Section 5: Institutional Effectiveness
The items in this section measure nine dimensions of institutional effectiveness - 1) student educational satisfaction, 2) student academic development, 3) student career development, 4) student personal development, 5) faculty and administrator employment satisfaction, 6) professional development/quality of the faculty, 7) system openness and community interaction, 8) ability to acquire resources, and 9) organizational health. NCHEMS developed these questions through a series of interviews with top administrators, faculty leaders, and trustees on characteristics associated with highly effective colleges and universities. The questions in this section have been used and validated since 1975. Since no institution scores high on all nine dimensions of effectiveness, NCHEMS suggests the best way to interpret this information is to compare how you think your institution ought to score, given its mission, with how it actually did score.
What is our survey data telling us?
Columbia faculty and staff agree that a large number of our students are satisfied with their educational experiences at the College. Consistent with this perception, the respondents think, a small number of our students leave the College because they are dissatisfied with their educational experience here. However, the faculty and staff state that we can do much more to promote and provide opportunities to our students to increase their academic attainment and growth. Most of us think that less than half of our students are regularly engaged in extra academic work (e.g., reading, writing, and studying) over and above what is specifically assigned to them. This sentiment was more strongly expressed by the full-time faculty.
The respondents believe that a large majority of our students come to Columbia to fulfill definite career or occupational goals and that the College is generally successful in providing necessary career training to our students so that they can obtain their goals to a large extent.
Contradictions exist in the respondents' perceptions regarding personal development of our students. The faculty and staff agree that one of the outstanding features of Columbia is the opportunity it provides for personal development in addition to academic development; there is a perception, however, that we do not place a particularly high emphasis on activities outside the classroom designed to enhance students' personal and non-academic development. This is further complicated by a significant proportion of faculty and staff agreeing that our students develop and mature socially, emotionally, and culturally to a very large degree directly as a result of their experiences at Columbia.
In general, our faculty and staff are comfortably satisfied with their employment at Columbia despite their perceptions of stagnated morale and increasing conflicts (see Section 2). If given the chance to take a similar job at another college, more than half would choose to stay at Columbia. This is consistent across full- and part-time faculty and staff. When asked to estimate, slightly more than one-third of the faculty indicate that More than Half/A Large Majority of faculty members are personally satisfied with working at Columbia, and another one-third of the faculty indicate About Half. About 45% of the staff estimates that More than Half/A Large Majority of administrators are personally satisfied with their employment at Columbia.
Both faculty and staff perceive that professional development among faculty is emphasized and many faculty members are actively engaged in professional development activities such as doing research, getting an advanced degree, consulting, etc. In line with this view, a majority of the full- and part-time faculty estimate that they are teaching at the 'cutting edge' of their field.
The respondents feel that Columbia has been a good citizen to its immediate neighborhood and to the City of Chicago through providing many community-oriented programs, workshops, and activities. The College has been trying to keep pace with the changing needs of our external communities, but we could do more in our efforts to create additional external impact for the College.
The respondents seem to lose their confident optimism when it comes to acquiring additional financial resources to provide a high-quality educational program. This could be a spillover effect of not having enough information about the College's financial resources and how decisions are made (see Sections 2, 4, and 8). In addition, 56% of full-time faculty questions our ability to attract leaders of their respective fields to take a teaching position here. The part-time faculty members hold the most optimistic view on the College's ability to obtain additional resources and attract discipline leaders to come to Columbia.
As a group, the respondents are most positive (and strongly expressed) about student/faculty relationships -- the relationships are characterized as close, informal, and based on mutual concern. Respondents' feelings and views about the College's day-to-day functions don't generate 'confident' expressions. The College's day-to-day functions create a level of conflict, friction and anxiety, and some level of suspicion, fear and insecurity. The respondents feel that not enough recognition and reward is given by supervisors for their good work and successes. And most of the respondents don't feel "in-the-know" about the internal functions of the College. The respondents also feel pretty neutral about the equity of treatment and rewards. Despite these daily frustrations, the faculty and staff express that, in general, Columbia as an organization is healthy and is running smoothly, and productively.
The following comments from survey respondents illustrate the range of perspectives on the institutional issues discussed in this section:
Columbia College is a creative arts institution where a student can accomplish practical goals in field of the arts. It does a great job in fulfilling its mission and this is reflected in the growing student body.
I have seen Columbia make major strides over the past seven years I have been with the college. The students have improved in terms of their commitment to learning and their professional goals. It has been a pleasure to see the growth. As a student of organizational structure and leadership this is a major accomplishment. It appears now to be time to focus more on establishing better communication internally among administration and faculty. We are growing so much into an interdisciplinary world and there needs to be better communication among administration-faculty and departments to continue the effects toward needing our goals. Personally, it is a pleasure teaching at Columbia because of the students. I learn a great deal from being with them. I also appreciate being given the opportunity to evaluate Columbia.
The marketing of education has become more important than the quality of education more often than not at many institutions. If we only chase enrollment, how do we achieve academic excellence? It is better to focus on the learning environment than style. Students want to learn more than simply book work.
Data for this section
For further information, please contact: hwexler@colum.edu