Chapter One

Criterion 1

The institution has clear and publicly stated purposes consistent with its mission and appropriate to an institution of higher education.

Contents
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Introduction
Long-Range and Short-Range Institutional and Educational
     Goals
Evaluation of Long-Range and Short-Range Institutional And
     Educational Goals
Freedom of Inquiry
Institutional Commitment to Excellence
Summary of Institutional Strengths and Concerns Relative to
     Criterion 1

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Introduction

This chapter provides evidence that Dakota State University has clear and publicly stated purposes consistent with its mission and appropriate to an institution of higher education. Unlike many other higher education institutions, DSU has a very specific mission:

Dakota State University is an institution specializing in programs in computer management, computer information systems, and other related undergraduate and graduate programs as outlined in SDCL 13-59-2.2. A special emphasis is the preparation of elementary and secondary teachers with expertise in the use of computer technology and information processing in the teaching and learning process. A secondary purpose is to offer two-year and one-year programs and short courses for application and operator training in areas authorized.

A. Undergraduate Programs

The following curriculum is approved for the University:

Bachelor of Science degree programs in biology for information systems, chemistry for information systems, computer science, elementary education, elementary education and special learning and behavioral problems, English for information systems, fine arts administration, fitness-wellness management, health information administration, information systems, mathematics for information systems, physics for information systems, professional accountancy, respiratory care, and secondary education.

Bachelor of Business Administration degree programs in accounting, computer information systems, finance, management, marketing, and office administration.

Associate of Science degree programs in application programming, business management, health information technology, office management, and respiratory care.

Associate of Arts degree program in general studies.

B. Graduate Programs

The following curriculum is approved for the University:

Master of Science in Information Systems and Master of Science in Education in Computer Education and Technology.

C. Scholarship

Basic and applied scholarship in the areas represented in A. above and in support of the teaching and service functions of the university with emphasis on computer/information systems and their application to the approved curriculum.

D. Public Service

Dakota State University has the particular responsibility to provide service in the application of computer/information systems in support of elementary/secondary education, governmental agencies, and business/industry. This service is provided through the university in general and through the following approved centers and organizational units: Business and Education Institute, Center for Documentation Research, Center of Excellence in Computer Information Systems, Dakota State University English Language Institute, Non-Profit Grants Center, and Small Business Innovative Research Center to the state, region, and beyond consistent with the approved programs listed in A. above.

E. Continuing Education

Continuing education and outreach to the state, region, and beyond consistent with the approved programmatic authorizations listed in A. above. The institution has a particular emphasis to provide continuing outreach education in the areas of application of computer/information systems in support of governmental agencies, business/industry and elementary/secondary education.

F. Off-Campus Delivery

Delivery of courses and programs at respiratory care sites in Sioux Falls, at the Center for Public Higher Education in Sioux Falls, and courses at various sites within the state consistent with the programmatic authorization listed in A. above. A special emphasis is delivery from the campus via electronic or computer networks to students at any location as well as delivery of approved programs by the same means.

As explained in the introductory chapter of this document, in 1984, the Legislature of the State of South Dakota revised the institution's mission, engendering the move from a traditional liberal arts and teacher education curriculum to one with an emphasis on technology (SDCL 13-59-2.2). In August 1999, NCA approved the institution's first master's degree program.

This institutional change resulted in a few minor changes to the DSU mission - primarily, changes in the list of undergraduate and graduate programs currently being offered. (The most recent version is the one given above, approved by the South Dakota Board of Regents in October 1999. However, an updated version of the mission statement is scheduled for BOR consideration in August 2000. That version will incorporate program changes made during 1999 and 2000. If accepted by the BOR, a copy will be available in the documents room.) Because it so clearly reflects the institution's strategic goals, some version of the mission statement is always published in the institution's public documents, including the college catalog and the faculty/staff handbook. 
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Long-Range and Short-Range
Institutional and Educational Goals

The mission statement continues to frame the current and all future educational activities of the university. For example, DSU received NCA approval to offer its first master's degree, in information systems, in August 1999. A second master's degree, in computer education and technology, received NCA approval in April 2000. In addition, the first distance-delivered degree program, in Health Information Administration, was approved by NCA in August 1999. In the past year, the Board of Regents has approved delivery of two new degree programs at DSU: multimedia / web development (approved in May 2000) and electronic commerce (approved in June 2000). All these new degree programs focus on enhancing students' technological skills, a key component of the institution's mission.

