York Technical College Business Unit ACBSP Self … Technical College Business Unit ACBSP Self-Study...

York Technical College Business Unit

ACBSP Self-Study

2008-2009

Table of Contents

Standard A – Conditions for Accreditation ...................................................................................... 2 Self-Study Preparers ........................................................................................................... 2 Self-Study Purpose .............................................................................................................. 2 Self-Study Timeline ............................................................................................................. 2 Regional Accrediting Body .................................................................................................. 2 Profile of Institution ......................................................................................................... 2-4 Organization Chart .............................................................................................................. 4 Legal Authorization ............................................................................................................. 4 Governing Board ................................................................................................................. 4 Institution’s Mission ......................................................................................................... 4-5 Business Unit Mission ......................................................................................................... 5 Business Programs ........................................................................................................... 5-6 Academic Degrees............................................................................................................ 6-9 Standard 1: Leadership ................................................................................................................... 9 Mission Statement ............................................................................................................ 10 Vision Statement ............................................................................................................... 10 Business Unit Values and Expectations ....................................................................... 10-11

1.1 Leadership Strategies ................................................................................................. 11 1.2 Leadership Measures ............................................................................................ 11-12 1.3 Leadership and Community ....................................................................................... 12

Standard 2: Strategic Planning 2.1 Process Strategic Planning Process .............................................................................. 13-15 Communication and Deployment ........................................................................ 15 Evaluation of Strategic Planning Process ............................................................. 15 Consideration of Students/Market Needs/Etc. .............................................. 15-17 2.2 Current Strategic Plan A. Business Unit’s Key Strategic Objectives ........................................................ 17 B. Business Unit’s Action Plan ............................................................................. 17 C. Communication and Deployment ................................................................... 17 2.A. Adequate Resources 2.A.1. Finances A. Credit Hours .................................................................................................... 18 B. Graduates ........................................................................................................ 19 C. Business Unit Expenditures ............................................................................. 20 D. Business Unit Budget and Expenditures .................................................... 20-21 E. Adequacy of Budget ........................................................................................ 21 F. Business Unit’s Key Budgetary, Financial, and Market Performance ............. 21 2.A.2. Facilities A. Business Unit Classrooms/Labs/Offices .......................................................... 21 B. Renovation of Space/New Facilities ............................................................... 22 C. Linkages of Facility Planning ........................................................................... 22

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2.A.3. Equipment A. Acquisition/Upgrade ....................................................................................... 22 B. Linkages of Equipment Planning to Strategic Plan ......................................... 23 C. Business Unit Equipment Inventory ................................................................ 23 D. Equipment Meets Instructional Needs ........................................................... 23 Standard 3 3.1 Stakeholders A. Key Stakeholders ............................................................................................ 24 B. Awareness of Student Needs and Expectations ........................................ 24-25 3.2 Stakeholder Satisfaction A. Relationships .............................................................................................. 25-26 B. Services that Satisfy Students and Stakeholders ............................................ 26 C. Student and Stakeholder Satisfaction ............................................................. 27 D. Complaint Management Process............................................................... 27-28 3.3 Stakeholder Results A. Measure of Student Utilization ....................................................................... 28 B. Student and Stakeholder Satisfaction Results ........................................... 29-30 3.A. Business Industry Relations 3.A.1. Business and Industry Linkages ................................................................. 31 3.A.2. Business and Industry Results ................................................................... 31 Standard 4.1 Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Process

A. Business Unit Process ................................................................................................ 32 B. Student Learning Outcomes Processes Explanation ............................................. 32-34 C. Student Learning Outcomes for Each Program Seeking Reaffirmation ................ 35-36 D. Student Learning Results ............................................................................................ 37 E. Differences in Achievement ....................................................................................... 37

Standard 4.2 Program Evaluation A. Program Evaluation Process ...................................................................................... 37 B. Faculty Involvement in Program Evaluation .............................................................. 37 C. Data Used in Assessment of Courses and Programs .................................................. 38 D. Program Evaluation Shared with Stakeholders .......................................................... 38 E. Examples of Program Improvements Based on Program Evaluation ........................ 38

Standard 4.A. Student Assessment 4A.1. Student Assessment Process

A. Assessing Remedial/Developmental Skills for Placement ............................ 38 B. Determining and Awarding Advanced Standing ........................................... 39 C. Student Advisement ...................................................................................... 39 D. Entrance Assessment and Remediation to Retention .............................. 39-40 E. Organizational Performance Results ........................................................ 40-45

Standard 5 – Faculty and Staff Focus 5.1 Human Resource Planning A. Recruiting and Selecting Business Faculty ...................................................... 46 B. Incentives for Recruitment of Faculty ............................................................. 46 C. Business Unit Culture ...................................................................................... 47 D. Evidence of Business Unit Satisfaction and Wellbeing ................................... 47

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5.A Faculty Characteristics ................................................................................................ 48 A. FTE Assignment ............................................................................................... 48 B. FTE & Faculty Composition ............................................................................. 48 C. Faculty Composition by Credential Type ........................................................ 48 5.A.3 Faculty Deployment and Load A. Hiring .......................................................................................................... 48-49 B. Full-time Faculty Deployment for Self-Study Year .......................................... 49 C. Programs Not Meeting Criterion .................................................................... 49 5.A.4 Faculty Load A. Faculty Load Management Policy ................................................................... 49 B. Faculty Exceeding Maximum Load During Self-Study Year............................. 49 5.A.5 Faculty Evaluation A. Faculty Evaluation System ......................................................................... 49-50 B. Sharing the Evaluation with Faculty ............................................................... 50 C. Evaluation Used in Decision making ............................................................... 50 5.A.6 Faculty and Staff Professional Development and Scholarly Activities A. Faculty and Staff Development Policies and Processes ............................. 50-51 B. Report of Scholarly Activities .......................................................................... 51 5.A.7 Faculty and Instructional Development A. Alternate Delivery Instructional Development Opportunities ....................... 52 B. Teaching Skills – Instructional Development Opportunities ........................... 52 C. Instructional Development Supports the Mission .......................................... 52 5.A.8 Faculty Operational Policies, Procedures and Practices A. Faculty Operational Policies and Procedures Manual .................................... 53 B. Faculty/Staff Handbook Accessibility .............................................................. 53 Standard 6 Process Management 6.1 Curriculum A. Managing Key Processes for Design and Delivery of Educational Programs .. 54 B. Assuring Comparable Quality of Courses Taught .......................................... 54 C. Capstone Courses ........................................................................................... 54 6.2 – 6.4 Curriculum Summaries ...................................................................................... 55 6.5 Off-Campus Operations and Unique Items A. Off-Campus Credit Hours ................................................................................ 55 B. Other Unique Situations Requiring Special Understanding ............................ 55 C. Special Circumstances Preventing Compliance with Standards ..................... 55 6.6 Minimum Grade Requirement A. Programs’ Minimum Grade Requirement ...................................................... 56 B. Process for Compliance with Minimum Grade Requirement ......................... 56 6.7 Learning and Academic Resources A. Participation in Library’s Acquisition Program ............................................... 56 B. Off-campus Students’ Access to Resources .................................................... 56 C. Availability of Other Learning and Academic Resources ................................ 56 6.8 Support Services ......................................................................................................... 57 6.9 Educational Innovation A. Business Unit Encouraging Innovation ........................................................... 57 B. Evidence of Innovation .............................................................................. 57-58

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6.10 Articulation and Transfer Relationships A. Principal Institutions Involved in Articulation................................................. 58 B. Articulation Agreements ................................................................................. 58 C. Mechanisms to Avoid Duplication of Coursework .......................................... 58 D. Transfer Advising ............................................................................................ 58 Appendix A - SACS Letter of Reaffirmation Appendix B – Organization Charts Appendix C – Institutional Effectiveness Plans Appendix D – Comparison Data Appendix E – Student Learning Outcomes Appendix F – FTE & Faculty Composition Appendix G – Full-time Faculty Deployment for Self-Study Year Appendix H –Curriculum Summaries

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Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs

(ACBSP)

Self-Study Year (2008-2009) NAME OF INSTITUTION: York Technical College PRESIDENT OR CHANCELLOR’S NAME: Dr. Greg Rutherford CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER’S NAME: Dr. Carolyn Stewart DEAN OR HEAD OF BUSINESS SCHOOL OR PROGRAM: Mr. Jack Bagwell Identification of Primary Institutional Contact during the Accreditation Process: Name: Edie Dillé Title: Associate Dean for Business and Information Technology Address: 452 S. Anderson Rd. City: Rock Hill State: South Carolina Zip: 29732 Phone: (803) 981-7314 Name of Institution’s Self-Study Coordinator: Edie Dillé Title of Self-Study Coordinator: Associate Dean for Business and Information Technology Date of Submission of this Self-Study: August 13, 2009

Standard A – Conditions for Accreditation

A. Self-Study Preparers

Edie Dillé, Associate Dean for Business and Information Technology - Chair Brian Hipp, Information Technology Department Manager Ivan Lowe, Business Administration Department Manager Gwen Wilson, Administrative Office Technology Department Manager

B. Self-Study Purpose

The purpose of our self-study was to assess the strengths and weaknesses of our Business Unit programs and processes.

C. Self-Study Timeline The timeline for the Business Unit self-study was Fall 2008 through Summer 2009.

D. Regional Accrediting Body

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is our regional accrediting body. A copy of York Technical College’s SACS reaffirmation letter is included as Appendix A.

E. Profile of the Institution York Technical College is located in Rock Hill, South Carolina. York Technical College’s Business Unit is comprised of the Administrative Office Technology (AOT) Department, Business Administration (BA) Department, and Information Technology (IT) Department. The College, and therefore the Business Unit serves York, Chester, and Lancaster counties. As an open-access institution, the Business Unit serves students with varying levels of academic preparation and provides fair and equal treatment to all students. The Business Unit served 797 students (headcount) in Fall 2008 semester. The College experienced a 12.8 percent increase in enrollment in Fall 2008 over Fall 2007; the Business Unit associate degree programs realized a 12 percent increase as well. In addition to the main campus in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the College has two satellite centers. One center is in Chester, South Carolina. The second center is in Kershaw, South Carolina. York Technical College student demographics for 2008 are: Gender: 62% female; 38% male Average age: 26 Chester County: 10%; Lancaster County: 15%; York County: 70%; other-in-state: 3%; out of state: 3% Minorities: 30% Students with disabilities: 1-2% Business Unit program enrollment by gender differs slightly from the College data. As shown in Table 1, program enrollment consists of 69 percent females and 31 percent males.

Fall 2008

Associate Degree Program Enrollment by Gender

M F Total

AB.ACC 21 136 157

AB.AOT 5 160 165

AB.BUS 46 107 153

AB.MGT 72 117 189

ACT.CPT 104 29 133

248 549 797

31.1% 68.9%

Table 1 The Business Unit offers classes through a variety of formats including traditional face-to-face classes, two-way audio/video teleclasses, online classes, and weekend classes in order to serve the needs of our students. In addition, classes are offered through the regular 16-week semester and 8-week mini-semesters. The Unit also works closely with local high schools to offer dual enrollment classes, where appropriate, so that high school students can attain college credit and high school credit simultaneously. During the past few years, the College has worked closely with Winthrop University on articulation. These efforts have increased the number of credit hours that Winthrop University will accept from our programs. Our accredited programs are designed as career programs to prepare students for work and are not designed for college transfer. Each Business Unit department has an advisory committee that consists of local business people who help us keep our programs and technology current. The Business Unit works closely with the Work-based Learning Department to place students into cooperative work experience placements and internships so that students can get experience in their field of study.

