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Chapter 1: Introduction

Kenneth L. Perrin was installed as the third chancellor of Indiana University South Bend (IUSB) in September 1997. In his inaugural address, Chancellor Perrin charted a course for Indiana University South Bend's future:

  • Develop an aggressive plan to increase annual giving at Indiana University South Bend 
  • Bring the community on campus to witness Indiana University South Bend's outstanding faculty and talented student body in action 
  • Implement a flatter, more efficient administrative structure 
  • Establish a community service office to expand internships in the community 
  • Highlight faculty excellence by establishing a Chancellor's Award for research, scholarship, and creativity 
  • Hire more tenure-track faculty to reduce dependency on associate (part-time) faculty 
  • Create career ladders that allow employees to advance internally 
  • Initiate a comprehensive review of staff salaries 
  • Open an art gallery 

At the same time, Indiana University South Bend was nearing completion of a soul-searching expedition under the auspices of the Campus Directions Committee. Established by the IUSB Academic Senate in 1996, the committee was charged with determining the key efforts Indiana University South Bend would undertake as it moved toward the 21st century. The road map submitted by the Campus Directions Committee and approved by the IUSB Academic Senate on December 5, 1997, identified four campus priorities: 

  • Focus on students 
  • Support academic excellence 
  • Expand community partnerships 
  • Enhance Indiana University South Bend's image 

Together, Chancellor Perrin's inaugural goals and the four campus priorities serve as guides for Indiana University South Bend's future and provide a framework for this self-study. Those goals and priorities recognize the pride that Indiana University South Bend takes in its outstanding faculty and affirm a commitment to be the primary public educational resource for the area by serving the community both inside and outside the classroom, laboratory, and studio.


The Self-Study

Purpose

The purpose of the self-study process was to evaluate how Indiana University South Bend, in its pursuit of continuing accreditation by the North Central Association (NCA), is meeting the NCA's General Institutional Requirements and Criteria for Accreditation. In addition, the self-study provided an opportunity for Indiana University South Bend to systematically assess its strengths and identify its weaknesses in fulfilling its institutional mission and priorities. Finally, the self-study assisted the campus in assessing implementation of both campus priorities and Chancellor Perrin's installation address. By building on the strengths and eliminating or alleviating the weaknesses, Indiana University South Bend will continue to fulfill its mission through the first decade of the next century. 

The self-study was prepared by a steering committee comprised of Indiana University South Bend administrators, faculty, staff, students, and members of the community. The steering committee approved the following institutional goals for the self-study process:

  • Review and evaluate the development of the campus since the last NCA visit (1989). A copy of this self-study is available in the NCA Resource Room.
  • Review and evaluate existing institutional strengths and weaknesses as the basis for future decisions.
  • Engage all constituencies in the institutional review process to broaden perspectives, enhance teamwork, and strengthen community.
  • Review statements of mission and vision and evaluate the link between the stated purposes and goals and actual institutional practice.
  • Review and evaluate regularized long-term planning, resource management, and assessment strategies and their integration into academic program development and evaluation.
  • Demonstrate that, as a comprehensive institution of higher education and an important regional resource, Indiana University South Bend is academically sound in teaching, scholarship, and service, and is able to respond to change as it occurs in the global society.

Organization
Following this introductory chapter, the report is organized in terms of the NCA Criteria for Accreditation. For each criterion, a pattern of evidence is presented and evaluated to determine that Indiana University South Bend meets NCA General Institutional Requirements and satisfies or exceeds the stated criterion. Chapter titles are as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Goals and Purposes

Presents evidence that Indiana University South Bend is fulfilling criterion one: "The institution has clear and publicly stated purposes consistent with its mission and appropriate to an institution of higher education." 
 
Chapter 3: Resources
Presents evidence that Indiana University South Bend is fulfilling criterion two: "The institution has effectively organized the human, financial, and physical resources necessary to accomplish its purposes." 
 
Chapter 4: Academic Affairs
Presents evidence that Indiana University South Bend's academic administration (Office of Academic Affairs) is providing administrative support for criterion three: "The institution is accomplishing its educational and other purposes." 
 
Chapter 5: Academic Programs
Presents evidence that Indiana University South Bend is fulfilling criterion three in each of its academic programs. 
 
Chapter 6: Student Services
Presents evidence that Indiana University South Bend is fulfilling criterion three in its programs of support for student learning. 
 
Chapter 7: Community Outreach
Presents evidence that Indiana University South Bend is fulfilling criterion three in making its programs available to the community and speaks, as well, to its mission as a regional university. 
 
