responses.docx

Denita Discussion:

Change Initiative Proposal

The board of trustees is currently approving the institutions’ mission, vision, and goals that align with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation agency.  Implementing the three new change initiatives needs to be accurately communicated through the campus community and exposed to external partners. Exposure to these new initiatives will be transmitted through the university’s academic strategic plan. The strategic plan will describe the improvement of the student experience by focusing on:
1. Achieving solid undergraduate enrollment:

-There are several statue that needs to be followed to fulfill enrollment quotas 
Age Discrimination Act of 1975
, 
Higher Education Act: Institutional and Financial Assistance Information for Students
, Higher Education Act: Readmission Requirement for Servicemembers, 
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
, 
Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972
 and 
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

· Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability at any federal-funded institution. This covers admissions, recruitment, educational and/or academic programs and services.
 

(2) Strengthening teaching and learning by using technology

–           
Teacher Preparation Programs
 improve the quality of prospective and new professors by improving the preparation of prospective teacher and enhancing professional development activities.  On an annual basis UED will report the quality of teacher preparation prescribed by the Department of Education. The report will include information with integrating technology into curricular and instruction.
 

(3) and establishing community partnerships beyond the campus grounds

–           
Higher Education Act: Federal Work Study
 The university must use 7% of FWS allocations to employ students in community service. The university must report their Fiscal Operations Report and Applications to Participate (FISAP), this report covers future funding for the university.
–           Along with making solid partnership with companies and organizations to aid students in professional develop within their career choice.

Resources:

Higher Education Compliance Alliance (2021). Compliance Matrix 

Compliance Matrix

Michael Discussion:

Hello everyone,
My change initiative is to create a first-year experience program that supports first year students in all facets of their college education.  Headed by the freshman class dean, this program involves academics, residential life, counseling services, and other campus partners as necessary to identify at risk students and provide extra support.  The program also provides on-going learning opportunities in the residence halls and out to provide education for life skills, and bonding opportunities among classmates.  Extending this program to the upper classes, the class deans would meet in much the same fashion at designated intervals to try and intercept students falling below the benchmark for success completion of their degree.
The goal and intention of this program is to promote inclusion and attendance, and as such many of the larger compliance issues for higher education are satisfied by its creation.  However, there are a few that stand out as needing to be particularly noted in the program.  First, the Higher Education Act: Misrepresentation section, 
20 U.S.C. § 1094
, holds Ramella University directly responsible for any gross misrepresentations of data (HECA, 2021).  This is important to note as the program data reports graduation success rates and retention success rates.  If these are to be reported publicly, the University would be held responsible for their accuracy.
Another compliance item that will be important is the Higher Education Act: Gainful Employment sections, 
20 U.S.C. §§ 1001, 1002
.  In this section it is noted that the completion data and graduation rates affect the campus’ ability to be Title IV eligible by meeting acceptable accreditation requirements (HECA, 2021).   As part of the initiative is to increase graduation rates, it will be important to note that those courses are accredited and meet the terms of accreditation in to comply.  The Higher Education Act: Cohort Default Rate sections, 
20 U.S.C. § 1015a
 and 
20 U.S.C. § 1085
, would also be applicable to the initiative, as these rates are also used to determine eligibility for some Title IV programs (HECA, 2021).  This rate, published by the U.S. Department of Education is an account of the percentage of students that enter repayment from an institution and default.  Currently, the national cohort rate from FY 2017 is 9.7 percent (FSA, 2021).  By increasing our retention rate, Ramella University should be under that benchmark but it is important to note and be conscious of in our actions.
References
Federal Student Aid (FSA). (2021, May 14). Official cohort default rate for schools. Default Management. Retrieved from: 
https://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/defaultmanagement/cdr.html

Higher Education Compliance Alliance (HECA). (2021). Compliance matrix. Retrieved from: 

Compliance Matrix