INSTITUTIONAL REPORT - otis.edu · successful interim report. ... Game and Entertainment Design, and Motion Design; ... 380923779398969706SSSSSSSSeCfAeAaAeDC’bSg,RDgA

OTIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN INSTITUTIONAL REPORT

INSTITUTIONALREPORT

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Component 1: Introduction to the Institutional Report Institutional Context: Response to Previous Commission Actions, Additional Developments since the 2008 WSCUC Visit 3

Response to 2008 WASC Report Recommendations 6

Component 2: Compliance with the Standards Review 16

Standard 1: Defining Institutional Purposes and Ensuring Educational Objectives 18

Standard 2: Achieving Educational Objectives through Core Functions 21

Standard 3: Developing and Applying Resources and Organizational Structures to Ensure Quality and Sustainability 26

Standard 4: Creating an Organization Committed to Quality Assurance, Institutional Learning, and Improvement 28

Component 3: Degree Programs: Meaning, Quality, and Integrity of Degrees; Curricular Overview, Institutional Learning Outcomes 29

Component 4: Educational Quality: Student Learning, Core Competencies, and Standards of Performance at Graduation 45

Component 5: Student Success: Student Learning, Retention, and Graduation 57

Component 6: Quality Assurance and Improvement: Program Review; Assessment; Use of Data and Evidence 68

Component 7: Sustainability: Financial Viability, Preparing for the Changing Higher Education Environment 72

Component 8: Themes – Not Used 78

Component 9: Conclusion 79

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3COMPONENT 1 Introduction to the Institutional Report Institutional Context

Introduction to the Institutional Report Institutional Context: Response to Previous Commission Actions, Additional Developments since the 2008 WSCUC Visit.

COMPONENT

1Otis prepares diverse students of art and design to enrich our world through their creativity, their skill, and their vision. — Otis College of Art and Design Mission Statement

Serendipitously coinciding with Otis College of Art and Design’s centennial celebrations, this Report is an opportune moment for institutional reflection and inquiry, revealing just how much the institution has changed and accomplished. At the same time, it is a welcomed opportunity to look forward to new challenges, and to explore best pathways to continued evolution.



Otis College of Art and Design, the first school of art in Los Angeles, was founded in 1918 when General Harrison Gray Otis, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, bequeathed his MacArthur Park property to the City of Los Angeles for “the advancement of the arts.” Originally named Otis Art Institute, the college became affiliated with New York’s Parsons School of Design in 1978. In 1993, it once again became an independent institution and was renamed Otis College of Art and Design. The college remained in its historic McArthur Park home until 1997, when the main campus moved to Westchester, just north of the Los Angeles International Airport one mile from Loyola Marymount University.

Otis College was first accredited by WASC in 1956. In 1993, after many years of challenges, the campus was placed on probation; in 1996 probationary status was removed; in 2000 the Commission acted to “Remove Deferral of Reaffirmation.” In 2008 the college received the maximum reaccreditation time of ten years, an acknowledgment of the significant improvements the college had made. In 2013 the college submitted a successful interim report.

The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) provides specialized accreditation. The college was last reaccredited by NASAD in 2008 and will undergo reaccreditation review in 2019. In addition, Otis College is a member of a 42-member art school consortium, the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD).

With a current enrollment of 1,115 students of whom 53 are MFA level, Otis College has one of the most geographically, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse art and design student communities in the U.S. It was recently ranked in the top one percent for diversity nationwide. Students hail from 38 states and 34 countries; over 55% are students of color; 12% are underrepresented minorities; 26% are international students; approximately 81% receive financial aid and approximately 41% are eligible for Pell grants, which are restricted to low-income families. The college’s first-to-second-year retention rate is approximately 80%. The six-year graduation rate for first-time full-time students is 62%, and for all eligible students, including transfer students, 60%; these data are average for the AICAD.

The college’s mission is carried out through seven undergraduate and three graduate programs: Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programs in Architecture/Landscape/Interiors; Communication Arts with emphases in Graphic Design and Illustration; Digital Media with emphases in Animation, Game and Entertainment Design, and Motion Design; Fashion Design with an emphasis in Costume Design; Product Design; Fine Arts with emphases in Painting, Photography, and Sculpture/New Genres; and Toy Design; Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, and Writing. The Core programs are integral common components of the BFA and include strong Foundation (first year) and Liberal Arts and Sciences (i.e., general education) programs; the three-course



sequence Creative Action: Integrated Learning program (CA:IL); Interdisciplinary minors; certificate programs and courses in art and design offered through College Extension; and a wide array of educationally enriching co-curricular programs.

Otis College has experienced many major changes since the 2008 WASC visit, including:

• 2009 Launched Graduate Graphic Design MFA

• 2010 Implemented an e-portfolio component, implemented blended/hybrid learning and online classes, created a Center for Teaching and Learning to support those components

• 2011 Began addition of hybrid/online courses supported by Bricks and Clicks

• 2013 Created and implemented a College Assessment Plan

• 2014 Reduced total credits required for the BFA from 130 to 120

• 2015 Added a Vice President for Communications and Marketing to the Senior Team

• 2016–17 Consolidated and expanded the Goldsmith campus on LA’s west side. Added Student Housing (230 beds, changing Otis College from a commuter school to a residential college), opened a Student Health and Wellness Center, relocated the Fashion Design program from downtown so that all undergraduate students now share one campus, moved the President’s office, Institutional Advancement, and Human Resources onsite, relocated Graduate Fine Arts from El Segundo to the creatively-rich Culver City

• Achieved a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the part-time faculty union, effective January 2017

• Re-sited the Student Learning Center from Student Affairs to Academic Affairs (in further support of academic tutoring and related best practices)

• Added a Director of Institutional Research in order to derive useful data, more deeply inform decision-making, and support students’ persistence through graduation the college, added an Associate Dean of Students, Director of Academic Advising, Travel and External Study Coordinator, Director of Interdisciplinary Studies and Artist, Community, and Teaching, (ACT) program, Associate Provost for Academic Administration, Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation, Director of Instructional Technology, Coordinator of the Student Learning Center, and Director of Internships

• Studied Staff and Faculty compensation and implemented adjustments for market comparability among various staff positions across divisions; increased part-time faculty course pay rates by 23% over three years; increased CE instructor rates by 10%; increased adjunct faculty compensation by over 19% across all ranks and added healthcare benefits; increased full-time faculty salaries by an average of 9.2% followed by 3.8% (totaling avg. 13%) across all ranks.



PERSONNEL CHANGES

Since 2008 the college has experienced a significant administrative, faculty, and staff changes. Many were a natural part of hiring, retirement, and resignation cycles, and some were additive as enrollment, facilities, academic programs, and approaches to student services have evolved.

President Bruce W. Ferguson joined the college in May 2015. An accomplished author and curator of dozens of nationally and internationally noted exhibitions, President Ferguson is the founding director and first curator of the nationally acclaimed SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico. He has curated for such eminent institutions as the Barbican Art Gallery in London, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and the Winnipeg and Vancouver art galleries in Canada. He has also organized exhibitions within the international biennales of Sao Paulo, Sydney, Venice, and Istanbul. President Ferguson’s extensive academic leadership experience includes roles as Dean of Columbia University’s School of the Arts, Founding Director of Arizona State University’s F.A.R. (Future Arts Research), and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Kansas City Art Institute in recognition of his leadership in the arts.

Following two interim appointments, and the hiring of Dr. Kerry Walk as Provost in 2011, Professor Randall Lavender was appointed Provost in 2015 when Dr. Walk accepted a presidential appointment at another institution. Provost Lavender is a nationally and internationally exhibited artist whose works are included in numerous public and private collections and have been reviewed or featured in dozens of articles, books, and catalogues. He joined the Otis College faculty in 1983 following appointments at Vanderbilt University, Claremont Graduate University, and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He served as Associate Chair of Otis College’s Foundation Program for more than a decade before serving as Interim co-Provost, Vice Provost, and Acting Provost. He has published essays and articles on educational psychology, contemporary culture, and best teaching practices in leading academic journals such as Studies in Art Education, Journal of Aesthetic Education, and Foundations in Art Theory (F.A.T.E.) in Review.

Response to 2008 WASC Report Recommendations

1. Otis needs to focus immediate attention on collaboratively creating a set of learning outcomes for all students. These outcomes should stipulate what an Otis graduate knows and is able to do.



A distinct advantage of Otis College’s culture of academic entrepreneurship is that each department is individually developed and strong; however, the college had lacked clear coherence about what is characteristic of all Otis College graduates. In response to the recommendation, the college-wide Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) were developed through a multi-year process involving extensive community input and were the subject of one of 23 strategic foci of the Strategic Bridge Plan for FY2011 – FY2013 (Goal I, Objective A, Strategic Focus 1; Appendix X). Institutional Learning Outcomes—core course and program outcomes describing what departments in an institution agree are the most important abilities, skills, knowledge, values, and attitudes all students should acquire as a result of successfully completing its degree—help connect Liberal Arts courses with studio courses, the Integrated Learning program with other programs, and studio courses in one program with studio courses in other programs.

In spring 2010 the Interim Provost engaged representatives from Academic and Student Affairs to create a set of Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) at a robust, well-attended faculty retreat. After generating a broad, comprehensive list of items to consider, groups were tasked with clustering these and eventually narrowing them down to the most frequently cited, which the entire group reviewed and revised as a fitting and meaningful set of ILOs: Creativity and Innovation, Skill and Technique, Visual Literacy, Social Responsibility, and Collaboration.

In 2012 the college added to the ILOs WSCUC’s Core Competencies of Written/Oral Communication, Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Quantitative Reasoning and the Provost charged teams with defining these and presenting them to the Academic Assembly for input and discussion. In spring 2013 the academic community provided feedback on the ILOs and Core Competencies through meetings of the Chairs Council, Assessment Committee, Academic Assembly, and via a dedicated webpage. The ILOs and Core Competencies were also formally presented to the Educational Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees and to the full Board at its spring 2013 meeting. The combined revised ILOs and WSCUC Core Competencies were adopted by the Academic Assembly in February 2013.

In fall 2013-spring 2014 the Assessment Committee created rubrics for the ILOs and in a subsequent discussion, accepted the faculty recommendation that the name Visual Literacy be revised to Visual Literacy and Fluency.

2. Otis needs to develop assessment practices that document progress toward learning outcomes for all students. Following the establishment of campus-wide learning outcomes, an institution-wide initiative about assessment will enable the institution to choose appropriate methods that support those outcomes by generating information and providing feedback for students, faculty, and the college.



In 2012-2013 Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences Debra Ballard attended and completed the year-long WASC Assessment and Leadership Academy (ALA). Her ALA project created a campus-wide assessment plan with input from the ALA leaders Amy Driscoll and Mary Allen, nationally prominent assessment leaders including Trudy Banta, Ralph Wolfe, Kathleen Yancey, Jillian Kinzie, Adriana Kezar, and ALA participants. With support from the Provost, the plan was presented to the Otis College community and adopted; implementation began in 2013 shortly after the WASC Interim Report. The plan included revision of Program Review according to WASC Resource Guide for “Good Practices” in Academic Program Review, follow up, or closing the loop, through the Assessment Committee with Action Plans, and Annual Assessment Reports from all undergraduate programs. The Director of Institutional Research created data dashboards for all departments. The plan is discussed in Component 3.

3. Otis can benefit from focusing its faculty development practices on three areas: institution-wide learning outcomes, institution-wide assessment practices, and strategic initiatives in technology and other pedagogical and learning strategies.

Otis College added three faculty development grant opportunities in addition to the existing grants. Since 2004, Otis College has offered faculty development grants of up to $2,500 for full-time and adjunct faculty members to support activities that enhance their growth and development, especially as pertains to their advancement/promotion in academic rank (CFR2.8, 2.9). At Otis College the designation Adjunct Faculty applies to “ranked part-time faculty who hold appointments between half and two-thirds of the normal contact hour load and have an ongoing relationship with the college” usually in the form of an additional 40 hours of service to the department and college. These ranked faculty are paid on a separate scale and receive health benefits. Faculty may apply for grants to support: 1) professional activities such as research, funding for supplies and material, or participation in conferences and workshops; 2) teaching effectiveness related to student learning styles, dealing with problem students, and educating the whole student; and 3) service to the college activities such as building departmental teamwork, collegiality, and communications. The grant awards are overseen by the Faculty Development Committee. A full list of Grantees and Project Reports appears on the Otis College website.

As of spring 2017, part-time faculty members have also been eligible to apply for professional development funds, as outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement as well as Otis Assessment Grants and technology grants as outlined below.

Over 140 grants have been awarded since 2004 and, although faculty were encouraged to apply for projects dealing with strategic initiatives in technology and other pedagogical



strategies, most grants have funded attendance and presentations at conferences and workshops; assistance with art making activities, and related equipment, materials and supplies. With these perceived priority needs of faculty for such grant opportunities, further opportunities were needed to address the 2008 WASC recommendation to encourage faculty development in technology and pedagogy, as well as the WSCUC standards in the areas of pedagogy and learning strategies and in support of faculty teaching excellence and student success (CFR2.8, 2.9, 3.5). These opportunities include:

Otis Assessment, Research, and Scholarship (OARS) Grants

All faculty members are encouraged to research and experiment with teaching methodology and related assessment practices in their courses, document the results, and share those with the academic community. The Provost, in collaboration with the ALO and Senior Director of the Library and Learning Centers, created OARS grants in 2014 (CFR2.8, 2.9, 3.3).

The goal of the OARS grant program is to encourage faculty research in assessment, particularly in arts pedagogy and assessment, to support faculty members in sharing results with colleagues to improve student learning, and serve as a teaching resource for colleagues. Such research activities also count in the faculty advancement system as contributions to the college. The OARS initiative seeks to build faculty members’ knowledge and interest in teaching effectiveness as evidenced through research of the literature and classroom assessment practices. OARS projects enhance and promote a culture of evidence and community of pedagogical practice at the college. As David Chase, WSCUC Vice President argues in Quantifying and Qualifying the Aesthetic, the scholarship and practice of assessment in the creative disciplines is “at an exciting stage of development as leaders attempt to provide evidence-based arguments for the relevance of the creative disciplines and simultaneously articulate and address some of the challenges of assessment in the creative disciplines.”

With guidelines and a rubric on the website, during the 2015-17 academic years stipends of $1,000 each were granted to faculty members of all ranks in support of classroom and programmatic research that led to recommendations for improvements in teaching and learning through specific assessment practices. The recommendations drew on the scholarship of assessment that includes case studies of effective institutional assessment practices and structures. Five of the awardees were from studio departments and seven were from Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). Most of the projects involved creating and/or testing rubrics for a variety of ILOs. The remainder involved experimenting with high-impact pedagogical practices including multi-modal composition, best studio practices for teaching English Language Learner (ELL) students, student-centered learning, and assessing students through video recording of their presentations. Another round of grants will be awarded in fall of 2017.



OARS Grant Reports are posted on the Otis College Faculty Development website so that faculty research projects could serve as examples for future faculty research, encourage faculty to become involved in further developing their teaching and related assessment practices, and support faculty members’ interests in the scholarship of teaching, learning, and assessment.

Three noteworthy research projects include:

Assessment by Dr. Parme Giuntini, Associate Adjunct Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences, whose project assessed one of the Senior Capstone assignments (the Senior Education Reflection) which in turn helped shape ILO assessment detailed in Component 5;

An analysis by Joanne Mitchell, Assistant Chair of Foundation, whose project adapted the rubric developed by the Assessment Committee for assessing ILO Creativity and Innovation at the first year level in studio;

A project development by Angela Alcerro, Lecturer in Toy Design, of small group brainstorming techniques to address ELL student reticence in critique participation. This project included plans for dissemination and further research about creativity as it relates to ELLs in the classroom.

Strategic Indicatives and Grants in Technology to Promote Pedagogy

Bricks + Clicks: in 2012, an e-seminar about e-Learning pedagogy was collaboratively designed and created by a team of Otis College faculty members and Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) staff. Each year after assessing the experience of participants, the course is updated by the Instructional Designer. Faculty members receive $500 for participation in the course and may apply for Curricular Innovation grants of $1,000 for researching, developing, implementing, and assessing an e-Learning course.To date, 91 faculty members have completed Bricks + Clicks and 293 e-Learning courses have been offered (blended + online) since summer 2008. The annual e-Learning Showcase is an opportunity for faculty to share their curricular innovation projects in blended and online learning development, and for the academic community to recognize and be inspired by these peer-to-peer innovations that advance pedagogical practice using new technologies (CFR2.3, 3.5, 2.8, 2.9).

