,161$ 37,517$

Total Operating Expenses 38,421 36,668 35,730 36,789 34,273

Increase in unrestricted net assets before Pension Costs, depreciation, interest

and gains (losses) on investments 12,724 7,296 4,895 1,372 3,244

Pension Cost (751) (935) 63 (679) (1,220)

Net Unrealized/Realized gain(loss) on investments 623 933 (276) (479) 787

Interest on Debt (1,048) (945) (923) (989) (912)

Depreciation Expense (3,736) (2,919) (3,888) (3,450) (4,350)

Minimum Pension Liability Adjustment (5,076) 2,134 (5,709) (2,844) 3,840

Increase (decrease) in unrestricted net assets 2,736 5,564 (5,838) (7,069) 1,389

Increase (decrease) in temporarily restricted net assets (9,390) 197 (140) (482) 6,355

Increase (decrease) in permanently restricted net assets 7,208 1,698 (319) 37 (4,816)

Change in Net Assets 554$ 7,459$ (6,297)$ (7,514)$ 2,928$

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Figure 8: Total Enrollment USC First Semester.

Continuing Education. Another source of revenue accounted for as Tuition and Fees is

Sagrado’s long standing continuing education courses offered by the Department of Continued

Education. This department has been accredited by the International Association for Continuing

Education and Training (IACET) since 1998 and was reaccredited in 2016. It provides courses,

workshops, trainings, and professional certifications to adults and other populations of

learners. Table 40 below shows that this unit provides learning activities to a diverse population

with over 300 courses per year, serving close to 4,000 students, that have represented

approximately $600,000 in average annual revenues over the past five years. Another portion

of the revenues from this unit comes from industry trainings and seminars, and is accounted

under other sales and services of educational activities and provides another $$270,000 in

average annual revenues, for a combined contribution of near $$870,000. Sagrado has

identified this unit as an area of opportunity and the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan seeks to convert

this department into a lifelong learning platform for alternative education.

Table 40: Participants and courses offered by the Department of Continued Education.

2008-

09

2009-

10

2010-

11

2011-

12

2012-

13

2013-

14

2014-

15

2015-

16

2016-

17 Average

Participants 4,718 4,530 4,564 3,969 3,645 3,276 3,546 4,144 3,093 3,943

Courses 331 315 315 314 305 271 277 314 254 300

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Grants, Auxiliary Enterprises and Other Revenues. Although tuition and fees are Sagrado’s

primary sources of revenue, there are additional sources of revenue that are used to support

the institutional priorities. Revenues from grants, auxiliary enterprises and other sources

include private gifts and public grants, occupancy of the students’ residences, renting of

facilities, fundraising efforts, investments return of the unrestricted funds and others. Some of

these have been impacted by the reduction in students and others by the current economic

situation. Grants, Auxiliary Enterprises and other sources of revenues per Table 41, decreased

from $14.1 million for FY 2013 to $8.0 million for FY 2017 due mainly to a reclassification of

$4.5 million from restricted funds to the unrestricted funds as a result of the expiration on May

2013 of an Endowment Challenge Grant that required that the funds remain restricted for 20

years, (Note 10-FY 2013 Audited Financial Statements) and a decrease of $1.8 million in

Federal, State and Private Gift and Grants.

Table 41: Detail of Grants, Auxiliary Enterprises and Other Revenues.

Grants (public and private) are an important source of revenues that allow for the development

of innovative initiatives in support of the Mission. There are grants that provide for renovation

of the physical facilities and investments in technology. Sagrado has an internal grant specialist

to support the development of grant proposals such as Title V-HSI, STEMeD, PAE, National

Endowment for the Arts, Walmart Foundation, Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades,

among others. Sagrado has identified this as another important area of opportunity and has

retained the services of experienced stateside firm to support the university’s efforts and

implement a plan to pursue 4 major grant opportunities per year. Grants are also an important

Audited

2013

Audited

2014

Audited

2015

Audited

2016

Audited

2017

Sales and services auxiliary enterprises 1,982$ 1,998$ 2,032$ 1,793$ 1,974$

Government grants and contracts 4,071 3,833 3,415 3,335 2,655

Net unrealized and realized gain on investments 624 933 - - 787

Interest Income and dividends 117 164 204 235 189

Private gifts and grants 762 336 161 150 327

Fund raising 379 236 325 108 328

Sales and services of educational activities 479 436 390 499 569

Net assets released from restrictions 4,794 280 395 371 438

Other 929 1,051 1,235 973 788

Total 14,137$ 9,267$ 8,157$ 7,464$ 8,055$

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source of funding for academic research and as part of the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, Sagrado

will be pursuing opportunities in community-based academic research.

Occupancy in the student residences (dormitories and apartments) fluctuates during the year in

accordance with student enrollment and has low occupancy rates in the summer and the

winter breaks. Overall occupancy rates are detailed in Figure 4 in Standard IV. A higher and

more stable occupancy rate during the academic year and higher occupation during the off-

peak periods would provide the University with additional revenues. This is another area of

opportunity identified in the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan as well as the need to increase revenues

from the rental of many facilities available for public use such as the sports venues, the theater

and the many classroom and meeting spaces.

Endowment Fund. Sagrado has a modest Endowment Fund that is invested to grow the

principal, following an investment policy approved and updated by the Board of Trustees’

Finance and Investment Committee with the support of an investment advisory consultant283.

The institutional policy establishes diversification, but annual investment balances are subject

to market volatility and may increase or decrease depending on prevailing conditions. As part of

the Board of Trustees’ assessment processes, the investment policy has been reviewed over the

years284. The Board of Trustees has also acted affirmatively to protect annual investment gains

to strengthen the University’s financial condition and capacity to meet regulatory and

compliance requirements, particularly when necessary to mitigate the effects of the pension

liability adjustments.

Table 42:Endowment Fund FY 2013-17 (in thousands).

283 Policy on Quasi-Endowment (June 21, 2017); Donor Restricted Endowment Fund Policy (December 14, 2017). 284 Statement of Investment Objectives, Policies and Guidelines are available for review upon request.

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Endowment:

Permanent 12,008 13,634 13,245 6,196 1,380

Term 1,058 1,751 1,728 5,718 12,073

Board Designated 7,476 9,680 8,634 9,723 9,695

Total 20,542$ 25,065$ 23,607$ 21,637$ 23,148$

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The Endowment Fund is nurtured from fundraising activities and private donations from

individual and corporate donors, and revenues have been used for student scholarships and the

improvement of facilities that support academic projects and student life. In 2009, Sagrado

received a substantial gift from the Ferré Rangel Family to endow the communication

department, now renamed the Ferré Rangel School of Communication. As related above, this

gift allowed significant improvements to the school’s infrastructure. Sagrado has held an

annual event called “El Sabor Tiene Nombre” to raised funds for different purposes, which

could not be held in 2017 due to the impact of hurricane Maria but will resume in 2019. The

2010 and 2011 event raised funds for the restoration of the Chapel and the 2012-2016 events

for scholarships.