Business Unit Full-time Employees By Gender 2008/2009

Male Female

AOT Faculty 0 6

BA Faculty 5 1

IT Faculty 5 1

Percentage 56% 44%

Table 2

Business Unit Full-time Employees By Race 2008/2009

Caucasian African American

Asian

AOT Faculty

3 3 0

BA Faculty 5 1 0

IT Faculty 3 2 1

Percentage 61% 33% 6%

Table 3

South Carolina is a right-to-work state. The College does not have a collective bargaining unit. Faculty have open access to providing input to administration. They also have input into College decision-making through committees on which they serve.

F. Organizational Chart The York Technical College and Business Unit organization charts are included in Appendix B.

G. Legal Authorization York Technical College is a two-year public technical college operating in South Carolina under the authority of the State Board of Education.

H. Governing Board York Commission for Technical Education is the name of our governing body. The board includes: Mr. Bruce A. Vaughan, Chairman Mrs. Carolyn B. Carpenter, Vice Chairman Mr. Edwin L. Barnes Mr. James C. Hardin, III Dr. A. Douglas Marion Mr. Govan T. Myers

Mr. Robert B. Meek, Jr. Mr. Charles Z. Robinson Mrs. Geri H. Rucker Mr. Jeffrey C. Sigmon Dr. Greg Rutherford, President

York Technical College’s Board of Commissioners meets on the second Tuesday of every month. Members of the Board are appointed by the Governor. I. Institution’s Mission

Approved by the York Technical College Commission, August 10, 2004 Approved by South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, November 4, 2004 York Technical College, a member of the South Carolina Technical and Comprehensive Education System, is a public, two-year, associate degree-granting institution. York Technical College seeks to contribute to the economic growth and development of York, Lancaster, and Chester counties and of the State. Through excellence in teaching and partnerships, the College responds to the technical and public service needs of the community. The College has an open admissions policy for qualified students and annually enrolls 5,500 to 6,000 credit students. York Technical College provides opportunities for individuals with diverse backgrounds and ability levels to acquire or upgrade the knowledge and skills necessary in engineering technology, industrial technology, information technology, business, health, or public service employment or for transfer to senior colleges and universities. In addition to teaching technical skills, the College seeks to provide graduates competency in written and oral communication, computer skills, mathematics, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. The College offers: Associate degrees in the following areas:

vocational

technical

occupational

university transfer Diplomas and certificates in the following areas:

vocational

technical

occupational Developmental and remedial education Custom-designed continuing education for business and industry The Center for Accelerated Technology Training to train potential employees for new and expanding manufacturing companies Student development and lifelong learning opportunities York Technical College’s mission statement and goals are listed on page 9 of the 2008/2009 Student Catalog and Handbook and on the college website at http://www.yorktech.com/ie/ytcMission.asp.

J. Business Unit Mission The Business Unit at York Technical College provides students the skills to be successful, contributing members of the tri-county business community. The objectives of the programs in each discipline to be accredited are:

To prepare students with the knowledge and skills for entry-level positions

To provide students with the work ethic and characteristics sought by local employers such as punctuality, regular attendance, confidentiality, perseverance, honesty, and appropriate dress.

The Business Unit programs for which it is seeking accreditation support York Technical College’s mission of providing a skilled workforce which, in turn, supports and encourages economic development in the tri-county service area. York Technical College’s Business Unit programs are accomplishing its purpose as indicated by a positive reputation in the service area among area businesses and other community partners and a good job placement rate for each program’s graduates.

K. Business Programs

The Business Unit offers five programs: Accounting, Administrative Office Technology, Computer Technology, General Business, and Management. Within each program, two or more specializations have been developed that prepare students for different employment opportunities while providing them with the same core knowledge and skills. For instance, Administrative Office Technology is offered as a stand-alone program that prepares students for employment as administrative assistants and with a paralegal specialization which prepares students for employment as a paralegal. Likewise, students may complete the Associate in Computer Technology – Programming Specialization which prepares them as entry-level programmers or they may opt to complete the Associate in Computer Technology – Networking Specialization which prepares them for entry-level network administrators or network technicians.

Associate in Business students have the option of specializing in Accounting, Entrepreneurship, or Payroll/Income Tax. Students who complete the Accounting specialization have a good general business background but generally seek entry-level accounting jobs. Students completing the entrepreneurial specialization are generally those students who want to own and operate their own business. Whereas, students who complete the Payroll/Income Tax specialization seek jobs as payroll clerks or income tax preparers. Associate in Management students have four options. They can specialize in General Management, Human Resources, Logistics, or Environmental Science. Students who want a basic management degree take the general management track. Students who are interested in pursuing a career in human resources choose the human resources specialization; those students interested in logistics or transportation choose the logistics specialization and if they have an interest in environmental science, they choose the environmental science specialization. The environmental science specialization is the only specialization that is an interdisciplinary degree. The other specializations are taught entirely by Business Unit faculty. The Environmental specialization courses are taught by our Biology and Environmental Science faculty. The Business Unit is seeking to have all these programs and most of the specializations accredited by ACBSP.

L. Academic Degrees

Division: Business, Computer, Arts & Sciences (BCAS)

Department Program #Conferred 2008

To be accredited by ACBSP

Administrative Office Technology

Associate in Business: Administrative Office Technology Major HEGIS Code: 35007

36 Yes

Business Administration Associate in Business: Accounting Major HEGIS Code: 35002

19 Yes

Associate in Business: General Business Major HEGIS Code: 35001

13 Yes

Associate in Business: Management Major HEGIS Code: 35030

36 Yes

Information Technology Associate in Computer Technology: Computer Technology Major HEGIS Code: 35104

15 Yes

Table 4

The programs listed above have specializations as indicated in the table below. The specializations have exactly the same general education and core curriculum. There are 18 credit hours in the Other Hours Required which comprise the specialization.

Two programs listed below: AB.BUS and AB.MGT are no longer offered to new students. These programs were the offerings prior to adding the various specializations but some students are still active in those older programs; therefore, they continue to have a few graduates.

Department Program #Conferred 2008 To be accredited by ACBSP

Administrative Office Technology

Associate in Business Administrative: Office Technology Major AB.AOT HEGIS Code: 35007

24 Yes

Associate in Business Administrative: Office Technology Major; Paralegal Specialization AB.AOT.PARLG HEGIS Code: 35007

12 Yes

Business Administration

Associate in Business: Accounting Major AB.ACC HEGIS Code: 35002

19 Yes

Associate in Business: General Business Major AB.BUS HEGIS Code: 35001

4 No

Associate in Business: General Business Major; Accounting Specialization AB.BUS.ACC HEGIS Code: 35001

5 Yes

Associate in Business: General Business Major; Entrepreneurial Specialty Specialization AB.BUS.ENTSP HEGIS Code: 35001

4 Yes

Associate in Business: General Business Major; Payroll/Income Tax Specialization AB.BUS.PAYIN HEGIS Code: 35001

0 Yes

Associate in Business: Management Major AB.MGT HEGIS Code: 35030

6 No

Associate in Business: Management Major; General Management Specialization AB.MGT.GNMGT HEGIS Code: 35030

20 Yes

Associate in Business: Management Major; Human Resources Specialization AB.MGT.HMRES

10 Yes

Department Program #Conferred 2008 To be accredited by ACBSP

HEGIS Code: 35030

Associate in Business: Management Major; Fire Science Specialization AB.MGT.FRSCI HEGIS Code: 35030

0 Yes

Associate in Business: Management Major; Logistics Specialization AB.MGT.LOGST HEGIS Code: 35030

0 Yes

Associate in Business: Management Major; Environment Technology Specialization AB.MGT.ENVIR HEGIS Code: 35030

0 Yes

Information Technology

Associate in Computer Technology: Computer Technology Major ACT.CPT.PROG HEGIS Code: 35104

8 Yes

Associate in Computer Technology: Computer Technology Major; Networking Specialization ACT.CPT.NETWK HEGIS Code: 35104

7 Yes

Table 5

*Data from 2007/2008; 2008/2009 official data will not be available until mid-October 2009. As indicated in Table 5, the Logistics and Environmental Science specializations are fairly new offerings and there have not been graduates of those programs. Two programs – Accounting and Administrative Office Technology can be completed by students in the traditional format or through the online format. All of the other programs have some courses available in the online environment but are not available entirely online. The Business Unit assures continuity in knowledge and skills for students taking these alternate delivery method courses by using common syllabi for all course sections whether online, hybrid, or traditional and requiring that students take all graded tests and hands-on tests in a proctored environment. For students who are local but prefer the online offerings, York Technical College provides a staffed Assessment Center that has a generous operating schedule. If students are truly distant, the Distance Learning Department Manager works with the instructor to find a suitable proctor at a college or library near the student’s location.

Effective Fall 2009, all colleges in the South Carolina Technical College System, including York Technical College, are changing the name of their associate degrees to Associates in Applied Science. The change is being made to improve nation-wide recognition by employers and colleges/universities. Class Time Business Unit traditional classes meet three contact hours per week (150 minutes) on a Monday/Wednesday, Tuesday/Thursday, or Friday schedule during the semester. Online courses have the same course requirements as indicated by the common course syllabus and instructors use a similar schedule or calendar of learning activities even though the online learning activities may be designed in a different way. This process not only helps assure that online student time expectations are similar to traditional but it also facilitates allowing students to move from an online section to a day or evening section if they have circumstances that warrant the switch. Hybrid classes follow this pattern as well by using the same schedule or calendar of learning activities and the common syllabus. Business Unit hybrid classes meet one day per week and the other day students complete the work online. All Business Unit traditional classes now have a web-enhanced component so that students have access to the instructor notes, schedule of activities, discussion board, grade access, and email. This feature allows the learning to continue outside of class times and gives students access to materials they may have missed during a traditional class absence. Course Delivery Business Unit classes are offered through a variety of modes such as traditional (face-to-face) with web-enhancement, hybrid, online, and video-conferencing. The video-conference classes are typically taught from the main campus connected to satellite centers or high schools. Again, they follow the common course syllabus and course learning activities schedule/calendar. Credit Hours Business Unit credit hours are calculated based on the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education Policy Number 3-2-201 which states the semester credit hour requirements of 750 minutes of instruction plus an exam period per credit hour. Student Communication Business Unit program requirements, tuition and fees, student policies, and academic credentials of the faculty are communicated to students through the York Technical College Student Handbook/Catalog and through the College website. Standard 1: Leadership The Business Unit is included in the Business, Computer, Arts and Sciences (BCAS) Division. Associate Vice-President Jack Bagwell leads the BCAS Division. An associate dean, Edie Dillé, leads the Business Unit which consists of the Administrative Office Technology (formerly, Office Systems Technology) Department, Business Administration Department, and Information Technology Department. Gwen Wilson is the AOT Department manager; Ivan Lowe is the BA Department manager; and Brian Hipp is the IT Department manager. Curriculum vitas for each member of the leadership team are available in the Resource Room as Exhibit A.