Convocation

Starting in August 2009 the Office of the Provost has organized an annual all faculty Convocation serves as another faculty development function and as an opportunity to recognize faculty recipients of four Teaching Excellence Awards. Keynote speakers are



selected based on identified needs for faculty development and the interests of the Otis College community. Past speakers have addressed such topics as diversity, millennials, assessment, creativity, and sustainability. The fall 2017 Convocation speaker, Jill L. Ferguson, author, artist, higher education consultant, and former WASC Chief of Staff addressed the current state of accreditation and ways that arts institutions can embed accountability expectations within their regular frameworks.

Additionally, all departments run annual faculty development events. Two notable examples are the annual retreat of the Liberal Arts and Sciences department, held each year in January for full-time and adjunct faculty. Faculty members present on topics of interest to the department, often addressing assessment practices. For example, in January 2017, a prompt-writing workshop was conducted in response to the programmatic assessment of the junior courses that took place in spring 2016.

Another faculty development event is the Foundation Program’s In-Service Day, a long-standing academic year kick-off that convenes just before classes begin each fall. This meeting is an opportunity for the Foundation faculty to go over end of year final review/chair’s notes from the previous academic year. They finalize specific plans for integrating new Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs), as well as other areas of focus for the coming academic year which have arose out of the past semesters’ reviews. The Foundation Chair and Assistant Chair lead the conversation with curricular Area Heads (full-time faculty who also coordinate curriculum). New faculty members are introduced and welcomed to the team. The Foundation Program also:

• Runs workshops each year, either by Area or Affinity Section team providing an opportunity for faculty to share plans and make curricular connections with one another

• Invites two to three faculty members each year to make presentations about a new class project or share research on pedagogical methods they have found to be particularly effective with students.

Past years’ topics include a faculty member’s digital and graphic project on decorative arts for the Huntington Library, and a faculty member’s presentation on research methods and practices for facilitating both classroom lectures and student-driven research.

4. Otis needs to reflect in the design of the Integrated Learning curriculum that student learning outcomes are of sufficient breadth and depth in areas of study and in liberal arts. The team recommends close attention to the effects of Integrated Learning on the goals of each program and on the soon-to-be generated institutional outcomes for all students.



In fall 2008 a new Director of Integrated Learning, Richard Shelton, artist and educator, was appointed. He has led extensive revisions to the program, which was renamed Creative Action: An Integrated Learning program (CA:IL).

CA:IL courses now carry thematic and pedagogical linkages between the various semesters, and focus uniquely on specific skill sets corresponding to the different year levels:

• Foundation Year – Connections through Color and Design – 2 credits

• Sophomore Year – Liberal Arts and Sciences: Creative Action – 3 credits

• Junior Year- Studio Creative Action – 2 credits

Creative Action has five overarching Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) are accomplished through Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs). The PLOs exist to provide students with a series of collaborative experiences building upon and extend beyond the boundaries of their own majors by integrating disciplinary skills and knowledge within a public context. The CA:IL program’s PLOs were created to reinforce four of Otis College’s ILOs. The CA:IL program’s PLOs include:

• Negotiate diverse public spheres

• Work in interdisciplinary teams (ILO: Collaboration)

• Develop trans-disciplinary problem-solving skills (ILO: Critical Thinking)

• Conceptualize, analyze, and define issues and solutions (ILO: Information Literacy, Critical Thinking)

• Plan and propose creative solutions for a specific context, informed by engagement with a community group (ILO: Creativity and Innovation, and Social Responsibility).

Flowing from the CA:IL PLOs, the first two courses have level specific learning outcomes that also tie into the PLOs of the programs in which they are embedded. The foundation-level course is a module embedded in a larger color theory and two-dimensional design course called “Connections through Color and Design.” Students work in teams to analyze, conceptualize, and problem-solve directly with a site partner. They are exposed to best practices as well as to successful case studies in multidisciplinary collaboration and real-world problem engagement and solving through art and design. The foundation year teaches through participant observation, with students visiting partner sites and interacting with guest speakers and one another. The foundation program’s faculty members are practicing fine artists or designers, and students’ grades are based on their achievement of the learning outcomes. Students in these courses:

• Work in teams to conceptualize, analyze, and problem-solve in relation to the site/partner



• Are introduced to best practices for working in teams

• Learn through the context of working in public spheres

• Are introduced to trans-disciplinary investigation

• Respond to an issue and/or site using skills and concepts based on the 2-D curriculum.

The sophomore CA:IL course is conducted through the Liberal Arts and Sciences Program (LAS), and focuses on strengthening students’ critical thinking, academic research, problem-solving, collaboration, writing, and team-working skills. Social scientists, art historians, and community organizers predominantly teach LAS CA:IL courses. A signature assignment for sophomore courses asks students to document their work through a team e-portfolio that includes individual research and a group research paper, tracking work and progress with the site partner, and outcomes of the team project students create with or for the site partner. Additionally, students present their work to the class and the site partner and write reflections regarding this entire process.

The sophomore course learning outcomes are:

• Practice context-driven research (Information Literacy)

• Develop and practice collaborative skills (Collaboration)

• Develop writing, communication and presentation skills (Written Communication)

• Develop an awareness of cultural similarities and differences

• Demonstrate a respect for the diversity of ideas.

The junior level CA:IL courses are the culmination of skills learned at the foundation and sophomore level. Students actively engage with their site partner, are able to independently research and assess needs within the community served, and finally utilize their art and design skills collaboratively with other Otis College students to fulfill the mission of the partner organization. Students do project-driven research. They look at the ethical implications of art and design, negotiate the complexities of art and design in each unique environment, and begin to learn about project management and successful implementation. While previous sophomore and foundation courses do not focus on the creation of an actual object or piece of intellectual property, junior CA:IL courses do require such focus. This serves the ILO in all studio majors, Skill and Technique. The junior year learning outcomes are:

• Practice in engaging with a community group (Collaboration)

• Practice project-driven research

• Cultivate an awareness of social responsibility (Social Responsibility)



• Introduce students to an understanding of ethical impacts of art and design

• Negotiate the complexity of design through its context (Critical Thinking)

• Use trans-disciplinary methods of solving problems

• Introduce students to project management method.

5. Otis needs intentional discussion and integration of support for student learning within the academic and studio programs and particularly across the campus as student learning outcomes and assessment practices are established for all students. The move toward more student voices in decision-making and about their own learning can fruitfully be hastened and deepened.

Progress responsive to this recommendation is discussed extensively in Component 5.

6. Space limitations have an impact on educational effectiveness. The college needs to consider the formation of a space allocation task force with a diverse membership that considers needs for classrooms, private spaces to interact with students, and a variety of studio types. The space issue is paramount in the minds of many faculty members on the Otis campus who wish to do excellent teaching and support student learning especially as the college adds new programs and degrees.

In fall 2008 the tenant long-term lease on the 8,000 square-foot single-story building on the northeast corner of the main Goldsmith Campus expired; the college promptly redeveloped the space for studio and program occupancy, primarily for the Architecture/Landscape/Interiors program (A/L/I). In 2012, A/L/I was relocated to Ahmanson Hall, and the North Building was renovated to accommodate a larger program, Product Design. As a result, not only is Product Design better facilitated, but A/L/I and other programs have benefited from enhanced space-use efficiency. Additionally, in fall 2012, the college relocated its Graduate Fine Arts program to a newly renovated space in the heart of the vibrant Culver City fine arts gallery district and, with the development of a larger leased facility, improved the quality and number of studio (36) and exhibition spaces (2) and increased square-footage by 5,200 gross square feet (gsf) (growing from 8,000 gsf to 13,200 gsf).

In 2012 the college also began an extensive process to develop a Campus Expansion Plan. External consultants and internal experts provided assessments and a planning framework for addressing the college’s immediate and long-range space needs. The Campus Expansion Planning Steering Committee included two Trustees, the President, the Provost, the Vice Provost, the Vice President for Administrative and Financial Services, the Vice President for Institutional Advancement, and the Vice President for Enrollment Management along with all Senior Team/Division and Department/Area leaders, who worked closely with an architectural team from Ehrlich Architects and Frederick Fisher and Partners.



Input from the campus community was gathered through a robust needs inventory and a Campus Expansion blog forum. Nine on-campus workshops involved a range of affinity groups, including graduate and undergraduate programs, core programs (College Extension, Foundation, Creative Action: Integrated Learning, Interdisciplinary Studies and Artist, Community, and Teaching program, and Liberal Arts and Sciences); Enrollment Management (Admissions, Financial Aid, Registration and Records, and Student Affairs); the Senior Team (Administrative and Financial Services, Human Resources and Development, Enrollment Management, Institutional Advancement, President, and Academic Affairs); Administrative Support Services (Business Office, Communications, Facilities and Operations, Information Systems, Purchasing and Student Accounts); and Campus Life—Faculty, Staff, and Student leaders, Public Presence, and Student Success (focused on campus needs such as exterior spaces, auditorium, food services, student housing, lounge spaces, etc.).

The resulting Campus Improvement plan and subsequent expansion implementation added approximately 96,200 gsf of new residential, academic, and shop space and 7,500 gsf of landscape design. The effort also incorporated guidance from the Campus Aesthetics Advisory committee, which included members of the Academic Assembly, key staff, and college leaders.

Recommendation from 2013 Interim Report

• Develop not only IR capacity but also capacity for central processing of assessment results and closing the loop for program and institutional improvement.

The Interim Report reviewed the college Assessment Plan and in 2014 Otis College hired its first Director of Institutional Research. In 2015 the Director of Assessment/Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences became the Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation and the Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO). The IR position became vacant in June 2017 as this report was being assembled. An interim IR professional was placed immediately, and a national search was launched.

Component 4 details the assessment structure.

16COMPONENT 2 Compliance with the Standards Review

Preparation for Review

Though Otis College has in many ways been preparing ever since the last visit, its activities have been considered most deeply through an accreditation lens since fall 2015 when the Provost’s office began a comprehensive self-review under the WSCUC Standards and Compliance with Federal Requirements Worksheet. The Criteria for Review (CFR) were distributed to the relevant community members for their input. Communications with the larger campus community began at the fall 2015 Convocation and continued through presentations to the Assessment Committee, Academic Leaders, Board of Trustees, Institutional Advancement Division, and Educational Planning Committee.

Compliance with the Standards Review

COMPONENT

2

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Participants included the President, Provost, Chief Financial Officer, Business Manager, Vice President for Student Success, Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and staff, Dean of Admissions, Registrar, Bursar, Director of Financial Aid, Assistant Director for Institutional Research, all undergraduate chairs (and respective faculty members), CA:IL Coordinator, Director of the Library, Senior Director of End-User Computing, Academic Advising Coordinator, Vice President for Human Resources and Development, Director of Artists, Community, and Teaching (ACT) and Interdisciplinary Studies, Chairs of the Curriculum, Personnel, Rank and Promotion, Assessment Committee, and the Faculty Development Committees of Academic Assembly (CFR4.7). After completing a draft of the worksheet the Provost and the Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation met with the WSCUC liaison for feedback in spring 2016. This resulted in a series of campus discussions and revisions (some of which were already in progress), including a recasting of the Otis website to better highlight student learning outcomes and a consolidation of accreditation information and updates, the forming of a diversity committee taskforce led by the President, compression of intervals between Program Reviews from eight to six years, revision of internship outcomes across departments (CFR2.3), revision of the transfer policy, increased support for advising (CFR2.10, 2.12), consistency of course learning outcomes in Otis course syllabi (CFR2.4), an annual assessment process and report, a senior capstone reflection that captures students’ qualitative assessment, Otis Assessment and Research Scholarship grants for faculty development (CFR2.8, 2.9), and a co-requisite remediation class in the first-year to support student degree completion.

In spring 2017 a Reaccreditation Steering Committee was formed to review the report and contribute to the relevant Criteria for Review and Strategic Planning initiatives from members’ diverse perspectives. Reaccreditation Steering Committee invitees include the President, Provost, a Trustee, Associate Dean of Student Affairs, Controller, Senior Director of the Library and Learning Centers, Dean of College Extension and Pre college Programs, eLearning, Information Technology, Chair of Fine Arts, Chair of A/L/I, Chair of Graduate Writing, an undergraduate Design and a Fine Arts Faculty member, Foundation and first year LAS, Academic Assembly, CA:IL, ACT and Interdisciplinary Studies, Institutional Research and Effectiveness, VP for Human Resources and Development, Academic Advising, two Students, APAA/Chair Liberal Arts & Sciences, two Part-time/adjunct faculty members, and the VP for Institutional Advancement. Communication regarding the reaffirmation visit details began in a series of emails in summer 2017 and are posted on the website. This body’s members will also serve as liaisons to their various constituencies, going forward. As the college moves through the process, the Committee will be updated and will meet with the visiting team.

COMPONENT 2 Compliance with the Standards Review

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Standard 1: Defining Institutional Purposes and Ensuring Educational Objectives

Otis College’s mission statement, institutional learning outcomes, and program learning outcomes (which are mapped onto the ILOs) are visible through multiple public formats (CFR1.1, 2.3). Student outcomes are viewable on the Otis website (CFR1.2). Additionally, the very transparent nature of instruction in the college’s open studio classroom architecture allows for critiques, guest reviewers, and constantly rotating exhibitions of student work to be very visible. However, centralized archiving and coordinating evidence beyond the semester was not consistently done. A pivotal point in the effort to undertake this arose as a result of the programs using e-portfolios for External Program Review beginning in 2013. Following some initial natural tensions around learning to use the platform, programs began to experiment and expand its use productively.

Another challenge was curricular alignment with the ILOs across all programs. Program Review again became the impetus for reviewing the PLOs as they were evidenced in student work and course syllabi. The flexibility of the e-portfolios allowed programs to connect the dots more easily, and tailor the presentation of their content in varying and effective ways.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at art and design institutions has become an increasing concern, prompting the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) to form, in summer 2017, a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Taskforce (CFR1.4). This step followed input from consortium schools’ faculty, staff, and non-academic leaders in DEI. The taskforce’s foci are on faculty, in terms of both representation and inclusion, and critiques (or the discourse surrounding works in progress, their sources, intent, and resolution). The Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation will serve on this 10-member taskforce and will be able to share directly with the college community its recommendations.


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Otis College recently analyzed its faculty, staff, and student demographics including AICAD comparisons and Los Angeles racial diversity (CFR1.4) in comparison to student demographics:


FULL-TIME FACULTY Source: Otis FY 15 Institutional Dashboard

9% 7%

78%

4% Caucasian

Declined to State

Hispanic/Other

Asian

Black/Non Hispanic

2%

Male

Female45% 55%

ADJUNCT FACULTY Source: Otis FY 15 Institutional Dashboard

50%

9%

38%

Caucasian

Declined to State

Asian

Black/Non-Hispanic

3%

Male

Female41% 59%

PART-TIME FACULTY Source: Otis FY 15 Institutional Dashboard

Caucasian

Declined to State

Hawaiian

Hispanic/Other

Two or More

Asian

Asian/Pacific Islander

Black/Non-Hispanic

Male

Female56% 44%

64%

13%

8% 8%

3%

1%1%

2%

20


In consideration of CFR 1.4 on diversity, the Otis College found the above data concerning, and the president announced on April 6, 2016 “a new effort at Otis to create a Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce to help form new policies and protocols” needed to address an enriched environment for the college community. The taskforce discussed implementation of diversity and equity initiatives. Research shows that a social equity plan that includes diversity and equity structures for hiring faculty and staff results in better recruitment of students, as well as contributes to institutional sustainability. Research also shows a direct correlation between the satisfaction of students of color on a campus, and their retention as a result of having a diverse college population. On a campus that registers 65% of students of color, it is necessary and urgent to be in correspondence with the demographics to continue to be an institution of quality and relevance. Consequently, one result of the taskforce’s discussions is a college diversity policy:

Otis College of Art and Design will actively pursue initiatives, structures, and programming values to establish long-term practices that actively seek and encourage better inclusivity and representation of different segments of populations, including but not limited to visible and invisible minorities and traditionally under-represented groups, with the goal to strive for the widest range of representation in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, age, socioeconomic status, individuals with disabilities, veterans, first-generation students, transfer and international students or global curricula and a variety of distinct ideologies including members of the governing board.

In support of this, the college changed its faculty search protocols, including a 2016 revision of its faculty search policies to mitigate potential unconscious biases; in all faculty searches, Human Resources and Development (HR&D) now redacts candidate CVs,


STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS Source: Otis FY 15 Institutional Dashboard

White

Asian

Black

Declined to State

Hispanic

Native American

Other

Two or More

Male

Female33% 67%

1%1%3%

27%

4%

10%

12%

42%

21


mandates all search committee members complete online unconscious bias training, and leads a robust discussion of this matter at their first meeting. In summer 2017 the college completed a Diversity Progress Report and will continue to track the impact of the revised protocols.

Further, in LAS the chair and faculty adopted diversity as one of the program’s five curricular themes. They also held a faculty retreat on diversity in 2015. As part of the first-year curricular revision, the second-semester Ways of Knowing course, required of all first-year students, explicitly addresses diversity in a variety of ways (CFR1.4).