In recent years, Sagrado’s increased presence in virtual and social media has made it easier for

individual donors to contribute. Outreach to corporate sponsors such as AT&T, Pepsi, El Mesón

Sandwiches, SARCO – Church’s Fried Chicken and others has yielded positive results. However,

economic conditions in Puerto Rico have made fundraising particularly challenging during the

past years. This is another important area of opportunity and Sagrado is in the process of

restructuring its complete development operation with the support external consultant. The

impact of the hurricane, Puerto Rico’s international visibility and Sagrado’s solidary response

have opened potential development and fundraising possibilities. Sagrado is currently engaged

in the recruitment of a new chief development officer.

Expenditures. Sagrado has been able to adjust expenses to keep in line with revenues. Over

the five years period, as shown on Table 43, total operating expenses decreased from $43.9

million for FY 2013 to $40.7 million for FY 2017 due mainly to reductions in payroll and other

expenses due to the implementation of strategies to mitigate the expected reduction in

enrollment. There have been a number of one-time extraordinary adjustments reflected in the

financial statements that have impacted operating expenses, particularly for the last two fiscal

years that distort that comparison. As mentioned, the voluntary transition plan impacted fiscal

years 2015 and 2016 and its positive effect on operations were first seen in 2017. For fiscal

2017, Sagrado recorded increased depreciation expense as a result of the simultaneous closing

and recording of many previous capital improvement projects and also reviewed its policies and

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procedures for its accounting for uncollectible accounts and implemented a more conservative

approach to providing for potential losses on outstanding balances given historical collections

and recorded an additional provision of $1 million. Sagrado has been able to manage the

reduction of revenues and has positioned itself to improve its financial condition as a result of

the strategies to reduce operational expenditures.

Table 43: Extraordinary Charges/Adjustments to Total operating expenses FY 2013-17 (in

thousands).

Human Resources

The narrative of this Self-Study demonstrates that Sagrado has an active and dedicated group

of human resources committed to accomplish and sustain the institutional Mission, from the

faculty, the student support staff, the administrative staff, the leadership team and the Board

of Trustees. Sagrado has 91 full time faculty and 240 part-time faculty; 62 academic support

staff; 78 student affairs staff and 73 administration personnel for a total number of 544

employees. In addition, Sagrado employs 83 employees on a temporary basis; 29% of them in

federal programs. There is also a network of third-party support for the following services:

security and paramedic, custodial and cleaning, landscaping, dining hall, cafeteria and

convenient store, transportation and accounting.

During the review period, Sagrado implemented a series of important initiatives to invest and

develop the personnel. Sagrado’s men and women are a most important resources and the

University is committed to their growth and development. They must model the conduct and

the Values that Sagrado aspires to develop in its students. As detailed in the PRR, from 2009

Audited

2013

Audited

2014

Audited

2015

Audited

2016

Audited

2017

Total Operating Expenses 43,956$ 41,467$ 40,754$ 42,386$ 40,755$

Extraordinary Charges/Adjustments in Operating Expenses

Voluntary Transition Plan - - 438 2,176 -

Depreciation - - - - 800

Provision for doubtful accounts - - - - 1,000

Total adjustments - - 438 2,176 1,800

Total Operating Expenses, adjusted 43,956$ 41,467$ 40,316$ 40,210$ 38,955$

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the Office of Human Resources developed and implemented two critical initiatives: a

community-wide cultural transformation initiative called Transfórmate285, and an academy to

develop potential future leaders called Academia de Desarrollo de Talentos286. The continued

success of systemic efforts of this nature depended on strong leadership supported by the

necessary resources. Accordingly, in 2015 the Office of Human Resources was restructured and

separated from the Deanship of Administration and a new executive office for Organizational

Development and Human Resources (ODHR) created287. An experienced professional was

engaged to lead the new team and integrated into the Executive Leadership Team288 This

change has proven decisive in allowing Sagrado to continue developing and improving its

human resources and organizational culture.

Since its inception, the ODHR Team has significantly improved human resources processes and

established important initiatives to promote organizational and personnel development. A new

electronic platform was implemented substituting SENSE with Automatic Data Processing (ADP)

that facilitates the management of human resources including payroll, personnel profile,

attendance and performance management289. All human resources policies have been revised

and updated, including the Employee Handbook approved by the Board of Trustees in March

2017, and training provided on the new policies. Several initiatives to develop and improve our

resources and organizational culture have been implemented such as training and development

in relevant areas, regular discussion meetings with leadership, internal transfers of qualified

staff to promote their growth and semester updates from the President to all personnel. In

2015 a voluntary employee transition plan was executed that allowed significant payroll

expense savings while providing participating employees significant compensation and other

terms in recognition and gratitude for their long years of service290. Robust and participatory

hiring processes have been put in place for the recruitment of qualified personnel capable of

285 https://mi.sagrado.edu/ICS/ClientConfig/HtmlContent/Transformate/index.htm. 286 https://mi.sagrado.edu/ICS/ClientConfig/HtmlContent/Academia/index.html. 287 Comunicación a la Comunidad (29 de enero de 2015); Organizational chart (2016). 288 https://www.sagrado.edu/marilyn-figueroa-rivera/. 289 Taller I: Redacción de Objetivos SMART; Taller II: Evaluación de Desempeño ADP Workforce Now; Taller III: Destrezas Generales para el Manejo Efectivo de Sistema de Gerencia de Desempeño. 290 Comunicación a la comunidad sobre el Plan de Transición Voluntaria (2015).

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upgrading Sagrado’s operations291. A new performance management system for administrative

staff was first piloted in the Spring of 2017 and implemented during 2017-2018. For the 2018-

2019, the system will incorporate the institutional objectives and key results derived from the

2017-2020 Strategic Plan. This system will be accompanied by personal and professional

development plans292 tailored to the needs identified during the review process and a new

employee recognition program to celebrate employee initiatives and accomplishments. A

performance management system for the faculty will be piloted in the Spring of 2019. The

discussion of Standard III relates the many initiatives implemented to support faculty

development, as well as research, creative and professional activity.

Sagrado will continue to make significant investment in programs to train and develop all its

human resources and continue to transform its organizational culture. The objective is an

innovative community of service and continuous improvement capable of sustaining and

accomplishing the Mission.

Physical and Technical Infrastructure

Sagrado has a strong and improving physical and technical infrastructure to support the

Mission. As related above, Sagrado has a 34 acres urban green campus in the Santurce

neighborhood of the capital city of San Juan. In addition, Sagrado has 8 residential properties in

the immediate perimeter of the campus and 3 future development properties one block south

of the campus in Ponce de Leon Avenue, one of Santurce’s main thoroughfares. The physical

infrastructure is supported by a technology infrastructure that, as also related above, is growing

stronger both with respect to hardware a software. Sagrado’s has two new information

technology platforms, Kuali and Jenzabar, to sustain operations into the future, and there have

been significant investments to upgrade the underlying network and security. Sagrado’s system

will be located in the cloud with redundant back in safe locations on campus.