Chapter 8: Trends and Planning
Presents evidence that Indiana University South Bend is fulfilling criterion four: "The institution can continue to accomplish its purposes and strengthen its educational effectiveness." 
 
Chapter 9: Institutional Integrity
Presents evidence that Indiana University South Bend is fulfilling criterion five: "The institution demonstrates integrity in its practices and relationships." 
 
Chapter 10: General Institutional Requirements


Process

In August 1997 an Accreditation Coordinating Committee was appointed. The charge to the committee was to oversee the accreditation self-study, to assign tasks and develop policies and procedures, and to produce a self-study document and other reports consistent with the requirements of the NCA evaluation process. 
The coordinating committee included a representative group of faculty, staff, administrators, and students and was chaired by Paul Schnur (professor and chair, Department of Psychology), representing the faculty, and Jacqueline Caul (associate vice chancellor for academic affairs), representing administration. After an initial meeting, the group was enlarged by several members and renamed the Accreditation Steering Committee. It included 24 members (See Appendix A.) 
The committee agreed on a set of objectives, set a timetable, and organized into working subcommittees with responsibilities to gather the evidence that would satisfy the criteria for accreditation and to draft a corresponding chapter of the self-study. There were eight subcommittees corresponding to self-study Chapters 2-9. Subcommittees ranged in size from three to six members, depending upon the perceived workload. (The list of subcommittee members can be found in Appendix A.) 

The 24-member steering committee proved unwieldy. A smaller steering committee was constituted to include the chairpersons of the eight subcommittees. This reorganization was endorsed by the original steering committee. 

Draft reports were prepared by each subcommittee by summer 1999. To allow the new vice chancellor for academic affairs, who was appointed July 1, 1999, the opportunity to put his mark on the self-study, the institution requested and was granted the opportunity to move the site visit originally scheduled for spring semester 2000 to fall semester 2000. Vice Chancellor Guillaume then assigned chapters to be rewritten, incorporating where possible data through fall 1999. 

 

Brief History of the Campus

Indiana University offered its first extension class in South Bend in January 1916 as part of its effort to make classes available for teachers in Indiana's cities. In the midst of the Great Depression in 1933, the superintendent of schools in South Bend asked Indiana University to provide a wider variety of classes locally for students who could not afford to go to the Indiana University campus in Bloomington. Within a few years, enrollment for evening courses held at Central High School in South Bend reached 500 students each semester. Classes were taught chiefly by local high school teachers with master's degrees and occasionally by university faculty from Indiana University Bloomington who traveled to South Bend once a week. Not until 1940, however, did the university appoint a resident director for the extension program in South Bend: Lynton Keith Caldwell, then a graduate student at the University of Chicago, became the first director for the South Bend program. 
 

By 1950 a varied program of noncredit classes had also been established. There were about a dozen full-time faculty members by the end of the decade, most of them with doctorates, although the program was still confined to evening classes at Central High School. The construction of a campus center along the St. Joseph River east of downtown South Bend in 1961 finally provided an appropriate building for Indiana University South Bend, the present older section of Northside Hall. 
 

In 1965, Lester M. Wolfson was appointed director and assistant dean for the Indiana University South Bend campus. Programs, faculty, and facilities all grew rapidly from the middle 1960s into the early 1970s. The South Bend campus awarded its first degrees in 1967 and received its first independent accreditation from the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges in 1969. In 1969, Lester M. Wolfson’s title was changed to chancellor. 
 

Enrollment and faculty changed little during the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period marked by modest decline in numbers and exceptionally tight finances. The campus, however, continued to expand its physical facilities and degree programs and, with the improvement of the local and state economy, entered a new era of growth in the late 1980s. Chancellor Wolfson provided leadership, vision, and steadiness of purpose for 23 years until his 1987 retirement. 
 

Since 1984 Purdue University has operated on the Indiana University South Bend campus offering several degree programs in applied technologies through the Purdue University School of Technology. The two- and four-year degrees are granted by Purdue University with the technical courses being taught by Purdue University faculty. Students, however, take Indiana University South Bend courses to meet requirements in science, mathematics, humanities, and social science. Although the Purdue University programs are listed in the IUSB Bulletin and Schedule of Classes, they are not included in Indiana University South Bend's accreditation process. 
 

In 1987, new chief officers were appointed for both Indiana University and Indiana University South Bend. Thomas Ehrlich was selected to become the fifteenth president of Indiana University and H. Daniel Cohen became Indiana University South Bend's second chancellor. In 1989, during Indiana University South Bend's last comprehensive NCA evaluation, the campus, led by Chancellor Cohen, was aggressively working to improve facilities and grounds, increase program options, and serve a greater number of regional students. 
 