As detailed in Component 3, Otis College has adopted a variety of High Impact Practices (HIPs) that have “a pronounced effect on the experiences of underserved students.” Moving forward, the college needs to review both quantitative and qualitative methods to assess their impact as well as the intentionality of their design. HIPs were a focus of 2016 Convocation speaker, Dr. Tia Brown McNair, from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

Standard 2: Achieving Educational Objectives through Core Functions

Commitment to academic excellence and quality are core values that Otis College faculty and programs have always fully supported. This is evident in the senior exhibition and semester- and year-end reviews. Less consistent is faculty awareness of PLOs and consequently of ILOs, and of the value of aligning their CLOs for greater learning experience coherence and sequencing. However, as part of the self-study, programs have realized gaps and are making significant progress toward fuller alignment as discussed in Components 4 and 6.

Academic Advising

Advising at Otis College is conducted through several modes and venues, including Academic Mentoring (developmental advising), Major Advising (transactional advising), and Centralized Advising (blended—mostly working with LAS requirements and their integration into and with the majors).

A thoroughly researched (internally and externally) Advising Plan has been implemented in stages and will continue to roll out as data best support it to bolster student retention and persistence in several ways, including detecting off-track registrations early and intervening with students, branding advising spaces and messaging to increase student engagement with advisors, developing a more robust and singular guide for academic advisors and chairs focused on how to best help students with “dangling credits” (5th-year seniors) to complete their degrees, implementing more e-advising options for


22


students based on an e-advising policy, and—concurrent with the launch of DegreeWorks (see below) in 2018—developing and publicizing a series of advising “learning objects” (instructional or demonstration videos) designed to foster students’ engagement with the new online degree check program and advising opportunities more generally. The college believes these measures will increase student, faculty, and chair/director involvement in what is becoming a strong advising culture for the college (CFR2.10, 2.12).

Following an internal review and discussion among cross-institutional representatives and external research and consultation, the college included in its advising plan the recruitment of a central full-time Coordinator of Advising; the position was filled in spring 2015 with hiring of Dr. Carrie Malcom, whose previous work experience included overseeing graduate student advising for the program in Critical Theory at UC Berkeley. Further review has led to the hiring of a second full-time advisor, as well as upgrading of Dr. Malcom’s position to Director of Advising.

DegreeWorks is a comprehensive academic advising, transfer articulation, and degree audit program aligning students, advisors, and the institution in the common goal of students’ graduating on time. With DegreeWorks in place, students will be able to view their degree completion progress in real time, any time. Academic advisors will be able to see check in real time whether students are on track or may be behind in their coursework. Perhaps most importantly, advisors will be able—early—to see whether students have registered for courses that would actually put them off the track for timely graduation. DegreeWorks will work in conjunction with Otis College’s existing online advising platform, Insight, which allows advisors to maintain centrally-accessible records and notes so the whole team can quickly identify, assist, and systematically follow-up with students who are experiencing issues (CFR2.12).

To better support transfer students, Admissions hired a Transfer Admissions Counselor whose responsibility is evaluating transfer courses and articulation agreements. The department has established clear articulation agreements with five community colleges, and has thirteen others in progress. DegreeWorks will help potential transfer students’ transcripts be thoroughly evaluated for courses that fulfill Otis College transfer requirements (CFR2.12, 2.14). The fall 2018 launch was determined in consultation with campus Information Technologies based on its many projects, including the Portal and new Admissions Customer Relations Management (CRM) launches.

Academic Advising, Academic Mentoring, transfer requirements, and transfer requirements for international students, along with the college’s policies and catalog, are located in the student handbook, The Hoot; they are also addressed in the Review Under


23


WSCUC Standards and Compliance with Federal Requirements Worksheet (CFR1.6, 2.12, 2.14).

The Library, the Teaching and Learning Center, and Student Learning Center

The Millard Sheets Library provides a learning environment designed to inspire creative students and faculty. The library and the Teaching/Learning Center (TLC) have been aligned under one director since the TLC began in 2006. Beginning in fall 2016, the Student Learning Center was placed under the direction of the library and relocated to the new library space making it more visible on campus. The Director of the Library was actively involved in the new library’s design; this helped tremendously to achieve its optimal functionality.

The Otis College Library’s goals are to:

• Provide collections of traditional library materials as well as emerging digital resources which foster creativity, critical thinking, and diversity of thought, with an emphasis on supporting the college’s curriculum

• Provide anytime/anywhere access to library databases and information resources

• Empower students and faculty in their ability to locate, evaluate, and ethically use print and electronic resources

• Collaborate with the faculty to design information literacy instruction supporting critical thinking

• Support the faculty in learning and using appropriate instructional technologies

• Promote this library and other libraries as a source of inspiration for creative work, intellectual pursuits, recreation, and independent lifelong learning

• Play an active role in supporting more effective organization and presentation of information for the diverse audiences of the college

• Actively contribute to the intellectual life of the college.

The library’s circulating book collection holds approximately 35,000 volumes, including over 2,000 artists’ books and 3,500 circulating DVDs. Special Collections holds approximately 4,000 resources. Complete data on library services is location in the Library Annual Report, available in the Library Assessment E-portfolio.

Library Assessment

The Library participates in External Program Reviews and has completed three to-date, the most recent being in fall 2014; the TLC was included. The library has implemented many changes due specifically to insights arising from the program review process.


24


The Library Director works closely with faculty and departments to ensure the WSCUC Core Competency for Information Literacy is met. Please see Component 4 for more detail (CFR2.3).

Student Learning Center

In 2016, the Student Learning Center (SLC, previously the Student Resources Center) was moved into the library under the direction of the Senior Director of the Library and Learning Centers.

The new SLC began operations with a modest tutoring staff and in spring 2017 became more fully operational, and served more students than in previous years. A new full-time Coordinator was hired and funding for tutors grew considerably for the coming year. With a streamlined scheduling system and the addition of a new part-time assistant and more tutors, 2017-18 promises to offer even more support for students (CFR2.13).

Teaching/Learning Center

Since 2006, the library founded and maintains the TLC. Faculty members have come to rely heavily on the support of the TLC in preparing for and teaching their courses. For several years, the focus was on creating learning objects (demonstration videos) in addition to teaching faculty about e-Learning pedagogy. In 2009, the college launched a campus-wide initiative requiring all students to maintain a Learning E-portfolio, and faculty members began to create signature assignments and required students to submit their work to the assessment module of the Learning Management System (LMS). In 2012, in collaboration with Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Library developed an online course about e-Learning pedagogy (Bricks + Clicks: The How-To’s of e-Learning) discussed in Component 1. A full-time Instructional Designer was hired in 2012, increasing the college’s capacity to support faculty in technology-enhanced, blended, and online course development. As of fall 2016, the TLC moved to its larger, more central space in the new academic building (CFR2.4, 3.5).

International Student/English Language Learner Support

Otis College’s international student population comprises 26% of the student body. Often this group is combined with students who are English Language Learners (ELL) and 1.5 Students (students born outside of the U.S. but who attended some pre-college schooling here) which brings our ELL student population closer to 50%. Otis College’s increasing support of international students is evidenced by several efforts. The college has strengthened a focused International Student Orientation that meets the specific transition needs of international students, developed and implemented programs designed


25


to foster community, and reached out to international students (e.g., International Student Reception, cultural programming, etc.), all of which add to existing services supporting and advising students in maintaining their F-1 visa status.

Since the 2008 WASC visit, Otis College implemented the Team International Student Outreach (TISO) Program with the goal of developing a cross-cultural group of student leaders to help engage the international student population, and ease their transition into the Otis College community. A survey was administered to international students in 2017 to evaluate the use and impact of the TISO Program. The response rate was low, and the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs who coordinates the international student program will improve upon this to gain a better understanding of the overall international student experience through more focused assessment efforts. Among improvements already underway are increased training for TISOs, a two-day leadership retreat, a four-day campus resources training, and regular (twice-monthly) meetings.

International students tend to persist and graduate at rates very similar to those of their domestic peers (79% vs 81% first-time freshmen retention rate and 60% vs 62% graduation rate).

One strategy Otis College implemented was to enhance international student academic support. The Office of Institutional Research completed a study on academic success and TOEFL scores (CFR2.1, 4.2). These findings from the study suggest speaking and writing TOEFL scores were not an indicator of academic success, but students’ grades in their first-semester English course were an indicator of their cumulative GPA that semester, which was in turn an indicator of retention into the next semester. The study also found that although students in Writing in the Digital Age courses with a mandatory tutoring/co-requisite remediation sessions (WITDA+1) had average TOEFL scores 11 points lower than students placing into WITDA, their cumulative GPAs were higher. The college is continuing to explore additional opportunities to incorporate tutoring services into the student experience, especially as they pertain to bridge and pathway programs for international students. A bridge program, also known as a pathway program, is for conditionally admitted students who have not met the English language proficiency requirements for admission into an undergraduate degree program at a college. Any bridge program the college were to offer at Otis College would require approval by WSCUC and then approved by Student and Exchange Visitor Program. The academic course work a student takes must count towards the graduation requirements of a degree program of study at the school and the student must maintain a full course of study during the bridge program. Program approval will take at least a year.


26


Though the college has made improvements, it recognizes that this is an area requiring more support. The administration is exploring plans further to develop cultural competency training for students, staff, and faculty. For example, the Division of Student Affairs recently underwent a two-hour workshop on the “Needs and Concerns of Undocumented and International Students.” Some of the additional training and international support services the administration plans to implement include more tutoring assistance, clarifying expectations in the American classroom, bridging the communication gap, and advising support to help students overcome any potential embarrassment when asking for help. Otis College has also identified the need for additional faculty development/training in cultural competency and approaches to supporting, advising and interacting with international students. The college community is committed to consistently improving the services and support offered to its international students.

Standard 3: Developing and Applying Resources and Organizational Structures to Ensure Quality and Sustainability

Shared Governance

Faculty participation in shared governance occurs primarily through multiple advisory bodies of the Academic Assembly, the Committees of the Academic Assembly, and the Faculty Senate. The Academic Assembly is co-chaired by a faculty member and department chair or assistant chair as elected by the Assembly membership, which includes all full-time and adjunct faculty members, chairs, assistant chairs, and academic program directors.

The Faculty Senate, comprised of all full-time and adjunct faculty members, “provides input and promotes faculty participation in a broad range of institutional issues and policy-making related to the interests and concerns” of its members. Faculty Senate leaders (co-chairs and an ex-officio chair) regularly meet with the Provost, Associate Provost for Academic Administration, and Vice President of Human Resources and Development to review issues and concerns, share research, and clarify specific needs over time. Informed by these and other input gathering mechanisms, the Provost updates the Senate membership on a regular basis; these reports are reviewed by, and input is invited from, the Senate leaders prior to dissemination. The Provost routinely shares Updates on Faculty Issues with Senate members; these allow faculty to learn, along with communications they receive from their Senate leaders, how matters of interest are progressing from an administrative perspective.

One area the college determined was a critical point of contact that could better inform new faculty members about shared governance was the orientation of new faculty members. That event—New Faculty Orientation—was recently expanded to include more


27


thorough introductions to the college’s expectations, operations, and support systems along with teaching and classroom management tips.

Faculty hiring, responsibilities, and evaluation processes and performance appraisal are aligned with best practices and outlined in the Faculty Handbook (CFR3.2, 3.10)

As discussed in Component 7 and evidenced in the college’s annual audit, the college operates with fiscal prudency coupled with a strong respect for budgetary and space needs. For example, the budget process itself includes planning carried out at the program level—bottom-up planning—and space needs are considered on a rolling basis, especially as impacted by year-to-year by enrollment projections. The moves of Product Design into the North Building and Fashion Design into the new academic building are further examples. In all such matters, the Provost confirms that the entire Senior Team understands and is responsive to the needs of Academic Affairs, as it does to those of all divisions, and that the Team accordingly makes sound, well-informed decisions (CFR3.4).

College Organization and Governance

The Board of Trustees is the fiduciary body overseeing the college. Nineteen distinguished individuals currently serve, bringing deep expertise from business, education, the arts, law, real estate, and more. Trustees participate in routine board meetings, and many join board committees focusing on topics such as educational planning, student life, and investment and audit (CFR3.9). The 22 member Board of Governors is a larger group of interested individuals who participate in departmentally-based activities and convene on behalf of institutional support and fundraising initiatives (CFR4.6). Each member of the Senior Team works closely with a Board of Trustees committee. A faculty member, chair, or assistant chair also serve as representatives to both Boards.

The Senior Team consists of the president and division leaders: the provost (academic affairs), operations, finance, communications and marketing, institutional advancement, student success, and human resources. This group is routinely informed by the Academic Assembly (faculty) and Town Hall (staff) meetings, and makes decisions accordingly (CFR4.6).

The Academic Assembly is the shared governance body of the college, consisting of numerous committees and a membership of all adjunct and full-time faculty, deans, chairs, assistant chairs, and academic directors. The entire shared governance system is defined in the Faculty Handbook (CFR3.10).

In compliance with CFR1.5, the institution has art and design education as its primary purpose and operates with appropriate autonomy.


28


Standard 4: Creating an Organization Committed to Quality Assurance, Institutional Learning, and Improvement

As outlined in Component 4 and the Inventory of Educational Effectiveness Indicators, since the 2008 review Otis College has put in place an assessment plan that chronicles outcomes at the course, program, and institutional outcomes (CFR2.3, 2.4, 2.6). Decision making within the Student Success division with respect to enrollment management has become largely data-driven. After the 2015-16 Annual Assessment report revealed that few departments were putting their data dashboards to fullest use, the Director of Institutional Research and the Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation met with each chair and director to discuss how their data can help them, which data are most useful, and how the departments might use data more proactively. The 2016-17 Annual Assessments indicated the college needs to further develop the programs usage of data (particularly with their data dashboards). In many other cases, data-driven conclusions and initiatives have ensued, and the college has overall become more informed and responsive to the IR at hand (CFR4.2).


29COMPONENT 3 Degree Programs

Otis College is a national leader in art and design education. Its mission—to prepare a diverse student body to enrich our world through their creativity, skill, and vision—focuses not only on how students can create highly distinguished work, but also on how their work can truly make a difference. The achievement of the college’s mission can first be understood through the Institutional Learning Outcomes mapped onto the Program Learning Outcomes’ broad overlapping content, concepts, and competencies: specialized knowledge through creativity and innovation, skill and technique, and visual literacy and fluency; broad integrative knowledge through social responsibility; applied and collaborative learning through collaboration; and intellectual skills through critical thinking, written and oral communication, information literacy, and quantitative reasoning. These all

Degree Programs: Meaning, Quality, and Integrity of Degrees; Curricular Overview, Institutional Learning Outcomes

COMPONENT

3

30


fuel the transformative experience an Otis College education represents, which has been recognized as such by recent national rankings of colleges and universities in the category of “value-added.”

In many ways, Otis College demonstrates the sizable economic impact of art and design both through its learning outcomes and through its valued original research into the scope and scale of the “Creative Economy,” which engages, employees, and rewards an ever-increasing number of visual arts/design professionals (Otis Report on the Creative Economy). Otis College graduates lead some of the world’s most prestigious firms, display their work at major galleries and museums, and routinely start their own businesses. Graduates grasp the big picture, find inventive solutions to complex problems, and express their own voices through various visual media. From museum and exhibition design to the Hollywood screen to the Oscar statue itself, from clothes to toys to video games, Otis College graduates literally shape the world with their critical thinking and making skills. An example is Otis College alumni Kerry James Marshall whose work often chronicles the African American experience and critically examines the western canon.

In support of this fact, and in hopes of sustaining and improving upon it, the 2015-2019 Working Strategic Plan includes Objective 1.1: Develop distinguishing new programs, offerings, and initiatives to continue to meet the needs of a diverse student population. One such development is Your Creative Future, a professional preparation initiative combining five key curricular and co-curricular elements to ensure all undergraduate students are fully prepared to engage the world of professional opportunities awaiting them. The five elements of Your Creative Future are:

• Business Practices courses for every student

• Professional Preparation courses in every major

• Real-World engagement through internships and CA:IL courses

• An Entrepreneurial Studies minor

• Individualized Career Launch support

Curricular Structure

The Foundation year, which works closely with the studio majors, anchors the BFA and focuses on a common set of courses in the first semester and second semester core, as well as electives in both studio and the Liberal Arts focused on fundamental making, thinking, applying, and communication skills along with art history/critical theory. In the second semester students take a studio elective in the major they are interested in and also explore the full range of majors in depth, through a day-long Foundation Forward

COMPONENT 3 Degree Programs

31


event, before they formally declare their majors. Foundation Forward offers students multiple opportunities to broaden their understanding of all art and design practices and to inform and support their choice of major. In October, Foundation Forward hosts department lunches introducing students to each major in an informal setting. In February, Foundation Forward presents a day-long series of activities including presentations, videos, site visits, an alumni panel and 20-minute rotating sessions with multiple upper division teams consisting of department administrators, faculty members, alumni, and current students. The CA:IL sequence also begins in the second semester of Foundation through the Connections through Color and Design course. The sophomore year introduces students to their majors by building on the Foundation year with core major studio and art history courses in addition to the CA:IL and Liberal Arts and Sciences requirements. Second year LAS requirements include art history/theory courses tailored for each major. The junior year continues sequenced core studio major courses and LAS distribution requirements, quantitative reasoning, social science, and natural/physical sciences. Several LAS classes are major-specific, such as Child Psychology, Textile Science, and Anatomy and Ergonomics. The senior year includes two capstone experiences, one in LAS through the capstone course and the other consisting of the development and execution of students’ culminating senior thesis exhibitions.

