Assessment, advisement and budgets were among the many topics discussed by administration leaders during the Spring 2014 college symposium, held in the Performing Arts Little Theater on Feb. 27.
The symposium included speeches from President Marcia V. Keizs, Acting Dean Donna Chirico, Assistant Provost Holger Henke and Acting Provost Panayiotis Meleties. As of Dec. 31, college projections were on target and although enrollments in undergraduate programs decreased in 2013, Keizs mentioned that graduate program enrollment increased.
Programs such as Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapy, Nursing and Social Work, have established what Keizs called a “sound base accreditation.” The Physician Assistant program maintained great accreditation, the Occupational Therapy program is gradually improving accreditation and the Nursing program recently received an eight year accreditation. As for the Social Work program, “…the goal is for an eight year accreditation…” said Keizs.
York’s assessments are crucial for understanding systems that are effective and beneficial for students and staff. Chirico referred to assessments as, “higher education’s biggest problem.” Finding usable methods for these assessments became an important discussion during the symposium. The York College assessment committee goals included identifying the people in charge of coordinating, organizing, and understanding the overall effectiveness of the institution.
“We need to create a cyclical model that follows the APR,” according to Chirico, referring to the Academic Program Review which is an evaluation process an institution goes through every five years.
Director of Counseling Cicely Brathwaite focused on the Division of Student Development through a new system known as Cardinal Pulse. Having a CUNY, York and Division focus, are influencing factors for better assessment, according to Brathwaite. In order to successfully meet these factors, she talked about four assessment practices and highlighted mission statements, satisfaction surveys, workshops for student development.
“York students would like for advisers and counsellors to stay on campus during late night study periods,” and as students prepare for finals, they “want extra support,” said Brathwaite.
Cardinal Pulse will supply every student at York with the extra support to succeed academically. The Cardinal Pulse program is a new early alert system that is designed to connect students to campus support services and other opportunities. Cardinal Pulse can also benefit faculty as a resource to aid students facing academic challenges in their courses. The aim of Cardinal Pulse is to expose York students to a variety of opportunities and improve York’s retention and graduations rates.
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