Developments Since Indiana University 
South Bend's Last NCA Evaluation

Administrative Changes

Since the 1989 NCA evaluation, significant changes have occurred in administration of both Indiana University and its largest regional campus, Indiana University South Bend. Following the retirement of President Thomas Ehrlich, Myles Brand took office in 1994 as the sixteenth president of Indiana University. At Indiana University South Bend, Chancellor Cohen resigned in May 1995. Chancellor duties were assumed by Lester C. Lamon, who had been for several years vice chancellor for academic affairs. Lamon served as acting chancellor for two years until July 1997, when Kenneth L. Perrin assumed his role as the third chancellor of the South Bend campus.

The resignation of Daniel Cohen was unexpected and created both internal and external concern about the direction of the institution. However, under competent interim leadership, the campus made significant new efforts to expand its partnership with the community and to articulate more clearly, through focused planning, the common goals and directions of Indiana University South Bend. The Office of Campus Diversity was established, articulation agreements with neighboring two-year institutions were initiated, and the Campus Directions Committee was formed to examine Indiana University South Bend's mission and identify priorities for the future. 

Chancellor Perrin's charge to the university has sharpened the focus on students, prompting a thorough review and restructuring of student services. He secured funding from the legislature for a new $16 million student activities building and has begun a major capital campaign. Through establishment of the Office of Community Links and the annual IUSB Fest, he has supported community involvement on the campus as well as extending the academic community and its resources into the community. Internally, he has improved staff and associate faculty compensation and has undertaken a comprehensive study of faculty salaries. 

Chancellor Perrin's intention to implement a flatter, more efficient administrative structure was accomplished in part by eliminating in fall 1997 two vice chancellor positions: business affairs (which included financial and physical facilities) and external affairs (which included alumni relations, development, and public relations). The organizational structure for student services was under study in fall 1999 and is expected to change so as to reflect the leadership of Chancellor Perrin and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Alfred Guillaume, who assumed his position in July 1999. 

Expanded Administrative Services

Since the last NCA visit, several administrative offices have been created or redefined to better serve the needs of faculty, staff, and students and to address more directly the campus priorities established in fall 1997, as described in Chapter 2. These additional administrative services include:

  • Institutional Research (established in 1999) 
  • Graduate Programs (established in 1998) 
  • Affirmative Action (expanded from a part-time to a full-time position in 1997) 
  • Student Persistence (established in 1997 through Lilly grant funds) 
  • Contracts and Grants (established in 1997) 
  • Campus Diversity (established in 1995) 

In addition, in his second year the chancellor began appointing a faculty member to serve for a year as Chancellor's Fellow, thereby providing a faculty presence and full-time assistance in his office while also contributing to the development of administrative expertise among the faculty. A changed organizational structure in business affairs was also undertaken in the interest of providing better and more efficient service.
 
Planning
In addition to identifying the four campus priorities (focus on students, support academic excellence, expand community partnerships, and enhance Indiana University South Bend's image), the IUSB Academic Senate approved a new mission that clearly states the institution's commitment to all members of the university community including faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the greater Michiana community. (See Chapter 2.) 

Enrollment Management
At the time of Indiana University South Bend's last NCA self-study, Indiana University South Bend was experiencing rapid growth in its student population and had established very ambitious enrollment goals for the next decade. Indiana University South Bend had a dramatic increase of 25.6 percent in student population between 1979 and 1992 but between 1993 and 1996 the student population declined 10 percent. Headcount rose slightly in 1997 and 1998 but fell in 1999 to just below the 1996 level. 

During the 1990s the campus has seen a gradual shift to a more traditional student population. In 1989 the median age of Indiana University South Bend students was 26 years, 63 percent were women, and only 31 percent were attending Indiana University South Bend full time. Today the majority (64.2 percent) are still women, but the median age of undergraduate students has dropped to 23 and approximately 55 percent of the current degree-seeking undergraduate students attend Indiana University South Bend full time. Because of this shift to more full-time students, the student FTE and credit hour production for fall 1999 are the fifth highest of the decade despite having the lowest headcount of the decade. Future enrollment projections based on predicted high school graduates, freshman matriculants, and gross retention ratios indicate that the Indiana University South Bend undergraduate headcount may decline until 2006. If Indiana University South Bend hopes to maintain the current student enrollment, it must attract a greater percentage of graduating high school seniors, recruit nontraditional students, and improve overall retention rates. (See Chapter 3.) 
 