In their sophomore year, students may also choose one of eighteen minors through the Interdisciplinary Studies office with Sustainability the largest minor.

BFA Credit Reduction

In 2012 the Vice Provost led a Student Workload Task Force in response to the Strategic Plan (Goal III, Objective I) to thoroughly study implications for student success and/or struggles directly related to the 130-unit degree requirement then in place. This included input from students, faculty, and program leaders, as well as a review of student profiles, course credit requirements, typical semester contact hour and course loads, AICAD comparability, and current literature.

The study concluded that several types of factors contributed to student struggles with workload, and that graduation rates were below those of many peer institutions. Three academic factors cited were:

1. Curricular requirements, including total numbers of courses, credits, and projects/assignments per semester

2. Faculty members’ relative unfamiliarity with the college’s standard credit/hour ratio

3. Faculty members’ relative lack of specific pedagogical training.


32


The taskforce also surveyed the faculty on this subject, and analyzed the number of required courses and credits per semester across all majors. As a result, Otis College undertook a yearlong credit-reduction effort to trim its BFA curricula from 130 to 120 total credits, and also to reduce the total number of courses students take each semester. For its part, Foundation restructured its curriculum from 18 to 17 credits; Liberal Arts and Sciences revised and reduced its curriculum from 45 to 42 credits; the studio majors each assessed and revised their curricula to reduce from 65 to 59 credits, uniformly. The college also worked closely with departments and faculty members to communicate workloads relative to unit-allocations in compliance with accreditation and federal expectations (CFR2.1). The remaining two credits are for the Junior CA:IL course. The reduced BFA curricula from each major were submitted to NASAD as a substantive change, and were approved.

The first student cohort entering (as freshmen) under the 120-unit degree that resulted from this work will graduate in spring 2018. At that time, the institution will assess student success indicators to look at first signs of the credit reduction’s impact on student success rates.


33


College Mission

Instituion Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Annual Assessment Cycle(for 5 years)

Program Review(every 6 years)

Make ChangesAdjust Curriculum Map

Assessment Report and Course & Programmatic Improvements

Provide LearningOpportunities

Curriculum MapAssessmentCommittee

AssessEvidence

Collect Evidence from eportfolios

Select 2-3 PLOsand 1 ILOProgram Review

CommitteeAnnua Assessment

Reports

Self Study

External Review

WASC Accreditation Process

Action Plan

Approved Plan

ILOsPLOsCLOs

Quality and the Assessment Process

A major objective of the Working Strategic Plan objective 5.1—fully activate the college Assessment Plan (CAP) in support of student learning and institutional learning and success—has been largely completed:

Strategy B: Embed assessment of the Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) and the WASC Core Competencies in the institutional culture (CFR2.2a, 4.3).

Part of the challenge faced by institutions of Otis College’s size, and with limited resources, is to cultivate assessment expertise that can facilitate and inform efforts. After the creation of ILOs and the subsequent adoption of the Core Competencies in response to the 2008 WASC recommendation, the Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences completed the year-long WASC Assessment Leadership Academy, which prepares “postsecondary professionals to provide leadership in a wide range of activities related to assessment of student learning, from facilitating workshops and supporting the scholarship of


OTIS ASSESSMENT PLAN

34


assessment to assisting administrative leadership in planning, budgeting, and decision-making related to educational effectiveness.” Her project, which received input from national assessment experts, was to create a sustainable, integrated assessment plan for the college. This plan was reviewed in the 2013 Interim Report and implemented in fall 2013. It was also selected as a case study in Assessment in Creative Disciplines: Quantifying and Qualifying the Aesthetic (Common Ground Publishing, 2014). Otis College’s commitment to “undertaking the accreditation review process with seriousness and candor” (CFR1.8) is demonstrated through both two crucial initial appointments and subsequent promotions: (1) the Director of Assessment to Associate Provost of Assessment and Accreditation and (2) the Assistant Director of Institutional Research to Director of Institutional Research.

Strategy C: Provide professional development opportunities related to assessment, and create avenues for shared learning and collaboration (CFR2.9).

The creation of the Otis Research, Assessment, and Scholarship (OARS) grants program discussed in Component 1 provided a meaningful way for faculty members to do research on assessment and to share their findings. Additionally, Otis College is part of a group of AICAD assessment leaders whose primary goals are to:

• Collaborate on consistent language and definitions for assessment

• Define shared learning outcomes across all AICAD colleges

• Recommend assessment strategies and tools for shared outcomes.

This group has been collaborating for one and a half years and plans to disseminate its findings through AICAD 2019.

Strategy D: Adequately support and coordinate departments’ assessment efforts through institutional research and other resources (CFR2.4, 2.70).

To ensure the quality and integrity of the degree, each program, including Liberal Arts and Sciences; CA:IL; Artists Community, and Teaching; Student Affairs; College Extension, and the minor programs, undergo rigorous External Program Review every six years based on using the Otis Program Review Guide adapted from the WASC Best Practices for Program Review. The reports are constructed using an e-portfolio template. After receiving the reviewers’ report, each program creates an Action Plan to follow up both on reviewers’ recommendations and on their own insights gained from doing the self-study. The Provost and APAA review the report with each program’s leadership, and it is presented to the Assessment Committee along with each program’s Action Plan. Annual follow-up occurs as part of the Annual Assessment Plan.


35


Each program submits an Annual Assessment Plan that reviews two or three PLOs (CFR2.3, 4.3). The plan cites evidence used in assessing student learning, methods used, who participated, results, discoveries/insights, proposed changes based on results, and how those changes will improve students’ level-appropriate learning. As part of their annual assessment, departments review syllabi to ensure the inclusion of CLOs (CFR2.4). The plan also prompts programs to review their Program Data Dashboards. The Director of Institutional Research and the APAA met with each program chair to discuss the data available to them, how they might directly use those data toward continuous program improvement, and what inquiries about student learning might best be supported by data within their program. The provost’s office plans to further develop the programs capacity to use data based on annual assessments (CFR4.2, 4.3).

A natural part of an art and design college is the rich variety of assessment practices that are captured in each program’s annual inventory. For 2015-2016 at Otis, these included:

Other types of assessment include industry professional reviews, studio notebooks/journals, catalogues, annual faculty meetings, industry professional feedback during sponsored projects, and portfolio reviews aimed at helping students be placed into internships and upon graduation.

High Impact Practices

It is well established in higher education research that High Impact Practices (HIPs) can “engage participants at levels that elevate their performance across multiple engagement and desired-outcome measures such as persistence” (George Kuh, High Impact Practices: What Are They, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter, 2008). Research has also shown that while HIPs are beneficial for college students of various backgrounds, there is evidence they are particularly valuable for first generation, underserved, underprepared students (CFR1.4). The AAC&U and George Kuh have identified 10 HIPs: First-Year


TYPES OF ASSESSMENT

CRITIQUE

JURIED SHOWS

CURRENT SHOWS

CHARETTES

MIDTERM/AND OR FINAL JURIES

SENIOR SHOW

YEAR END REVIEW OF WORK

SENIOR THESIS

CAPSTONE

SENIOR REVIEW

PAPERS

36


Seminars, Common Intellectual Experiences, Learning Communities, Writing-Intensive Courses, Collaborative Assignments and Projects, Undergraduate Research, Diversity and Global Learning, Service-Learning/Community Based-Based Learning, Internships, Capstone Courses and Projects, and—recently added to the list—e-portfolios.

While Otis College has intentionally adopted a number of HIPs, the types of educational experiences that make HIPs successful are in many ways inherent to instruction at art and design colleges. The HIPs at Otis include common core courses in both studio and LAS, learning communities through foundation-year sections and affinity groups, writing intensives (for most LAS classes), undergraduate research in coordination with the Library, collaborative projects and assignments in both studio and LAS, community-based learning in CA:IL courses, internships, and summative experiences with the Annual Exhibition/Senior Show in studio and capstone in LAS.

In 2016 Dr. Tia Brown McNair, Vice President, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success for the AAC&U presented on diversity, equity, and inclusion at the annual Otis Convocation. Her presentation highlighted HIPs that help students achieve outcomes that the National Survey of Student Engagement on High Impact Practices states “students of color experience fewer of” than do other students enrolled in higher education.

The 2015 National Survey of Student Engagement report on High-Impact Practices indicated Otis College students were participating in HIPs at a high rate:

While this is a good start, the college is determined to be more intentional in its choice, design, and assessment of its related learning outcomes in order to achieve even more fully the equity potential of HIPs. A description of where the HIPs are situated throughout the curriculum follows.


17% 85%62% 8%

9% 79%43% 15%

14% 72%55% 18%

11% 61%

0% 0%

Participated in two or more HIPs Participated in two or more HIPsParticipated in one HIP Participated in one HIP

25% 25%50% 50%75% 75%100% 100%

44% 24%

First-year

Otis College

AICAD 2014-15

Small / Priv / VHU /

All Institutions

Senior

Otis College

AICAD 2014-15

Small / Priv / VHU /

All Institutions

OVERALL HIP PARTICIPATION

The figures below display the percentage of students who participated in High-Impact Practice. Both figures include participation in a learning community, service-learning, and research with faculty. The senior figure also includes participation in an internship or field experience, study abroad, and culminating senior experience. The first segment in each bar shows the percentage of students who participated in at least two HIPs, and the full bar (both colors) represents the percentage who participated in at least one.

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Community Engagement and Creative Action: Integrated Learning

Otis College’s commitment to the public good resulted in the Carnegie Foundation’s reclassifying the college in 2015 with its Community Engagement designation, one of only 36 private institutions nationally given this distinction. “Community Engagement” is for institutions evidencing “deep engagement with local, regional, national, and global communities” and are “campuses that are improving teaching and learning, producing research that makes a difference in communities, and revitalizing their civic and academic missions.”

Effective community engagement can be seen throughout the Otis curriculum as relates to its Social Responsibility ILO and, in particular, through the CA:IL program. In CA:IL, every student participates in a distinctive three-course sequence introducing students to compelling social issues through a multidisciplinary lens. Each course is composed of students from all majors working on a real-world issue with a community partner. The “pedagogy mirrors the type of environment fledgling professionals will often work in after graduation.”

CA:IL addresses Otis College’s mission and strategic mandate to “prepare diverse students of art and design to enrich our world through their creativity, their skill, and their vision” by requiring students from the different majors to work collaboratively with one another on projects within the larger external community and engage with experts from other fields. Students bring their own unique skills to the classroom, helping to establish a collaborative environment of diverse expertise discovering unconventional solutions for partner organizations. One example is the course where Otis students collaborated with residents at Junior Blind of America, a school and residential facility for the blind and visually impaired, to create a wall installation casting the faces of faculty and staff at the school. Otis students learned that Junior Blind students had been with some of the faculty and staff for years and years yet had no idea what they looked like. The group decided to cast the faces of the Junior Blind staff and install them on a wall with a braille sentence of their favorite saying.

Otis students also worked with Palauan artists and citizens to design a Freedom Memorial/public art project to commemorate Palauans who lost their lives serving in the U.S. military from WWII to the present. In addition to meeting civic leaders and family members of the military, students presented their proposals to the President, Council of Chiefs, Women’s Group, and general public.

This program responds to the changing economic and cultural landscape of today’s global society. Art and design fields are increasingly being called upon to address projects and issues that were previously untouched by these disciplines, and artists and designers


38


now work across sectors dealing with a wide range of community and environmental needs. Creativity and innovation are more likely to occur when professionals step out of traditional boundaries of their disciplines and cross-fertilize their ideas with other experts. Students not only come together to evaluate partner needs, but also to create feasible plans of implementation and assessment.

Foundation-Year Learning Communities and Affinity Sections

Students enrolled in the Foundation program take three core courses as part of a “section” or group of students who, as a learning community, share the same weekly studio schedule, faculty, projects, and assignments. All Foundation sections provide proactive instruction in traditional and experimental learning, and all Foundation courses offered within all sections deeply engage students in the creative process through a progression of projects, assignments, and activities leading to the development of skills and thinking fundamental to all art and design disciplines. Joining a section allows students to bond with their classmates, learn in a familiar environment, and transfer skills across course boundaries using a shared vocabulary and process of critique.

Foundation “Affinity” sections are named according to identifying themes or topics that inform select learning experiences unique to each throughout the school year. Students choose the affinity section that most interests them, and in joining, they connect with peers who share similar interests. Examples of affinity sections include: Look, Think, Make—students approach class projects with an emphasis on broad, transferable traditional and progressive art and design skill-building while enhancing their personal creative practice. Inventiveness is emphasized through discussion, demonstration, and the introduction of exemplars. The Art, Design and Change section views and discusses contemporary art and design practices and investigates work focusing on contemporary issues, including social, political, and cultural change and how these issues can manifest through art/design practices. The Writing Section—for students who enjoy thinking, researching, and writing about ideas—is taught by a faculty member with degrees in both design and creative writing; students recognize similar practices shared by both disciplines. The Technology sections include augmentative instruction in photography, Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator in Principles of Design and Connections through Color and Design. Students have weekly access to computer labs and mobile computing stations in both semesters; students in one section use iPads in both their Life Drawing and their English courses.


39


Annual Exhibition/Senior Show and Liberal Arts and Sciences Capstone

The Annual Exhibition/Senior Show is the culminating 3-day event for all programs, and occurs at the end of the spring semester. The show begins with Preview Night for invited recruiters and guests; the following two days are open to the public. Through the planning and execution of this showing of multiple works by each graduating senior, the college celebrates with seniors and their families the totality of achievement represented by the BFA degree. The show brings together hundreds of guests—art dealers, curators, consultants and design firms, agencies, animation studios, fashion houses, and myriad other professional entities looking to discover new talent and prospective employees. In short, this event is part of the reason Otis College graduates are Fulbright, MacArthur, and Guggenheim grant recipients, Oscar awardees, legendary costume designers, leaders of contemporary art movements, and design stars at leading companies such as Apple, DreamWorks, Mattel, Nike, and Disney.

The LAS Capstone, offered in the fall of the senior year, is a required course in which seniors identify and critically reflect on a topic that interacts with their own studio practice, discipline, and/or work in LAS. In the spring of the junior year, the department hosts an event for students to see past capstones, meet with faculty members, and hear from students who recently completed a capstone. Students in the Fine Arts department complete a discipline-specific thesis for their capstone, and students in minor programs complete a minor-specific capstone.

Internships

In 2017 Student Affairs conducted an assessment of students’ overall college experiences, including internships and their LOs. The “Leaving the Owl’s Nest Senior Survey” was launched in connection with students’ submission of senior portfolios for exhibition weekend, and their requests for commencement tickets; this timing helped produce a 99% response rate.


40


Of the 67% of Otis graduating seniors who had participated in internships, 36% had completed two or more internships by their senior year.

Of those who never completed an internship, 60% indicated the main reason was not having enough time, 23% indicated they interviewed for one but were not hired, and 5% indicated they were not sure how to get one. The departments’ participation ranged from 100% for Toy Design and Architecture/Landscape/Interiors to 32% and 59% for Fine Arts and Digital Media respectively. As a result of the assessment, the college determined that additional, specific work is needed in forging internship opportunities for the latter departments. Beginning in fall 2017, the Division of Student Success will offer a two-unit Internship course to complement those offered by the studio majors.


INTERNSHIP PARTICIPATION RATE

INTERNSHIP PARTICIPATION BY CLASS YEAR

Over the last 3 years, participation in internships has increased based on self-reports of students in their senior year

• 44% of students completed internships during the summer after their junior year (prior to senior year).

• 17% completed during the summer after their sophomore year (prior to junior year)

• 17% completed during their junior year

• 16% have internships during their senior year

Summer of Junior

Summer of Sophomore

Junior Year

Senior Year

* 2017 we collected data of those students who had jobs related to their major instead of internships while enrolled, and counted toward overall internship rate.

2015 2016 2017

Internship Participation Rate

37% SNAAP Date

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

60%

50%

67%

44%

17%

17%

16%

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Students’ self-reports on the Internship Learning Outcomes were:

The college hired an Internship Coordinator in early 2017 who is currently undertaking a more rigorous assessment of internship LOs in the new internship course (CFR2.4).

