Student Experiences and Feedback and at UMKC

The National Survey of Student Engagement, or NSSE, is a national survey sent to a sample of first‐year and senior students to determine their relationship with the academic, social, and environmental aspects of the college or university they are attending. UMKC has participated in the survey eight times out of the past nine years, and in 2009, a random sample of 930 freshman students participated in the survey.

The information derived from NSSE data is a reflection of student experiences and offers a comparison of student responses from peer institutions. NSSE data is helpful to inform strategies or initiatives that improve student success at UMKC. It is also used in various other settings for discussions about student experiences and feedback, for example, in regard to studying, faculty standards and interactions with students, assignments, community-participation, application of education, and enriching educational experiences.

In order to inform your own work you can read about student experiences at UMKC in the reports:

• Student Experience in Brief: UMKC
• Executive Snapshot 2009

You can also learn more about NSSE national findings and general information at the UMKC Institutional Research Web site.

The Student Success and Retention Workshop with ACT

On February 24th, we will welcome Dr. Steve Robbins, Dr. Wes Habley and Mr. Charles Ramos from ACT, Inc. to UMKC. They will be presenting at the Student Success and Retention Workshop, a follow-up to last spring’s Student Retention Retreat and to the work the academic units have been doing on their unit specific enrollment management and student retention strategic plans.

The Student Success and Retention Workshop with ACT will be an opportunity for faculty and staff to learn more information related to student success, student retention, and how ACT scores and skills impact enrollment, advising, and student support.

It is UMKC’s mission to create a vibrant learning and campus life experience for UMKC students. This means placing student success at the center. The Student Success and Retention Workshop will provide an opportunity to share ideas focused on supporting our students.

Implementing Strategic Initiatives and Promoting Collaboration

UMKC’s Office of the Provost and Division of Academic Affairs promotes collaboration across the University and oversees policies and initiatives that shape the academic life of the University as a whole. In doing so, the Provost Office sees a need to improve on our ability to more openly and clearly communicate with faculty and staff and create a better system in which we implement strategic initiatives to achieve student outcomes. Therefore, Jake Kupiec joined the Provost Office to aid in these endeavors.

Jake Kupiec has worked in higher education and has focused her work on the effectiveness of Web communications since 1995. Before coming to UMKC, she served as the executive director of digital initiatives at the University of Nevada, Reno and prior to that she was the director of Web communications at Arizona State University. Her expertise includes the strategic use of the Web to achieve university goals; Web governance and organization in universities; and the use of social networking to enhance student recruitment and improve student success, student retention and graduation. She is currently pursuing an advanced degree in geography; her area of research is focused on the geography of online communities and leveraging online community membership to improve student outcomes.

The Provost Office is pleased to have Jake join our team. Our campus community has already benefited from her talent and drive for constant growth and improvement.

Faculty Leave of Absence Request

Leaves of absence provide faculty with an opportunity for reflection, research, and professional development essential in a scholarly community. Tenured, tenure-track, and full-time, ranked non-tenure track research faculty members with established scholarly, artistic or research records are eligible to apply for a research leave, which may be taken for a period of time up to a full year. Tenured, tenure-track and full-time, ranked non-tenure track faculty members are also eligible to apply for a development leave to pursue personal, professional, instructional, or administrative development. Development leaves may be taken for a period of time up to a full year. Tenured faculty members are eligible to apply for a sabbatical leave after six or more years of service, and can reapply for subsequent sabbatical leaves six years after the prior sabbatical leave. Sabbatical leaves may be taken for a period of time up to a full year. A faculty member on a sabbatical leave will receive up to one-half their regular annual salary.

The UMKC Faculty Leave of Absence Request process is now posted on the Provost Website on the Policies and Procedures page. It is important to emphasize that:

• Leave of absence requests must be submitted to the Provost for approval at least 90 days before the leave of absence.
• The Provost Office suggests a minimum period of seven years between professional leaves.
• The unit’s Human Resources Facilitator (HRF) must review all Leave of Absence Request Forms prior to submission to the Provost.
• Medical leaves are subject to Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guidelines and approval; contact UMKC Human Resources (816-235-1621) for guidance through the FMLA process.

Simply click on “Leave of Absence – Faculty” on the Policies and Procedures page to find everything you need to know about the application, approval and processing of faculty leave requests. The site also includes links to the official Faculty Leave Policy (CRR 340.070) and Leave Request Form, as well as brief definitions of the different types of leave available to faculty and other handy tips.

For additional information regarding Faculty Leave of Absences, contact Beci Edmundson (edmundsonr@umkc.edu).

General Education Advisory Task Force at UMKC

In a September 2009 presentation at UMKC, the President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Carol Geary Schneider asserted the need for general education to better prepare students for “global interdependence, innovation in the workplace and a diverse democracy.” The General Education Advisory Task Force at UMKC began meeting November 2009 in order to review the current status of our general education program, review the national approaches to general education, and make recommendations to the provost regarding revising or our campus wide general education program. The task force has been charged with developing a strategy and plan for the creation and implementation of a general education program tied to the UMKC mission focusing on student success and student retention. This new general education program will need to include a premier student learning assessment component and an ongoing review and revision cycle.

The task force is currently:

• Studying national trends and emphasis areas in general education
• Reviewing general education programs that have undergone revision
• Reviewing the processes aspirational peer institutions and exemplary programs have used in their general education program revision processes.

As part of the process, the General Education Advisory Task Force plans to submit a proposal to be considered as a participant in the 2010 AAC&U Institute on General Education.

Learn more about the General Education Advisory Task Force charge and responsibilities, recent happenings, members, and meetings at the General Education Advisory Task Force Web site.

The New Student Email System

As you may have heard, the University has partnered with Microsoft to provide a new e-mail system for students. The new system, called Outlook Live has much to offer, including a larger 10GB inbox, a Skydive with 25GB of online storage, as well as collaboration and social networking tools.

As students migrate to the new platform, they will have a new e-mail address: username@mail.umkc.edu. After students opt-in to the new system, any new e-mail sent to their old Exchange accounts at username@umkc.edu will be automatically forwarded to their new Outlook Live accounts. Students will be able to login to their old Exchange e-mail accounts so that they have a chance to move e-mail from the old system to the new Outlook Live system throughout the Spring 2010 semester. Students should continue to use their current SSO ID and password to login into Pathway, Blackboard, lab computers, etc.

The deadline for opting in to the new Outlook Live e-mail system is February 12, 2010. After that date all student e-mail accounts will be automatically migrated to Outlook Live. Students can find more information about the process and how to opt-in to Outlook Live before the deadline by visiting the IS website at http://www.umkc.edu/is/webmail/live/transition.asp. Please visit the IS website for more information on Outlook Live. The UMKC IS Call Center is available at (816) 235-2000 to help answer questions about Outlook Live and other technology resources at UMKC.

-Written by Marilyn Reisenbichler, UMKC Information Services, Director, Support Services

Shifting the Focus for the New Year

The Office of the Provost’s mission is to work in concert with the academic units to provide a vibrant intellectual community for UMKC’s faculty and students. We hope to expand our efforts in 2010 and have created a communications plan for Academic Affairs outlining specific goals.

We would like to better utilize the blog to facilitate an ongoing dialogue between the provost office and the faculty, with more posts coming directly from the Provost, Vice Provosts, and other academic leaders. The posts will be more concise and hopefully communicate more information that faculty need and want to know.

We want to have greater variety and volume of communication coming from our office, and in order to do so we depend on your feedback and ideas. If you have suggestions, please let us know.

You can provide suggestions by clicking on the comment box below, using the suggestion box to the right, or emailing us at provostblog@umkc.edu.