During 1997 and 1998, the University developed a strategic statement that focuses on seven strategic areas and clearly relates to the institution's mission. Development of the strategic statement was an open, inclusive process involving a campus steering committee, faculty/staff meetings, review of documents via the campus e-mail system, and interviews with various off-campus constituencies. The seven areas of emphasis highlighted in the DSU Strategic Statement have become the University's long-range institutional goals. They were formally approved by the campus in the fall of 1997, published in a formal document in the spring of 1998, and have been included in the institution's catalog since that time. Because of the

The mission statement continues to frame the current and all future educational activities of the university. 

technological orientation of the institution, some aspect of technology is interwoven into all seven areas of strategic emphasis:

• Academic Programs: Each college and all academic support areas will continue to develop and implement academic changes that build on and foster the institution's mission and technological infrastructure.

• Computer Technology: Each college will ensure that all graduates have mastery of technology. Computing Services and the Computing Resource Advisory Committee will ensure that the technological infrastructure of the institution remains state-of-the- art.

• Faculty Development: The institution will ensure that faculty development opportunities are available to foster and maintain faculty expertise so they can provide leadership in their disciplines, as well as in the areas of technology and information systems. The Office of Distance Education will provide faculty development opportunities that focus on teaching with technology.

• University Promotion: The Office of Public Information, the Enrollment Services Office, and the DSU Foundation will maintain a collaborative, comprehensive approach to institutional marketing, highlighting the institution's emphasis on technology wherever possible.

• Student Life: DSU will provide students with extra-curricular opportunities that enhance the academic experience and that provide a breadth of leadership and involvement opportunities.

• Campus Support: DSU will ensure a campus support environment that delivers excellent services, welcomes and invites change, and is cost-effective.

• Diversity: DSU will work to establish a more diverse student body on the campus through increased recruitment of minority students from the United States and throughout the world. DSU will also work to provide both gender and cultural diversity within the faculty through its recruitment practices.

In addition to these seven strategic initiatives for the institution as a whole, all functional areas of the university have developed strategic initiatives that dovetail with the university's strategic plan and mission statement. By presidential mandate, these initiatives must also include an emphasis on computer technology. The initiatives receive approval from the appropriate Executive Council administrator and, ultimately, from the president. The strategic initiatives adopted by each functional unit within the institution serve as the short-term goals for that functional area and are used to establish institutional priorities during the budget cycle. All strategic initiatives are reviewed, evaluated, and revised in the fall of the year. The

All strategic initiatives are reviewed, evaluated,
and revised in the fall of the year. 

institution's strategic initiatives (including those adopted by the institution's functional areas) are published on DSU's Intranet site. (Copies of the most recent strategic initiatives and an evaluation of the previous year's strategic initiatives from the functional areas will be available in the documents room.)

The institution's mission statement also serves as a foundation for DSU's Assessment Plan, approved as a stand-alone document by NCA in 1995. Because of the emphasis on computer technology in the mission statement, the student outcomes established for each component of the assessment plan include a technology assessment. (Copies of the DSU Assessment Plan will be available in the documents room.)

The university's mission and/or long-term strategic initiatives are an integral part of all its public documents. Survey data suggests that the institution's internal constituents are very familiar with the university's mission and the stated purposes of the institution. In November 1998, DSU conducted its first Campus Quality Survey in cooperation with the Performance Horizons Consulting Group. The survey was used again in February 2000. This instrument was adapted for the educational environment from categories used in the Malcolm Baldridge Award and the Presidential Award for Quality. It is specifically designed to provide feedback from faculty, administration, and staff on management of the institution. Survey results can be used to pinpoint areas needing improvement and to help increase employee performance and satisfaction. One of the survey items asks respondents to rate their agreement with the statement, "The mission, purpose and values of this institution are familiar to employees." This statement received an average rating of 4.0 on a scale of 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree, indicating that faculty, staff, and administrators are very aware of the institution's educational mission. (Additional details on the survey results are included in Chapters 4 and 5. A statistical summary of the Campus Quality Survey results will be available in the documents room.) Results of the Student Satisfaction Inventory (an instrument developed by Noel-Levitz, Inc. and administered to a random sample of students every fall) indicate that DSU's students also have a firm understanding of the mission and purposes of Dakota State University. (A copy of these survey results will also be available in the documents room.)