New and Expanded Programs

During the 1991-1992 year, Indiana University South Bend celebrated its 25th anniversary since the conferral of the first Indiana University South Bend degrees in 1967. In the 10 years since the last accreditation review, Indiana University South Bend has received approval from the Indiana Commission of Higher Education to offer five new associate degree programs, five new bachelor degree programs and three new master's level programs, as well as Indiana University Board of Trustees approval for five new certificate programs (which do not require commission approval). The Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology was subsequently dropped because of lack of funding, but all other new programs have been implemented. Additionally, cooperative agreements have made it possible to offer the Master of Social Work and the Master of Science in Nursing programs on the South Bend campus through Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Implementation of these two programs plus the Master of Science in Accounting, the Master of Arts in Applied Psychology, and the Master of Science in Management of Information Technology highlight Indiana University South Bend's commitment to providing strong masters level programming for the citizens of this region. In addition to long-standing programs offered in Elkhart, programs are offered now in South Bend's Charles Martin Youth Center and in Plymouth. Also, new partnerships have been initiated with nearby colleges to make it easier for students to transfer between institutions. (See Chapter 5.) 
 

As new programs were added, several were discontinued due to decreasing or low demand: Master of Science in Secondary Education/Music, Associate of Arts in Jazz and Commercial Music, Associate of Science in Banking and Finance, and Certificate in General Science. The case of the Master of Library Science program at Indiana University South Bend is different. The Master of Library Science was an Indiana University system school program that was eliminated at the regional campuses. The loss of this program in 1996 accounts for a significant loss of graduate student enrollment at Indiana University South Bend. 
 

Community Outreach

Indiana University South Bend is placing an increased emphasis on community outreach, thereby influencing the local economy, schools, arts, public safety, and health professions. With annual continuing education (noncredit) enrollments exceeding 9,000, Indiana University South Bend is the region's primary resource for life-long learning. The Division of Continuing Education has also become the community's strongest source of skill development training for local businesses, with updated classes that include instruction in computer software, management and supervisory skills, and ever-changing federal regulations. Annually more than 1,000 students take classes at their work sites. 
 

The Office of Community Links was established in the fall of 1997 to be a clearinghouse, to coordinate opportunities for student placement in the community, to establish on-going campus outreach and in-reach, and to create long-term community partnerships. At the same time, the IUSB Alumni Association has become much more visible and active in the community, the Division of the Arts has continued to expand its community arts programs, and virtually every division has developed partnerships in the community. (See Chapter 7.) 
 

Facilities and Grounds

Campus facilities have improved dramatically over the past 10 years. Indiana University South Bend has added Wiekamp Hall and a three-story parking garage providing 670 new parking spaces. Indiana University South Bend has also developed a pedestrian mall through the center of campus. Extensive renovations in existing structures have occurred and the campus has acquired an additional 26 acres across the St. Joseph River to accommodate long-term expansion. Indiana University South Bend also acquired and renovated the former Army Reserve Center adjacent to campus on Northside Boulevard with new classrooms and technology laboratories for Purdue University programs. The first floor of the Associates Building is currently under renovation. 
 

In 1997 a $980,000 planning appropriation was awarded to the campus for work with architects to develop final plans for a student activities center, and during the 1999 general session of the Indiana State Legislature campus officials requested and received approximately $16 million in construction funds for the facility. (See Chapter 3.) A map of the campus is available in the NCA Resource Room.
 
 

Particular Issues

In the last several years both the Indiana University Board of Trustees and the Indiana Commission of Higher Education (ICHE) have become involved in a number of issues that have and will have significant impact on Indiana University South Bend in terms of funding, enrollment patterns, program offerings, and distribution of faculty resources. For example, the ICHE, which has authority to approve new degree programs, asserted that it also has the authority to remove programs and threatened the deletion of programs that have produced a low number of graduates within a certain time frame. The ICHE has also been actively involved in the direction of the IUSB Elkhart Center, where Indiana University South Bend has had a cooperative working relationship with Purdue University and IVY Tech State College, and has injected into that relationship a fourth institution, Vincennes University (a two-year public college located in southwestern Indiana). Most significant, however, is the move to create a community college system in Indiana, a governor's initiative approved by the ICHE and the state legislature and now scheduled to get underway in fall 2000. Each of these matters affects Indiana University South Bend's future and has required a vigorous response from Indiana University South Bend administrators.
 