The Internship PLOs are:

• Apply classroom skills and techniques to their professional experiences

• Prepare appropriate written materials such as cover letter, resumes and/or promo sheets

• Develop professional portfolios, websites, and/or reels

• Cultivate relationships and network with others in their chosen field

• Execute company/organization research, job search strategies, such as informational interviews, the one-minute pitch, and interviewing skills to help them distinguish themselves and compete in the professional marketplace

• Develop interpersonal skills necessary for successful self-advocacy and negotiation

• Engage subject matter that expands on the curriculum at Otis College

• Evaluate their professional experience, determine appropriate areas for growth and reflect on aspirations and future goals.

E-portfolios

Portfolios are a natural vehicle for displaying work for art and design students; the Liberal Arts and Sciences in collaboration with the Library began piloting e-portfolios


97%

92%

92%

89%

87%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%10% 30% 50% 70% 90% 100%

INTERNSHIP LEARNING OUTCOMES

I am able to self-reflect on my professional areas of growth and set future goals

I applied skills and techniques I learned in my classes to my professional experience

I was able to expand what I learned in the classroom

Taught me how to advocate and negotiate for my own professional growth

My internship allowed me to network and cultivate relationships with others in my field

Yes No

42


in 2008 with select faculty beta testing and gathering input from students and faculty. Initially the department was interested in these as a method of archiving student work for accreditation purposes, but the compelling research into e-portfolio pedagogy during the WASC Assessment Leadership Academy, particularly the work of Barbara Cambridge (2008 WASC reviewer), Kathleen Yancey, and Donald Schon, pointed out their valuable educational role beyond archival purposes, particularly as they foster long-term retention, metacognition, and creativity. “Good practice in assessment requires multiple assessments over time; well-planned electronic portfolios provide opportunities to collect data from multiple assessments across a broad range of learning outcomes and modes for expressing learning, while guiding students learning and building self-assessment capabilities” (“Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education”). George Kuh recently added e-portfolios as the 11th High Impact Practice.

Interestingly, the technology itself, even for a generation of students accustomed to using it—and particularly for faculty members who may not be—remains a challenge. The college continues to look at ways to most fully realize the potential of the e-portfolio vehicle. The TLC has developed website support for students as well as faculty.

In addition to departments using e-portfolios for assessment and program review, faculty members have begun to use them in a variety of ways, including as a core course syllabus template for Writing in the Digital Age and Capstone to individual course syllabi in courses such as Design Studio 1, Intro to Photography, and the Creative Action Course Community Radio.

Reflection

Reflection and e-portfolios are “a powerful pedagogical tool that can support deep learning and reflection across various learning contests” (AAC&U E-portfolios: Supporting Reflection and Deep Learning in High Impact Practices). Critical, informed reflection is a required component of most Liberal Arts and Sciences courses and many studio courses. Through reflection, students can articulate and see connections among portfolio exhibits, learning and self. The reflective activities introduce students to new kinds of self-assessment, often an outcomes-based self-assessment they carry into life beyond the educational setting and into their professional practices.


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E-portfolio Excellence Awards

Each year a panel recognizes submissions based on the quality of students’ presentation of their academic, co-curricular, personal learning experiences, and accomplishments along with creativity and individuality in the E-portfolio Excellence Awards.

National Survey of Student Engagement and Quality

In 2015 Otis College first administered the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The college had previously used the Ruffalo Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Survey but felt student engagement a more useful indicator than satisfaction.

The college had a high response rate:

The Director of Institutional Research gave a faculty presentation on the NSSE results to the Academic Assembly in fall 2015. Actionable follow-up items included reflective and integrative learning and effective teaching practices. A NSSE presentation was also made to Student Affairs and the Board’s Educational Planning Committee in 2016.


NATIONALLY AICAD OTIS COLLEGE

First-year 23% 35% 45%

Seniors 26% 33% 45%

Overall 25% 34% 45%

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Based on the reports by area, Liberal Arts and Sciences updated their syllabi to enhance clarity, held a diversity retreat, and more specifically addressed diversity in the new first year Ways of Knowing course. The Foundation program committed to using the NSSE term “learning community” when referring to the Foundation sections because students did not make the connection to the term “sections.” The librarian adjusted the college website to highlight High Impact Practices at Otis College, and Creative Action Director Richard Shelton and Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty member Adam Berg designed a senior-level course to provide an opportunity for students interested in developing their Creative Action projects beyond the proposal stage. Students who took this course were interested in implementing socially/environmentally relevant art and design projects.

The perceived gains among seniors were notable. Students reported how their “experience at the institution contributed to [their] knowledge, skills, and personal development” in ten areas: Thinking critically and analytically, speaking clearly and effectively, working with others, writing clearly and effectively, and analyzing numerical and statistical information are ILOs (including four WASC Core Competencies). Plans include working with departments to consider what are acceptable thresholds relative to the college’s mission and resources and to further that analysis.


Perceived Gains(Sorted highest to lowest)

Acquiring job- or work-related knowledge and skills

Thinking critically and analytically

Speaking clearly and effectively

Working effectively with others

Developing or clarifying a personal code of values and ethics

Writing clearly and effectively

Understanding people of other backgrounds (econ., racial/ethnic., polit., relig., nation., etc.)

Solving complex real-world problems

Being an informed and active citizen

Percentage of Seniors Responding “Very Much” or “Quite a bit”

88%

84%

82%

79%

65%

63%

62%

60%

54%

45COMPONENT 4 Educational Quality

In many ways art and design colleges share the evolving environment of higher education, its opportunities and challenges. There are, however, aspects that are distinct to the education of artists and designers that can be seen in arts assessment, particularly regarding the notion of standardization echoed by WASC’s past president Ralph Wolff’s question for all higher education about having “standards without standardization” (Wolfe, WASC ALA Summer, 2012). Assessment is natural to studio practices, yet sometimes foreign in the ways that accreditation frames it. Another challenge is sustainability and the resources available to a medium sized institution. The need is to position “assessment as a dynamic pedagogy that enhances, extends, supports, and expands student learning” in the arts (Developing Outcomes-Based Assessment for Learner Centered Education) that is also inherently natural to art and design and supports several Otis College initiatives such as Student Success, Retention, and Graduation and the Strategic Plan by productively embedding and sustaining good assessment practice within the institution and while satisfying growing external demands.

Educational Quality: Student Learning, Core Competencies, and Standards of Performance at Graduation

COMPONENT

4

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As stated in Component 1, item 1 of Responses to 2008 WASC Report Recommendations, above, the college created a set of ILOs in 2010, and later added the five Core Competencies of Written and Oral Communication, Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Quantitative Reasoning. Further, the college established a matrix to show how each educational program meets these outcomes CFR2.2, 2.2a). The matrix with cross-referenced Program Learning Outcomes is located here.

The Core Competencies

Over a two-year period, LAS had been discussing and researching what critical thinking meant across the curriculum as one of its PLOs. During those discussions and related research, the department became one of the Partner Campuses in the AAC&U’s development of the VALUE rubrics (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education). The department piloted the early VALUE rubrics and provided feedback. When Otis College began to define its ILO rubrics, the VALUE rubrics were a highly useful resource.

In 2012 the Provost assigned teams to refine the original ILOs, as described in Component 1. Rubrics for Skill and Technique, Collaboration, and Social Responsibility were created

through the Assessment Committee. LAS, in collaboration with the Library (CFR2.3), then piloted rubrics for Written Communication, Critical Thinking, and Information

COMPONENT 4 Educational Quality

INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING OUTCOMES MATRIX

DEPT/PROGRAM

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

SKILL AND TECHNIQUES

VISUAL LITERACY AND FLUENCY COLLABORATION

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

CRITICAL THINKING CORE COMP

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION CORE COMP

ORAL COMMUNICATION CORE COMP

INFORMATION LITERACY CORE COMP

QUANTITATIVE REASONING CORE COMP

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

ACT 4, 6 2, 6 2, 6 5, 6 1 2, 3, 6 1, 2, 6 1, 2, 6 6

ARLI 1, 2 4, 5 6, 7 8 3 2

CAIL 1, 3, 4, 5 4, 5 4, 5 2, 3, 5 1, 5 2, 3, 4, 5 4, 5 2, 4, 5 3, 4, 5 4

COMD 3, 4, 6 1 2 2, 5, 6 6 1, 3, 4 2, 5, 6 2 3

DGMD 2 1, 3 3 5 4 9

FSHD 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 5, 7 1, 2, 7 5, 7 6 2, 3, 4, 6 5, 7 3, 4, 6 2, 3, 4

FARS 3 5 1, 2

FND 6 3 3 4 7 2 2 2 6 5

LAS 4 6 2, 5 1 1 3

PRD 1 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 1, 3 5 2

TOYD 1 3 2 5 6 3 2 2 4

Career Services 2, 3 3 2 1, 2 1, 2 1 1, 2

Int’l Student Services 4, 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 2, 3, 4

Disability Services 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 2 2 1

Res Life 1, 2, 3 3 1, 2 2 2 1

Student Activities 1 3 1,2 1,3 3 3

Counseling 1,2 2 2 1, 3 2, 3 3 1, 2, 3

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over two years. Once these had been refined, LAS began assessing these three competencies, starting with the Senior LAS capstone, so they could reverse-design the curriculum. This occurred as the credit-reduced curriculum was implemented, making timing fortuitous for informing further curricular changes, as warranted.

The ongoing assessment of ILOs and Core Competencies occurs through four curricular venues:

1. The revised first-year composition course, Writing in the Digital Age: the first assignment (used to assess writing and placement) is for students to review the ILOs and analyze which ones are strengths and which might pose challenges

2. Each program has mapped their PLOs onto the ILOs and assesses at least one ILO each year

3. LAS assessed Written Communication, Critical Thinking, and Information Literacy through the senior Capstone as described in the next section

4. Students qualitatively assess the ILOs and their educational experience in general in the Senior Educational Reflection is being revised for fall 2017 (CFR2.2a).

Written Communication, Critical Thinking, and Information Literacy

The LAS senior Capstone course came about after the LAS Chair and Assistant Chair attended a WASC Workshop on creating a capstone in general education. The Capstone anchors the exiting assessment reviews for LAS (with Writing in the Digital Age as the first-year anchor).

The Capstone is taught primarily by English and Art History/Theory faculty but includes faculty members from most of the LAS department’s disciplines. At the end of the semester the Capstone faculty meet and norm/calibrate. Each capstone is read by the faculty of record and another faculty member using the Capstone rubric. If both grades are passing (C- or better) then the instructor of record assigns the final grade. If one grader assigns a D or F then a third reader is assigned. The results of the faculty members’ evaluation are reviewed by the entire Capstone faculty and from that assessment recommendations for changes for the following year are made (CFR2.4, 4.3). Based on this process the faculty determined that two categories of students who received Ds did not need to re-sit the entire course: students who did not settle on their topic until well into the course and students who, as a result of research, changed their topic. One graduation improvement was the addition of a one-unit spring course called Capstone Continuation where students who had completed 2/3 of their Capstone could finalize, edit, and polish in the spring at their own pace without retaking the entire course.


48


After the first two reads and assessments, the Capstone faculty determined the department was not adequately preparing students for the Capstone’s outcomes expectations. A group of faculty members, administrators, and library staff began a three-year review of the three learning outcomes starting with the first year (CFR2.3). Otis’s Learning Management System, O-Space (powered by Digication) provides a sequestered virtual assessment site. The college provides the reviewer rubrics and reviewer names, and Digication collects a random sampling of 20% of archived Signature Assignments for specific courses, and divides it randomly among the reviewers. A virtual interface (assessment.digication.com) is created for the reviewers to evaluate each piece of submitted evidence and complete the Learning Outcome rubric. The assessment group norm the results (aligning or calibrating scoring so every member applies the rubric consistently) and then read and post the results on an electronic rubric. The Instructional Designer than aggregates and presents the results for the year. This was repeated the following years for the sophomore and junior years. These three Core Competencies were assessed by Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Library over the past four years (CFR2.3). At the completion of the four-year review, with 2 being “Meets Expectations,” the overall results were:

For Written Communication (CFR2.2a) the results were (with C meeting competency):


100%93%

96% 96% 98%

81%

92%

F14 FNDTLevel

SP 15 FNDTLevel

F15 SOLevel

SP 16 SOLevel

SU 16 SOLevel

F16 JRLevel

F14 SRLevel

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

% EVIDENCE MEETING WC COMPETENCY

49


Another indicator related to this core competency can be seen in 2015 NSSE result where Otis College students reported their reading and writing engagement compared to our AICAD consortium schools’:

For Critical Thinking (CFR2.2a) (with C meeting competency):

For Information Literacy (CFR2.2a) (with C meeting competency):


Reading and Writing

These figures summarize the number of hours your students spent reading for their courses and the average number of pages of assigned writing compared to students in your comparison group. Each is an estimate calculated from two or more separate survey questions

84%

84%

First-year

Senior

76%

72%

Otis College

AICAD 2014-15

Otis College

AICAD 2014-15

73%

58%

78%

58%

7.4 62.8

8.0 111.0

5.8 44.3

6.8 55.2

83%

40%

57%

38%

94%

86%

F14 FNDTLevel

F14 FNDTLevel

SP 15 FNDTLevel

SP 15 FNDTLevel

F15 SO Level

F15 SO Level

SP 16 SOLevel

SP 16 SOLevel

0 010 5020 100Average Hours per Week

on Course ReadingAverage Pages of

Assigned Writing, Current Year

30

SU 16 SOLevel

SU 16 SOLevel

F16 JRLevel

F16 JRLevel

F14 SRLevel

F14 SRLevel

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

% EVIDENCE MEETING CT COMPETENCY

% EVIDENCE MEETING IL COMPETENCY

50


The overall results over four years were:

With the average reviewer scores:

This evidence countered what faculty perceived as areas of strengths and weakness. It also consistently pointed to Information Literacy as area needing improvement. The department also became aware of inconsistencies in the sophomore and junior years, and began working with faculty to address this.


100%

2.92.8

2.72.6

2.7

2.2

2.8

93%96% 96%

98%

81%

92%94%

86%84%

2.6

2.2 2.22.1

2.2

1.7

2.4

76%73%

78%

83%

57%

84%

2.42.3

1.7 1.7

1.4

1.2

1.8

72%

58% 58%

40%38%

F14 FNDT Level

F14 FNDT Level

SP 15 FNDT Level

SP 15 FNDT Level

F15 SO Level

F15 SO Level

SP 16 SO Level

SP 16 SO Level

SU 16 SO Level

SU 16 SO Level

F16 JR Level

F16 JR Level

F14 SR Level

F14 SR Level

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

4

3.5

3

2.5

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

Written Communication Critical Thinking Information Literacy

Written Communication Critical Thinking Information Literacy

% OF REVIEWED STUDENT EVIDENCE MEETING COMPETENCY

AVERAGE REVIEWER SCORES FOR EACH COMPETENCY BY LEVER + SEMESTER

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The most effective implementation of information literacy instruction is to embed it within in courses. The new LAS first year curriculum (following the credit reduction) provided an excellent opportunity to rethink information literacy instruction. Lessons and activities are now embedded within the LAS core curriculum (CFR4.3).

The librarians also participate in the LAS annual programmatic assessments, focusing on information literacy along with two other ILOs (CFR2.3, 4.3). Reports are available on both the library and the LAS Annual Assessment portfolios. From the assessment data, it is clear that although students are generally competent in information literacy across all levels, the information literacy ILO outcome is the weakest of the three. Librarians continue to confer with LAS faculty about these issues, and to suggest improvements to course assignments. Overall, evidence shows that Information Literacy outcomes have improved over the past few years for LAS. An area that now needs development is the defining and assessment of research in the studio programs.

The Library also maintains an extensive website with tutorials and research guides for the purpose of teaching information literacy. Otis College librarians present to classes and teach students one-on-one. Fifty-two percent of the 123 library workshops offered to students in 2016-17 were related to Information Literacy (CFR2.3).

In 2015, Otis College’s Senior Director of Libraries and Learning Centers joined several librarians from other AICAD colleges to create a complete Information Literacy course for Lynda.com. This collaboration won the “Worldwide Books Award for Electronic Resources” at the 2017 Art Libraries Society of North America conference.

Over the past four years LAS has reverse-designed (starting with the learning outcomes) programmatic changes to improve learning. These include working more closely with the Student Learning Center to support students with tutoring by refining the reporting process, adding co-requisite remediation to the first year English course Writing in the Digital Age, increasing student contact with the librarians for their first year and Capstone courses, and conducting a prompt-writing workshop since it was observed that often, vaguely-written prompts were an issue.

The department also determined that having faculty use the rubrics and submit their own assessments was yielding low compliance, and that efforts to increase compliance were not worth the value added, so this step will be eliminated as of fall 2017.

