Major changes in the educational services provided by the university, such as those
involving a level change in degree offerings (e.g., KSU’s recent shift from Level
III to Level V), or collaborating with peer institutions in unique ways to offer
a distance learning program (e.g., KSU’s collaboration with four state universities
in creating and launching the Georgia WebMBA), have been recognized by university
officials as substantive changes that required Commission review. In both of those
instances, KSU (and its collaborating partners) requested and received approval
for substantive change as follows:
Had KSU elected to establish a branch campus or an off-campus regional center for
the delivery of multiple degree offerings, officials would have recognized the need
for formal review and approval of such a major substantive change by the Commission.
Over the past 10 years, KSU has not established any branch campuses or regional
centers for the delivery of its educational programs.
However, at the other end of the continuum of institutional changes that are minor
in comparison to the examples above, the definition of substantive change is less
clear. In these instances, there is often no consensus at KSU about what constitutes
a substantive change. Several factors contribute to a lack of consensus. One is
that the Commission’s definitions of substantive change have shifted from time to
time, probably more as a result of the U.S. Department of Education’s insistence
than the Commission’s inclination. Past definitions of "off-campus programs" that
were based primarily on distance from the main campus (the dividing point was 30
miles or more from the main campus) apparently have given way in recent years to
a broader definition that includes any site that is not part of the main campus,
including a single cohort being taught at a site a few miles away from the University.
If that interpretation of the current definition of "off-campus programs" is correct,
KSU is remiss in submitting full prospectuses and seeking prior approval for its
efforts to accommodate student cohorts and their supporting employers through educational
outreach. The University has, however,
Notified the Commission of Current Off-Campus Sites, and they are listed
in Part 4 of this report.
As a point of clarification, all of KSU’s nine current off-campus sites exist to
support at least 50% of a single degree program and sometimes serve only a one-time
cohort in graduate education. None of these sites are more than an hour’s commute
from the resources of the main campus, and several are less than 10 miles away.
These off-campus sites for instruction are often used for the convenience of the
student cohort who are practicing professionals and/or their supporting employers.
They involve KSU’s regular program faculty as instructors and are offered in classrooms
comparable to or more sophisticated than those available on the main campus. The
off-campus students also have the same Web-dominated educational support services
available to them as on-campus students. Quite simply, these off-campus sites are
not substantially different from their on-campus counterparts in the support they
provide to KSU students in professional programs.
Many program changes in the last decade that might appear to have been substantive
changes were really not. Many new degree programs evolved from tracks or concentrations
in broad field programs that were in place during KSU’s 1996 reaffirmation. For
example, the bachelor’s degree programs in sociology and criminal justice were substantial
concentration options in the human services major ten years ago, and their evolution
into stand-alone majors was not considered to be a substantive change. Similarly,
substantial concentrations in sport management and exercise science evolved into
stand-alone majors and were separated out from the broad field major of health &
physical education that included them ten years ago. Those were not considered to
be substantive changes. The establishment of an undergraduate biochemistry major
from the long-standing curriculum in chemistry and biology or the initiation of
an interdisciplinary studies major configured from guided electives in the existing
curriculum were not considered to be substantive changes. At the graduate level,
creation of the Master of Arts in Teaching in the College of Education as an alternate
route to the Master of Education degree for advanced teacher certification was not
considered to be a substantive change. Consequently, many new programs that evolved
over the past decade were not specifically identified or reported as substantive
changes. They were, however, reported to the Commission through the institution’s
annual profile and its submission of undergraduate and graduate catalogs.
Differing interpretations exist of what constitutes a substantive change when new
programs are initiated at an existing degree level. For example, since all of KSU’s
master’s programs are professionally oriented, some have argued that additions to
that collection do not constitute a change that is substantive. Arguments have been
made that the addition of degree program specializations under the same degree designations
(M.Ed., M.S.N., M.S., etc.) in the same field of study (education, nursing, computer
science, etc.) are not substantive changes. However, a narrow and literal interpretation
of differences among the disciplinary orientations of existing and new degree proposals
recently led KSU to submit the following substantive change prospectuses for review
and approval by the Commission staff:
The decision to submit a prospectus for the M.S.W. was made because a program in
social work had not been offered at the graduate level, even though a closely related
undergraduate program in human services, offered by a faculty with advanced degrees
in social work, had been available at KSU for more than ten years. Likewise, the
M.S. in Applied Statistics was submitted for the Commission staff’s approval even
though KSU’s Department of Mathematics & Statistics has offered mathematics programs
including concentrations in statistics at the undergraduate level for many years
as well as highly successful mathematics education programs at the undergraduate
and graduate levels. A consensus among officials at KSU did not exist as to whether
these programs actually constituted substantive changes in these contexts of existing
disciplinary faculties and existing disciplinary offerings. Nevertheless, a narrow
and literal interpretation of the Substantive Change Policy suggested that the Commission’s
staff review and approval of prospectuses for such programs was expected.
Requested Clarification of the Interpretation of Substantive Change Policy
was also sent to staff at the Commission in an effort to help resolve differences
of opinion among campus officials on these and similar issues.
Soon after his arrival in July 2006, KSU’s new president took comprehensive steps
to ensure the University’s compliance with the Commission’s Substantive Change Policy.
His actions assumed that narrow and literal interpretations of the Commission’s
Substantive Change Policy apply. (See
President Papp’s letter to Commission Staff on Substantive Change Compliance.)
Subsequently, the President’s
Directive for Substantive Change Compliance was issued to all academic
administrators. Administrators overseeing the curriculum review and approval processes
for new degree and distance learning programs were directed to increase
Visibility of Requirements for Compliance with Substantive Change. KSU’s
Accreditation Liaison was charged to coordinate these efforts. KSU’s Liaison
Posted Information, Instructions, Forms and Sample Reports on Substantive Change
on the Center for Institutional Effectiveness Web site and has taken steps toward
the Development of
Improved Tracking Systems for Substantive Change Reporting.
Clearly, officials at KSU are making good faith efforts to better understand the
Commission’s conditions and expectations for substantive change reporting and prior
approval and to adhere closely to those expectations under the leadership of its
new president.
