An Academic Program Assessment Methodology to Leverage the Integrated Higher Education Environment Created by the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA)

During the analysis of a course revitalization initiative to improve course effectiveness (student success) and efficiency (per student cost of classes) in College of Engineering gateway classes at Tennessee Tech University, it became apparent that the higher education environment, which includes the institutional mission and resources to sustain the mission, has a major effect on instructional effectiveness and efficiency. The problem of assessment in this environment is exacerbated when distinguishable student partitions are not included in the analysis. The analysis established a critical need for a platform to administer the integrated higher education environment created by the Complete College Tennessee Act. W. Edwards Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge is proposed as the basis for that effort. In addition, the System of Profound Knowledge may be a platform for strategic planning and continuous improvement across colleges, departments, and academic degree programs. Background The Tennessee Public Agenda focus is on increasing statewide educational attainment by implementing Tennessee’s Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), enacted in 2010. (“Complete College TN Act of 2010”) CCTA also acknowledges limitations on state funding for higher education. The Agenda reflects the importance of the state’s educational system for leveraging economic development. Specific CCTA provisions include establishing: Higher education funding, in part, based on outcomes that include degree production, research funding, student remediation, transfer and graduation rates, and job placements. Each institution has uniquely weighted outcomes that reinforce mission and Carnegie classification. The funding formula also rewards institutional efficiency, reduces program duplication, and leverages workforce development in Tennessee. Community colleges, as the educational system centerpiece, with expanded common programs for consistency and quality across these institutions. In addition, beginning in fiscal year 2012, remedial and developmental education will be administered only by community colleges. A transfer policy that enables anyone who earns a two-year community college degree to enroll as a junior in a four-year university. The 41 credit hours of general education core and 19 credit hours of pre-major courses for selected baccalaureate degree majors (history, agriculture, civil engineering, psychology, etc.) offered by the community college enable a student to transfer with 60 credit hours necessary for junior standing. Establish dual-admission/enrollment policies for Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) and University of Tennessee (UT) institutions. To facilitate university transfer, the community college and university may concurrently admit students who meet admission requirements for both institutions. These students may simultaneously enroll in classes offered by either institution and receive advising and student services from both. In effect, CCTA organized public higher education institutions into an integrated higher education system to enhance cooperation between TBR colleges and universities and UT institutions. As part of the CCTA implementation strategy, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) approved institutional mission profiles that differentiate academic degree program specialties, degree levels, and mix of undergraduate and graduate programs used in Carnegie Classifications. The recently initiated Tennessee’s Drive to 55 Alliance engages private sector partners, leaders, and non-profits to support the state’s initiative of 55 percent of Tennesseans with a college degree, associate degree, or certificate by year 2025. To support the initiative, Tennessee Promise funds college tuition and fees not covered by Pell Grants, HOPE Scholarship, or the Tennessee Student Assistance Award Program (TSAA). Of the state’s 74,000 high school graduates in year 2015, 58,000 applied for Tennessee Promise support to attend one of the 13 community colleges or 27 colleges of applied technology. (“Haslam Postsecondary Education Initiatives Showing Success,” 2015) Higher Education System Concepts of reinventing government as a customer driven service began in the 1990’s. The common thread originates from the quality movement proposed by W. Edwards Deming. He proposed the management of integrated systems as the basis for quality in any production system. Deming formalized the approach into a System of Profound Knowledge (SPK). The success of Deming’s approach is demonstrated in his work to assist with rebuilding Japan’s post World War II economy. (The Deming Institute, 2015) An SPK to develop the CCTA, Tennessee Promise, and Tennessee Reconnect into an integrated higher education system may be characterized as: An appreciation of a system: A systems approach enables higher education stakeholders to view the higher education environment as internal and external interrelated educational component subsystems. The theory of knowledge (TOK): Stakeholders must test opinions, theories, hypotheses, and beliefs on dynamics of the system against data to understand institutional and student relationships and determine changes necessary to achieve increases in the number of college degrees, associate degrees, and certifications awarded. These theories must be developed, applied, and tested to advance knowledge of higher education in a systematic fashion. A knowledge of variation: In the analysis of higher education subsystems, the two sources of statistical variations are common and special cause. Common cause variations are usually predictable. Special cause variations represent unique events outside the system and therefore unpredictable. Methods for distinguishing sources and understanding causes of variation in system performance data, as well as predicting behavior, are essential for testing knowledge of higher education. A knowledge of psychology: The principle of the organization is the understanding that people are motivated primarily by intrinsic needs, including pride in workmanship and working with others to achieve system outcomes. These values are reflected in TBR institutions. CCTA created an integrated higher education system that leveraged the goal of Tennessee Promise to increase system enrollment in an environment with diverse academic student profiles. Because TBR administers all community colleges and Tennessee’s 4-year universities (excluding those in the University of Tennessee System), CCTA was a logical step to create a seamless Tennessee higher education system. TBR’s role is to ensure efficient Student Transition Paths between all community colleges and 4-year institutions that affect an increase in the number of degrees and certificates awarded. Since enacting CCTA, community college and 4-year university faculty have developed pathway agreements to formalize transfer requirements. State funded tuition for roughly half of the CCTA prescribed academic experience is a significant financial incentive for students to enter the system via a community college. Where students enter the system has a dramatic effect on subsystem resource allocation requirements. Embedded issues are capacity requirements for community colleges and universities to provide advising as well as academic programs for these students. Tennessee’s Governor recently proposed removing the 4-years universities from TBR jurisdiction and creating boards to govern each institution. Without additional information on administrative authority for CCTA, future success of an integrated higher education system becomes more uncertain. For now, CCTA and Tennessee Promise are the basis for a well-defined higher education system; however, as discussed in following sections, there are major implementation issues, especially in engineering disciplines. The admission criteria for the College of Engineering (COE) at Tennessee Tech University (TTU) reflect the signature of graduating well prepared engineers for regional companies. Criteria for freshmen entering directly from high school are a 3.0 high school GPA, a 20 ACT composite, and a 22 ACT Math sub-score. COMPASS exam scores are used in lieu of the ACT requirements for freshmen 21 years of age or older. Admission criteria for international students are a high school diploma, demonstrated language proficiency, and an ACT Math sub-score (usually via the ACT COMPASS) of 19. Transfer student requirements are a 2.0 composite GPA, a 2.0 GPA in the last full-time semester, and a C or higher in a pre-calculus mathematics course. Approximately 65% of TTU students are from the 14 surrounding counties and most transfer students are from four community colleges. Tennessee State in Nashville, the only other engineering college in the area, serves a different region. Therefore, from a TTU perspective, higher education may be viewed as a regional system with a scalable SPK. The engineering accreditation body, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and university accreditation body, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) adopted the systems approach to accreditation with varying levels of success. In both instances, emphasis is on performance metrics for graduates and cursory consideration for entering students. A major concern of research-intensive universities with the initial draft of ABET 2000 was a one size fits all accreditation strategy imposed excessive constraints on academic programs with a well-funded research agenda. The roots of institutional research are to support accreditation efforts. Most institutional research activity is to produce descriptive metrics. Because SPK focuses on cause and effect, that approach for administering academic degree programs requires a paradigm shift in institutional research from descriptive statistics to include inferential statistical methods to assess predictor relationships for student success. The S