Mission Statement The Business Unit at York Technical College provides students the skills to be successful, contributing members of the tri-county business community. Vision Statement The best place to acquire marketable business skills. These statements reflect exactly what the Business Unit strives to do to support the overall mission of York Technical College. They emphasize the fact that quality instruction, programs, and personnel are required in order to help our students attain the skills they need to be successful. They have students at the very heart of the statements and provide exceptional focus and direction for faculty and staff. Business Unit Values and Expectations *LEARNING: The Business Unit is committed to addressing the diverse learning needs of the community in a student-centered environment. *EXCELLENCE: The Business Unit is dedicated to excellence in instruction and advising. *COMMUNICATION: The Business Unit recognizes and supports the importance of communication with peers and employers. *COMMUNITY: The Business Unit believes in efficiently working with other educational systems, business, and industry to enhance economic growth and the quality of life for the people of the College's service area. INTEGRITY: The Business Unit strives for integrity in all stakeholder interactions, and works to ensure that academic integrity is a point of focus in all course sections. CRITICAL THINKING: The Business Unit is charged with creating activities that guide its members through the critical thinking process. TEAMWORK: The Business Unit promotes teamwork and collaboration among students and faculty. INNOVATION: The Business Unit recognizes the need to foster innovative teaching methods through the use of appropriate technologies. * Those with asterisks are shared institutional values The Business Unit believes these values are the core of its work in meeting the mission. The faculty are dedicated to each of these values and strive to incorporate them in all activities. They are effectively communicated through the website, through our everyday activities, and processes. They are upheld in our classes as each instructor plans their courses and develops their materials, prepares for advising sessions, and serves on committees or participates in meetings with other institutions. Our instructors

model integrity and emphasize to students that they expect them to behave with integrity. When infractions occur, instructors handle them according to the College policy. Critical thinking is our Quality Enhancement Plan learning outcome and has been incorporated into every program although each department is at varying stages of implementation. Our employers have emphasized the importance of having students who can work in teams. Therefore, the departments have incorporated teamwork into courses in each program. Because York Technical College is a technical college, innovation is highly important, and faculty strive to stay abreast of technology changes and find ways to incorporate them into our classes in order to increase student engagement. The Business Unit has established itself as a strong proponent of student success and economic development support through providing a skilled workforce. As such, the following requirements are established:

Set high quality, yet attainable standards for classes

Uphold standards of academic integrity (honesty, fairness, respect, trust, and responsibility)

Provide students with ample access to instructors/advisors

Hire highly qualified, student-oriented faculty

Provide students with access to the best technology, equipment, and instruction possible

Maintain instructional skill level through professional development

Strive to continuously improve through our annual processes (faculty evaluations, institutional effectiveness, DACUMs, learning outcomes, program review)

1.1 Leadership Strategies The Business Unit leadership strategies to foster a high-performance work environment that results in meeting the mission of the business unit are to create a team of skilled, dedicated, student-centered faculty. This team has been created by the department managers who have worked diligently through the hiring processes to ensure that they hire faculty that fit the culture of the organization. The department managers generally employ a participatory management style. They sustain the team spirit of esprit de corps through frequent communication, departmental meetings, collaboration, as well as sharing and celebrating professional and personal milestones. The departments have worked to create a comfortable, accessible, yet professional environment for students through the past few years. Students know who their advisors are and meet with them one on one and discuss issues through phone calls and email. Likewise, students drop by faculty offices for assistance or clarification during office hours. The culture is one of we are in this learning process together rather than us against them. 1.2 Leadership Measures The Business Unit ensures establishment, deployment, and evaluation of performance measures through the annual processes of annual program review, institutional effectiveness and faculty performance management systems (FPMS).

Through the annual program review, departments establish goals of enrollment, retention, and placement. At the end of the academic year, the report is completed to show the actual results. Through the institutional effectiveness plan, the department sets goals and implements the plan throughout the year. At the end of the cycle, the results are submitted to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Research. Each faculty member creates his/her own FPMS setting goals for each of their job duties and in support of the departmental institutional effectiveness goals. Towards the end of the academic year, faculty complete the final phase of the FPMS and provide feedback regarding whether and how they have accomplished their goals. Department managers and the associate dean review and rate each employee and provide feedback regarding strengths and weaknesses. 2.0 Leadership and Community Business Unit faculty provide for areas of public interest and concern through these methods:

A forum called the Entrepreneur Network (EN) has been established to support local small businesses. A committee plans and conducts a quarterly educational and networking session for any small business owner who desires to participate. To date, more than 500 businesses have participated since the EN was established in June 2007.

A panel of entrepreneurs is invited to the college once a semester to provide insight and motivation to business students regarding small business ownership. These events have been entitled Expo of Entrepreneurs.

Faculty participate in advisory committees for local high schools to help them stay current

Faculty speak to organizations about topics of interest

Faculty serve on local chamber boards and other civic and community organizations’ committees.

Faculty serve as student club advisors and the clubs participate in community service

Faculty participate in high schools career days and recruitment activities

Collaborate with YTC’s Continuing Education Division to offer contract classes to business and industry

Department managers supervise internships and cooperative education students Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses Summary York Technical College’s Business Unit leadership strengths are:

Well credentialed, committed leaders

Excellent planning and operational processes

Good communication within

Strong support from the administration York Technical College’s Business Unit leadership weaknesses are:

Two new department managers who are highly competent and are becoming excellent leaders but are still in the learning phases of demanding jobs.

Meeting the timelines dictated by other areas of the institution while trying to manage large departments

Standard 2: Strategic Planning 2.1 Process A. Strategic Planning Process York Technical College’s president Greg Rutherford was employed in February 2007. Since that time, the College has undergone quite an extensive strategic planning process. There have been open assemblies where all College employees broke into small groups to define our values, and there were numerous input sessions where groups of 20 faculty and staff at a time for brainstormed and shared ideas. Sessions were also held with businesses and community partners and students. The input centered around six themes – student success, programming, organizational development, partnerships, branding, and campus environment. The following graphic depicts how these themes seem to fit together:

Note that the themes all surround student success. Therefore, President Rutherford asked in the 2008/2009 academic year that the College has one goal – Maximizing Student Success. This process is available online at http://ytcblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/maximize-student-success.html. Each department within the College was charged to determine how to meet that goal through student engagement initiatives and student retention. As a result, the Business Unit departments each developed Institutional Effectiveness goals (action plan) in August/September. The departments have been working diligently towards those goals throughout the year. In late June, each department will summarize and report the outcomes in a formal document called the Institutional Effectiveness Statement of Impact.

Key Steps

Develop a budget

Develop and implement annual goals for departments and individuals

Conduct annual program plan and review

Plan and implement minor curriculum changes

Generate and implement course offerings schedule

Complete learning outcomes cycle ` The annual planning process for the Business Unit is as follows: March/April Business Unit department managers, in cooperation with the associate dean and with input from faculty, develop a budget for the next academic year. The Business Unit participates in annual program reviews. Data is compiled by the Office of Institutional Research on program factors such as program enrollment, graduation rate, and placement rate. Departmental faculty contact (phone calls, email, or letters) graduates from the previous year to determine if they have found work in their field of study. This data is recorded and compiled into a placement rate. Program placement rates determine the program standing. If a placement rate is below 50%, it puts the program in a probationary status which means that the department has a year to make improvements. If a program stays below 50% for two years, it is terminated. June/July Departments plan any minor changes to programs such as switching courses around in curriculum displays, adding/changing/deleting prerequisites, or switching out a course in a program. These proposed changes move through the hierarchy – associate dean, associate vice president, to the chief academic officer for review and approval. Once approved, these changes can be included in the catalog planning for the upcoming year. Business Unit department managers generate a plan of course offerings for the following year (Spring XX – Fall XX). The plan course offering plan includes courses in all formats – traditional – day and evening, online, mini-semester, hybrid, and weekend. Great care is taken in preparing schedules to allow students to get reasonable schedules. Learning outcomes data is summarized and reviewed by Business Unit departments. Each department discusses the results and makes recommendations based on the findings. These recommendations are documented and changes are implemented in the fall semester. August/September The Business Unit follows York Technical College’s annual planning process for Institutional Effectiveness and Faculty Performance Management System (FPMS). The FPMS process, as defined by the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education, is provided as Exhibit B. Department managers develop an annual program planning report. In order to complete this report, department managers track and review historical data such as enrollment, retention, placement, etc.

Business Unit departments update curricula on a rotating five-year basis via the DACUM process. Key Participants in Strategic Planning As stated previously, all York Technical College employees, students, businesses, and community partners are involved in the College’s strategic planning process. In the Business Unit planning process, faculty, staff, department managers, the associate dean collaborate to develop the institutional effectiveness plans. Input is solicited from students through student input sessions, the Dean’s Council, course/instructor evaluations that are completed by students, and informally through interactions with students. The associate vice president, chief academic officer, and other administrators review and allocate the resources for the operational budget and personnel requests. Committees are involved in the capital equipment budget and Perkins grant approval process. B. Communication and Deployment York Technical College communicated the objectives through an assembly of all employees. It is also posted on the College blog. Several sessions have been held throughout the year to get verbal status reports. The departments within the Business Unit communicate among themselves and with adjuncts so that they are all aware of the action plan activities. C. Evaluation of Strategic Planning Process Action plans (institutional effectiveness goals) are constantly evaluated to ensure that everyone is participating and working towards the goals. At the end of the academic year, formal evaluations are conducted and summaries are written of the accomplishments whether the goals were met or not. If not, the reasons are documented and the cycle continues into the next year. Internal Business Unit processes are consistently evaluated and tweaked to make improvements. The Business Unit has developed a list of the tasks that must be accomplished and a tentative timeline in order to be proactive. Many of the processes are college-wide and while Business Unit departments can provide input for improvements, they cannot readily make changes to them. Department managers, faculty, staff, and students are all involved in providing input to improve our processes. D. Consideration of Students/Market Needs/Competition/New Technology/Capital Equipment/Facilities/Training and Personnel Student input sessions, student learning outcomes, student evaluations, Dean’s council, advisee mentoring, and informal conversations with students keep the Business Unit informed about student needs.

Business Unit advisory committees, collaboration with peer colleges, DACUMs, business and industry partnerships, civic and community organization participation, professional development activities (conferences and professional memberships), and general day-to-day observations of our community, state, and nation through news, journals, and online sources help to keep the departments aware of market needs. In addition, input is often provided by admissions’ personnel who have potential students asking for a program or through industry partners who suggest programs. The Business Unit addresses competition by continuous attention to quality instruction, excellent counseling and advising, and a caring, yet professional academic environment. The Business Unit puts students first. As a technical college, we strive to have the best possible technology available for our students, faculty, and staff. The College has a campus-wide, wireless LAN and each classroom and instructional computer lab within the Business Unit’s primary building is a “smart” classroom. Throughout the campus, 90 smart rooms are available. In addition, there are five distance learning classrooms on the main campus, three distance learning classrooms in our Chester Center, and one in our Kershaw/Heath-Springs Center. These distance learning rooms allow us to be efficient in serving our students in the three locations as well as afford us with the ability to provide dual credit offerings to high school students. The College budgetary process includes projecting personnel needs, special needs such as renovations or updates to classrooms, capital equipment which includes computers for labs, software, furniture, etc., and the operational budget. Technical support staff also provide input for the capital budget. In addition, department managers and the associate dean, with solicited input from the faculty, generate and prioritize Perkins grant requests for the Business Unit. The budget forms and documents are available as Exhibit C. Although the College has been challenged by State budget cut-backs, the increase in enrollment over the past few years permitted the Business Administration and Administrative Office Technology Departments to justify adding one full-time faculty member to bring the total number of faculty in each of the Business Unit departments to six in 2008/2009. Each position within the Business Unit has a formal position description filed with Human Resources. When vacancies occur, the Business Unit abides by Federal guidelines and College practices for recruiting, interviewing, and hiring. The Business Unit has responsibility for seven academic computer labs and the open lab. Two labs are updated through the capital budget process on an annual, rotating basis. This process allows us to keep state-of-the-art equipment available for our students. As stated previously, the Business Unit does participate actively in the Perkins Grant proposal process and has been allocated funding of $49,123 and $34,045 for the past two academic years for equipment, software upgrades, and professional development.