The university's institutional mission and educational goals are published in a variety of public documents and publications for both internal and external constituencies. These include:

• DSU Catalog: The catalog is published annually and includes the institution's mission statement and its strategic vision statement.

• DSU Web Site: DSU has an extensive web site that is continuously updated to provide both internal and external constituencies with access to information relative to the institution. In addition to the traditional institutional information available in other documents / publications, the web site contains a master calendar for upcoming events, institutional policies and procedures, a listing of open faculty and staff positions, and individual web pages for faculty, staff, and students. Other Internet and Intranet sites have also been developed for use by faculty, staff, and students. The DSU Intranet site (available only to internal constituents) was inaugurated for the strategic planning process and has been used throughout the North Central Association self-study process. Minutes of meetings, timelines, goal statements, and drafts of the self-study document have been posted on the institution's Intranet site (and, in some cases, also on the institution's Internet site) for easy access by campus personnel.

• Faculty-Staff Handbook: The President's Office provides each department with a copy of the faculty/staff handbook, updated annually. The contents of the handbook are also available via DSU's web site.

• Interactive CD-ROM: DSU was the first institution in South Dakota to develop an interactive CD-ROM. It was designed primarily for new student recruitment, but it is also provided to other external constituents who seek information about the institution.

• DSU Strategic Statement / Strategic Initiatives: The strategic statement is reviewed every five years through a campus-wide evaluation process. Published copies are distributed to faculty, staff, student leaders, and off-campus constituents such as the Board of Regents, members of the DSU Foundation Board of Directors, Alumni Board of Directors, and other community and state leaders. An abbreviated version is also published in the DSU catalog, published annually. The strategic initiatives are updated annually by each department and are shared on-campus via the Intranet.

• Admissions / Recruitment Publications: Publications developed by the Enrollment Services Office provide information on the university as a whole and information specific to the individual colleges, the Center of Excellence, the Office of Distance Education, and the Assessment Office.

DSU was the first institution in South Dakota to develop an
interactive CD-ROM. 

• E-mail: Faculty, staff, and students have access to campus and Internet e-mail accounts. These electronic communication tools link the campus' internal constituencies with external constituencies in the state and the world.

• Newspapers: Two campus newspapers are published: the University's student newspaper (the Dakota Access) and the Alumni Association's newspaper (the Alumni News). The Dakota Access is published eight times each semester with copies distributed to the resident halls, the academic buildings, and the student union. Copies are also shared with the campus newspaper offices at other regental institutions. The Alumni News is published three times a year and is mailed to faculty, staff, alumni, and institutional friends. Both are also available electronically on the DSU web site.

(Copies of the above publications will be available in the documents room.)

The DSU culture encourages input from faculty, staff, and students as well as from outside constituencies in nearly every aspect of institutional decision-making. The process used to develop the institution's strategic statement and strategic initiatives is one example of widespread involvement by faculty, staff, and students in institutional planning. Shared governance is evident in other aspects of the institution's processes, as well. For example, all university employees with faculty rank are members of the general faculty. Faculty members meet as a body on a monthly basis, in lieu of a Faculty Senate, to discuss and resolve issues raised by its membership. The organization has three officers, elected on an annual basis. Faculty members also serve on almost all institutional committees and advisory boards and have a majority membership on all institutional committees that make policy and procedure decisions related to the academic areas (e.g., Computing Resouce Advisory Committee, Curriculum Committee, Graduate Council, Assessment Coordinating Committee). All committees are listed in the DSU Faculty / Staff Handbook and the policies associated with these committees are in the DSU Policy Manual. (The most recent version of the faculty / staff handbook and the policy manual will be available in the documents room.)

The institution uses formally recognized advisory boards to guide institutional decision-making, particularly as it relates to curriculum and program development. These advisory boards, whose members represent both internal and external constituencies, include:

• Professional Education Council, with input on curriculum decisions in secondary and elementary education degree programs.

