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Suggestions & Recommendations from 2017 MSCHE Team Report Standard I: Mission and Goals (A reflection of “A Pathway to Greatness”) No Recommendations or Suggestions for Standard I. Standard II: Ethics and Integrity (Reveals the thoroughness of the Roadmap) Suggestion for Standard II: • The university is encouraged to continue to explore ways for comprehensive assessment of the impact of their work in ethics and integrity. Standard III: Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience (Another iteration of the Pathways to Greatness through students learning) Suggestion for Standard III: • The team supports the graduate student’s suggestion for an orientation that would acclimate students to the expectations and rigor of graduate study early on in students’ careers. Standard IV: Support of the Student Experience (We are all inspired by the Greatness by Design spirit) Suggestion for Standard IV: • The Team supports the recommendation of UVINext to revisit the overall reporting structure of Student Affairs. Standard V: Educational Effectiveness Assessment (The epitome of the Pathway to Greatness) Recommendation for Standard V: • UVI, specifically College of Liberal Arts and Social Science (CLASS), develop assessment tools, systematically implement assessment, aggregate data, and utilize the data to improve student learning, retention, and graduation rates. Standard VI: Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement (Moving the Needle and embracing the challenges) Suggestion for Standard VI: • The team concurs with the UVI’s recommendation that the University should continue to implement measures to verify that expenditures are linked to goals, and resources are utilized in the most effective, efficient, and transparent manner. Suggestions & Recommendations from 2017 MSCHE Team Report Standard VII: Governance, Leadership, and Administration (The leader and the teams in action – UVINext) Suggestions for Standard VII: • The Team suggests that UVI Continue to encourage staff participation in elections and leadership positions. • The team endorses UVI’s desire to “demonstrate that it values people and relationships that impact the University” by making investments to support its constituents. • Expansion of the 360 evaluation process to all level of management to enhance overall institutional effectiveness. Recommendations for Continuous Improvement from UVI’s 2017 Self-Study Report Recommendation One: Implement a streamlined process that maximizes the impacts of budgeting, planning and assessment, and fully utilizes the shared-governance framework. While much progress has been made by the University in assessment and shared governance processes, there are opportunities to enhance assessment and improve processes that strengthen the institution's operations, and improve accountability and decision-making responsibilities. The University has many tools and initiatives in place to achieve this growth – such as UVINext – but they need to be fully integrated into the fabric and operations of the University, and seamlessly implemented, to capture evidence of achievement. This will enhance the University’s ability to achieve the goals of standards VI and VII. The development of the UVI ASPIRE draft is good progress towards the achievement of this recommendation. The draft should be fully vetted through the shared governance process, including constituencies and leadership teams, to make sure concerns of the constituents are addressed. This will allow each University constituent to understand their role and the role of each committee within the process. An assessment process should be written into the ASPIRE document to capture and continually improve the important operations of the University. This should include a baseline survey of the understanding of the existing processes, so that it can be compared to a similar survey, once the ASPIRE process is fully implemented. The implementation should be completed by the four-year peer review, so the progress can be fully reported in the University’s next self-study. Recommendation Two: Intentionally integrate the student experience (academic, support services and co-curricular activities) to create a holistic approach to measurable achievement of Pathways to Greatness, Goal 2A. Currently, UVI has initiatives in place to enhance the capture and utilization of student success data, that have the potential to improve the student experience at UVI, positively inform student services, and impact student retention. While the Self-Study demonstrates successes of the current operations, and UVI provides a variety of options for students, the improved use of data and assessment information in program development and advising could transform UVI into a model for student success. Working together in a seamless way, UVI’s Schools and Colleges must collaborate, with Student Affairs and other university entities, to ensure that relevant, experiential learning is provided; and that it contributes to overall student outcomes that impact holistic development of the UVI graduate. This will foster the integration of standards III and IV, as well as expand the implementation of standard V to extra and co-curricular activities. The implementation, of a holistic approach to student success and achievement, would set the University apart from its peers, institutional and aspirational, and make it a model for a student- centered approach to higher education. A benchmark should be created to measure how current students perceive their achievement of PTG:2A. Progress toward students attaining the attributes described in PTG:2A would be measured mid-way, and again at graduation. Focus on PTG:2A would ensure that the entire University embraces the goal, and each entity would see their role in moving the needle towards achieving the goal. Recommendations for Continuous Improvement from UVI’s 2017 Self-Study Report Recommendation Three: Improve fiscal stability and accountability. Fiscal stability remains critical for the University, and the Self-Study shows evidence of challenges, with respect to the requisite level of resources, to enable the University to achieve its strategic goals. Growing long-term obligations, such as pension plan contributions, healthcare benefits, compensation and increasing operational expenses, continue to strain the finances of the University, highlighting that careful consideration must be given to the short-term and long-term consequences of key decisions. In addition to growing existing revenue streams and creating new ones, the University’s resource allocation process could be strengthened through an ongoing comprehensive budget review, and assessment of the linkage between budgeting and strategic planning. The outcomes of these processes should be shared with constituent groups to further enhance the University’s transparency and accountability goals. This recommendation will strengthen the achievement of standards VI, I, and II, but it will also provide an improved platform to support the University’s continued ability to meet standards III, IV, and V. It will build a strong financial base, that would enable the University to achieve its mission, and remain financially viable.