In addition to the external professional development activities that employees may participate in, the College provides internal professional development on a weekly basis. Because most departments operate on a four day instructional workweek for most of the College, Fridays are designated for professional development and meetings. As a result of the College’s strategic plan, the College hired a consulting group to develop a master plan. The master plan will address facilities, parking, lighting, access, student flow, programming, and more. The plan is available as Exhibit D. 2.2 Current Strategic Plan

A. Business Unit’s Key Strategic Objectives

The Business Unit’s key objectives for this year are:

Increase student engagement in classes.

Increase the percentage of students retained in courses for the semester without lowering standards.

The timetable was this academic year beginning with Fall 2008. The results of these activities will be compiled, summarized, and reported by July 10, 2009.

B. Business Unit’s Action Plan Action plans, our institutional effectiveness plans, are developed within each department. The faculty brainstorm ideas for meeting the objectives and then vote on the tactics they want to employ. The 2008/2009 Institutional Effectiveness Plans are included as Appendix C.

C. Communication and Deployment All faculty are involved in the development of the Institutional Effectiveness Plans of each department. After the meeting in which they discuss the tactics they want to employ, the

0

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Business Unit Allocation of Perkins Grant

Allocation

department manager completes the plan and submits it to the faculty for feedback. It is also shared with the associate dean for review and approval. Once approved, it is submitted to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Research for posting on the College intranet. The department manager shares the plan objectives with adjunct faculty through email, verbally, or both. The faculty begin their work towards achieving the goals of the plan. At the end of spring semester, the department manager collects data from all faculty to compile, summarize, analyze the results, and decide on future action. This information is shared with the Department, associate dean, and submitted to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Research. Standard 2.A Adequate Resources 2.A.1 Finances A. Student Credit Hours

As the graph below shows, Business Unit programs continue to grow. The General Business degree generated 54 percent more student credit hours in 2008/2009 over 2006/2007. The Accounting and Administrative Office Technology programs both generated 39 percent more credit hours over the same two-year period. Overall, Business Unit programs generated 31 percent more hours in 2008/2009 than in 2006/2007.

York Technical College generated 117,438 credit hours in 2008/2009 which was a 21 percent increase over 2006/2007. The Business Unit associate degree programs produced 19 percent of the total YTC credit hours in 2008/2009 which was a one percent increase over 2007/2008.

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B. Graduates In recent years, Business Unit faculty have undergone advising training and put great emphasis on working one-on-one with students in their advising/mentoring role. This fact has greatly improved the number of graduates.

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York Technical College and Total Business Unit Associate Degree Program Semester Credit Hours

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C. Business Unit Expenditures

D. Business Unit Budget and Expenditures as a Percent of YTC’s Budget and Expenditures

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E. Despite the fact that State funding has been greatly reduced, the College continues to financially support the Business Unit well. In 2008/2009, the Business unit added two new full-time faculty positions – one in the Business Administration Department and one in the Administrative Office Technology Department.

The College continues to update computer labs and smart classrooms despite the budget concerns. The State lottery provides funding for equipment and technology that is separate from the operational funding allocated by the S.C. Legislature. The Business Unit does participate actively in the Perkins Grant proposal process and has been allocated funding for equipment, software upgrades, and professional development. Faculty and staff professional development is a priority for York Technical College. Each year, $225,000 is allocated to a college-wide professional development budget.

F. Business Unit’s Key Budgetary, Financial, and Market Performance

As shown through the previous sections, the Business Unit continues to flourish. Enrollment continues to grow and despite the State budget cutbacks, York Technical College’s administration continues to support the Business Unit by providing adequate funding. The College and the Business Unit have good planning processes in place to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of students.

2.A.2 Facilities

A. Business Unit Classrooms/Labs/Offices The Business Unit primarily uses classrooms and computer labs in upstairs A-Building. There are eight classrooms and seven computers labs used almost exclusively by the Business Unit. In addition, teleclasses (two-way video classes) are offered in the new Science and Technology Building. Some traditional classes are also scheduled in the Science and Technology Building or

0%

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6%

Computer Business AOT

Business Unit Budget & Expenditures as a Percentage of YTC Budget & Expenditures FY

2007 - 2009 Budget 06/07

Expenditures 06/07

Budget 07/08

Expenditures 07/08

Budget 08/09

Expenditures 08/09

elsewhere on campus if A-Building rooms are not available. In 2008-2009, the College added a computer lab in B-building. The Science and Technology Building is a short walk from A-Building, and B-Building is the next adjacent building to A-Building with a covered walkway. Business Unit computer labs are updated on a two-year rotation to maintain state-of-the-art technology. The labs seat from 16 to 30 students except for one lab where a partition was removed. It seats 60 students. This lab is used for large CPT 101 (college-transfer) classes when they have lab activities as well as basic keyboarding classes. Plans are to add a retractable partition to the 60-seat lab in order to make it more flexible for large classes or two smaller classes when needed. The Business Unit is getting close to capacity with computer lab availability. However, that has been included in planning, and it will be addressed in the coming year. Business Unit faculty offices are all in A-Building with the majority of them on one end of the building. Most faculty have private offices. Others have shared suites with dividers for privacy.

B. Renovation of Space/New Facilities In 2008/2009, computer lab – A250 was updated – to remove a maze-like configuration and replace it with a more standard computer-lab configuration. This update required new computer tables, chairs, re-wiring, and some electrical work. However, the new layout is a much better instructional environment. The College has hired a consulting group to develop a master plan. The master plan will address facilities, parking, lighting, access, student flow, programming, and more. The plan is available as Exhibit E.

C. Linkages of Facility Planning

Our facilities planning is closely linked to our strategic planning as indicated by the College commissioning a master plan. Likewise, each year as budget planning progresses, department managers consider facilities needs as part of the process. Department managers have a proposal report to complete at that time if classroom or lab renovation is needed.

2.A.3 Equipment

A. The Business Unit’s plan for acquisition, upgrade, and maintenance of equipment is part of our annual budget planning for capital equipment. As stated previously, the Business Unit updates the lab computers on a two-year rotation. Business Unit leaders also work closely with our Information Services personnel to monitor printer, scanner, and other peripheral needs and budget for peripherals in the planning cycle as well.

Faculty office equipment is also included in the budget planning process.

The Business Unit also takes advantage of Perkins grant funding requests for equipment. Faculty monitor industry trends through their reading of professional journals, attendance at conferences, etc. so they know when software updates are available or industry standards have changed. Input from advisory committees and DACUMs help the departments know when to update to the new versions of software or change software. Faculty input in this regard is included in the budget planning process. The Business Unit employs a full-time staff technician who maintains the instructional labs in cooperation with the Information Services Department. Day-to-day maintenance items (e.g., hard drive, RAM) for computers are purchased through a budget line item.

B. Linkages of Equipment Planning to Strategic Plan

Purchases of equipment and software are included in the budgetary cycle which is part of our annual strategic planning. If a Business Unit department updates a program through the DACUM process and requires additional equipment or software, that information is fed into the budgeting process.

C. Business Unit Equipment Inventory

This inventory will be available in the resource room as Exhibit F.

D. Equipment Meets Instructional Needs

The equipment meets the instructional needs of the Business Unit. The York Technical College planning processes permit the Business Unit to be proactive in providing for the needs of students.

Strategic Planning Summary The strengths of the Business Unit’s strategic planning are:

Proactive stance towards providing for instructional needs

Excellent communication among the faculty and department managers in order to properly plan

Excellent program updates through the DACUM process

Supportive administration who practice financial prudence and allocate funding equitably

Excellent processes The weaknesses of the Business Unit’s strategic planning are:

Difficulty in projecting demand

Decreasing funding provided by State

Department managers’ time for planning activities is decreasing as program enrollment continues to grow

Standard 3: Student, Stakeholder, and Market Focus 3.1 Stakeholders A. The Business Unit’s key stakeholders are students, local businesses who are employers or potential

employers of our students, and alumni. B. York Technical College’s Business Unit maintains awareness of student needs and expectations

through the following means:

Advising/Mentoring Each student has a faculty advisor from within their department. During the past few years, Business Unit advisors have worked diligently to establish good relationships with their advisees. They communicate through email, phone, and in-person. When registration periods open, advisors email their advisees and invite them to make appointments. Each advisee is scheduled in a 30-minute block of time to allow adequate time for discussing student career goals, current semester status, problems, and planning a schedule that meets the student’s graduation plan. During this time, advisors schedule appointments during the day, evening, or whenever necessary to meet the needs of the students. Faculty also maintain at least eight office hours per week to see and work with students throughout the semester. Student Input Sessions In addition, the Business Unit holds Student Input Sessions in fall semester to allow students to provide input about what works and what they’d like to see changed. Students also provide input through course/instructor evaluations every semester for each course. Input from the most recent SIS is available as Exhibit G. Dean’s Council The Associate Vice President (AVP) for BCAS holds Dean’s Council meetings once a semester during an activity period. The Council consists of students recommended by faculty members to represent the other students within that discipline. The Council shares comments and concerns with the AVP and gets an update on College activities. Student Services York Technical College’s Student Services personnel work closely with students and listen to their needs and expectations and help them fulfill their academic goals. Services through this area include admissions counseling, career counseling, financial aid, student support services, tutoring center, registrar, special resources, and much more. Start Center The Start Center conducts orientation and advising for first time students to the College. The knowledgeable staff listen to the students, calm their fears, and help them get started on their first semester with confidence. The Start Center personnel work closely with departmental faculty so that students have a smooth transition into the departments.

College Orientation Courses (COL 101/103/105) A variety of college orientation courses of varying lengths and credit hours are available for students. These courses are designed to provide students with knowledge of the College, study skills, planning schedules, test-taking, team-building, and much more. These courses are often taught by Student Services staff and provide students with a safe atmosphere for voicing concerns about things that may occur during that important first semester.

Student requirements are determined in a variety of ways. The DACUM process provides valuable input regarding skills students need in order to be employable. Business Unit departments spend a great deal of time after a DACUM developing or updating a curriculum. The departmental faculty create program displays that allow students to complete the curriculum as efficiently as possible. During the curriculum review, faculty can identify equipment and software requirements as well. Business Unit advisory committees are very active and supportive. These groups of business people provide valuable input into what businesses expect of graduates. At each meeting, the agenda includes time for the participants to share changes in technology, hardware, processes, and characteristics they expect of new employees. This input is often used to update course materials to provide students with the most current employer expectations. Minutes of advisory committee minutes are available as Exhibit H. Upon request and approval, South Carolina Technical Colleges form peer groups to consider situations that may potentially impact all 16 colleges. For instance, two years ago, the Office Systems Technology Peer Group met to discuss a name change and to update the Catalog of Approved Courses (CAC) which is the SCTCS’s list of courses that any college within the system may use. This peer group ability allows the technical colleges to share information regarding student requirements. Participation in the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) also provides the Business Unit with valuable contacts from whom to glean information about student requirements. Likewise, attendance at the ACBSP Conference, the Southeastern Business and Marketing Education Conference, National Association for Community College Entrepreneurs’ Conference, and other conferences allow faculty to network and stay attuned to student and market requirements.

3.2 Stakeholder Satisfaction

A. The Business Unit builds relationships to attract and retain students through its student-centered philosophy of teaching and learning. The culture of the Business Unit is one of professional concern that students gain the knowledge and skills required of each program in order to become quality employees and productive members of society. Many of the processes stated in Section 3.1 demonstrate the care instructors exhibit that attracts and retains students. A student in recent years stated “{the local university} is like the world; but York Tech is like home.” That statement seems to clearly indicate that the culture is student-centered.

Because the Business Unit faculty build relationships with students through the mentoring/advising role and through their interactions in the classrooms, former students often stay in touch with instructors and share input regarding where the programs might need to be strengthened and where they felt they have been well-prepared.

