Faculty Accreditation Questions

For Faculty - General Questions:

  1. What are the characteristics of a UW education?

  2. What is your department’s vision for the future? How does this relate to UW’s vision?

  3. Talk about shared governance and how faculty participate in decision---making at different levels of the college (committees, All Hands, Academic Council, department meetings, advisory boards/committees).

  4. How would you describe the relationship between faculty and administration? What works and what needs improvement?

  5. Describe the relationship between UW’s departments and divisions. What collaborations currently exist?

  6. What resources are available to support faculty (e.g., library, faculty professional development, travel, etc.)? Are these sufficient in meeting faculty needs?

  7. Is your department actively involved in assessing student learning? How has your department used its assessment findings? What evidence do you have that students achieve your program’s intended learning outcomes?

  8. How are your students doing once they graduate?

  9. Are you involved in research? How does the research further UW’s mission?

  10. What opportunities do students in your program have to gain experience with research? Community or civic engagement? Diversity or multiculturalism?

  11. What is the purpose of UW’s general education program? In what ways does the program achieve its goals for students? How could it be improved?

  12. For some common faculty issues (workload, salary, paid leaves, etc.), what works well and what needs to be improved?

  13. What is the role of faculty in ensuring academic quality?

  14. Does your department offer courses or programs via distance education? If so, how does the department ensure the quality of the curriculum regardless of how or where it is delivered?

 


For Faculty - Criterion-Based Questions

Criterion 1 - Mission

  1. Do you know the UW mission statement? How would you describe it?

  2. Do you know where you would find the official mission statement?

  3. Do you support the mission of UW?

  4. Does the UW Board of Trustees support the mission of UW?

  5. How does your department support the mission of UW?

  6. How were you involved in the strategic planning process at UW?

  7. What are UW’s current strategic planning priorities?

  8. Do you believe UW has made progress toward achieving the identified strategic goals?

  9. How does UW support students who meet the admissions criteria?

  10. How does UW support students who are underprepared or struggling?

  11. Are budget decisions made based on the strategic goals of the university?

  12. Do budget decisions take into account recommendations from the program review process?

  13. What do you believe have been the major accomplishments of UW over the last ten years?

  14. How do UW’s processes/activities reflect attention to human diversity?

  15. How does UW support the community at large?

  16. Are marketing materials accurate and up to date?


Criterion 2 – Ethics and Integrity

  1. Is UW committed to equal educational/employment opportunities?

  2. Describe the campus climate at UW.

  3. Describe shared governance and how faculty participate in decision-making at different levels of the university (department, college, institution)

  4. For some common faculty issues (workload, salary, sabbatical leaves, etc.), what works well and what needs to be improved?

  5. Are you satisfied with the support you receive to enhance your teaching?

  6. Are you satisfied with the support you receive to enhance your scholarship?

  7. Have UW administrators established a culture of trust within the university?

  8. Do you understand the FERPA policy?

  9. Does UW have academic and financial requirements which are presented clearly and completely to students and the public?

  10. What are the major responsibilities of the Board of Trustees?

  11. Who is responsible for curriculum additions/deletions/modifications?

  12. Who is responsible for academic policy creation/modification?

  13. Do you, faculty, believe you have academic freedom in your teaching?

  14. Does UW have policies and procedures in place to address ethical conduct in research for both faculty and students?

Criterion 3 – Quality, Resources, and Support in Teaching and Learning

  1. What characterizes a UW education?

  2. What is the process for making curriculum changes in your academic programs?

  3. Are you familiar with the university student learning outcomes?

  4. Do you support the university student learning outcomes?

  5. What is the purpose of UW’s general education program? How do you know if it is achieving its purpose? How could it be improved?

  6. Do you know your departmental program(s) student learning outcomes?

  7. How do you know your majors are attaining the program learning outcomes?

  8. What is your department’s vision for the future? How does it relate to the university’s vision?

  9. How is course quality and consistency ensured in multiple section face-to-face courses? In online versions of face-to-face courses?  In concurrent enrollment courses?

  10. Does your department offer courses or programs via distance education? If so, how does your department ensure the quality of the curriculum?

  11. Does the university provide support for the development of on-line courses?

  12. Are the classes offered by your department taught by qualified faculty including adjuncts and concurrent enrollment course instructors?

  13. What is the role of faculty in ensuring academic quality?

  14. Can you describe the tenure and promotion process? What is your impression of the process?

  15. Do you know what UW’s Quality Initiative was these past three years?

  16. Does UW provide sufficient technology support?

  17. What resources are available to support faculty? Are they sufficient?

  18. Are you involved in research? Does UW’s research focus further its mission?

  19. What opportunities do students in your program have to gain experience with research? With community or civic engagement? With diversity or multiculturalism?

  20. How would you characterize the relationship between faculty and administration?

  21. Are students provided with adequate academic and personal support services?

  22. Are students provided with sufficient and relevant co-curricular experiences?

  23. Does UW have a commitment to retention and progression to graduation? How successful have the efforts been?

  24. Does UW have sufficient and appropriate classrooms to instruct students?

  25. Are facilities appropriately maintained at UW?

  26. How do you track your majors to determine how successful they are after they graduate?

Criterion 4 – Evaluation and Improvement in Teaching and Learning

  1. Describe the program review process started in 2018 at UW. Has your department been through it yet?  What was the process like?

  2. Describe the transfer policy used by UW University for general education courses. Describe the policy for courses in your major.

  3. Are UW faculty appropriately qualified?

  4. Describe the general education course approval process.

  5. Is your department actively involved in assessing student learning?

  6. How has your department used its assessment findings?

  7. How are you made aware of UW students’ achievement of the university student learning outcomes? Where is this information located?

  8. How is UW doing with regard to first year retention rates? Graduation rates?

  9. What is UW doing to improve retention/graduation rates?

Criterion 5 – Resources, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness

  1. What are the different streams of revenue utilized by UW University to fund the institution?

  2. What challenges do you believe UW will need to deal with in the next 10 years?

  3. Do you understand the annual budget process?

  4. Are capital improvements (facilities, technology, equipment) based on strategic needs of the institution?

  5. Do you believe the UW Board of Trustees is aware of important initiatives being undertaken on the UW campuses in Laramie and Casper?

  6. How do the Board of Trustees fit into the institutional governance structure?

  7. What is the role of Faculty Senate?

  8. How are faculty given the opportunity to provide input into important initiatives?

  9. How are assessment results taken into consideration during the budget decision making process?

  10. How are program review recommendations taken into consideration during the budget decision making process?

  11. How are strategic planning goals taken into consideration during the budget decision making process?

Contact Us

Office of Academic Affairs

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Dept. 3302

Old Main, room 312

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: +1307-766-4286

Fax: (307)766-2606

Email: provost@uwyo.edu

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