During the past years, Sagrado has invested significant resources to improve the physical

facilities and upgrade the technology infrastructure. The best example of the strength and

291 Política de Reclutamiento Personal Administrativo (2017). 292 Plan de Desarrollo Individual (2017).

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resiliency of the overall infrastructure was Sagrado’s response to the impact of hurricane Maria.

The University was able to quickly resume operations, provide network and internet

connectivity and become an active solidarity hub in the web of relief and recovery that lifted

Puerto Rico. Sagrado will continue to invest in technology and the renovation of our physical

facilities to have the infrastructure necessary to support and sustain the Mission into the

future. In fact, one of the recommendations of this Self-Study, in the wake of hurricane Maria,

is precisely for Sagrado to review and update its Disaster Recovery Plan to incorporate the

lessons of this experience.

Audit and Compliance

As discussed in relation to Standard II, Sagrado is committed to institutional ethics and integrity

and the highest professional standards. Accordingly, Sagrado has the internal and external

audit services necessary to comply with all legal, regulatory and accreditation standards, and to

continually review and upgrade financial and institutional performance.

Internal Audit. Sagrado has an internal auditor who reports directly to the Audit Committee of

the Board of Trustees. Until 2015, the internal audit functions were performed by an internal

auditor on staff293. In 2016, the Audit Committee decided to outsource these services to a CPA

firm with the objective of strengthening these functions. After careful review of the work

performed by the external CPA firm, the Committee and the administration recently concluded

that due to the importance of these functions, it was preferable to have a full-time internal

auditor on staff. The internal auditor performs compliance audits and risk management

evaluations pursuant to a risk assessment plan approved by the Audit Committee294. The

internal auditor works with the administration to ascertain that the management letter

recommendations issued by the external auditors are fully implemented.

External Audit. Sagrado is subject to annual financial and compliance audits performed by an

external and independent CPA firm appointed by the Board of Trustees that issues audited

financial statements and other required reports295.

293 Organizational chart (2014). 294 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018). 295 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018).

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Compliance audits are required in order to be eligible to participate in the following federal and

state funding programs: (a) U.S. Department of Education federal programs including Title IV

programs that provide economic assistance to students; (b) Federal programs for grants that

are an important source of funding for academic research and improvements to student

services (Title V-HSI, STEMmED, Trio Programs-PAE and Upward Bound, National Endowment

for the Arts, among others); and state programs for student scholarships and student grants.

The University submits information from its audited financial statements to the U.S.

Department of Education through the ezAudit platform to demonstrate the University’s

compliance with the “financial responsibility” composite score required to participate in the

Federal Student Financial Aid Programs. A composite score of at least 1.5 is required to be

considered “financially responsible” and eligible to receive federal funding without special

conditions. In April 2017, the Department surprisingly informed Sagrado that the calculation for

fiscal year 2015-2106 erroneously reflected an addback of the pension plan liability and,

therefore, that the composite score was below the 1.5 threshold. The University’s calculation

had been used for years, was consistent with relevant Code of Federal Regulations guidance,

and had been verified by the university’s external auditors and the state licensing authority. The

University engaged an external consultant, who had been part of the team who developed the

Department’s formula, to review the situation. The consultant confirmed that Sagrado’s

formula was indeed correct and recommended that the University appeal the Department’s

determination, while at the same taking all appropriate measures to address the situation in

the event that appeal was not successful. The University took several remedial measures and

was able to comfortably exceed the 1.5 threshold for the fiscal year 2016-2017 even using the

Department’s formula that disallowed the pension plan liability addback296. The Department

did not address the appeal, but in August 2017 issued a Sagrado a new agreement to

participate in Federal Student Aid Programs.

Sagrado also has to submit audited financial statements in compliance with local laws and the

terms of its 2012 refinancing bond issue by the Puerto Rico Industrial, Tourism, Education,

296 Appeal to the U.S. Department of Education, available for review upon request.

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Medical and Environmental Control Financial Authority (“AFICA”). The University has always

complied and is current with all bond related payments. As part of the bond agreement, the

University is required to meet two financial ratios for each completed fiscal year. During the

fiscal years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016, Sagrado could not meet one or both of these ratios

primarily due to the effect of the pension plan liability adjustment for those years. Pursuant to

the AFICA Loan Agreement, Sagrado engaged a financial consultant to review university

operations and make recommendations. Sagrado complied with all contractual requirements,

engaged the consultant, accepted its recommendations and was compliant with both ratios by

the fiscal year 2016-2017297. Sagrado will comply for 2017-2018.

Table 44: Financial Ratios FY 2013-17.

The audited financial statements are also necessary to prepare annual reports required from

non-profit corporations and by accrediting and licensing agencies298. The University’s Defined

Benefit Pension Plan Fund299 and the 1165(e) Retirement Plan (401(k) Plan)300 are also audited

as required by applicable laws and regulations.

In addition to the above listed audit and compliance reports, Sagrado receives a management

letter from its external audit firm listing areas of concern or attention301. Over the review

period, the reports have included minor comments or findings, none of which were considered

a material weakness.

297 https://emma.msrb.org/IssueView/Details/EP358998. 298 OMB; CEPR audits; and Financial Statements, available for review upon request. 299 Financial Statements for the Defined Benefit Pension Plan, available for review upon request. 300 Financial Statements for the 1165(e) Retirement Plan (401k), available for review upon request. 301 Management Letters from the external auditors, available for review upon request.

Audited

2013

Audited

2014

Audited

2015

Audited

2016

Audited

2017

Projected

2018

U.S. Department of Education Financial Responsibility Ratio (Composite) 3.0 3.0 2.0 1.4 2.9 2.6

(1.5 required to be financially responsible)

AFICA

Debt Service Coverage Ratio (minimum required: 110%) 411% 555% -90% -156% 388% 289%

Expendable Resources Ratio ( minimum required: 35%) 47% 57% 26% 17% 65% 76%

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Conclusion

Sagrado has robust planning, budgeting and decision-making processes with community

participation, from the individual operating units to the Administrative Board and the Board of

Trustees. These processes are supported by strong financial management with the active

oversight and support of the Board of Trustees through the Finance and Investment and

Infrastructure and Technology Committees. The combination of both factors has allowed

Sagrado to navigate difficult times and develop the fiscal and human resources, as well as the

physical and technology infrastructure, necessary to support, sustain and grow the Mission into

the future. The improved processes to implement the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan and embed the

plan into a systematic planning, budget and assessment process will build on this foundation to

put Sagrado in a stronger position to provide an innovative response to the challenges of the

times and continue fulfilling its important Mission of integral education for social solidarity.

Recommendations

Sagrado must continue its efforts to operationalize its 2017-2020 Strategic Plan by

incorporating institutional objectives and key results into the performance management system

and embedding the plan in the proposed systemic planning, budgeting and assessment process.

