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Self-study Process

Doane's Self-Study Process 2008-2011

President Jonathan Brand and Vice President for Academic Affairs Maureen Franklin met in the fall of 2008 to begin preparation for the October 2011 Higher Learning Commission visit. They affirmed Doane's intent to use the Program to Evaluate and Advance Quality (PEAQ) process for our 2011 on-site review.

In November 2008, they jointly agreed to appoint Kay L. Hegler, Assessment Officer and Professor of Special Education, to coordinate the self-study process.

The HLC Self-Study Steering Committee (see the membership list below) was appointed 2 1/2 years prior to the on-site visit.

HLC Steering Committee members included:

  • Doane's vice presidents
  • academic division chairs
  • selected faculty
  • key professional staff
  • undergraduate and graduate deans
  • two Crete undergraduate students

The HLC Steering Committee members were subsequently organized into five criterion sub-committees. As personnel changed during the preparation process, substitutions were made in the HLC Steering Committee and Criterion Committee memberships.

Self-Study Steering Committee Membership by Position in 2010/2011

 Kay Hegler, Steering Committee Coordinator, Professor of Special Education, Assessment Officer
 Jonathan Brand, President
 John M. Burney, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of the Faculty
 Kim Jacobs, Vice President for Enrollment Management And Student Leadership
 Jerry Wood, Vice President for Advancement
 Michael Carpenter, Vice President for Information Technology
 Julie Schmidt, Vice President for Finance and Administration
 Thomas Gilligan, Dean, Master of Arts in Counseling
 Janice Hadfield, Dean, Master of Arts in Management and Undergraduate Studies, Lincoln and Grand Island campus
 Jennifer Worthington, Undergraduate Studies, Grand Island Campus
 Lyn Forester, Dean, Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, Chair, Division of Teacher Education
 Jed Johnston, Dean, Master of Education in Educational Leadership
 Kim Robak, Member, Board of Trustees
 Joel Weyand, Director of Admissions
 Jacque Pomajzl, Director of Marketing and Public Relations
 Denise Ellis, Registrar
 Peg Tvrdy, Director of Financial Aid
 Nicole Williams, Student Congress President
 Alec Engebretson, Chair of Doane Plan Committee, Learning Communities
 Deryl Merritt, Chair, Division of Economics and Business
 Evelyn Haller, Chair, Division of Fine Arts and Humanities
 Danelle DeBoer, Chair, Division of Social Science
 Chris Wentworth, Chair, Division of Science, Mathematics, and Information Science and Technology
 Donna Jurena, Chair, Division of Academic Informational Services
 Greg Heier, Athletic Director
 Suzy Carter, Assistant to the Dean for Undergraduate Studies Lincoln and Grand Island campuses
 Laura Sears, Human Resources Coordinator
 Raja Tayeh, Office of Institutional Research
 Mike Hartwell, Director of Physical Plant
 Carrie Petr, Director, Hansen Leadership Program
                
In January 2009, the full HLC Steering Committee met jointly for the first time. It reviewed the purpose of Doane's self-study report and the challenges and recommendations from the 2001 HLC team report.

The full HLC Steering Committee continued to meet regularly between January 2009 and May 2011. The committee managed drafts, evidence, and minutes through a dedicated Blackboard site.

In spring 2011, the criterion sub-committees presented draft criterion chapters to the full HLC Steering Committee. These drafts described the evidence to Doane's claims about each of the criteria and summarized the strengths and challenges for each criterion. The self-study paralleled efforts to develop a new strategic plan, so that information has been shared and faculty and staff meetings held to advance both discussions.

The Associate Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations and the Self-Study Coordinator, tended to the publication of the request for third-party testimony. The first request was published in the college's alumni magazine in March 2011, 6 months prior to the visit. Subsequent requests for third-party comment were published in the Lincoln Journal Star (NE), the Omaha World-Herald (NE), the Grand Island Daily Independent (NE), The Crete News (NE), and on the college website.

The Report

In the fall of 2010, the criterion sub-committees each began to draft evidentiary statements to document Doane's accomplishment of the criteria and core components. These evidentiary statements were assembled by either the criterion committee chair or the HLC Coordinator to form a draft criterion chapter. Each draft chapter was reviewed by the full HLC Steering Committee in the spring of 2011.The members suggested additional content, noted duplications with content of other chapters, and identified content that did not seem to fit the criterion, core component or bulleted item.

In May 2011, the criterion chairs worked with the HLC Coordinator and the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) to identify the strengths and challenges that could be articulated from the data in each chapter. They received feedback on the list at faculty and staff meetings on both the Crete and Lincoln campuses, received the revised drafts from the criterion committee chair, and reviewed the entire draft report.

The HLC Coordinator and VPAA then shared the effort to finalize the drafts and develop the evidence for the digital archive before the narrative was given to the Office of Communication and Marketing for final copy work. The final report was submitted on August 16, 2011.  It has been shared again across campus as a foundation for the strategic planning efforts that are being renewed under the new President, Dr. Jacque Carter, starting in September 2011.