Faculty discuss observations of current students’ activities, behaviors, and interests. In addition, the Student Input Sessions allow us to get direct input from the current students.

York Technical College participates in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). The results related to active learning and engagement is shown in the table below.

CCSSE Results

Benchmark YTC Other Small Colleges

2008 CCSSE Cohort

Active and Collaborative Learning Benchmark: Difference:

52.0

51.4 .7

50.0 2.0

Student Effort Benchmark: Difference:

50.3

51.2 -0.9

50.0 0.3

Academic Challenge Benchmark: Difference:

54.0

50.5 3.5

50.0 4.0

Student-Faculty Interaction Benchmark: Difference:

55.5

51.8 3.7

50.0 5.5

Support for Learners Benchmark: Difference:

54.9

51.8 3.2

50.0 4.9

B. Services That Satisfy Students and Stakeholders

The Business Unit schedules classes in a variety of modes – traditional, online, hybrid, and teleclass. In addition, the departments ensure that all traditional classes are available day and evening so that students can complete their program in a timely manner. Several years ago, the College changed scheduling from a MWF, TTH schedule to MW, TTH schedule. The purpose was to decrease the number of days students had to travel for classes. In addition, department managers put effort into ensuring classes are available so that students can get a full-time schedule on two days a week. Faculty schedule a minimum of eight office hours each week and are available by appointment at other times. Many of the Business Unit faculty welcome students at almost any time they are in their offices. The College is operational from 8 a.m. through 9:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday. It is open on Fridays from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. except during summer when it closes at 3 p.m. The Open Computer Lab operates on the same schedule with the addition of four hours on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. In addition, York Technical College provides a wireless LAN to students who bring their own laptops. Wireless access is available throughout the campus. The Assessment Center is open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. These operating hours provide online students with ample opportunity for taking tests regardless of their work and family responsibilities.

All Student Services offices operate from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Friday except during summer. The Library also operates a generous schedule of hours from 7:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Fridays. The Computer Technology Department operates a faculty-staffed tutoring lab on Fridays from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.; 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. This permits students who need extra help to come in and have one-on-one access to instructors outside of class time. The Distance Learning Department offers a number of orientation to online classes sessions during the day and evening to give students who are new to distance learning an opportunity to get acquainted with the learning management system prior to a semester’s start. The Bookstore operates on a 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:45 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Friday schedule. Students have email accounts through Campus Cruiser. In addition, they have Internet access to their transcripts, schedules, etc. through Campus Cruiser. They can also self-register and pay through Campus Cruiser although departments recommend that they see an advisor prior to self-registration.

C. Student and Stakeholder Satisfaction

In addition to creating an atmosphere of openness within the Business Unit so that students feel safe in expressing concerns, questions, and thoughts, department managers also plan to continue the Student Input Sessions on an annual basis. SIS data has been categorized and quantified from detailed notes taken during those sessions.

D. Complaint Management Process Open Door Policy – Faculty/Department Managers/Associate Dean and Other Administrators The Business Unit provides students with open access to instructors, department managers, the associate dean, the associate vice-president, and most other administrators on campus. Any time one of us is in our offices, students are welcome to come in and discuss concerns. Generally, if it is a student complaint about a particular instructor, advisors will suggest that the student talk with the instructor first, and if they can’t resolve the problem, the student is instructed to see the department manager. If the issue is not resolved at the department manager level, the student moves through the hierarchy to the associate dean, and on up. Because the Unit has created an atmosphere where students are free to voice concerns, the departments generally find out early about problems so they can be resolved before they get too complex. Any issues that are new, unusual, or repetitive become topics for discussion at Business Unit meetings so that all can learn from them and try to prevent them from recurring. This information is also shared with adjunct faculty via email or at orientation meetings. Student Grievance Procedure for Discrimination

All enrolled students are sent an email at the beginning of each term with a direct link to the Student Code and Grievance Procedure. This document advises students of their rights and responsibilities, behavior expectations, and the procedures for filing a grievance. All written grievances have a formal follow-up procedure which includes all appropriate channels of supervision. The follow-up and resolution procedures allow for identification of the problem, evaluation of solutions, and provide an avenue for continuous improvement. If a student feels that he has been discriminated against on the basis of age, sex, race, disability or other conditions, preferences, or behavior, the student follows the Student Grievance Procedure for the South Carolina Technical College System. This procedure is available as Exhibit I. 3.3 Stakeholder Results

A. The Business Unit measures student utilization of offerings and services through program enrollment, retention rates, and work-based learning placements.

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B. Student and Stakeholder Satisfaction Results Students also provide input through the Course/Instructor evaluations at the end of each course in a quantifiable manner in addition to having the opportunity to make comments. The numeric results of those evaluations are shown in the graph below.

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Student Satisfaction Focus Group In Fall 2009, the Business Unit held a student input session to which all current business students were invited. Posters announcing the session were displayed in classrooms and instructors announced the session to their classes. The associate dean facilitated the session and the department managers took notes. The strengths and weaknesses noted by the students are listed below:

Strengths

Several classmates take advantage of tutoring on Friday

Working together with instructors. I can go to any instructor for assistance.

Another student agreed with the above, if you have a problem, any instructor will help you. If

the instructor doesn’t know the answer, they will find it and get back with you.

All instructors have been helpful with me keeping up with classes. The computer labs have been

helpful – otherwise I would be totally lost

Weaknesses

Lab techs have not been helpful to me. Some are on My Space and will not leave it to help you.

Some are doing a great job, some are not doing anything.

Online classes – instructors are not present physically. They never made a commitment to meet

with you. I could not see my grades in online classes. I suggest face to face time each semester

to discuss expectations. I felt left in the dark and was unhappy.

Online classes are weak. No instant answers like you get in the classroom. When you send an

email, you have to wait a few days for a response.

I was in the dark with online classes last semester. I hear this a lot from other students as well.

My advisor suggested sitting in another instructor’s classroom.

The Business Unit surveys employers every other year to determine satisfaction level with graduate preparation. The results of the surveys are in the graph below

57%

43%

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Employer Satisfaction 2009

VS

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VD

3.A. Business Industry Relations 3.A.1 Business and Industry Linkages Each Business Unit department has an advisory committee that consists of local business and industry employees who provide input regarding the skills, knowledge, hardware, and software needed by each program. Advisory committees meet twice a year. In addition to providing information, many of the advisory committee members support the departments by providing work-based learning opportunities for students. Every five years on a rotational basis for each program, the Business Unit invites a panel of business people participate in a DACUM. The information provided through the DACUM process permits the Business Unit to update curricula so that Business Unit graduates attain the most current skills and knowledge needed in order to be marketable. Local businesses provide opportunities for students to participate in work-based learning activities. In addition, they take advantage of Career Services to advertise openings in order to hire graduates. 3.A.2 Business and Industry Results The impact of the Business Unit’s positive business and industry linkages is that it has students who attain work experience through work-based learning activities and jobs. These rewarding relationships also provide the Business Unit departments with support such as speakers for special topics, field trips, and adjunct instructors. Ties to business and industry also help to keep programs current and relevant. Student, Stakeholder and Market Summary Business Unit strengths in regard to student and stakeholder focus are:

Student-centered philosophy

Very good advising philosophy

Excellent program updates through DACUM process

Excellent advisory committees

Excellent work-based learning department

Very good placement rates Business Unit opportunities for improvement in student and stakeholder focus are:

Assuring that students get admitted to the right program for them (they understand what the program prepares them to do)

Requiring students to see a departmental advisor prior to registering for classes

Continuing to work with weaker advisors

Continuing to conduct student input sessions

Add an alumni survey

Continuing to strengthen advisory committees

Continue to encourage online faculty to provide feedback quickly.

4.1 Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Process

A. York Technical College’s Business Unit began a Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Process

in 2006 based on input through ACBSP’s Annual Conference. In academic year 2006/2007, the Business Unit worked together to develop learning outcomes for each associate degree program, determine where learning outcomes should be assessed, choose an assessment to measure the learning outcomes, and establish goals. A process for systematically collecting data and samples was established and information about the learning outcomes process was provided to adjunct faculty. A database was created to store the data and spreadsheets linked to summarize and graph the data. In Fall 2007, the Business Unit began collecting learning outcomes data for five associate degrees currently accredited by ACBSP.

B. Student Learning Outcomes Processes Explanation

The Business Unit has determined that learning outcomes will be collected at the end of each semester in specific courses where benchmarks should be reached. For each of the five associate degree programs, there are a minimum of four learning outcomes. The list of learning outcomes is included in 4.1.C.

Data will be reported from the instructor of each section of the specified course on a learning outcomes data collection sheet. The lead instructor, a full-time instructor, for each course will have responsibility for ensuring that all faculty submit their learning outcomes data collection sheet to him within a month of the end of the semester. The lead instructor will forward the data to the administrative assistant who will import the data into the database. In mid-July, the associate dean and department managers will meet with each department and review the findings. Notes will be made about the needed changes to courses, the assessment,

benchmarks, or the process. This information will be shared with adjunct faculty through electronic communication and meetings. The Business Unit continues to refine the process. The Business Unit Learning Outcomes Documentation Committee developed notebooks for each course in which learning outcomes are collected. These notebooks include the learning outcome, the graph depicting the goal and the result of the assessment, the assessment, samples of good, average, and poor student work on the assessment, and changes made as a result of the assessment review. These notebooks are available as Exhibit J. What is Collected and Why The Business Unit departments assess student learning outcomes in each associate degree program in four areas: communication skills, computer application skills, awareness of technology’s impact on global business practice, and substantive disciplinary knowledge and skills. Data is collected in each of these areas and departmental faculty review summaries and decide where changes need to be made. For instance, in the 2007/2008 review, AOT faculty realized that problems existed with the assessment (word processing hands-on test) related to substantive disciplinary knowledge and skills learning outcome because the data indicated that the percentage of students attaining a 70 percent or better on the assessment was very low. As a result, the faculty discussed the assessment and determined that there was an unrealistic speed requirement associated with the assessment. The faculty revised the assessment to adjust the speed requirement after assessing how much time it took the majority of the class to complete the work. As a result of the changes, almost 90 percent of the students earned a 70 or better on the assessment. Student and Stakeholder Information Usage The Business Unit’s purpose of collecting data and reviewing the results in specified courses is to determine if students, as a whole, are learning what faculty believe they should be learning to be proficient in their discipline. If they are not, it allows the faculty to make changes to the courses including teaching methods, assessments, and/or the processes to continuously improve the courses, programs, and the assessment process. Comparable Business Unit Program Information The Business Unit faculty determined learning outcomes and set goals based on their expertise in the disciplines. However, the York Technical College Business Unit will pursue requesting South Carolina Technical College System peer groups of Accounting, Management, Computer Technology, and Administrative Office Technology in order to set benchmarks prior to the next Quality Assurance reporting period. The Business Unit does review data from peer institutions in the State that offer the same programs in regard to program enrollment, graduation rates, and placement rates. These are similar comparisons that most academic institutions use for comparison data. The following are the results are provided in Appendix D.