As in Standard V, Sagrado should (a) establish an independent unit reporting to the President

that is responsible for institutional intelligence, assessment efficacy and planning that is

supported with the staff and information systems necessary to drive strategic planning and

decision-making and assess compliance with the strategic plans; (b) should focus on the

initiatives to diversify revenue sources through the expansion of the continuing education

platform, the increase in occupation levels of the University residences and apartments

throughout the year, renewed efforts to promote the use of available facilities by third parties

and the reestablishment of the development operation; and (c) in view of the many changes in

Puerto Rico over the past 10 years, and the many changes impacting the higher education

sector, Sagrado should consider conducting a review and assessment of its master development

plan.

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Standard VII: Governance, Leadership, and Administration

The institution is governed and administered in a manner that allows it to realize its stated

mission and goals in a way that effectively benefits the institution, its students, and the other

constituencies it serves. Even when supported by or affiliated with governmental, corporate,

religious, educational system, or other unaccredited organizations, the institution has education

as its primary purpose, and it operates as an institution with appropriate autonomy.

The University meets the five criteria and all sub-criteria of Standard VII and is compliant with

the Requirements of Affiliation 12, 13 and 14. Evidence that demonstrates this can be reviewed

in the Documentation Roadmap and is analyzed in the following sections. Some documents

given their sensitive nature are available upon request.

Sagrado complies with Standard VII.

Criterion Number

Standard VII Criterion Meet

Criterion

C1 Clearly articulated and transparent governance structure that outlines its roles, responsibilities, and accountability for decision-making by each constituency

C2 A legally constituted governing body that:

C2a Serves the public interest, ensures that stated mission and goals are met, has fiduciary responsibility, and is ultimately accountable for the institution

C2b Has sufficient independence and expertise to ensure the integrity of the institution

C2c Ensures that neither the governing body nor its individuals interferes with the day-to-day operations of the institution

C2d Oversees at the policy level the quality of programs, approval of degree programs and awarding degrees, establishment of personnel policies and procedures, and the assurance of strong fiscal management

C2e Plays a basic policy-making role in financial matters to ensure integrity and strong financial measurement

C2f Appoints and regularly evaluates the performance of the Chief Executive Officer

C2g Is informed in all operations by principles of good practice in board governance

C2h Establishes and complies with conflict of interest policies

C2i Supports the Chief Executive Officer in maintaining the autonomy of the institution

C3 A Chief Executive Officer who:

C3a Is appointed by, evaluated by, and reports to the governing body

C3b Has appropriate credentials and professional experience consistent with the mission of the institution

C3c Has authority and autonomy required to fulfill the responsibilities of the position

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Criterion Number

Standard VII Criterion Meet

Criterion

C3d Has the assistance of a sufficient number of qualified administrators to enable the effective discharge of duties

C4 An administration demonstrating:

C4a A clearly documented organization structure and clear lines of reporting

C4b An appropriate size and with relevant experience to assist the Chief Executive Officer to fulfill his role and responsibilities

C4c Members with credentials and experience consistent with the institution’s mission and their roles

C4d Skills, time, assistance, technology and information systems expertise required to perform their duties

C4e Regular engagement with faculty and students to advance the goals and objectives of the institution

C4f Systematic procedures for evaluating administrative units and use of assessment data to enhance operations

C5 Periodic assessment of the effectiveness of governance, leadership, and administrations

Compliance with Standard VII

Sagrado is an independent, non-profit Catholic university. Sagrado serves its Mission through a

clearly defined, well-functioning governance structure consisting of a Board of Trustees, an

Academic Board and Administrative Board, each with its governing statutes and regulations,

which are regularly reviewed and updated; and a qualified chief executive officer and

experienced leadership team.

The Board of Trustees is an independent and autonomous body that acts in accordance with

Sagrado’s governing By-laws, first adopted in 1943 and amended regularly. The ninth and tenth

revisions took place in 2016 and 2018, respectively. The Board of Trustees is ultimately

responsible for the fulfillment of the Mission in accordance with the By-laws and applicable

laws and regulations. It has 25 members, a majority of which represent the community and a

minority is selected by the Society of the Sacred Heart and the Archbishop of the Archdiocese

of San Juan. The University is not subject to governance oversight by any religious or ecclesial

body.

As related in the discussion of Standard IV, there are two student governance bodies, the

Student Council and the Student Residents Council. The Academic and Administrative Boards

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include student representation and the Board of Trustees has recently established a Student

Affairs Committee to address student and enrollment affairs and provide a forum for students

to communicate their concerns directly to the Board.

Sagrado’s leadership integrates into a single executive team the President and leaders of the

following areas: Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Finance and Operations, Integrated

Communications, Information Technology and Development. A larger Executive Leadership

Team integrates the deputy chief academic officer, the academic department heads, the chief

retention officer and the Director of the Pastoral Care Center. The University also has a General

Counsel, who is the chief legal, compliance and institutional integrity officer, and an internal

auditor. Each internal governing body acts in an autonomous manner and makes

recommendations to the President and the Executive Leadership Team. The Academic Board is

responsible for academic policy.

The performance of the Executive Leadership Team is reviewed annually through a

performance management system. The Board of Trustees assesses its own performance and

formally reviews the President’s performance. The Board has adopted a formal evaluation

policy and starting on 2017-2018, the President’s review will take place on an annual basis.

The Board of Trustees

Composition of the Board of Trustees. Sagrado is governed by an independent Board of

Trustees integrated by 25 members who offer their time, talent and financial support ad

honorem302. Nineteen members are community leaders with proven track records in diverse

fields that are pertinent to the fulfillment of Sagrado’s Mission, Vision and institutional

philosophy303. Over the years Sagrado has been privileged that leaders in fields such as higher

education, banking, architecture, consumer goods, insurance, securities, arts, law, among many

others, have served as trustees with distinction304.

Three of the 25 seats are reserved for trustees appointed directly by the Society of the Sacred

Heart, often after informal consultation with the leadership of the Board305. The remaining

302 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018). 303 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec .1 (2018, p. 3-4). 304 Criterios y Perfil de los Síndicos (2018). 305 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. 1(c) (2018, p. 4).

SELF-STUDY UNIVERSIDAD DEL SAGRADO CORAZON Page 183 of 198

other 3 seats are reserved for trustees that the Board selects from recommendations presented

by the Archbishop of the San Juan Archdiocese, where Sagrado is located306. This selection

process is collegial and often involves informal consultations prior to the recommendations.

The Responsibilities of the Board of Trustees. The By-laws clearly articulate and outline the

powers and responsibilities of the Board of Trustees, its Committees, and the President of the

University307. The Board of Trustees, as the ultimate governing body, is responsible for

establishing the strategic direction of the University and formulating the policies that will

guarantee its Catholic character, academic excellence and integrity, fiscal health and overall

best interests308. The Board also approves the strategic plan, the annual operating and capital

budgets, the principal institutional policies regarding academic, student affairs and

administrative affairs, new academic programs, financial and investment policies, and the

infrastructure and technology master plans, among others309. It appoints, supervises and

advises the President on critical appointments and operational matters310. The President and

the Executive Leadership Team are responsible for the day to day operations and the execution

of the initiatives to achieve the institutional objectives established.