Faculty members also serve on almost
all institutional committees and advisory boards and have a majority membership on all institutional committees that make policy and procedure decisions related to the academic areas. 

• Health Information Management Advisory Board, with input on curriculum in the health information management degree programs (health information technology and health information
administration).

• Respiratory Care Advisory Board, with input on curriculum in the respiratory care degree programs.

• Center of Excellence Advisory Board, with input on curriculum in information systems degree programs.

• College of Business and Information Systems Advisory Board, with input on undergraduate and graduate curriculum in the college

• College of Education Graduate Advisory Board, with input on graduate curriculum in the college. (This is a joint DSU - USD committee, reflecting the collaborative nature of that graduate program.)

• Community Center Governing Board, a nine-member board with input on the programming and operations of the Community Center (funded and operated by the City of Madison and Dakota State University). Four members are appointed by DSU; five members are appointed by the City of Madison.

• Animal Care and Use Committee, with decision-making authority over research conducted on campus using animals. The eight- member committee includes four community representatives, one of whom must be a veterinarian.

• Human Subjects Committee, with decision-making authority over research conducted on campus using human subjects. The 12-member committee includes five community representatives.

The Student Senate also works closely with administration and faculty to reach decisions that involve students and the strategic goals of the institution. Student representatives serve on nearly all institutional committees and advisory groups. The only exception to the institution's policy of shared governance with students is that students do not serve on institutional committees that make decisions about the academic integrity of individual students (e.g., Student Admissions Committee).

The Career Service Association (membership open to all career service employees) provides the link between these employees and the university's administration. The Career Service Council (comprised of the officers in the organization, plus representatives from each of the career service areas) functions as the governing group for the Career Service Association. The Career Service Association meets monthly during the academic year and has

been instrumental in initiating campus change. For example, as a result of discussions at their meetings and after a review of Campus Quality Survey data, the evaluation process used for exempt employees (employees whose duties are classified as political, professional, executive, or administrative in nature and whose positions are generally exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act) was expanded to include input from the employees supervised.

Additional information on institutional decision-making is also included in Chapter 3 (the chapter devoted to Criterion 3) and in Chapter 5 (the chapter devoted to Criterion 5). (Documents mentioned above and related to institutional decision-making will be available in the documents room.)
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Evaluation of Long-Range and Short-Range
Institutional and Educational Goals

Evaluation of the DSU Strategic Statement and the associated strategic initiatives is accomplished through the university's assessment plan and through the evaluation of the strategic initiatives within each of the functional areas of the institution and within the institution as a whole. The University's Assessment Plan was approved by NCA as a stand-alone document in 1995. (A copy of the assessment plan will be available in the documents room.) During Fall 1998, the Assessment Coordinating Committee initiated a review of the assessment plan, including an evaluation of the institution's entry-level, general education, and major-field assessment plans. Individual faculty members and the colleges also evaluate course content and academic programs on a regular basis, using information gathered through student opinion surveys, administered in every class, every semester. (Copies of the colleges' major-field assessment plans and the summary reports of data collected from these assessment activities will be available in the documents room.)

As mentioned earlier, the institution's strategic initiatives are reviewed and updated by the functional areas within the university on an annual basis. (Copies of the DSU Strategic Statement, the most current strategic initiatives, and the most recent annual evaluations of those initiatives will be available in the documents room.) Data collected from the Campus Quality Survey and other survey data (including data primarily collected for academic assessment) is used in this annual evaluation process. In addition, the

During Fall 1998, the Assessment Coordinating Committee initiated a review of the assessment plan, including an evaluation of the institution's entry-level, general education, and major-field assessment plans. 

evaluation process designed for the strategic initiatives requires that faculty, staff, and students conduct a more formal review of the DSU Strategic Statement and initiatives every five years. This more formal review, scheduled for 2002, is intended to ensure that the strategic statement and its initiatives are being used to guide institutional priorities and fiscal decision-making.
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Freedom of Inquiry