Data Used to Set Targets Business Unit department managers, in collaboration with the faculty, set the 70 percent target goal based on the fact that all Business Unit accredited programs require that students attain a minimum of 70 percent on core courses. However, the Business Department’s students performed so well on 2007/2008 assessments, that the department raised its target goal to 80 percent of the students scoring 80 or better. The Administrative Office Technology and Information Technology departments continue to use 70 percent. Improve Student Learning Through Comparative/Benchmark Data It would be ideal to have comparative peer data if the cost was not exorbitant. The departments would use the data to set objectives they would strive to achieve by identifying strategic tactics to employ. The tactics such as those identified in the institutional effectiveness plan in 2008/2009, in turn, impact student learning. Some of the tactics this year include operating a faculty-led tutoring lab on Fridays for any student who needs assistance with any of the courses he/she is taking, having one-on-one sessions with students to get better acquainted with students and their career goals, and carefully monitoring student progress through their education plan. Currently, the student learning outcomes data is used to determine where changes need to be made. For instance, with the Business Administration Department, the results surpassed the target goals. Therefore, the Department decided to increase the target goal. In another situation, the Department found that an assessment was unfair because so few students were meeting the requirement, and the assessment instrument was revised. Results of Key Measures of Student Learning (Comparative with other institutions) The Business Unit programs have the following learning outcomes (a subset of all of the Business Unit learning outcomes) identified as key measures of student learning that it can compare with other institutions nationally. At this point, Business Unit CCSSE data has not been tracked separately from York Technical College (YTC) data. However, the Unit is pursuing that tactic. As shown in Table 9, YTC students report that they think critically and analytically more frequently than Other Small Colleges and the Cohort. YTC students reported communication skills below that of both Other Small Colleges and Cohorts which tells us that we need to increase the learning activities where students can gain these skills. YTC students also reported higher incidents of acquiring job or work-related knowledge and skills although we need to continue emphasis in this area as well as critical thinking.

Comparative Student Learning Measures

Learning outcome

YTC Students

Other Small Colleges

2008 CCSSE Cohort

Apply critical thinking skills – mapped to CCSSE 12e – thinking critically and

2.96 2.90 2.87

analytically

Employ good verbal and written communication skills – mapped to CCSSE 12d – Speaking clearly and effectively

2.57 2.62 2.60

Employ good verbal and written communication – mapped to 12c – Writing clearly and effectively

2.66 2.70 2.69

Demonstrate substantive disciplinary knowledge and skills – mapped to 12b – Acquiring job or work-related knowledge and skills

2.84 2.67 2.56

Table 6

Improving Business Programs and Enhancing Student Learning Through Learning Outcomes Data Business Unit learning outcomes have been identified, target goals have been set, and results have been computed for the previous two academic years. A systematic process has been implemented to collect the data and provide it in graphic format. The faculty meet to discuss the learning outcomes data and determine what changes, if any, need to be implemented. Changes are documented in notes and the cycle continues as we re-evaluate the learning outcome after changes have occurred. While it has been a tremendous undertaking, the Business Unit faculty have embraced the process and are working together to perfect the system and use the results to improve student learning. Ultimately, the goal is to improve the quality of the graduates’ skills so that they will be even more valuable employees.

C. Student Learning Outcomes for Each Program Seeking Re-Affirmation AB.ACC Employ good verbal and written communication skills. Demonstrate proficient computer application skills. Demonstrate awareness of technology’s impact on global business practice. Demonstrate substantive disciplinary knowledge and skills.

Analyze and record transactions. Develop financial statements using a spreadsheet. Demonstrate knowledge of LIFO, FIFO, and average inventory methods. Apply accounts receivable allowance methods.

Demonstrate knowledge of transactions involving operating and capital leases. Set up and prepare payroll.

Record and summarize the flow of costs connected with a manufacturing business. Set up and complete accounting cycle for a business using computerized software.

AB.AOT Employ good verbal and written communication skills. Demonstrate proficient computer application skills.

Demonstrate awareness of technology’s impact on global business practice. Demonstrate substantive disciplinary knowledge and skills.

Transcribe and develop error-free business correspondence. Generate and analyze computerized financial statements. Develop error-free business documents. Develop business-related spreadsheets. Plan and develop web pages. Display good work habits, time management and self discipline.

Practice effective records management techniques. AB.BUS Employ good verbal and written communication skills. Demonstrate proficient computer application skills. Demonstrate awareness of technology’s impact on global business practice. Demonstrate substantive disciplinary knowledge and skills.

Develop financial statements – balance sheet, income statement, and statement of owner’s equity. Generate and analyze computerized financial statements. Develop a business plan. Research and develop a product. Explain business contracts and how they work.

Create a payroll system. AB.MGT Employ good verbal and written communication skills. Demonstrate proficient computer application skills. Demonstrate awareness of technology’s impact on global business practice. Students will demonstrate substantive disciplinary knowledge and skills.

Apply knowledge of business flow and requirements by developing a floor plan. Research and develop a business plan. Research and develop a product. Apply primary EEOC law to workplace scenarios.

Create a payroll system. Research and critique a current business law. ACT.CPT (Programming and Networking Specializations) Apply critical thinking skills. Demonstrate teamwork. Employ good verbal and written communication skills. Demonstrate proficient computer application skills. Demonstrate awareness of technology’s impact on global business practice. Students will demonstrate substantive disciplinary knowledge and skills.

Develop programs using multiple current high level languages. Employ application software to solve problems. Demonstrate networking knowledge and skills. Develop a computer system to solve a business problem.

D. Table I – Student Learning Results

See Appendix E.

E. Differences in Achievement of Online/Hybrid Students Versus Traditional No variation noted except that a higher percentage of online students withdraw. Those students who remain in the courses typically perform at an equivalent level.

4.2 Program Evaluation

A. Program Evaluation Process The Business Unit uses the DACUM process to update programs on a five year rotational basis. The Instructional Development (ID) Office facilitates the DACUM, and the associate dean and department manager work with the ID Office to invite the panelists. In addition, each course is assigned to a primary instructor within the department. The instructor is responsible for annually reviewing the course syllabus and updating it. Generally, the instructor works with other faculty in the department who also teach the course if updates are necessary. After the update, the syllabus is sent through the formal approval process: department manager, associate dean, and finally the instructional developer before posting to the website as the official syllabus.

B. Faculty Involvement in Program Evaluation

All faculty from the department through which the program is offered are invited to the DACUM to observe and to have lunch with the panelists so they can gather information through that informal process as well as the formal DACUM.

After the DACUM profile has been created, reviewed by the panelists, advisory committee, and other business people who may not have been able to participate in the DACUM panel, the faculty meet to determine which tasks that have been identified on the profile are/are not being covered in the current curriculum. When course modifications are needed, they make those adjustments to the corresponding course syllabus. If courses need to be added or eliminated, the proposed program is adjusted to reflect the needed changes. Once the plan of needed changes to the program is complete, the manager updates the program checklist and display, writes justifications for the updates, and sends it through the formal approval process: associate dean, associate vice-president, executive vice president, Quality Learning Council, Council of Academic and Student Affairs, Executive Committee, Commission Curriculum Committee, full Commission, and S.C. Technical College System Curriculum Office. If the review and newly-approved program indicated the need for one or more new courses, the faculty develop the courses. If the review and newly approved program indicates the need to eliminate a course, the course is eliminated.

C. Data Used in Assessment of Courses and Programs The Business Unit collects informal and formal data regarding whether the courses and programs meet the educational objectives. Formal input is provided by employers through the work-based learning evaluations, advisory committees, and employer surveys. Formal input from students is provided through annual Student Input Sessions. Informal input is provided through graduate comments after they have jobs or have transferred to a senior institution. In addition, departments review learning outcomes data.

D. Program Evaluation Shared with Stakeholders

Program evaluation data is shared with students through the York Technical College Handbook/Catalog and website as the new program. The DACUM profile is also listed on the website. Program displays are also located on the website. Informally, instructors and advisors share information about program changes with students in classes or as they meet with them for advising appointments. Updates to programs are shared with Student Services personnel through email, Advisor Update Newsletter, and a meeting. Program updates are also shared with advisory committees.

E. Examples of Program Improvements Based on Program Evaluation

An example of an improvement that has been made as a result of the DACUM process includes revising the Administrative Office Technology degree to add Internet Communications and eliminate two of four keyboarding classes. The DACUM panel indicated the speed and accuracy for which the two upper level keyboarding classes prepared students was unnecessary due to word processing software and current office requirements. The DACUM required higher level database and spreadsheet abilities than the previous program had provided. The most recent Programmer/Systems Analyst DACUM required that more emphasis be placed on hardware so the program is being revised to include the A+ certification course that we already offered as bonus for computer technology and networking students. It also provided input to move the Internet Programming course to the core curriculum from electives (as the DACUM indicated those skills were needed) and move second level C++ course to the elective area from core. This move satisfies both the DACUM and input from networking students who are not interested in programming and find it to be a difficult course.

4A. Student Assessment 4A.1. Student Assessment Process

A. Assessing Remedial/Developmental Skills for Placement

Upon admission to York Technical College, new students who have not completed coursework at another college take a Compass placement test that provides scores on Reading, Writing, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra. The test scores are keyed into the Datatel Student Information System which makes them accessible to advisors as they work with students to determine entry-level math, reading, and English classes.

Each advisor has a MATH/ENGLISH/READING diagram that shows which test scores that match each math, English, and reading course. The scores were determined by a committee of faculty. Advisors use the diagram to determine where a student needs to begin their coursework. The diagram is available in the Resource Room as Exhibit K.

B. Determining and Awarding Advanced Standing

Students may take exemption tests and CLEP tests for a number of courses for a fee. The list is available in the Resource Room as Exhibit L. In addition, the AOT Department provides a placement test to students in the entry-level keyboarding class to determine if students may move to the next-level keyboarding class. This process was implemented several years ago as more students began coming in with good keyboarding skills. Departments also provide exemptions for students based on national industry exams. For instance, if a student has passed the Network+ exam, the department manager will process an exemption credit form so the student does not have to take IST 220. In cases where a student has a great deal of work experience in an area covered by a course, feels proficient, and can provide proof through a letter from an employer that shows the student has the competencies covered in the course syllabus, the department manager will process an exemption credit form for the course.

C. Student Advisement New students to the college go to the Start Center for orientation and advisement. The Start Center is operated by two full-time employees and four part-time employees who work 30 hours per week. After they are admitted, students are assigned an academic advisor from their academic program department and they see that advisor for the remainder of their educational experience. Academic advisors send email messages and periodic reminders to their advisees to alert them to make an appointment for advising prior to registration’s start date. Advisors make themselves available during a wide range of hours during the days and evenings. Advisors also work with students through email or phone if that is the student’s preference. The registration period for summer and fall semesters opens simultaneously in mid-April. While summer registration closes just prior to the semester start, fall registration continues throughout the summer and ends the day before classes begin. Students have the option of self-registering and at this time, advising is not mandatory prior to registration. Advisors review students’ entrance exam scores and place them in math, reading, and English courses accordingly.

D. Entrance Assessment and Remediation to Retention

The graph below depicts the percentage of students who took at least one developmental course and remained in the program throughout the year.

The following graph shows the percentage of graduates who successfully completed at least one developmental course.

0%

50%

100%

2007 2008 2009

Business Unit Students Successfully Completing At Least One

Developmental Class and …

ACC

CPT

BUS

MGT

AOT

0%

50%

100%

2007 2008 2009


Business Unit Graduates Having Successfully Completed at Least

One Developmental Course

ACC

CPT

BUS

MGT

E. Organizational Performance Results

Performance Measure

(Competency)

Description of Measurement

Instrument Areas of Success

Analysis and Action Taken

Results of Action

Taken (occurs in the

following year) Graph

Business Unit programs will maintain a healthy enrollment.

Programs will maintain enrollment of not fewer than 100 students.

Programs have been consistently above the goal. Even though CPT had a slight decline in 2009, the program is performing well. Computer Science programs nationally have suffered during the past 10 years.

0 25 50 75

100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300

2007 2008 2009

# S

tud

en

ts


Enrollment - Business Unit Associate Degree Programs

ACC

BUS

CPT

MGT

AOT

Performance Measure

(Competency)




Results of Action



The Business Unit will strive to retain students within their programs.