As explained in Standard VI, the Board of Trustees reviews and approves the annual budget311.

Through its permanent committees, the Board works hand in hand with the Vice-President for

Finance and Operations to ensure that Sagrado follows the best practices of fiscal controls

(Audit Committee)312, administration, investments and finances (Finance and Investment313,

and the Infrastructure and Technology committees314, are handled in a manner that protects

the fiscal well-being of the University.

306 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. 1(d) (2018, p. 4). 307 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. 4, Art. IX, and Art. X (2018, pp. 5-6,12-18, and 18-19). 308 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. 1 (b) (2018, p. 4). 309 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018, p. 5-6). 310 Estatutos Décima Revisión (2018, p. 5). 311 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IV, Sec. 4(b)(8) (2018, p. 6). 312 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Audit Committee (2018, p. 14); Manual de Procedimientos de los Comités Permanentes (pp. 18-20). 313 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Finance and Investment Committee (2018, p. 15-16); Manual de Procedimientos de los Comités Permanentes (pp. 25-26). 314 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Infrastructure and Technology Committee (2018, p. 16-17); Manual de Procedimientos de los Comités Permanentes (pp. 29-30).

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The Committees of the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees fulfills its institutional

responsibilities through eight permanent committees315. Each Committee has an annual

calendar for its meetings316. Currently, it has the following permanent committees with the

following responsibilities:

• Executive Committee: all the powers and responsibilities of the Board of Trustees,

except the powers expressly reserved to the full Board in the By-laws317.

• Audit Committee: the appointment and oversight of the internal auditor and the internal

audit plan, the oversight of the external auditors approved by the Board of Trustees and

the approval of their reports and audited financial statements318.

• Academic Affairs and Honorary Degrees Committee: oversight and support of all

academic affairs for the fulfillment of the University’s Mission, including approval of

new academic programs319.

• Student Affairs Committee: oversight and support of all student affairs and admissions

and enrollment practices for the fulfillment of the University’s Mission320.

• Finance and Investments Committee: oversight and support of all financial affairs,

recommendation of the annual budget for approval and the management of the

University’s investments321.

• Development and University Relations Committee: oversight and support of the

University’s development and fundraising efforts322.

• Physical Infrastructure and Technology Committee: oversight and support of the

University’s master plans for infrastructure and technology investments323.

• Institutional Governance Committee: all matters related to selection and election of

trustees and the Board’s internal governance324.

315 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX (2018, p. 12-18). 316 Manual de Procedimientos de los Comités Permanentes, Calendarios de Trabajo (pp. 4-13). 317 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 2 (2018, p. 13). 318 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 3 (2018, p. 14). 319 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 4 (2018, p. 14-15). 320 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 5 (2018, p. 15). 321 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 6 (2018, p. 15-16) 322 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 7 (2018, p. 16) 323 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX. Sec. 8 (2018, p. 16-17) 324 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 9 (2018, p. 17).

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The Student Affairs Committee was created as part of the ninth revision of the By-laws in 2016.

At the time, the Academic, Student Affairs and Honorary Degrees Committee handled all

academic and student affairs and, thus, mirrored the University’s administrative structure,

which consolidated both areas under a Dean of Academic and Student Affairs. In view of the

student-centeredness of the mission, the President proposed and the Board of Trustees agreed

that student affairs should have its own permanent committee that would devote exclusive

attention to these matters. The administrative structure was similarly changed to create a Vice

President and Dean for Student Affairs, who would report to the President and be a part of the

Executive Leadership Team. This committee will provide a forum for the Student Council and

other student representatives to interact directly with the Board of Trustees.

Faculty and staff often serve in different committees of the Board of Trustees as consulting

members or are invited to participate325. The Board of Trustees may also create special

committees whenever they are needed, as was the case with the process of recruiting a new

president326. At that point, a special committee of trustees and former trustees was appointed,

which consulted the community regarding the profile of the new president and the main

institutional priorities.

Meetings of the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees holds ordinary meetings 4 times a

year, twice a semester to provide strategic direction, oversee the implementation of

administrative and academic policies and review the achievement of institutional objectives327.

One of these ordinary meetings is usually a special workshop328. The Board often holds

extraordinary meetings for special purposes329.

Trustees not only attend regular board meetings, but also actively participate in committee

work and board development activities. Annual retreats, strategic planning meetings and

educational activities provide trustees with opportunities to learn and lead more effectively330

The Board clearly understands its responsibility to support the President of the University, who

325 Manual de Procedimientos de los Comités Permanentes (pp. 21-24, 25, 27, 29). 326 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 10 (2018, p. 18). 327 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VIII, Sec. 1 (2018, p. 11). 328 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VIII, Sec. 2 (2018, p. 11). 329 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VIII, Sec. 2 (2018, p. 11). 330 2016 Board Assessment: AGB Consulting; Self-Study Criteria for Governing Board.

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is the chief executive officer331, to achieve the Mission and institutional objectives and

dedicates a significant amount of time in fulfilling these responsibilities, without affecting the

autonomy of the University.

Selection of Trustees. The Board’s Institutional Governance Committee is responsible for the

trustees’ recruitment and selection process, except in the case of the trustees appointed by the

Society of the Sacred Heart who are appointed directly by the Society332. Trustees serve for

three-year periods that can be renewed up to 12 years333, except for the Society’s appointees

who do not have a time limitation334. In 2016, the Board approved an amendment to the By-

laws to allow the Board to approve, upon unanimous recommendation of the Executive

Committee, a special extension for an additional three-year period when the best interests of

the University would be served by such an extension335.

The Board of Trustees has developed an institutional trustee profile336 and a decalogue337 of

basic trustee obligations to ensure alignment with Sagrado’s Mission. The Committee reviews

that each prospective candidate in accordance with this profile and the professional experience

and expertise needed to fulfill institutional obligations and responsibilities338. Candidates are

interviewed before their selection to ascertain that they are independent and that they clearly

understand their responsibilities, time requirements, expectations and confirm their

commitment to fulfill their responsibilities as trustees of the University. The Committee makes

its recommendations to the Executive Committee, which considers them for an eventual vote

by the Board339.

Loyalty to the Mission: Written Conflict of Interest Policy. To ensure full loyalty and

commitment to Sagrado’s Mission, the By-laws set forth a conflict of interest policy that

provides that all trustees and University officials have the duty to act free of any conflicts of

331 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. X (2018, p. 18-19). 332 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. 2(c) (2018, p. 4). 333 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. 2(d) (2018, p. 4). 334 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. 2(f) (2018, p. 5). 335 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. (d) (2018, p. 4). 336 Criterios y Perfil de los Síndicos (2018). 337 Decálogo de la Junta de Síndicos (2018). 338 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 9, (i) (2018, p. 17). 339 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 9 (d) (2018, p. 17).