Moving forward, LAS will assess one of the three core competencies (using rubrics based on the VALUE rubrics) and one PLO for more depth. Challenges that remain for these Core Competencies include their relation to instructional workload under the recent collective


52


bargaining agreement, extending the three core competencies more meaningfully into studio, and defining what research means to/in studio courses (CFR2.2a).

Oral Communication

Oral Communication is central to students’ in-class presentation, critique, and internship/employment interviewing activities and so is a part of most if not all studio and LAS courses at all levels. To assess this core competency in a systematic way, on the other hand, has been less consistent. LAS piloted and tested an oral communication rubric that was subsequently revised to address studio needs. In spring 2017 most undergraduate programs assessed oral communication. The formats included critiques, presentations (live and videotaped), Internship Recruitment interviews, Career Services’ mock interviews, potential employers, and Senior Exhibition Presentations (CFR2.2a, 4.5). The Fashion Design department did an exemplary assessment and a condensed version could serve as a model. Though the students were found overall to be competent in demonstrating this skill, all the programs proposed future changes to strengthen it. Several programs also noted although oral presentations are an essential part of curriculum, this fact had not been explicitly addressed or assessed. Additionally, several programs noted that English Language Learners tend to struggle more than native English speakers with this outcome; several programs are considering ways to support them better.

In fall 2016 the grades for the 10%-weighted oral presentations in the Capstone course were A- 97, B-70, C-12, D-5, and F-10. The Capstone coordinator reviewed the rubric criteria used by the Capstone faculty in the fall 2017 meeting.

The 2015 NSSE results indicated 62% of seniors reported that “speaking clearly and effectively”, “very much” or “quite a bit” “contributed to their knowledge, skills, and personal development.” Seventy-two percent of seniors reported during the current school year said they have “given a course presentation” “Often” or “Very Often.”

Many programs noted students were being evaluated on their presentation skills based on the rubric criteria; this fact, by itself, improved the quality of the work.

Quantitative Reasoning

The quantitative reasoning requirement, Math for Artists and Designers, has been a basic component at Otis College since 1996. Two additional courses, Symbolic Logic for Communication Arts majors and Applied Trigonometry for Architecture/Interior/Landscapes majors were subsequently added. In the 2015 NSSE survey 39% of seniors reported they “analyzed numerical and statistical information “very much” or “quite a bit.” Additionally, in comparison to our AICAD peer institutions, Otis College’s students’


53


average for Quantitative Reasoning was significantly higher (p<.05) with an effect size at least .3 in magnitude (CFR2.2a).

LAS is in the process of revising the required math course to address the new Your Creative Future initiative and Entrepreneurial Studies minor (in progress, pending internal and NASAD approvals). The course will become a Business Math course beginning with personal finance and extending those concepts toward small and more complex business applications. The department has just appointed its first full-time mathematics faculty member to support this professional preparation initiative and further develop this core competency for all undergraduate students.

Student Voices—The Senior Educational Reflection

In addition to the many opportunities for student voices described in Component 5, one avenue being pursued by the college to address qualitative student input (CFR4.5) for the four-year experience and the ILOs is the LAS Capstone Senior Educational Reflection. In fall 2015, the Capstone requirements were revised to include a 1,000-1,200-word reflection worth 20% where students were asked to go through their e-portfolios and review the ILOs and their respective PLOs, identify courses and pertinent co-curricular activities, and write a critical reflection on their Otis education.

In spring 2016 Dr. Parme Giuntini received an OARS grant and, working with the Instructional Designer, disaggregated the results on 246 seniors:

• 69% of those seniors began at Otis College as Foundation students

• 27% identified Foundation courses; 88% wrote about the value of those courses; and 12% linked to work from those courses in their e-portfolio

• 60% identified required LAS courses; 93% wrote about the value of the courses; and 29% linked to work from those courses in their e-portfolio

• 70% identified elective LAS courses; 91% wrote about the value of the courses; and 24% linked to work from those courses in their e-portfolios.

• 73% identified studio courses; 94% wrote about the value of the courses; and 16% linked to work from those courses in their e-portfolio

• 35% wrote about one or more co-curricular activities (includes internships, TA-ships, student clubs, Otis College activities).

Regarding their reflection on the ILOs:

ILO: Creativity and Innovation: 51/20%

Skill and Technique: 101/43%


54


Visual Literacy: 13/5.5%

Collaboration: 47/20%

Social Responsibility: 54/20%

WASC: Critical Thinking: 40/17%

Written/Oral Communication: 37/16%

Information Literacy: 7/3%

Quantitative Reasoning: 1/.42%

Based on this research, the assignment will be revised to address discovered prompt-writing issues. In her grant report, Dr. Giuntini concluded, “Although it turned out to be more work than I initially envisioned, it was really gratifying to read what the students wrote. Despite the omissions and flaws, the students did perceive the value of four years, arduous classes, and homework that seemed [at the time] unending. They learned, and they know that. All that remains is for us to help future seniors make that knowing more articulate and transparent.”

To make this effort more sustainable and to eliminate redundancies, in summer 2017 the Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences met with the Vice President for Student Success to eliminate overlaps with the “Leaving the Owl’s Nest” survey and streamline some of the student input through a Formstack survey.

Graduate Programs

Otis College’s three graduate programs—Fine Arts, Graphic Design, and Writing—are comparatively small (53 students). With the departure of the founding chair of Public Practice in 2016, that program is being reshaped as an Area of Emphasis for Social Practice Art within the MFA Fine Arts degree, and is currently in the NASAD approval process. A leading practitioner, Kade Twist, was recently been hired to coordinate the Area of Emphasis. The MFAs in Graphic Design consist of 60 credits and the MFA in Writing consists of 48 credits.

Two of the graduate programs have recently completed program reviews and the third, Writing, will do so in fall 2017. During one of the Provost’s regular meetings with the graduate chairs, the Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation discussed WASC’s Guidelines for the Review of Graduate Programs.

The new chair of the MFA Writing program (2015), after consulting with faculty, students, and the Provost brought a major revision of the curriculum to the Curriculum Committee and Academic Assembly. It was designed to attend to the fact that contemporary


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writers often write in many genres over the course of their careers. The curriculum change became effective in fall 2016, included a multi-genre team-taught Writing Workshops (replacing solo-taught single-genre workshops in poetry and prose), and, in counterbalance, one-on-one tutorials with faculty members engaged in the genre of greatest interest to the students. Alongside the Literary Seminar (special topics reading classes) a new course, Writing Colloquium, was added. The culmination is the Thesis, which is assessed by multiple faculty members, with work presented at the Annual Exhibition. Additionally, in conversations in the Writing Workshop, faculty members work with students to envision a sustainable writing life, which includes potential employment opportunities.

The Graduate Graphic Design chair and faculty recently reviewed and revised their curriculum based on changes in the discipline and on faculty/student input. The changes were framed around the continuity between courses, electives in fall and spring, one-on-one mentorship, courses in other departments, travel, and a visiting artists program that is explored through a theme set by faculty.

Both chairs with their faculty created first year and graduate review rubrics.

As indicated in the Working Strategic Plan, Objective 1.3: Strengthen and expand graduate education, the college has taken the step, effective fall 2017, of adding a Dean of Graduate Studies, Kim Russo, an artist who has held several administrative roles at leading arts institutions, to lead graduate education going forward. This leadership position will help graduate program chairs rethink traditional models and schedules of MFA programing, structure options that might attract and serve working professionals, parents, and other non-traditional students who seek graduate degrees but are not able to engage conventional program structures.

Assessment Infrastructure

Otis College has built upon the sound assessment infrastructure discussed in the 2008 WASC report and has made significant improvements in alignment with changing accreditation expectations. The assessment of student learning is largely coordinated by:

• The department chairs and program directors in collaboration with the Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation and the Director of Institutional Research, who are responsible for programmatic assessment. Program leaders work with their faculty toward end-of-the-year reviews, setting and reviewing PLOs, and alignment of CLOs. Several departments have designated faculty assessment coordinators who work with the faculty in learning about and developing course assessment, and disaggregating assessment results with the chairs


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• The Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation is the Accreditation Liaison Officer and provides leadership for WSCUC and NASAD changes, updates, reporting, program reviews, and federal compliance (CFR1.8)

• The Director of Institutional Research develops, conducts, and coordinates research activities in support of institutional assessment, accreditation, effectiveness, and enrollment management activities and prepares required state and federal data reports (CFR4.2)

• The Assessment Committee of the Academic Assembly is primarily responsible for reviewing Program Review Action plans

• The Senior Director of the Library and Learning Centers, Instructional Designer, and Visual Resource Librarian are critical participants in assessment and related archiving processes and needs

• The Associate Dean of Students is responsible for coordinating and reporting on assessment in the division of Student Success

• The Curriculum Committee of the Academic Assembly is responsible for reviewing all curricular proposals to ensure they are consistent with WSCUC and NASAD standards (CFR2.7, 4.1).

Because studies of art and design assessment have been sporadic (although increasing), Otis College participates in three collaborations with other arts institutions/programs. One is the AICAD consortium’s 10 participating institutions, whose primary goals are to collaborate on consistent language and definitions for assessment, define shared learning outcomes across all AICAD colleges, and to recommend assessment strategies and tools for shared outcomes. Another is the WASC ARC Special Interest Group, which the Otis ALO has co-moderated with the Associate Provost from California Institute of the Arts for the past three years and that has presented nationally on best practices and core competencies at art colleges. One such presentation is an ongoing discussion in best practices for critique for metacognition. Arts education has always supported metacognitive self-reflective ability and regulation as part of professional development, and explicitly assessing and supporting this intrapersonal skill has taken on more importance as a critical 21st-century ability. The third was a direct outgrowth of the ARC session. In summer 2017 Otis College hosted a group of art and design representatives to look at assessment in the arts, sustainability, successes, and challenges. The Otis APAA and A/L/O is collaborating with the Director of Assessment at Laguna College of Art and David Chase, WSCUC Associate Vice President, in furthering this group’s work regarding best practices in meeting WSCUC expectations.

As these groups continue their work on arts assessment, it is anticipated that they will meaningfully contribute to more ways that art and design institutions can enhance the national assessment conversation, possible benchmarking opportunities, the establishment of a community of assessment practice and inquiry, and possible expanded frameworks of all assessment practices.


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Otis College defines Student Success as “successful entry, retention, persistence, and completion of a degree program in a setting of academic excellence and rigor.”

Since 2008, Student Affairs and Enrollment Management areas have evolved and consolidated their efforts in order to meet the changing needs of students. The following details significant changes occurring over the past nine years and are strong evidence of support of CFR2.11, 2.13).

Organizational Structure

The Office of Student Affairs was developed in 1998 under the leadership of the Vice President for Enrollment Management. In the last few years, with the elimination of the position of Vice President for Enrollment Management, the Office of Student Affairs and the Enrollment Management area were merged under the leadership of the Vice President for Student Success/Dean of Student Affairs (VPSS/DSA), reporting to the President. With this transition came a divisional name change to the “Division of Student Success.”

Student Success: Student Learning, Retention, and Graduation

COMPONENT

5

COMPONENT 5 Student Success

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Student Learning and Success (SLS) Meetings

These organizational changes have impacted the nature of collaboration and support between academic affairs, student affairs, and enrollment management. This collaboration is best exemplified by the weekly “Student Learning and Success” (SLS) meetings bringing together key administrative professionals from across the college, including the Associate Provost for Academic Administration, Director of Instructional Design, Dean of Admissions, Assistant and Associate Deans of Student Affairs, Registrar, Chief Information Officer, and One Stop Manager, to name a few. This 18-member team works to ensure student-facing administrative systems and support services are efficient and effective, with the goal of improving and enhancing the student experience. SLS meetings are frequent, and work moves along at a timely pace. A full list of the meeting agendas can be found here: Student Learning and Success Meetings.

Another significant change grew out of Otis’s becoming a Residential Campus: the development of the Overnight Owl program, which allows prospective students to spend the night in housing and engage with current students through residential programs offered by Student Activities. The Overnight Owl program launched in spring 2017, and included three different weekends.

Data on Recruitment and Enrollment Success can be found in the weekly enrollment reports posted in the Student Success Assessment e-portfolio.

Completion Scholarships

In an effort to support student completion, the college implemented a Completion Scholarship program that allows students having three or fewer courses left for degree completion to apply for a scholarship that will cover up to the total cost of tuition. Students can apply for this scholarship year-round. Prior to the Completion Scholarship, the college was offering summer incentive scholarships but found students in fall and spring needed scholarship opportunities as well. The program expanded was renamed as the Completion Scholarship Program.

Student Portal

In August of 2017, the college launched a new online Portal for faculty, staff, and students. The student portal allows 24-hour access to view account balances and make payments, and has single sign-on access for all software modules such as the Residence Life dashboard, Owl Care Online (student electronic health record), and e-portfolios. In addition, students have access to all student forms in one central location, and a variety of information sites provide specialized information to students about their finances and other topics.

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New Student College Transition

Otis College is in the second year of implementing a rolling registration process for incoming students. Prior to fall 2016, all new students had to register in person and take the Writing Placement Assessment (WPA) on campus. Through collaboration among the Foundation and Liberal Arts and Sciences departments, and Student Affairs, the college has embraced a new model allowing students in real-time (any place/anywhere) to clear their account balance, take the WPA, and receive advising online through our online conferencing system, Zoom. This process was implemented to decrease new student “melt” rates and to connect students at an earlier point to their academic courses. The college is predicting a lower than average melt rate as a result of the new onboarding processes. The average melt over the last five years has been 20%, and the target is 10%, which is more in line with peer institutions.

The One Stop

In August of 2016, the Vice President for Student Success opened the doors of the new One Stop that is the central location where Academic Advising, Financial Aid, Registration, and Student Accounts are located. The space was designed to provide a single front window staffed by three student service generalists. These generalists are trained in front-line Financial Aid, Registration, and Student Accounts functions, and provide support to the academic advising team. The new One Stop model has served the College well as demonstrated by an increase in the number of students who registered during open enrollment for fall 2017 (CFR2.11). In fall 2016, 83% of students registered for courses during this period; in fall 2017 87% did. In addition, withdrawal/leave of absence numbers are decreasing. Last year during the last week in June, 52 students were on withdrawn status or took a leave; this year during the same week only 32 students have withdrawn or taken a leave. Another early indicator of success is compliance with the fall 2017 payment deadline: it was June 15th, and based on student account data to-date the highest number of continuing students (approximately 75%) have made payment arrangements for fall 2017, compared to prior years. The One Stop’s success can be attributed to cross communication and collaboration between all the offices involved, as well as to having a dedicated One Stop manager whose job is to ensure that systems connecting the various departments and offices are all running smoothly. The One Stop Manager is also the sole person who e-mails and/or text-messages students, allowing for consistent and personalized messaging. As a result, students interact with the different offices involved in enrollment and registration matters via a single, student-facing unit, and in a wholly cohesive manner.


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From Paper to Electronic Forms

One of the most significant changes in support of student success has been to convert from paper processes to real-time online form submissions throughout the division. Most notably, registration forms such as course add/course drop forms, application for graduation, the withdrawal form, etc. allow students to interface smoothly with the college instead of filling out paper forms and carrying them from office to office for signatures. Further, the new online student emergency loan request form, financial appeal form, and registration late waiver fee form have been lifesavers for students. The transition to online forms allows students anytime access and have allowed the staff to accelerate response times to student requests.

In addition, Otis College will soon begin a partnership with the Clearinghouse to launch E-transcripts and electronic enrollment verification. This will allow students and alumni in real time to request and receive official transcripts without having to come to campus in person.

Finally, Information Services launched the BDM (Banner Document Management) system, allowing One Stop staff to scan and connect a document to a student’s Banner (student information system) record so that administrators across the college can see more complete student records, including data points such as whether a student has a FERPA waiver form on file or has transcripts from other schools on record, etc.

Residence Life, Housing, and Dining Services

The doors to the new 230-bed residence hall opened in August 2016. In its first year of housing operations the Otis College saw 88% occupancy and as of July 2017 has 100% occupancy for fall 2017. All students in residence are required to have a meal plan, to encourage engagement and community building. The Residence Life staff has been able to measure program engagement specific to each residential student; these data are outlined in the annual report posted on the Residence Life and Housing Assessment e-portfolio.

Student Health and Wellness Center

With an eye on student success and how best to support students, Otis College inaugurated a new Student Health and Wellness Center (SH&WC) in fall 2016. Uniquely, compared to peer (AICAD) institutions, Otis hired a full-time physician and registered nurse to staff this facility as well as a Counseling Director/Psychologist and Staff Counselor. In its first year of operations, the SH&WC served a significant number of students, as demonstrated by the following data:


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• 39% of the BFA/MFA student population sought medical services between September 2016 and May 2017

• 11% of the BFA/MFA student population sought counseling services between September 2016 and May 2017

• 8% of the BFA/MFA student population sought both medical and counseling services between September 2016 and May 2017.