Faculty, staff, and students at DSU are regularly invited to discuss and influence institutional decision-making (discussed earlier in this chapter). The institution's open-door policy and positive attitude toward shared governance also extends to issues such as academic freedom and freedom of inquiry. (Academic freedom and freedom of inquiry is also discussed in Chapter 5, the chapter that provides evidence related to Criterion 5). Results from student opinion surveys, graduate surveys (sent to graduates one and three years after graduation), and the Campus Quality Survey indicate these internal constituencies are satisfied with the academic freedom / freedom of inquiry provided by the institution. For example, on the Campus Quality Survey, faculty and staff were asked to respond to the statement, "DSU supports academic freedom", by rating the current situation on campus and the ideal situation. This item generated one of the smallest performance gaps (the difference between the current and ideal situation), indicating that faculty and staff believe that academic freedom / freedom of inquiry is currently being supported by the institution's administration.

Faculty, staff, and students are also regularly invited to expand their horizons in areas related to their professional expertise / responsibilities and are encouraged to work together on projects that support freedom of inquiry. For example, the College of Education emphasizes the integration of students' textbook knowledge with a requirement for hands-on experience in K-12 classrooms (a progressive requirement involving Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 classroom experience). In these classroom experiences, students are encouraged to try a variety of teaching strategies under the close supervision of a faculty advisor. Students in other majors are required to participate in capstone courses, internships, and/or faculty _ student research projects. These provide an opportunity for students and faculty to work together on unique major-specific projects that challenge them to look beyond the classroom.

Faculty and staff are also encouraged to participate in workshops, conferences, and special projects to support their intellectual and professional growth. Faculty research is supported by instructional and professional development funds administered by the vice president for academic affairs (approximately $45,000 a year in recent years) and by grants available from the Office of Distance Education, the Center of Excellence, the LOFTI grant, and Governor Janklow's Awards for Teaching with Technology, among others. (The institutional and grant funding available to support faculty research is described in more detail in Chapter 3. Highlights of the primary grant sources are provided below.)

The Office of Distance Education supports the development and modification of distance-delivered courses through a summer grant program that has been in existence since 1997. In that time, 73 awards, worth a total of $185,257, have been awarded to faculty. These summer grants have supported the development of 36 on-line courses, the revision of 21 on-campus courses for alternative delivery, 11 distance education projects, and the revision of 26 on-line courses. In Summer 2000, the Center of Excellence also began awarding summer grants to fund the development of courses in the Center of Excellence in Computer Information Systems minor or in the MSIS graduate program. These two grants have accounted for an additional $7,300 in faculty development funds.

In 1998, the Unified System of Public Higher Education in South Dakota received a five-year, comprehensive Technology Innovation challenge grant from the U.S. Department of Education. A faculty member within the College of Education helps administer the DSU portion of the grant. Known as LOFTI (Learning Organizations for Technology Integration), the grant provides stipends and workshops for faculty who want to increase the use of technology in their teaching. DSU has received $125,397 during the last 2 years to support faculty initiatives through this grant.

In 1998, Governor Janklow began a competitive summer grant program for university faculty who wanted to integrate technology into their course content or their teaching methods. Six DSU faculty members received grants during the initial year of the awards; two DSU faculty members received grants in the second year of the awards; 10 DSU faculty members received grants in the third year of the awards. These 18 grants, worth a total of

The Office of Distance Education
supports the development and modification of distance-delivered courses through a summer grant program that has been in existence since 1997. 

$384,130, have had an impact on the institution's curriculum, primarily in the integration of technology into course content.

DSU is also a member of the Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning, a regional membership organization that supports and promotes outstanding college teaching at public, private, and tribally affiliated colleges and universities. DSU faculty members have been consistently involved in both the summer workshops and regional conferences conducted by the Collaboration, both as conference presenters and as participants. Other faculty research efforts are enumerated on each faculty member's Appendix F, the tool used by the deans and the vice president for academic affairs to evaluate faculty performance and to determine faculty raises. (A summary of the faculty research efforts, compiled from the faculty's most current Appendix F documents, will be available in the documents room.)
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Institutional Commitment to Excellence