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interest, real or potential; that is, free of any personal or external pressures or interests that

will prevent them from performing their duties on behalf of and in the best interests of

Sagrado340.

In June 20, 2018, the Board of Trustees approved a revised Code of Ethics applicable to trustees

and all employees of the University to govern specifically the avoidance of conflicts of

interests341. On that same date, the Board of Trustees also approved a policy applicable to

trustees and all employees of the University regarding conflicts of interests in contracts with

the federal government342. Violations of these policies are investigated and addressed using

the appropriate disciplinary procedures: the Employee Handbook for employees, and by the

procedures established by the Board for trustees. To identify a potential or real conflict of

interest, every year the trustees complete and execute two forms: (1) a conflict of interest

form343, and (2) a separate form in compliance with IRS and insurance requirements344.

Board Self-Assessment. The Board of Trustees has an internal self-assessment process in which

the Board assesses its collective performance, as well as that of its individual trustees345. In

2016, the Board engaged a consultant from AGB to assist in carrying out a self-assessment

process and conducted a day-long workshop to discuss the results and develop an action

plan346. In 2018, the Board conducted another self-assessment through a survey of its members

and has another workshop planned for November 2018 to discuss the results347.

Board Engagement with the University Community. Besides the formal engagements with

members of the community in committee and Board meetings, Trustees receive guided visits of

the campus and participate regularly in campus activities, in which they interact with members

of the community. Trustees receive periodic notifications of campus events and specific

340 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. 4, Sec. 4(d) (2018, p. 6). 341 Política de Conflicto de Interés (2018); Política de Conflicto de Interés (1995). 342 Políticas sobre el Conflicto de Intereses en la Contratación con el Gobierno Federal (2018); Política sobre el Conflicto de Intereses en la Contratación con el Gobierno Federal (1995). 343 Formulario de Conflicto de Interés (completed forms are available for review upon request). 344 Form for conflict of interest (completed forms are available for review upon request). 345 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. IX, Sec. 9(g) (2018, p. 17). 346 2016 Board Assessment: AGB Consulting; Self-Study Criteria for Governing Board. 347 Informe del Comité de Gobierno Institucional sobre Votaciones, Evaluación de la Junta de Síndicos y Auto-evaluación de los síndicos (4 de junio de 2018), available for review upon request.

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invitations to events that may be of special interest348. Trustees also support the Sagrado in

admissions functions by regularly attending the annual Open House. In the 2018 Open House, a

group of trustees participated in a Business Department forum with prospective students and

their families.

The President or Chief Executive Officer

The President of the University is appointed and evaluated by and reports to the Board of

Trustees349. The President is a member ex-officio of the Board and its permanent committees

but has no voting rights350.

Selection of the New President. Early in 2014, Sagrado’s President, Dr. José Jaime Rivera

announced his retirement after 22 years of service. The Board of Trustees immediately

launched a search effort for a new President and created a special committee to lead the

process351. This special committee designed the process in consultation with the Board of

Trustees. The Board insisted that it was important to start by reaching out to the University

community and obtaining its recommendations regarding to the profile of the new president

and the changes and priorities that the new president should consider upon assuming the

office. The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees obtained the input of the former president to

have a seamless transition.

The special committee facilitated a consultation process in which different stakeholders were

able to contribute to the articulation of a profile with a list of desired competencies and a set of

institutional priorities. The committee, led by a former Chairperson of the Board of Trustees

and a former Managing Partner of PwC’s Puerto Rico office, Rafael Martínez-Margarida CPA,

then conducted a six-month search process and made a recommendation to the Board of

Trustees that ratified the selection of the current president as he met the profile that the Board

was looking for in the new president and was willing to assume the responsibilities and

348 Examples of communications to the Board of Trustees: February 13, 2017; February 22, 2017; February 24, 2017; May 8, 2017; December 1, 2017; March 7, 2018; August 28, 2018. 349 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. 4(b)(5) (2018, p. 5). 350 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VIII, Sec. 5(c) (2018, pp. 12). 351 Notification to the University community from Ramón Ruiz Comas then President of the Board of Trustees (February 3, 2014).

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challenges identified as the result of the input from the trustees and the community during the

consultation process.

Gilberto J. Marxuach-Torrós was appointed tenth President of Sagrado on August 4, 2014. A

lawyer by training, Marxuach-Torrós brings an interdisciplinary background and perspective,

given his studies in the Program of Liberal Arts at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana (the

curriculum vitae is included in the Road Map). After earning a Juris Doctor at Yale University, he

began his professional career that took him up the ladder in one of Puerto Rico’s most

prestigious law firms; through a family business venture; a tenure as Chief Legal Counsel to

Puerto Rico’s Governor; and then as legal and executive advisor to several firms, including in

higher education. While in public service, Marxuach-Torrós was responsible for the creation of

important educational policies and legal frameworks in Puerto Rico. What is more, Marxuach-

Torrós is an intellectual, avid reader and practicing Catholic that honors the values and

principles that provide the religious and ethical framework of Sagrado’s Mission352.

Authority and Responsibilities of the President. According to the University’s By-laws, the

President has the authority and the autonomy to fulfill the responsibilities of the position353.

The President is responsible for the development of the strategic plan, the preparation of the

annual budget and the identification of the resources needed to accomplish the goals and

objectives established354. Also, the President is responsible for the hiring of the necessary

personnel to discharge his duties and responsibilities effectively355. Since his appointment in

2014, the Board has supported the President in his assessment of the resources needed to deal

with the challenges identified during the consultation with the community, challenges that

were initially complicated by the retirement of several members of the University leadership

that he inherited.

Every year, the President presents multiple progress reports to the Board of Trustees on

academic, administrative and financial matters, the University’s priorities for the Executive

352 https://www.sagrado.edu/gilberto-j-marxuach-torros/. 353 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. X Sec. 1 (2018, p. 18). 354 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. X (2018, p. 18). 355 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. X Sec. 1(b) (2018, p. 18).

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Leadership Team, all aligned with Sagrado’s Mission and the strategic objectives for each

year356 President Marxuach-Torrós has established the practice of sharing similar reports with

the faculty, staff and the student body357. This practice has helped improve organizational

communication at all levels. (C2i, 3c; C4e)

Review of the President’s Performance. The Board of Trustees formally reviews the

President’s performance358. In 2017, the Board of Trustees conducted an evaluation of the

President and decided to grant him a new five-year appointment359. In 2018, the Board of

Trustees adopted a formal policy for the evaluation of the President and starting on 2017-2018,

this review will take place on an annual basis360.