Fall-to-fall program retention of first-time freshmen is reported on an annual basis by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. The Business Unit’s goal is a 50 percent fall-to-fall retention rate.

AB.ACC’s retention rate was 60%; AB.MGT was 52%; and AB.AOT was 50%.

Increase attention to advising, tutoring sessions on Fridays, and following up with students.

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 90.00%

100.00%

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Pe

rce

nta

ge


Retention in Program - Associate Degree Programs

AB.ACC

AB.AOT

AB.BUS

ACT.CPT

AB.MGT

Performance Measure

(Competency)




Results of Action



The Business Unit will offer sufficient sections of courses to meet the demand within our service area.

Annual report of number of Business Unit course sections held.

The report indicates that the Business Unit creates additional sections of classes to met demonstrated enrollment needs.

The Business Unit departments respond to student need by adding multiple sections of courses each semester. Providing additional sections as enrollment grows is a consistent practice in the Business Unit.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

2006FA 2007SP 2007FA 2008SP 2008FA 2009SP

Number of Sections Taught

AOT

BUS

IT

Performance Measure

(Competency)




Results of Action



Business Unit students will graduate from their program of study.

Annual graduation report by program which shows the total of graduates. The goal will be to increase our number of graduates by 10 percent.

AOT and MGT graduated more in 2007 with MGT dropping in 2008.

The number of ACC graduates decreased in 2007 and 2008. Will continue to track to determine what is causing the decreases.

0 5

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

# G

rad

uate

s


Associate Degree Graduates

ACC

BUS

CPT

MGT

AOT

Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management Summary The Business Unit’s strengths are:

Excellent processes established for placement and advising

Learning outcomes process is progressing nicely with buy-in from faculty

Excellent faculty involvement throughout The Business Unit’s opportunities for improvement are:

Need to establish comparative data with sister institutions at zero to very low cost

Need to continue to strengthen learning outcomes process

Need to establish a good orientation to learning outcomes process for new adjuncts

Standard 5 – Faculty and Staff Focus 5.1 – Human Resource Planning

A. Recruiting and Selecting Business Faculty

The Business Unit consists of three departments – Administrative Office Technology, Business Administration, and Information Technology. The table below shows the composition of each department for 2008/2009.

2008/2009

AOT BUS IT

Associate Dean 1

Department manager 1 1 1

Full-time faculty 5 5 5

Adjunct faculty 21 26 15

In conjunction with York Technical College’s Human Resource Department, the Business Unit departments strictly follow ACBSP and SACS credentialing requirements for hiring faculty. The entire recruitment through hiring process is detailed in the Faculty Staff Handbook on page V.7. The Handbook is available as Exhibit M. If a potential candidate has the minimum ACBSP credentials but lacks the full SACS credentials for teaching transfer courses, they may be hired on a conditional basis and required to acquire the full credentials for the position within an agreed upon time limit. Business Unit department managers take special care to hire faculty that are student-focused, have the necessary education and industry experience to bring theoretical knowledge and real-life experience to the classroom, and are willing and able to put forth the effort to produce meaningful, engaging classroom lectures and learning activities for students.

B. Incentives for Recruitment of Faculty York Technical College strives to pay faculty a salary competitive to other educational institutions within the region. Hiring salaries are based on education, experience, and equitability with similarly qualified departmental faculty. Human resources monitors faculty salaries in comparison to other institutions within the state and region and make recommendations for adjustments as necessary when funding is available. Likewise, when funding is available, the College provides raises to faculty and staff, which is generally a percentage increase. While Business Unit faculty work hard, they are provided with flexibility in their schedules, treated with respect as professionals, and dedicated to the students and the College. They buy in to the mission and goals of the College and the Business Unit. They are also empowered to make recommendations regarding changes to curriculum, facilities, and improvement of processes. These factors motivate faculty and help maintain high quality departments and programs.

Faculty professional development project funding includes costs for industry certification tests such as Network+, A+, or Microsoft certification exams. Conference registrations and associated travel is also covered by these funds. Job-related return-to-university professional development is also covered. These professional development activities provide our faculty and staff with the necessary updates to their skills and knowledge. In turn, skills gained through these activities allow employees to provide the quality of education we endeavor to provide to students in Business Unit programs. In accordance with other technical colleges within the State of South Carolina, there is no formal provision for tenure at York Technical College. Faculty are encouraged to apply for open positions if they are interested in career advancement.

C. Business Unit Culture Supports Faculty Performance The Business Unit is housed in A-Building with faculty located within proximity to one another to interact frequently. Likewise, the department managers are on the same hall when permits informal conversations in addition to more formal one-on-one sessions as needed. This factor as well as the student-centered culture of the unit has promoted a close-knit team of faculty. Because care is taken in the hiring process, the faculty are true professionals and work independently or in teams as the situation requires. Everyone knows what his role is, what the expectations are, and that no one is looking over his/her shoulder. This aspect makes the environment comfortable for all. If problems arise, the department manager works privately with the individual to address any issue. Or, if an instructor encounters a situation where he/she needs assistance, someone is always nearby. These factors provide a very empowering and yet supportive environment that helps keep the faculty motivated and satisfied in their work. D. Evidence of Business Unit Satisfaction and Well-being

Turnover rate within the Unit remains steady due at 16 to 18 percent due to problems associated with retaining highly-skilled Information Technology faculty who can earn much higher salaries in industry. In the last two years, two of the six faculty who have left the Unit have been retirees who had each been employed at the college more than 25 years. Generally, faculty tend to be dedicated and loyal to the College and especially to students.

5.A Faculty Characteristics A. An FTE assignment at York Technical College is 30 credit hours per academic year (fall and

spring semesters).

B. FTE & Faculty Composition

See Appendix F.

C. Faculty Composition by Credential Type Masters/Doctorate qualified: 91% Professionally qualified: 8% Exceptions: 1%

5.A.3 – Faculty Deployment and Load

A. Within the Business Unit, full-time faculty are hired according to a match between the position requirements and the faculty credentials and work experience. Therefore, faculty are assigned courses according to their expertise. Another factor that department managers consider in staffing is course enrollment. Department managers also consider the number of preparations that an instructor will have and the number of classes that an instructor can reasonably teach consecutively. Full-time faculty are generally assigned to daytime classes because it is more difficult to find appropriately credentialed adjunct instructors to teach during the day. However, most full-time instructors teach at least one evening class per semester. Some instructors such as our networking instructors teach a split schedule – day and evening – every semester.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

2007/2008 2008/2009

Business Unit Employee Turnover Rate

Turnover Rate

To keep the number of preparations per instructor to a maximum of four, department managers usually assign a traditional class and the online section to an instructor. Department managers also staff the off-campus center courses and full-time faculty are sometimes sent to the off-campus centers. Other times, the courses are provided to the off-campus centers as a teleclass (two-way video) and those courses are also frequently staffed by full-time faculty. Therefore, off-campus students usually have some instruction from a full-time instructor.

B. Full-time Faculty Deployment for Self-Study Year See Appendix G. C. Programs Not Meeting Criterion All programs have more than one professionally qualified faculty.

5.A.4 – Faculty Load

A. Faculty Load Management Policy The faculty load management policy is mandated by the South Carolina Technical College System’s Policy 8-2-103 and Procedure 8-2-103.1 – Faculty Teaching1)/Workload and Overload Compensation which states “The desirable teaching load shall be 15 to 18 semester credit hours or 20 to 24 instructor classroom/lab contact hours.” As such, Business Unit faculty teach 18 semester credit hours per semester for fall and spring semesters as a full-time load.

The policy also addresses issues such as release time, class size, number of preparations, delivery mode, etc.

B. Faculty Exceeding Maximum Load During Self-Study Year

Some Business Unit faculty did exceed the maximum load during the self-study year. A full-time networking faculty position went unfilled during the year due to a lack of credentialed applicants. This situation required that most of the Computer Technology faculty teach overloads. In addition, enrollment growth and a retirement in the AOT Department led to some overload situations. In the Business Department, some faculty requested overloads and the enrollment growth permitted the department manager to grant the requests.

5.A.5 – Faculty Evaluation A. Faculty Evaluation System

Students evaluate each course and instructor each semester in every course they take. The results are provided to administrators, department managers, and faculty, in that order, a month or so after the semester ends. Department managers use this information to work collaboratively with instructors on weaknesses that may be identified. Strengths are recognized

and commented upon as well. An example evaluation is provided as Exhibit N. The results of the student evaluations will also be reflected in the FPMS.

The Business Unit follows the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education’s Procedure 8-4-101.1, available as Exhibit O, for Faculty Performance Management System (FPMS) as indicated in the York Technical College Faculty/Staff Handbook 2004. In accordance with the procedure, each faculty member is evaluated on an annual basis on criteria established during the planning period (mid-August through September 30). The evaluation is conducted during the July/early August timeframe. An example completed FPMS, with identifying information removed, is available as Exhibit P. In addition to the formal evaluation process, department managers also work closely with faculty throughout the year to commend exemplary work and to improve areas of weakness. The feedback may be through face-to- face discussions and/or through electronic communication. This effort informs the formal process so that there are no surprises in the annual evaluation. It also promotes quality improvement in our instructional and administrative processes throughout the year. Department managers formally observe and evaluate adjunct instructors on an annual basis as well. Adjunct instructors have two of the six duties of full-time employees: Teaching and Instructional Management. Again, department managers do not wait to address problems. They address problems when they occur. If an adjunct instructor does not respond appropriately when corrective action is needed, the instructor is not employed in the future.

B. Sharing the Evaluation with Faculty

After the reviewer (supervisor of the department manager) has reviewed, edited, if necessary, and approved FPMSes, the department manager makes an appointment with each faculty member to discuss his/her evaluation including strengths, weaknesses, and the overall rating. The instructor then reviews the FPMS or may take it to his/her office to review and sign. Once it has been signed, the department manager has two copies made: one for his files, one for the instructor, and the original is sent to Human Resources.

C. Evaluation Used in Decisionmaking In departmental decision-making, the information in the FPMS is reflected in the department manager’s staffing decisions, professional development suggestions or requirements, and committee appointments. FPMS information is also considered when someone applies for another position within the College. It provides good input if someone is nominated for an honor such as the President’s Award.

5.A.6 Faculty and Staff Professional Development and Scholarly Activities A. Faculty and Staff Development Policies and Processes Faculty and staff professional development is a priority for York Technical College. Each year, $225,000 allocated to a college-wide professional development budget. The College has a semi-annual competitive process whereby faculty and staff may complete professional development

proposals for such activities as conferences, workshops, return to university, etc. The graph below shows the dollar amount of professional development funding received by Business Unit faculty and staff over the previous two years. The professional development process is available online at http://www.yorktech.com/PDC/Procedures%20new.asp and is included as Exhibit Q.

In addition to a very constructive professional development program for return to university, conferences, external workshops, internal coursework, and return to industry opportunities, the College provides a variety of internal professional development workshops on a weekly basis. The comprehensive list of opportunities is available as Exhibit R. Full-time faculty and staff, temporary and part-time staff, and adjunct faculty take advantage of these opportunities. As part of the FPMS planning process, each faculty member also prepares a professional development plan. During the completion stage of the FPMS document, each individual reports his/her professional development activities from the previous year.

C. Faculty Professional Development and Scholarly Activities

The graph below shows the participation of faculty in professional development and scholarly activities.