In addition to high rates of student usage, the most common diagnoses in medical services (in order of prevalence) were viral infection, acute upper respiratory infection, general adult medical examination w/out abnormal findings, and screening for infections w/a sexual mode of transmission. The center also offers counseling services; the most common diagnoses in that area were major depressive disorder—recurrent—mild, generalized anxiety disorder, and adjustment disorders with anxiety.

With accurate, daily, and comprehensive data from its online medical records system, the SH&WC is able to understand the health landscape of Otis College’s students and can work within the Student Success division to develop appropriate preventive educational programming. More detail, including on Student Learning Outcomes and student engagement, can be found in the Student Health and Wellness Assessment ePortfolio.

Career Services, Internships, and Career Success Outcomes

Since 2008, the Career Services Office reorganized to include the development of a Student Employment Office to manage and support students working on campus, as well to add a full-time Internship Coordinator. In addition to staff changes, in close partnership with academic affairs the College launched Your Creative Future, a professional preparation initiative linking curricular and co-curricular activities and offerings aimed at supporting students’ professional preparation. These staff and programmatic changes have contributed to the increased success of students as indicated by internship and career placement data. Over the last three years, for example, internship opportunities and participation rates have increased, and career outcomes have improved; data can be found on the Assessment e-portfolio on the Career Services page.

Career Services has worked hard to continue their strong collaboration with other offices, and will soon launch a career success program known as PACK (Professional Advancement of Career Knowledge) with Residence Life and Housing to encourage early identification of career development pathways within students’ foundation (first) year.


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Title IX and Student Conduct

The Office of Student Affairs has built a solid program to address Title IX issues and incidents on campus through educating students/staff/faculty, offering prevention programs, and improving and increasing the visibility of available reporting options. In fall 2016, Otis College was selected to be a part of the inaugural institutional group through “It’s On Us,” an education campaign led by the White House initiative of the same name. Participation in this inaugural group has allowed Otis to build institutional leadership surrounding Title IX, including the creation of a multidisciplinary committee with student participants, focused on education and prevention.

Student Conduct has adopted a new web-based database to archive student conduct data, and to increase productivity and effectiveness in curbing student conduct that is not consistent with the college’s values. Maxient, a web-based database, also supports consistent data collection to track and monitor overall caseloads. Additionally, the Maxient database enhances the college’s ability to uphold Clery Act guidelines and to work closely with the Office of Safety and Security to assess safety and security related to alcohol and drug use on campus. Because of Student Conduct’s work with Campus Safety and Security, the Alcohol and Other Drug Biennial Review was completed, and can be found on the Safety and Security website as well as in the e-portfolio. This report includes next steps in order to focus on campus education and response efforts related to alcohol and other drug use.

Behavioral Intervention Team

Otis College has improved its behavioral intervention team, known as the CARE Team (Campus Assessment Resource and Education Team), which meets weekly. This multidisciplinary team includes administrators from Safety and Security, Student Affairs, Student Health and Wellness, Residence Life and Housing, Disability Services, and the Provost’s office. The role of the team is to support student retention and overall student success by identifying students who are at risk or of concern and develop early intervention strategies to further support them during their academic career.

The CARE Team works in collaboration with faculty members to support their connections to students who may be struggling, and to offer resources to bolster student success and satisfaction. The CARE Team has initiated intentional outreach to faculty members to help them be more preventive and to navigate the resources available across campus to the students they serve. The institution’s CARE Form can be found here.


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Student Activities

In fall 2011, Otis College implemented a Student Activities fee and hired a full-time Director of Student Activities to ensure appropriate co-curricular opportunities for students. Since the development of Student Activities, a variety of programs and services for students have been provided, including campus activities, student government (Student Voice Association – SVA), an much improved commencement event, new student orientation(s), student awards recognition, clubs and organizations, peer mentor programs, student lounge management, and student identification facilitation/distribution. Student Activities supports student success as demonstrated by the engagement data referenced on the e-portfolio.

Student Voices

In addition to the Senior Educational Reflection discussed in Component 4, students have been involved in a variety of decision-making settings in the college, including the college-wide Strategic Planning process, Student Leadership Committee, the Student Workload Taskforce, and Student Voice Association. A list of the many opportunities for students’ voices (CFR4.5) to contribute to college decision-making and a brief description of each is available here.

Building and Sustaining a Culture of Assessment

The division of Student Success underwent its first External Program Review in spring 2016 (CFR2.7). The self-study used as its framework the Otis Program Review Guide, which is based on WASC’s best practices for Program Review. The reviewers focused on perceived strengths and challenge as well as current priorities and plans, analyzed the current assessment practices of the relevant units, and spent two days on campus in conversations with faculty, staff, and students. Their report, Student Success’ Action Plan, and a presentation the Associate Dean of Students made to the Assessment Committee are visible on the e-portfolio here.

During fall 2016, the Associate Dean of Student Affairs assembled an Assessment Strategy Team, which included the Directors from each Student Affairs unit, to meet monthly and address their assessment efforts, articulate their needs, and enhance their competency surrounding assessment.

To-date, each area in Student Affairs has updated Program Learning Outcomes while also identifying specific Student Learning Outcomes that are measurable and attainable within five academic years. The Student Learning Outcomes were written with the assumption that they will change and evolve over several years to address the needs of students and to keep up with the ongoing trends of student development and co-curricular needs.


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Each department within Student Affairs has identified learning outcomes and is using them to plan and develop programs and services, while also identifying meaningful ways to measure departmental learning outcomes in a consistent manner. Some departments will use assessment tools annually, while others will assess learning outcomes on a biannual or other basis.

Each department completed its assessment cycle for the 2016—2017 academic year, located in Appendix A. The assessment plan includes the assessment processes that will launch, the frequency of assessment, how results will be shared and used, and the relevant student learning outcomes. Additionally, the upcoming 2017—2018 Assessment Plan for Student Affairs units can be found in Appendix B, where each department has outlined proposed assessment strategies, along with a month-to-month visual of assessment activity for fall 2017—spring 2018 Appendix C.

Retention

The college annually tracks retention, persistence, and graduation rates (CFR2.10). The school pays special attention to first-to-second year retention, as this is the interval in which the most significant attrition tends to occur. The average first-to-second year retention rate is approximately 81% over the past five years, with a steady and subtle upward trend (Figure 1).

Figure 1

The college finds that certain special student populations tend to have higher-than-average retention rates (e.g., Pell Grant-eligible students, Asian/Pacific Islander, and International Students) (Figure 2). The college recognizes that more longitudinal analyses are needed to establish benchmarks and predictors for student success across all demographic groups, and has plans to further develop this area within the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (CFR4.2).


FIRST-TO-SECOND YEAR RETENTION RATES

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

77% 81%79%

86% 79%

Fall 2011 Cohortn=185





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Graduation Rates, Graduation Dashboard, and Student Success

The six-year graduation rate increased over the last five cohorts (fall 2005-fall 2006) with an average six-year graduation rate of 61%. As with retention, Otis College finds that certain special populations (e.g., Pell Grant-eligible students, Black/African American, Asian Pacific Islander) appear to find greater-than-average rates of success in completing degrees (Table 2).

Despite this success, Otis College identified a drop in graduation rates from between the fall 2009 and fall 2010 cohorts (Figure 2). This observation prompted further investigation from the institution on the reasons for this trend in the 5th year, as discussed in the next section CFR2.10).


TABLE 1

FALL 2015 RETENTION RATES FIRST-TIME FRESHMAN (N=151) TRANSFER (N=92) FIRST-TIME AND TRANSFER(N=243)

Sex

Female 85% 79% 83%

Male 68% 85% 75%

Other 80%* 100%* 88%*

Race

American Indian/Alaskan Native N/A 100%* 100%*

Asian/Pacific Islander 80% 80% 80%

Black/African American 77% 60%* 72%

Hispanic/Latino 75%* 100%* 86%^

White/Caucasian 76% 83% 79%

Decline to State 88% 90%^ 88%

Two or More 78%^ 83%* 80%

Citizenship

International 80% 74% 79%

Domestic 78% 84% 81%

Developmental English Courses

English 20 N/A N/A N/A

English 50 75%* N/A 75%*

English 90 80% 83%* 80%

Intake Score

5 N/A 100%* 100%*

6 88% 70%^ 82%

7 76% 80% 78%

8 75% 88% 80%

9 86% 75%^ 82%

10 100%^ N/A 100%^

Veterans

N/A N/A N/A

Federal Pell Grant Students 83% 86% 84%

Total 79% 82% 80%

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Figure 2


TABLE 2

FALL 2010 COHORT 6 YEAR GRADUATION RATES FIRST-TIME FRESHMAN (N=167) TRANSFER (N=150) FIRST-TIME AND TRANSFER (N=317)

Sex

Female 58% 65% 61%

Male 63% 62% 63%

Race

American Indian/Alaskan Native 100%* 0%* 50%

Asian/Pacific Islander 63% 69% 66%

Black/African American 67%* 86%^ 80%^

Hispanic/Latino 74%* 68%* 72%

White/Caucasian 38% 62% 51%

Decline to State 57%* 41%^ 46%*

Two or More 100%* 100%* 100%*

Citizenship

International 48% 72% 60%

Domestic 62% 62% 62%

Developmental English Courses

English 20 N/A N/A N/A

English 50 0%* 100%* 20%*

English 90 52% 64%* 56%

Intake Score

5 50%* 50%* 50%*

6 55% 57% 56%

7 61% 68% 65%

8 57% 68% 62%

9 68% 25%* 56%

10 100%* 100%* 100%*

Veterans

N/A 100%* 100%*

Federal Pell Grant Students 69% 63% 67%

Total 60% 64% 62%

SIX-YEAR GRADUATION RATES

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

56% 58% 57%63% 71%

60%







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Graduation Rate Dashboard

The Graduation Rate Dashboard follows the WASC standard for measuring student success. The Otis College Graduation Rate Dashboard uses the institution’s unit redemption rate (URR) to measure the rate at which students are completing the credits necessary to obtain a degree from the institution. The URR indicates how much time, effort and money the unsuccessful student invests without receiving the desired degree. Preliminary analysis of the institution’s unit redemption rate indicates 84%.

Otis College’s Absolute Graduation Rate (AGR) (76%) is considerably higher than the average IPEDS 6-year graduation rate (56%). When analyzing the AGR and the URR together, it appears a small number of students are completing enough credits over the years to disproportionately move the URR up without significantly impacting the success the institution is finding with its Absolute Graduation Rate. Because the college has seen some fluctuations since WSCUC began using these measures, more long-term analysis over the AGR and the URR will help to establish benchmarks and identify trends surrounding these numbers. These findings, in addition to a recent drop in graduation rates, prompted the college to undertake further research into the causes for this shift.

After further investigation, the college noticed a significant number of 5th-year seniors leaving the school without completing all LAS requirements. The college implemented a number of new policies and initiatives specifically aimed at addressing this problem, including restricting off campus courses to be taken after the junior year, restricting transfer credits acquired after the junior year, and restricting seniors’ participation in commencement until they actually have completed all degree requirements. Otis College also made significant investments to restructure and enhance student advising, as outlined in Component 2, Standard 2. It also initiated a readmit campaign for college representatives to reach out to and support students through the readmission process in a customized way; an academic warning system for faculty members to identify and report at-risk student behavior; and an academic mentoring program where faculty members provide developmental advising (or mentor) students in their holistic development as artists or designers. The institution hopes these initiatives will support a six-year graduation goal of 65%, as identified in the Working Strategic Plan.

Additionally, Otis College opted into making its student retention and completion data available to WSCUC from the National Student Clearinghouse to better situate the institution’s retention and graduation rates in the context of data from institutions of similar size, type, and region of the country. More long-term analysis surrounding the graduation dashboard, as well as data from the National Clearinghouse, are needed in order to further to establish benchmarks and implement strategic initiatives based on this information.


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In 1998 Otis College instituted a process of External Program Review under the guidance of the then Vice President of Academic Affairs. During the period 2009-2011, two Interim Provosts served as academic leadership changed, resulting in a Program Review hiatus. In fall 2012 the Director of Assessment/Chair of Liberal Studies collaborated with a new Provost to revise the process using WASC Resource Guide for “Good Practices” in Academic Program Review. A substantially more complete Program Review process and timeline was launched in 2013. One key major change was to use the e-portfolio for program review. Each department created a program review e-portfolio using a template and reviewers were given access to it 45 days prior to the onsite visit. Overall, feedback from the reviewers (and the departments, once finished the initial work of creating the e-portfolio) was very positive, and these e-portfolios now serve as an ongoing repository for annual assessments. The Program Review results and schedule for all programs are viewable (with restricted access) on the college website (CFR2.7, 4.1).

Three recent additions to the program review process are the inclusion of Student Affairs, Otis College Extension, CA:IL, and ACT/Interdisciplinary Minors.

COMPONENT 6 Quality Assurance and Improvement

Quality Assurance and Improvement: Program Review; Assessment; Use of Data and Evidence

COMPONENT

6

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Once a program under external review’s report is received, it is reviewed with the Provost and Associate Provost for Assessment and Accreditation, and presented to the Assessment Committee with department/program’s Action Plan. A program’s follow-up to the Action Plan is part of its Annual Assessment Report.

Annual Assessment

Beginning in 2015-16 all undergraduate programs used an assessment template to complete an Annual Assessment summer/fall for the previous year to Annual Assessment reports. Each department chooses two or three Program Learning Outcomes (one of which must also be an Institutional Learning Outcome) (CFR2.7, 4.1, 4.3, 4.4). Annual assessment activities include the senior exhibitions, capstone, final jury presentations, semester-end reviews, and juried shows with input from faculty, industry professionals, guest critiques, and employer feedback (CFR4.4, 4.5).

NASAD (Specialized) Accreditation

Otis College is also accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, which “establishes national standards for undergraduate and graduate degrees and other credentials for art and design and art/design-related disciplines, and provides assistance to institutions and individuals engaged in artistic, scholarly, educational, and other art/design-related endeavors” (https://nasad.arts-accredit.org/). Otis College’s initial NASAD accreditation occurred on September 1, 1966; its most recent Comprehensive Review was in 2007, producing a ten-year reaccreditation, and it will next undertake a Comprehensive Review again with an onsite scheduled for spring 2019.

e-Learning Assessment

Otis College has a long history of supporting e-learning activities, including many that were originally experimental pilots, designed for capacity building, but later became programs. In 2000 the college began utilizing web-based resources to support teaching and learning. In 2004 the college took another step forward in adopting a Learning


Collectevidence

Choose 2-3PLO/ILO’s

Analyzeevidence

How will results be used for

improvements?

Annual ProgramAssessment

Submit results to AssessmentCommittee

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Management System, and e-portfolios in subsequent years. By summer 2008, Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) began offering three fully online courses (Art History, English, Social Science) in the summer term to allow students to make up required courses and graduate on time. By 2012 the college began offering stipends to faculty members for formal training in e-learning pedagogy. In 2013 the college investigated MOOCs and launched a Blended Learning Initiative. In 2013, as well, the college was positioned to launch systematic assessment activities with the formation of the e-Learning Advisory Committee (eLAC) and the hiring of an Instructional Designer (ID). The eLAC was able to provide goals and planning, while the ID could engage in yearlong e-Learning data collection and review for assessment (CFR4.3). The college continues its exploration in e-Learning opportunities while maintaining a strong commitment to providing quality in-classroom education.

Centralizing Assessment

The Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness significantly developed the institution’s capacity to centrally process assessment results and to close the loop, thus enhancing institutional improvement. Numerous dashboard reports were created by the Director and shared with the college community, that measure attrition, key metrics for the institution, academic departments, and student services. Additionally, the institution supported the Director’s vision of streamlining internal and external surveys through the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. The Office of Institutional Research also completed numerous reports, projects, and quality assurance processes used by various departmental leaders (e.g. TOEFL Analysis, Credits to Walk Analysis, 5th-Year Senior Report, Financial Aid Matrix Analysis, Faculty/Staff Diversity Analysis, Marketing and Communications Survey, Maximum Enrollment study, NSSE survey and analysis, among others) in order to help promote student success, meet institutional priorities, and operate more efficiently. The Director of Institutional Research also created a Forecast Model to help the college meet its enrollment goals as well as regularly to complete mandatory reporting for external agencies. Further, the Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness plays a critical role in the establishment of various quality control and assurance processes (including a Data Dictionary, updating website data, enhancing Banner Data and Process Updates, and chairing the cross-departmental Data Standards Committee). The role of Institutional Research and Effectiveness touches every department on campus and has the vision of supporting and empowering each department to gather accurate, reliable data (CFR4.1, 4.2).