The Executive Leadership Team

The President as the University’s chief executive officer has a team of executive leaders with

the experience required to perform the tasks for which they are responsible. There is an

executive group of seven that reports to the President with responsibility over the following

operational teams: (a) academic affairs; (b) student affairs; (c) organizational development and

human resources; (d) integrated communications; (d) finance and operations; (e) information

technology; and (e) development. The General Counsel reports to the President and the Board

of Trustees’ Audit Committee.

There is a larger Executive Leadership Team that also includes: the deputy chief academic

officer and the academic department heads who report to the Provost and Executive Vice

President for Academic Affairs; the University’s chief retention officer, who reports to the Vice

President and Dean of Student Affairs; the Director of the Pastoral Care Center; and the General

Counsel. All of them are highly qualified and experienced professionals (their curriculum vitae

is included in the Road Map) that have the credentials and professional experience that is

required to achieve Sagrado’s Mission, institutional objectives and key results361. The following

356 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. X, Sec. 3 (2018, p. 19); Presentations to the Board are available for review upon request. 357 Presentations to staff (2016); faculty (2016); and students (2015). 358 Estatutos Décima Revisión, Art. VI, Sec. 4 (b)(5), Art. IX, Sec. 9(l) (2018, pp. 5, 17). 359 The President’s process and evaluation are available for review upon request. 360 Política para el Pago de la Bonificación Discrecional por Desempeño del Presidente de la Universidad (2018) available for review upon request. 361 https://www.sagrado.edu/grupo-ejecutivo/

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organizational chart clearly documents the operational areas that integrate the Executive

Leadership Team and defines the reporting relationships.

Figure 9: Executive Leadership Team.

As a Mission-driven institution devoted to the education of the whole person, Sagrado is

committed to the success of each of its students. The new organizational chart reflects this

commitment by placing the “students” at the top of the chart and all academic, student affairs

and administrative units in service for the students.

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Figure 10: Organizational Chart.

President Marxuach-Torrós made important changes to Sagrado’s organizational structure that

are reflected in the above organizational charts. The first is the inclusion of the “students” in

the chart as a visible reminder of the institutional Mission that brings all members of the

community together in a shared purpose. There followed the separation of academic and

student affairs into different operational units with direct participation in the Executive

Leadership Team362. This change was necessary in view of the student-centered character of

the mission. It was important that an official responsible for Student Affairs and the voice of

the students be a full member of the Executive Leadership Team. Prior to 2015, Sagrado had a

chief academic and student affairs officer under the title of Dean of Academic and Student

Affairs363. This changed in August 2015 with the appointment of a new Provost and Executive

362 Organizational chart (2016). 363 Organizational chart (2014).

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Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the promotion of the previous Assistant Dean for

Student Affairs to the new position of the Vice-president and Dean for Student Affairs364. The

purpose of the double designation was to emphasize the executive character of both

appointments.

In view of the importance of organizational and employee development to the success of the

University, the human resources function was elevated to an executive position responsible for

organizational development and human resources365. A highly accomplished professional with

more than thirty years of experience in the field was hired in 2015 to lead this area366.

Previously, there was only a director of human resources who reported to the Dean of

Administration. Similarly, in view of the critical role of the University’s information technology

systems and infrastructure, the information technology function was also elevated to an

executive position and given responsibility for the IT operations of the whole University367.

Previously, there was a Director of the Center for Information Resources with limited

responsibilities368. In March 2018, a highly qualified professional was recruited to lead the

area369.

The areas of finance and operations have been consolidated under a new Vice-president for

Finance and Operations370. The previous Dean of Administration was responsible for operations

and purchasing while there was a separate Chief Financial Officer371. In 2017, after the

retirement the previous occupant, the President hired an experienced professional with

significant experience in higher education to improve the timeliness of financial information

and the breadth and depth of financial analysis and projections, while identifying opportunities

to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of resources. Finally, all marketing,

communications, public relations and calendar functions were consolidated in a new integrated

364 Comunicación a la comunidad (1 de septiembre de 2015). 365 Organizational chart (2016). 366 https://www.sagrado.edu/marilyn-figueroa-rivera/. 367 Organizational chart (2016). 368 Organizational chart (2014). 369 Comunicación a la comunidad (23 de febrero de 2018); Curriculum vitae of Luis Gotelli is in the Roadmap. 370 https://www.sagrado.edu/guillermo-m-nigaglioni/. 371 Organizational chart (2014).

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communications team, that includes the Office of Admissions372. An experienced marketing

professional was engaged in 2018 to lead this team373.

Members of the Executive Leadership Team serve as liaisons between the administration and

the Committees of the Board of Trustees and regularly interact with the Board. The Provost

and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs is the liaison for the Academic Affairs and

Honorary Degree Committee; the Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs for the Student

Affairs Committee; the Vice President for Finance and Operations for the Finance and

Investment, and the Infrastructure and Technology committees; the Vice President for

Development and University Relations for the Development Committee; and the General

Counsel for the Audit Committee. The President is an ex-officio member of all committees and

regularly attends committee meetings374.

The performance of the Executive Leadership Team that reports directly to the President has

been reviewed annually since 2015375. In 2017, a performance management system was

implemented for all administrative staff, including the academic leadership376. Since the

implementation of this system, it has been used to conduct the annual review of the Executive

Leadership Team members. This team is also driving the implementation of the 2017-2020

Strategic Plan throughout the University with the institutional objectives and key results for

2018-2019, which will flow through to all administrative staff as individual objectives in the

performance management system377.

The Academic and the Administrative Boards

Sagrado has two other official governance bodies to fulfill its institutional Mission: the

Academic Board and the Administrative Board. Faculty, students and staff participate in each of

these two bodies to foster collegial decision-making. Several members of the Executive

Leadership Team are ex-officio members of both bodies. Other members of the Executive

Leadership Team are regularly invited to participate.

372 Comunicación a la comunidad – Vice-presidenta de Comunicaciones Integradas (2015). 373 Comunicación a la comunidad (5 de marzo de 2018); Curriculum vitae of Laura García is in the Roadmap. 374 Manual de Procedimientos de los Comités Permanentes (pp. 23, 25, 27, 29). 375 Examples of performance evaluations are available for review upon request. 376 Examples of performance evaluations in ADP are available for review upon request. 377 Presentación del Plan Estratégico, Objetivos y Resultados Claves (2018).

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The Academic Board. The Academic Board is responsible for establishing the general policies

for the development of Sagrado’s academic project. The Board has its own by-laws and

handbook, which were last revised and updated in 2016378 and approved by the Board of

Trustees in 2017. The powers and responsibilities of the Academic Board are set forth in Article

III of its by-laws379 The President, the chief academic and the chief student affairs officers and

all academic department heads are ex-officio members of the Board380 The President of the

Student Council is also an ex-officio member381. The faculty members are elected directly by

academic unit and at large382 and one student member for each academic unit is elected

directly from the student body383. The Academic Board meets no less than 4 times a year, twice

per semester384. With participation from the faculty, students and members of the Executive

Leadership Team, its meetings foster dialogue and collegial decision-making regarding key

academic affairs issues. For example, the Academic Board has a permanent Curriculum

Committee that is responsible for reviewing all proposed changes to curricular structures and

new academic programs385. It has a Faculty Committee386, that was responsible for reviewing

and approving the changes to the Faculty Handbook that were presented to the Board of

Trustees for approval in March 2017387.