Dakota State University has an institutional commitment to excellence in both the teaching provided by faculty and the learning expected of students. In order to support the institution's mission and to support teaching excellence, the institution annually spends approximately 4.5 percent of its educational and general operating budget to upgrade the institution's technological infrastructure. The campus uses a committee process (the Computing Resources Advisory Committee or CRAC) to develop a long-range plan for funding technology and to annually review the process for determining how technology funds will be spent. For FY99, CRAC recommended an expenditure plan of $350,000 with an additional $100,000 set aside to finance a rewiring project to support high-speed Internet access. In addition to these funds, individual colleges spent $175,000 from their budgets for technology purchases. In total, the institution spent $525,650 on technology in FY99. For FY00, CRAC recommended an expenditure plan of $587,000. (This amount does not include the monies spent from individual college budgets, a figure that isn't available until the end of the fiscal year.) This $587,000 was used to lease 160 replacement computers (making it possible to maintain the institution's 1 to 4.4 computer-to-student standard and to add one new, 30-computer lab on campus); to lease-purchase the network

equipment needed for high-speed network access (providing 1-gigabit transfer rates on the campus backbone and 100-megabit service to each desktop); and to purchase equipment for new smart presentation classrooms. For FY01, CRAC has recommended an expenditure plan of $633,116. (Copies of the most recent expenditure recommendations from the Computing Resource Advisory Committee will be available in the documents room.)

Campus assessment activities also highlight the institution's commitment to excellence in the classroom. For example, the academic deans and the faculty review results from the student opinion surveys (administered in every class, every semester) as part of the faculty member's formal evaluation process to assess students' satisfaction with the teaching and learning in individual courses. Faculty members also routinely include the results of student opinion surveys from their courses in their promotion and tenure documents. On these student opinion surveys, students generally rate the faculty as knowledgeable and rate instruction in their major-field coursework as excellent.

The Student Satisfaction Inventory (administered to a random sample of students each fall) also provides evidence of DSU's commitment to excellence in teaching. The statement, "There is a commitment to academic excellence on this campus," generally receives high ratings from students (5.37 on a scale of 1 to 7 on the 1999 survey, with 7 the most favorable rating). Similarly, results of the Campus Quality Survey conducted in February 2000 indicate that faculty and staff feel the campus strives for quality and continuous improvement. For example, the item, "This institution believes in continuous quality improvement," received a high overall rating (3.79 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 the most favorable rating).

The institution has also made a very public commitment to assessment activities that demonstrate student learning. Each semester, one day is designated as DSU Assessment Day. All regular, day-time classes are cancelled for assessment activities that include:

• major-field assessment, for graduating students.

• proficiency assessment in the areas of reading, writing, math,
and science reasoning for students who have completed at least 48 credit hours in coursework at the 100-level or higher.

• assessment of students' computer skills (in the areas of word processing, information literacy, data and graphics importation,

The statement, "There is a commitment to academic excellence on this campus," generally receives high ratings from students. 

graphics development, spreadsheet development, Internet, database management, and programming) for students who have completed at least 48 credit hours in coursework at the 100-level or higher.

The results of these assessment activities are shared with the students who participate and with their advisors via personal letters, with the Assessment Coordinating Committee, with the general faculty via summary reports, and with the student population via the campus newspaper.  
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Summary of Institutional Strengths and Concerns
Relative to Criterion I

This chapter (and the related items available in the documents room) provides evidence that the institution meets the standards established by NCA for Criterion 1. The institution has a clearly stated mission statement, approved by the South Dakota Legislature in 1984 and more recently by the Board of Regents in 1999. The institution's mission is clearly understood and supported by its constituencies. The institution's mission statement is published in numerous public documents. The institution's strategic vision statement and its strategic initiatives are shaped by the institution's mission and include goals appropriate to an institution of higher education. In its institutional planning processes, DSU has included both internal and external constituencies and continues to include these constituencies in the formal and informal mechanisms used to evaluate the institution and its goals. DSU supports academic freedom and freedom of inquiry for faculty, staff, and students. The institution also demonstrates a strong commitment to excellence in teaching and learning. The institution has planned for a formal, institution-wide, evaluation process every five years for the DSU Strategic Statement and strategic initiatives, in addition to the evaluation process that occurs within each functional area of the institution annually. This university-wide evaluation process is intended to ensure that the seven areas of emphasis are receiving appropriate attention in allocation of institutional resources. 
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