0 2000 4000 6000 8000

10000 12000 14000 16000 18000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Do

lalr

s


Business Unit Professional Development Funding Provided by York Technical College

Business Unit

Average

0

500

1000

2007 2008 2009

H

o

u

r

s

Business Unit Professional Development

& Scholarly Activity

Professional Development

Scholarly Activity

5.A.7 Faculty and Instructional Development

A. Alternate Delivery Instructional Development Opportunities Business Unit faculty participate in internal workshops to learn student engagement strategies for online and traditional students. They have had many workshop opportunities to learn the learning management system tools as well. Because the College adopted Desire-to-Learn (D2L) in Spring 2009, two Business Unit faculty went through the train-the-trainer sessions so they would be able to assist with workshops helping other faculty learn to use D2L. In addition, they act as D2L support for Business Unit faculty. D2L sessions have been well attended by full-time and adjunct Business Unit faculty. The College also provides instructional support for online courses to faculty through the Education Technology Center. The ETC has a staff of three full-time employees who assist faculty in learning software, creating animations and activities, and converting materials to the online format. The Distance Learning manager and the ETC staff also conduct sessions for faculty on how to operate the equipment and cameras in the teleclass (two-way video) rooms.

B. Teaching Skills - Instructional Development Opportunities

All new full-time faculty participate in Learning for the 21st Century which is ongoing through their first academic year and taught by the instructional developer. There are many opportunities throughout the year for faculty to participate in teaching-related workshops as well such as developing objectives, developing learning outcomes, and incorporating critical thinking activities.

C. Instructional Development Supports the Mission

Business Unit faculty take advantage of professional and instructional development opportunities because they want to help students succeed. In order to help students succeed, instructors have to know how to use the tools available to them. For instance, Business Unit faculty want high quality online classes in which students can learn. For that reason, the faculty have spent a tremendous amount of time during spring and summer attending D2L sessions and converting courses from the old learning management system (WebCT) to D2L. Business Unit faculty also attended conferences to acquire additional instructional skills. For instance, several AOT Department attended the Southeastern Business and Marketing Education Conference where they learned best practices from other instructors. Faculty participated in other conferences such as the Cisco Networking Academy Conference, National Business Incubator Association’s Conference, and National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship.

5.A.8. Faculty Operational Policies, Procedures, and Practices

A. Faculty Operational Policies & Procedures Manual York Technical College provides the operational policies, procedures, and practices through the Faculty/Staff Handbook which addresses faculty development, tenure and promotion, evaluation procedures, workload policies, service policies, professional expectations, and termination policies. The Faculty/Staff Handbook will be available in the Resource Room as Exhibit S.

B. Faculty/Staff Handbook Accessibility

The Faculty/Staff Handbook is available electronically through Microsoft Outlook’s Public Folders/Shared Files. Each division also has a hard copy available.

Faculty and Staff Focus Summary Business Unit faculty and staff strengths are:

Good hiring process and practices

Good evaluation process

Excellent professional development process

Excellent internal professional and instructional development opportunities and participation

Good staffing practices Business Unit faculty and staff opportunities for improvement are:

More full-time faculty teaching at off-campus centers

Decrease the number of overloads

6. Process Management 6.1 – Curriculum

A. Managing Key Processes for Design and Delivery of Educational Programs The Business Unit uses the Needs Assessment and DACUM processes for design of new educational programs. If a new program is sought, the department manager initiates a needs assessment by working with a jobs development organization called readySC that has an office on campus. The readySC staff conducts a survey of local businesses to determine if there is a need for employees with the skills the new program would provide, the number of anticipated job openings, and the pay rate. If the needs assessment is positive in that local businesses indicate jobs will be available in the field and the pay rate is satisfactory to justify the time spent in the program, a DACUM is held to specify exactly what tasks would be performed by an employee in that field and the skills that would be needed. Once, the DACUM process is complete and the curriculum developed by the faculty, the program proposal is sent through the approval process. The Business Unit begins offering new courses in the traditional face-to-face format. If the faculty determine after several semesters that it could be offered in an online or hybrid format, someone within the department develops the online course.

B. Assuring Comparable Quality of Courses Taught by Full-time/Part-time Faculty The Business Unit departments use a common syllabus that is designed by the lead instructor for the course and sent through a formal approval process before posting to the website as the approved syllabus. All faculty teaching the course use the posted syllabus. Everyone is required to teach the course competencies as outlined in the course syllabus and follow the assessments and grading scheme defined in the syllabus. In addition, the full-time instructor assigned to the course for the semester acts as a mentor for the adjunct instructors and other full-time instructors who may be teaching the course that semester. The mentoring instructor provides the others with a pacing calendar or schedule for the course, learning outcomes assessment information, and any tests or related activities usually through a web-enhanced version of the course. The other faculty have the flexibility of modifying the tests and activities except for the learning outcomes assessment. The mentor is also available to answer questions and assist the other instructors.

C. Capstone Courses The faculty in each department have chosen courses as capstone courses which they believe require students to integrate most of the skills gained through their program of study. In the Accounting, General Business, and Management programs, that course is BAF 201 – Principles of Finance. In the Administrative Office Technology program, it is AOT 254 – Office Simulation; and, in the Computer Technology program, it is CPT 264 – Systems and Procedures.

6.2 – 6.4 Professional/General Education/Business Major Components (Curriculum Summaries)

See Appendix I. 6.5 Off-Campus Operations and Unique Items

A. Off-Campus Credit Hours

As shown on the graphs below, the Business Unit produces about a third of the off-campus center semester hours.

B. Other Unique Situations Requiring Special Understanding None.

C. Special Circumstances Preventing Compliance with Standards None.

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Off-Campus Center and Business Unit OCC Semester Hours

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Business Unit Off-Campus Center Hours as a Percentage of Total OCC

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6.6 Minimum Grade Requirement

A. Programs’ Minimum Grade Requirement Each Business Unit program requires that students earn a minimum grade of “C” in their discipline core and other required hours section courses of the program. This requirement is documented on the program checksheets listed on the departmental websites and in the Student Handbook/Catalog. It is also indicated on each student’s program evaluation (transcript).

B. Process for Compliance with Minimum Grade Requirement A rule has been created in the Datatel student information system and is applied to each course that requires a minimum grade of “C.”

6.7 Learning and Academic Resources

A. Participation in Library’s Acquisition Program The Business Unit has faculty representation on the Library Acquisition Committee. The representative communicates with departmental faculty to determine needs and requests and shares the requests with the committee.

B. Off-campus Students Access to Resources

Both off-site centers maintain a general reference collection and additional resources requested by faculty and site directors. Access to our online catalog is available as is access to the state wide reciprocal borrowing. Materials requested from the main library or interlibrary loan are sent to the site library within a couple of days of request or delivery from the ILL lender. Students have access to over 60,000 eBooks from NetLibrary in addition to nearly 50 reference books in Gale Virtual Reference Library. There are over 20,000 on-line, full-text journals available in our online periodical database collection which is available from off campus by use of the student account number. Reserve materials are available for online access when available. Reference services are available by phone, fax, chat, and email during open hours. Librarian let instruction is available via site visits, online assistance, or technet classes as arranged by the instructors and pre-recorded online tutorials.

C. Availability of Other Learning and Academic Resources Business Unit students have access to many learning and academic resources in addition to the Library including an Open Computer Lab, Tutoring Center, and the Assessment Center.

6.8 Support Services Academic and Personal Counseling

Students needing help with their academic, career, and personal challenges can talk with a counselor to develop a plan for success. Counselors can also assist students in finding the resources they need to be successful at reaching their academic goals. Students on academic probation are required to meet with a Counselor in Student Services to review their situation and develop a plan for success each term until they achieve good academic standing. Career Services Career Services offers many resources designed to assist individuals in learning more about their interests, skills, and values. Computer guidance and information systems, such as SCOIS and The South Carolina College and Career Planning System, are available for individuals to use and a Global Career Development Facilitator is available to help individuals assess their results. In addition, Career Services coordinates on-campus company recruitment of students, organizes an annual career fair, assists in the development of employability skills, assists in the preparation of marketable resumes, and provides students and graduates with local job opportunities through CareerLink. Special Resources The Special Resources Office offers support services and assistance to students with disabilities and to those who are included in special, high-risk, populations. Support services may include classroom and testing accommodations, academic counseling and advising, tutoring services, readers/writers/interpreters, assistive technology, learning styles inventories, study skills, mid-term conferences, assistance with the purchase of books, transportation allowance, and/or child care assistance. 6.9 Educational Innovation

A. Business Unit Encouraging Innovation and Creativity

The Business Unit encourages innovation and creativity in all instructors in developing learning activities, lectures, and other class materials. Special emphasis is being placed on critical thinking because it is our SACS Quality Enhancement Plan topic. Therefore, instructors are developing many creative activities that encourage critical thinking. The encouragement is provided verbally at meetings and through electronic communication. Recognition of innovativeness and creativity are provided through inviting faculty to share what they have done with all faculty through professional development sessions, nominations for awards, and acknowledgement through email or in meetings.

B. Evidence of Innovation and Creativity

Examples of Business Unit faculty’s demonstrations of innovation and creativity are:

Torts class conducts a simulated trial where all students participate as the final activity of the class; faculty act as jurors

Marketing project - each student creates a product or service. They have to research marketing-related topics (target market, pricing, etc.), create a prototype, and create a sales pitch for their product or service.

Small business management – students complete a comprehensive business plan

Executive development – students work in teams to complete a community service project

Medical Office Procedures students research and write an ethics paper and conduct a presentation on their topic

Cost accounting – students are given boat kits, costs are assigned to each piece of the boat, and student teams create the boat and cost it out

Faculty work together to put on the Expo of Entrepreneurs to showcase a panel of successful small business owners for students

6.10 Articulation and Transfer Relationships A. Principal Institutions Involved in Articulation

The principal institutions that Business Unit students transfer to are Limestone College, University of South Carolina, and Winthrop University. The principal institutions from which the Business Unit receives students from are our local high schools within the tri-county service area and Winthrop University.

B. Articulation Agreements At this time, there are no formal articulation agreements. The associate dean of transfer and articulation is working on a formal agreement with Winthrop University for a Business Administration transfer degree. She has also discussed an agreement with Limestone College.

C. Mechanisms to Avoid Duplication of Coursework Students transferring into York Technical College from another regionally accredited institution have their original transcript sent to the Registrar for evaluation. Any course on a transcript that meets the equivalency requirements for a course offered at York Technical College is entered into the student information system and displays on the student’s degree audit as satisfying that course requirement.

D. Transfer Advising Students meet with their academic advisor. The academic advisor prints their degree audit from the student information system. If the Registrar’s office has received a transcript from another college that the student attended and keyed the equivalent coursework into the student information system, the degree audit reflects the courses that automatically meet the program requirements. If the transcript reflects a course that the advisor and department manager deem as a higher level course than a required course in the program, the advisor can complete a substitution form and once it is processed by the Registrar’s office, the degree audit will reflect the substitution has satisfied the course requirement.

Process Management Summary

Business Unit strengths in process management include:

Strong DACUM and Needs Assessment processes for curriculum development

Good collaboration with off-campus centers

Excellent support services for students

Good innovation and creativity among faculty

Improvements in articulation efforts Business Unit opportunities for improvements in process management include:

Decreasing the amount of time needed to update a program

Continuing to recruit credentialed faculty for off-campus centers

Appendix A – SACS Letter of Reaffirmation

Appendix B – Organization Charts

Appendix C – Institutional Effectiveness Plans

Appendix D – Comparison Data

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Appendix E – Student Learning Outcomes

Appendix F – FTE & Faculty Composition

Appendix G – Full-time Faculty Deployment for Self-Study Year

Appendix H – Curriculum Summaries

York Technical College Business Unit ACBSP Self … Technical College Business Unit ACBSP Self-Study...

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