Students aren’t the only ones worried about grades.
Praise and constructive criticism for Saint Louis University are in, just in time for midterms. SLU has come a long way in the past decade, according to a written report from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). The report is the culmination of a study that led to SLU’s reaccreditation, a process that the University goes through every 10 years.
“The report didn’t contain any surprises,” said Ellen Harshman, senior vice provost.
A board of experts from the NCA visited campus last spring and met with faculty, staff and students to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the University. At that time, the NCA gave comments similar to those that appear in the report. Before their arrival, SLU conducted a self-study entitled “Decade of Renaissance,” which consisted of feedback from within the University.
Harshman explained that many of the NCA’s responses in the report mirrored the findings of the self-study. The report includes acclaim for the University’s physical improvement of the campus, the clearly stated Jesuit mission statement, a knowledgeable and strong governing board and advancements in academia.
Areas that need improvement, according to the report, are the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty and students, assessment and evaluation of programs, including the core curriculum and communication within the University. “In a complex institution, we struggle with how to keep everyone informed,” Harshman said.
One particular weakness in communication cited within the report is the lack of communication between the President’s Coordinating Council and the rest of the University. The report said that many of the deans feel “out of the loop on important institution-wide decision-making conversations.”
The aspect of the report that requires immediate attention is the assessment portion. The systems for assessing progress and status of the University, from critiquing the core curriculum to evaluating faculty, needs to be improved, according to the report. The NCA will return in three years to reexamine SLU’s progress in this area.
Evaluating the core curriculum is part of the University’s immediate agenda, Harshman said. She said that the administration needs to decide “what exactly it is we want students to get from (core) courses and that set of experiences, and how we know, then, that they have learned it.”
She added that the results of the report were overwhelmingly positive and that the suggestions of the NCA will help the University take the next steps toward addressing the weaknesses pointed out in the report.