 

Responses to the 1989 NCA Evaluation Concerns

  1. An inordinately high percentage of courses, especially at the freshman level, are presently taught by associate (part-time) faculty. 
    Although Indiana University South Bend has substantially increased the number of full-time faculty in the past 10 years, the campus continues to rely heavily on associate faculty. Despite a 34 percent increase in full-time faculty, the teaching FTE has increased by only 27 percent because of a larger proportional increase in nonteaching assignments held by tenured faculty. The FTE of fall semester associate faculty has decreased from 42.3 percent of the total teaching load in 1990 to 34.6 percent in 1999. While this is modest improvement toward the campus goal of decreasing dependency on associate faculty, it is encouraging to note that it has occurred during a decade when fall semester student credit hour production rose from 58,841 to 61,422.
     
  2. Indiana University South Bend has set ambitious, worthwhile goals for enrollment, but has not yet established practical plans to achieve those goals.
    In 1987 the IUSB Campus Planning Group agreed on an enrollment plan that sought to increase overall campus enrollment by 5 percent per year until enrollment reached 12,000 students. While there was general campus consensus regarding that plan, most now agree that a continuing 5 percent growth rate was unrealistic. Clearly the NCA team was correct in its concern. The halt in drastic enrollment increases has provided a badly needed opportunity to catch up, in both academic and student services, to the needs of the expanded student population. Indiana University South Bend is less concerned today about realizing a 5 percent per year growth rate and more concerned about establishing retention strategies and admission, placement testing, and remediation policies that ensure student success. The vice chancellor for academic affairs recently identified enrollment management as a priority for his office, has called student services personnel together to begin the planning process, and has begun to investigate ways to increase faculty involvement in recruiting and retention efforts. It is hoped that a restructuring of student services will help forge the link between academic units, the registrar, admissions, financial aid, and freshman division to ensure the development of an enrollment management plan that is understood and supported by all segments of the campus community.
     
  3. Although Indiana University South Bend participates in a systemwide planning process for the assessment of learning outcomes, at present it lags behind many similar institutions in assessing the learning gains experienced by its own students. 
    The IUSB Assessment Plan was submitted to and approved by NCA in 1995. During the 1999-2000 academic year, the Assessment Committee is conducting a review of the current plan and compiling a five-year summary of outcomes data. The review, report of outcomes, and recommendations will be presented to the IUSB Academic Senate in the fall semester 2000. The assessment surveys, the results of those surveys, and assessment plans are available in the NCA Resource Room.
     
  4. Indiana University South Bend will need substantially more resources to employ full-time faculty and to add to its classroom, laboratory, and student space if it is to accommodate its long-range enrollment goals. 
    As mentioned above, less emphasis is currently being placed on rapid enrollment expansion than at the time of the 1989 NCA evaluation. The campus has, however, still experienced a substantial increase since the late 1970s. In response to that growth, Indiana University South Bend has increased its full-time faculty by 34 percent and has dramatically improved campus grounds and facilities. 
     
  5. The people of Elkhart County have genuine educational needs. Pressures to create a second or branch campus in Elkhart pose the danger that educational resources will be seriously diluted.
    During the 1998-1999 year Indiana University South Bend conducted a thorough cost analysis of the Elkhart program. (See Appendix B). The report established that Indiana University South Bend consistently operates very close to the break-even level counting only student tuition and fees income in the analysis.

    In addition, Indiana University South Bend receives state enrollment change funding. It is difficult however, to calculate the amount of state money realized through the Elkhart program because of uncertainty concerning how many students would actually be lost if the program did not exist (i.e., how many of the present students in Elkhart would travel to the South Bend campus). Even modest estimates, however put the total income substantially above costs. 

    Indiana University South Bend continues to be under considerable political pressure regarding all aspects of the Elkhart program. During the past four years, Indiana University South Bend has participated in an alliance of four state-supported institutions brought together by the Indiana Commission of Higher Education to provide education and training services in Elkhart County. While the three institutions with long histories of service to the community have worked together very well, the fourth institution, brought in from the southern part of the state to serve as lead institution, has refused to share decision-making authority or to be held accountable for the several million in state dollars allocated to this partnership. During the 1999 legislative session, $500,000 annually was allocated to the alliance rather than to the lead institution as it had been in the past. By December 1999, three institutions, including Indiana University South Bend, had signed a memorandum of understanding, but the fourth institution brought the alliance to a standstill by refusing to sign. Indiana University South Bend and Purdue University now plan to decline continuing membership in the alliance and identify a separate facility to house their Elkhart programs.