Quality Assurance Processes of the Institutional Research Function

An external auditor completed a review in 2016 which looked at the capacity of the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. The results of the audit found that each IR related CFR is adequately met by the Office of Institutional Research.

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The Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness also completed an internal Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threat (SWOT) Analysis. The results found that areas of strength include unrestricted access to data, strong understanding of the data and its idiosyncrasies, and data-mining skills within a student development framework. The SWOT also found that areas and opportunities for improvement were that only large projects were fully documented, technology upgrades were needed, and bandwidth issues affected adequate addressing of the increasing data needs of institution (CFR4.2). A relatively new area for the college, Institutional Research’s contributions to data-driven decision-making to enhance student success measures and develop institutional priorities, accordingly, will continue to grow.


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Otis College graduates 21st-century creative leaders who continue to reflect both the fundamental and evolving values and characteristics of Los Angeles’s first independent, professional school of art and design. Nevertheless, the convergence of broad societal “changing student characteristics and needs; unrelenting technological advances that stretch institutional resources and revolutionize when, where, and how students learn; more intense competition for students; less forgiving economic circumstances that make efficient, effective management of the academic enterprise more challenging; and widespread skepticism about the quality of higher education” (Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education). Crucial to any college’s adaption and contribution is its response to increasing demands for accountability while preserving if not even innovatively expanding its creative mission. A sustainable approach to addressing external forces and making visible the product and process of an arts education has become more necessary than ever.

COMPONENT 7 Sustainability

Sustainability: Financial Viability, Preparing for the Changing Higher Education Environment

COMPONENT

7

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Strategic Planning

The 2015-2019 Working Strategic Plan evolved though a comprehensive process that began in fall 2013, when the (then) president delivered a “State of the College” address featuring seven Strategic Pathways for the college’s next phase of development.

The plan was called the Working Strategic Plan when Board-approved in 2014 because it was known at the time that the president would soon relocate out of state, and an interim presidency and a search for a new president would immediately follow. The Board, interim president, and college leadership wanted to make room for the new president to review the working strategic plan and revise, as needed.

Since the arrival of president Ferguson, the Working Strategic Plan has served well, and most of its objectives either have been met or are making good progress toward completion. The president, along with the provost and senior leadership team, have monitored the plan’s progress to-date and framed a process and timeline for a new strategic plan to guide the college from FY19 - FY24. This process will build upon the considerable input gathering, needs assessment, and synthesis that led to the 2015-2019 Working Strategic Plan, which will be augmented by additional communications and community engagement:

Summer ’17 Created a comprehensive Progress Summary for the Working Strategic Plan and note any objectives or strategies that remain priorities to carry forward and any potential new ones to propose

Fall ’17 Form a Strategic Planning Taskforce to guide and inform the process, going forward Message the campus community about the process and timeline for the new Plan

Spring ‘18 Present a new Proposed Five Year Strategic Plan outline for input from the college community to be disseminated widely and shared directly via Academic Assembly, a Town Hall, and a Board of Trustees meeting followed by input gathering through FormStack and thoughtful revision after synthesis of all responses

Summer ‘18 The revised plan to be presented to the college community and Board of Trustees for approval.

The 2019-2024 Strategic Plan will be deeply guided by the input and community feedback processes of the former plan, as well as by new input (CFR4.1, 4.6).

A review of the Working Strategic Plan’s Progress Summary shows that Otis College has advanced well, with most of its five SMART (Simple, Manageable, Achievable, Realistic,


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Timely) Goals, 25 Objectives, and 92 Strategies having advanced to the Accomplished stage; 15 are in Good Progress; and only two remain To Be Completed. This is without precedent at the institution, and is an extraordinary indication of the full community involvement and commitment the Plan has enjoyed—from the faculty through the staff, administrators, and trustees.

In recognizing these accomplishments, and the benefit they represent to the organization, the campus, and the larger student experience, discussion now turns to the development of a new strategic planning process, to begin in January 2018. The new process, like that which culminated in the Working Strategic Plan, will involve all campus stakeholders.

In preparation for using a more formal and participatory structure, the Senior Team has articulated four primary themes to propel the process, with the understanding that the Centennial of Otis College and numerous related events will serve to focus much strategic thinking and planning activity. The four primary themes include:

1. A review and revision of Otis College’s mission statement to sustain a community with shared core values.

2. An expansion of volunteer leadership—Trustees, Governors, Fashion Council, Friends of the Gallery, the Group, Alumni, etc.

3. Ensuring diversity of visible and other minorities, particularly in the faculty ranks, to maintain relevance as a pedagogical institution

4. A significantly prioritized and intentional budget that allows the development of new, sustainable revenue streams to partially relieve tuition dependency. This would include an increased general endowment and specific endowments (focused on certain purposes); offerings, and new academic programs/initiatives to include accelerated degree programming for working adults, new majors and/or curricular areas of emphasis at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and international presences of fitting programs.

Organizational Structures

Otis College has clear organizational structures (CFR3.7) in support of effective decision making and sustaining institutional capacity and educational effectiveness. The have been reflectively revised as the college evolved to better promote better linkages and communication between areas and divisions. The structure includes a full-time chief executive office and chief financial officer (CFR3.8).

Fiscal Sustainability

The institution has documented policies and procedures with regard to college operations that are intended to safeguard assets, create efficiencies, and provide an organized

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framework for both students and employees to conduct college business. Oversight for the institution’s finances is the responsibility of management and the Board of Trustees’ Finance & Investment Committee. Each fiscal year, the institution’s finances are audited by an independent auditing firm. Oversight for the annual audit is the responsibility of management and the Board of Trustees’ Audit Committee.

Otis College is financially stable and obtains unqualified opinions on financial statements each fiscal year. The institution follows a detailed shared budget-process and budget planning timeline that spans approximately seven months and culminates in final budget review/approval by the Board of Trustees. The Budget Planning Committee conducts the planning process. Committee members include the Senior Team and leadership from Enrollment Management and the Business Office. The process begins with strategic planning, setting enrollment goals, and approval of tuition and fees. Based on stated priorities flowing from the strategic plan, situational factors, assessment, and/or evolving data-driven needs, budget managers submit detailed budget planning documents for line item review by their respective Division Head. These produce a consolidated budget reviewed by the CFO to ensure the plan is realistic and balanced (CFR1.7, 3.4).

The recent addition of 230 beds of campus student housing, new academic space, and the overall conversion of Otis College from a commuter to a residential college all bode for its fiscal future. The Board of Trustees had approved, based on detailed fiscal modeling capital expense, debt, and future net revenue generating plans associated with the campus expansion effort with an eye toward creating an even more appealing, healthy, and attractive site for higher education in the visual arts that can attract and retain more students from beyond the Los Angeles and Southern California region. The Otis Campus Improvement Plan involved constituents from across the college as well as Trustees across multiple Committees, including a Facilities Development Task Force. From a financing standpoint, this group worked closely with the Finance & Investment and Institutional Advancement Committees to strategize sources of funding for the project. These sources included debt financing totaling $35m and a capital campaign totaling $15m. As these initiatives progressed along with the construction, careful monitoring and reporting was led by the VP of Administrative and Financial Services.

During the first year since the completion of the expansion, the college netted approximately $1.2 million from the residential life program. Additionally, the college experienced cost savings by way of efficiencies gained from centralizing facilities and providing on-campus housing. These savings include a 67% reduction in lease costs and 68% decrease in running the housing program. The college expects to see continued and sustained financial benefit from the expansion via further leverage of auxiliary enterprises and steady and increased enrollment.


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Academic Planning

In anticipation of the changing landscape of higher education, the need for differentiation of the college, and the need for institutional sustainability, the provost’s office works with the president, the faculty, and academic leaders on research and investigation of possible new programs and initiatives to bring, when appropriate, fitting, and ready, to the Academic Assembly for review, discussion, and recommendation. These ideas are chronicled in a comprehensive administrative Academic Plan, which serves to spur research as needed and to guide academic priorities forward as part of the strategic advancement of the institution. As noted within, this plan is “a working document, not a declarative list of projects or needs that will, can, or should necessarily happen.”

Fundraising and Institutional Development

Historically, a number of factors have limited fundraising at Otis College, including the college’s history as a public institution, the merger phase with Parsons School of Design, and the campus relocation to Westchester. Additionally, the Vice President for Institutional Advancement (VPIA) position was vacant for two years before the current leader assumed the role in 2015. Due to this delay and related staff turnover, the IA team only became fully staffed in January 2017.

Otis College’s Institutional Advancement office is developing comprehensive fundraising goals, strategies, and procedures to guide the College’s fundraising from 2017-18 through Centennial celebrations in 2018-19, until the 2022-23 academic year. The framework, which is based on a commitment to fiscal viability and sustainability, identifies a collaborative and strategic approach to Institutional Advancement that engages the college’s various constituent groups, including the Board of Trustees, President, Board of Governors, chairs, faculty, alumni, friends, parents, corporations and foundations, and new prospects as identified.

Although the college was successful in securing resources to expand the campus and additional funds were raised for student scholarships, the third phase of the campaign has yet to be realized. This presents an opportunity to build on the successes of the expansion fundraising effort and move forward with the next two phases—academic excellence and endowment-building.

IA’s focus on fundraising today looks to create a culture of philanthropy at the college and establish a robust Major Gift program. Goals include targets for individuals (alumni, parents and friends), the Annual Fund, major gifts, endowment, planned giving, foundation giving, and corporate giving. The work aims to develop a consistent and steadily increasing level of philanthropic support for Otis College, with a view toward possibly launching an endowment campaign during the Centennial year.


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Alumni Relations

Otis College’s alumni community comprises an international network of more than 8,000 artists, designers, creators, and change-makers. IA is working to increase the number of contactable alumni and alumni volunteers, ensuring accuracy of contact details stored as data records. Success stories of alumni representing each department are also shared more widely, including expanding efforts using electronic and social media. The alumni event calendar was recently enhanced with new, impactful experiences aimed to engage the widest ranging alumni community. IA continues to collaborate with Career Services to provide career assistance to college alumni. A significant IA goal is to engage students early in their time at the college to develop a sense of community and build a culture of philanthropy that will serve the alumni program—and the college—after students they graduate, and into the future.

College Extension & Pre-College Programs

College Extension & Pre-College Programs is the largest community engagement component at Otis College. The name changed in fall 2017 to better reflect the wide-ranging, expansive nature of the unit’s programs and offerings for the public. The overarching objective is to serve the college’s mission on a broader scale—operating as a flexible umbrella, allowing for expansion of programs for the community including Adult Education, Professional Development, Global Initiatives, K-12 Programs, Emeritus offerings, Online offerings, and Special Programs.

The program currently offers approximately 350 art/design courses annually, 10 certificate programs, a four-week intensive for high school students, creativity workshops, professional development for artists, designers, and teachers, and general K-12 offerings. With gross revenues of approximately $1,950,00, net of $305,000, and approximately 3,150 participants projected for FY18, the unit is a self-supporting enterprise with a full-time staff of seven and a part-time teaching staff of approximately 115. As a leader in community education in Los Angeles, the Program is well regarded by its constituencies for successfully meeting the needs of its regional community.

Admissions

Under the leadership of a new Dean of Admissions, the Admissions Office has transformed to include new target markets such as the Middle East and India, a focus on developing stronger partnerships with community colleges, and adjusting the financial aid matrix to enhance selectivity. In fall 2017 the college will roll out new Client Relations Management (CRM) software SLATE. It will be ready for launch in August 2017 when Otis begins recruitment for spring and fall 2018. The new CRM will enhance functionality by


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managing adding features such as comprehensive step communications with applicants and admits and longitudinal tracking of prospective student engagement with the college. Otis has also joined (as of this writing) the nationwide Common Application, which already suggests positive early application data for fall 2018 admission compared to the current and prior years.

Rebranding

In order to stand out in a competitive landscape, it was determined that the branding of Otis College needed to change. The college had long been known by the all caps, OTIS, or by the letter O. Overused by other organizations and companies, these brand marks had become empty. A well-known elevator company by the name of Otis, for one, held a close resemblance to the college’s logotype, with its straightforward use of sans-serif lettering.

The college hired Menno Cruijsen, creative director of the award-winning studio Lava Design, to devise of a dynamic new system that could emphasize the diversity and character of Otis College in a holistic yet flexible manner. The crux of that challenge lay in finding a strategic way to make the overused mark do something specific, and importantly, memorable, all the while voicing the values that comprise the Otis College ethos.

The new branding became an instructive and self-reflexive exercise in looking and thinking. The use of a square O triggers a brief sense of pause in onlookers, even as they instantly perceive its semantic meaning. Rather than reinvent the wheel, this new manner of seeing reinterprets it. In other words, the new brand identity is a form that asks you look—then look again. It also requires that College or College of Art and Design follow the word Otis.

Reflexive, flexible, and wholly distinct, the new branding system establishes Otis College as a cutting-edge voice in the art and design landscape—a truly 21st-century institution that recognizes branding as a pluralistic, experiential platform in itself, open to evolution. All external relations vehicles are being rebranded and re-launched, including a new website, new marketing materials, which will debut in late August 2017. The Centennial of Otis College beginning in September 2018 will provide an opportunity to showcase the new branding and reach out to new audiences. The new branding will allow us to tell a range of stories from across the college and to stand out in new ways.


COMPONENT 8: Themes – Not Used

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Having just completed a major campus expansion, achieved unification of its programs and administration, welcomed the arrival of students on a residential campus, and begun planning for its upcoming centennial, the college approached this report as a comprehensive overview of its recent evolution and accomplishments. It is a candid portrait of an institution that has impressively evolved since the last reaccreditation while preserving its essential character.

The report also portrays an institution that faces the same challenges as many of its peers—a shifting student population, changing educational delivery modes and technology, increasing accountability and costs, the imperative to diversify revenue sources, rising levels of student debt, fluid student career prospects, all compelling the institution to constantly reflect and innovate. Art and design students increasingly influence and contribute to the creative, cultural, and intellectual capital of their world. However, they are facing dramatic global shifts, “wicked problems,” rapid changes in technology, and sustainability, making the mission of preparing diverse students of art and design to enrich our world through their creativity, their skill, and their vision more relevant than ever before.

COMPONENT 9 Conclusion

Conclusion

COMPONENT

9

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Reaccreditation efforts are considerable for an institution of Otis College’s size and resources. However, the institution had already made considerable progress toward strengthening and refining its assessment practices and consequently its teaching and learning practices. It has also begun, and nurtured, a fruitful dialogue with other leading institutions of its kind about arts education and assessment. The institution continues to be respectful of disciplinary and programmatic differences as it explores ways of making teaching and learning more systematic, more evidence-based, and more improvement –centered without diminishing the innovative and creative components that have become essential 21st century outcomes. The college continues to seek ways of addressing the inherent tensions that can exist between what art and design faculty members sometimes perceive as rigid or inflexible assessment expectations and the desired dynamic, fluid outcomes in support of the college’s creative mission. As evidenced in this report, the conversation is one that will benefit the Otis students as well as contribute to the national assessment discourse.

Several themes emerged during the self-study that will underpin future explorations at the college. The data-driven nature of its institutional decision-making has grown considerably and is poised to deepen. That evolution brings with it a need to develop the ability of programs and departments to make use of available data, and ask the right questions about what data can be turned into information the departments can use. The self-study revealed the pervasive presence at Otis College of High Impact Practices that support student learning, particularly for diverse student populations. Supporting those practices with more focused assessment will be a rich area for further development. The new residential campus has provided new areas of student life. Discovering additional uses for the residential campus is an ongoing institutional discussion. Assessment and curriculum involvement is strong at the chairs, directors, and full-time faculty levels. Now that collective bargaining has been concluded, the institution can find ways to more productively involve the part-time faculty. All areas have annually assessed programmatic and course learning outcomes. Establishing achievement levels at or near graduation of these outcomes across all programs will help better define what it means to be an Otis graduate. Rich student diversity has always been a strength of Otis College. Efforts underway to complement that diversity in the faculty and curriculum will make student success more intentionally inclusive. The timing of the revision of the website, a critical recruiting element, proved problematic for the review. However, part of that revision was a thorough overhaul of the student outcomes site. In response to a 2008 recommendation, the college’s development of Institutional Learning Outcomes provides a coherent framework for very different departments and programs. Developing a clearer understanding of the ILO creativity can benefit the students ‘educational experience and contribute to a national conversation about this critical 21st century outcome.


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The report demonstrates the college’s strong commitment to student learning and success, quality and improvement, institutional integrity, sustainability, and accountability achieved through a culture of strong administrative and faculty leadership. The college appreciates the significant time and effort that is required of evaluative team members, and looks forward to learning their insights and recommendations.


Documents

INSTITUTIONAL REPORT - otis.edu · successful interim report. ... Game and Entertainment Design, and Motion Design; ... 380923779398969706SSSSSSSSeCfAeAaAeDC’bSg,RDgA