The Administrative Board. The Administrative Board is responsible for providing

recommendations regarding strategic planning with respect to administrative and financial

matters388. The Board has its own Regulation which were last revised and updated in 2017389,

and approved by the Board of Trustees also in 2017390. The President and several members of

the Executive Leadership Team are ex-officio members of the Board, as well the President of

378 Estatutos de la Junta Académica (2016); Reglamento de la Junta Académica (2016). 379 Estatutos de la Junta Académica, Art. III (A) (2016, p. 4). 380 Estatutos de la Junta Académica, Art. III (B)(1) (2016, p. 5). 381 Estatutos de la Junta Académica, Art. III (B)(1) (2016, p. 5). 382 Estatutos de la Junta Académica, Art. III (B)(2); Art. IV (2016, pp. 5, 6-7). 383 Estatutos de la Junta Académica, Art. IV (2016, pp. 7-8). 384 Reglamento de la Junta Académica, Art. II (2016, p. 3). 385 Estatutos de la Junta Académica, Art. VIII (C) (2016, pp. 10-11). 386 Estatutos de la Junta Académica, Art. VIII (C) (2016, pp. 12-13). 387 Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (30 de marzo de 2017), available for review upon request. 388 Reglamento de la Junta Administrativa, Art. B (2017). 389 Acta de la Junta Administrativa (17 de marzo de 2017). 390 Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (21 de junio de 2017), available for review upon request.

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the Student Council and the President of the Students Residents Council391. The members of

the Administrative Board are elected directly from the faculty and staff according to the

procedures established in the Board’s Regulation392. This is another example of an institutional

forum in which faculty, students, staff and members of the Executive Leadership Team come

together to discuss and make recommendations regarding important institutional matters.

Over the past few years the Administrative Board has been very active in the review and

approval of many institutional policies including the Employee Handbook393 approved by the

Board of Trustees in March 2017394. Every year, the Administrative Board reviews and makes

recommendations to the institutional budget395.

Assessment Processes. The Academic and the Administrative Boards do not currently have a

formal self-assessment process similar to the process established by the Board of Trustees.

Both Boards engage in assessment of their operations as attested by the reviews of their by-

laws and regulations that the Academic Board conducted in 2016396, and the Administrative

Board in 2017397. One of the recommendations of this Self-Study is to invite both boards to

consider establishing a formal process for the self-assessment of their operations. Another

recommendation is to invite both boards to review their areas of responsibilities as there may

be areas overlap in their functions, particularly with respect to strategic planning and policy

reviews as these areas are addressed by both boards.

Student Government Structures

Sagrado also has two official student government structures: the Student Council and the

Student Residents Council, discussed in detail in Standard IV. As explained above, the Student

Council plays a formal role in the Academic and the Administrative Boards and the Student

Council President is an ex-officio member of both boards398. The Student Residents Council

391 Reglamento de la Junta Administrativa, Art. C (1)(h) (2017, p. 2). 392 Reglamento de la Junta Administrativa, Art. C (3) (2017, p. 2). 393 Acta de la Junta Administrativa (17 de marzo de 2017). 394 Acta de la Junta de Síndicos (30 de marzo de 2017), available for review upon request. 395 Example of Budget Presentations to the Administrative Board: 2014-2015; 2015-2016; 2017-2018. 396 Estatutos de la Junta Académica (2016); Reglamento de la Junta Académica (2016). 397 Reglamento de la Junta Administrativa (2017). 398 Estatutos de la Junta Académica, Art. III (B) (2016, p. 5); Reglamento de la Junta Administrativa, Art. C (1)(h) (2016, p. 2).

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plays a formal role in the Administrative Board and its President is an ex-officio member399. The

Executive Leadership Team interacts significantly with both student government bodies in

student assemblies and meetings and other formal and informal functions throughout the

academic year. The Executive Leadership Team has an open-door policy and meets regularly

with student representatives. One of the findings of this Self-Study is that neither of these

student governing bodies has a governing statute or regulation and thus one important

recommendation is for both to formally develop and adopt a governing document that includes

a self-assessment process with the support of the Student Affairs Team.

Conclusion

The Mission of integral education for social solidarity requires the participation of all members

of the University community in the advancement of the Mission. Sagrado has developed

effective and participatory governance and administrative structures that allow the university

to fulfill its Mission and accomplish its institutional goals in a way that integrates and serves all

members of the community. These structures model the Mission by inclusion and participation.

Recommendation

In order to improve its governance structures, Sagrado should (a) invite the Academic and

Administrative Boards to establish self-assessment processes similar to the process followed by

the Board of Trustees; (b) invite both boards (Academic and Administrative) to evaluate ways to

avoid overlaps between their respective functions in areas where they may have shared

responsibilities such as strategic planning and policy reviews; and (c) recommend to the

Student Council and the Student Residents Council to consider adopting formal governance

documents that incorporate self-assessment processes.

399 Reglamento de la Junta Administrativa, Art. C (1)(i) (2016, p. 2).

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CONCLUSION

This Self-Study conclusively demonstrates that the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón

meets MSCHE’s Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation.

Sagrado has a deeply-engrained Mission, lived with passion and integrity, to provide an

excellent integral education for social solidarity grounded in the arts of liberty, in a community

of faculty, students, staff, trustees, alumni and collaborators, committed to the quality of the

student’s integral experience and anchored in the dignity of each person as created in the

image and likeness of God; and that Sagrado is constantly assessing its own performance and

innovating to keep the Mission alive and responsive to the signs of the times, with the support

of a strong governance and administrative structure.

This Self-Study shows that Sagrado is faithful to its founding charism and historical wellsprings

in the Society of the Sacred Heart: “education is, of itself, an act of justice”—an act of justice for

the person educated and an act of justice for the community the person will serve. This is the

double solidarity at the heart of our Mission. This Self-Study shows that this community always

strives, however imperfectly, to achieve this fundamental goal. Sagrado’s immediate response

to hurricane Maria and its subsequent reflection and development of the RBK Project are the

latest examples of this commitment in a proud history of 138 years of service. Puerto Rico and

Sagrado are living through challenging times, but Sagrado has always responded to adversity by

opting for solidarity and hope.

As this Self-Study shows, there is much work to be done to reach Sagrado’s noblest aspirations.

There are recommendations for further action in each standard. The community came

together to after Maria and it came together for this Self-Study. A deep gratitude is owed. St.

Magdalene Sophie Barat’s commitment is alive: “for the sake of one child, I would have

founded the Society.” The success of each student is sacred. The work of building a “more

authentically Christian society, a community of solidarity, in justice and peace” is never

finished.