AMERICAN ACADEMY FOR LIBERAL EDUCATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REPORT OF SITE VISIT FOR

 

PROGRAM ACCREDITATION OF

 

 

CLARE COLLEGE

 

ST. BONAVENTURE UNIVERSITY

 

ST. BONAVENTURE, NEW YORK

 

 

 

SEPTEMBER 24-27, 2003

 

Table of Contents

 

 

Section	Page
Disclaimer   Preamble             Part I Education Standards               A.  Liberal Learning Assessment               B.  Mission               C.  General Education and Curriculum               D.  Teaching and Educational Resources   Part II Program Standards   Index of Works Consulted	2   3   5   5   8   10   15   18   21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer

 

The site evaluation team report and any statements therein regarding compliance with the accreditation standards and criteria of the American Academy for Liberal Education represent only the considered opinion of the evaluation site team members at the time of the visit.  Definitive evaluation of compliance and the accreditation decision will be made by the Academy's Board of Trustees, upon consultation with the Council of Scholars, following a thorough review of application materials including, but not limited to, the self-study, the site evaluation team report, and any official responses to the site team report.
Preamble

St. Bonaventure University has instituted a liberal arts core curriculum that is innovative, creative, bold and courageous.  In establishing Clare College, St. Bonaventure joins a select group of schools that are leaders in higher education in realizing a mission-focused curriculum.  The core curriculum both reflects and advances St. Bonaventure's mission:  "a Catholic university dedicated to educational excellence in the Franciscan tradition...committed to the constant pursuit of distinction in our undergraduate and graduate programs, [and] our innovative liberal arts core."   That this mission is taken seriously by the university community is seen in the large proportion of faculty who participate, with generosity, by teaching in Clare College (though the total remains insufficient to the needs of Clare).  In providing the liberal arts core for all students, Clare College provides a unique and unifying Bonaventure signature for all the university's degree programs, both the professional schools and the liberal arts majors.


The Clare College curriculum includes a number of interdisciplinary courses.  The Intellectual Journey, prescribed for all freshmen, immerses students in a series of difficult texts from a variety of disciplines and historical periods, all framed by St. Bonaventure's Itinerarium.  This seminar course engages small numbers of students in exploring the
correspondence between ancient and contemporary views of the human person.  Noteworthy pedagogical innovations in teaching basic skills and knowledge are witnessed throughout the curriculum.  For example, CLAR 111 combines composition with critical thinking, CLAR 109 links the analysis of literature with the visual and performing arts; and the multi-disciplinary capstone course, University Forum, CLAR 401, addresses contemporary issues of special concern to a Franciscan community.


A number of faculty have published textbooks to support the core courses. 
·     Apczynski, John V. (ed.) The Intellectual Journey
·     Benington, Joel. How Science Really Works
·     Bychkov, Oleg and Mulryan, John. CLAR 109: Arts and Literature: A
     Text for Students and Faculty
·     Hughes, Roderick. Critical Thinking and Argumentation 2002

·     Reilly, Richard.  Readings on Buddhism.
·     Woodruff, Russell J. How Should We Live?  Readings on the Good Life

The administrative structure of Clare College is as innovative as its curriculum.  The committee notes that under autonomous leadership, Clare College has developed a curriculum of great worth to all of the university's major programs.  That the quality of any degree program is built upon the quality of the liberal arts core is well-recognized.  This was eloquently expressed to the team by the dean of St. Bonaventure's

 Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication.  The business sector and policy makers in education have also endorsed this view through the degree requirements for these programs.  As an autonomous unit, Clare College is accountable to all degree programs, and to the faculty as a whole through the Faculty Senate.


Clare's mission-directed curriculum, especially The Intellectual Journey, enculturates not only the students, but also the faculty who teach it.  The team notes the positive effect of Clare activities in motivating the university faculty in developing, teaching and assessing the liberal arts.  It would be a loss to the university if decisions were made to undercut the
work of all those, in several schools and colleges who have shown such dedication in furthering the goals of the university.


In conclusion, the faculty and administration of St. Bonaventure University have aimed high and really stretched themselves in conceiving and implementing an exemplary liberal arts core.  In the following report, we are able to detail both the many accomplishments and the several shortcomings of the program.  The generous efforts of the university community merit the continued support of time, resources and goodwill to fulfill this ambitious project.

 

 

 

 

Education Standards

A.  Liberal Learning Assessment

Liberal Learning Assessment Standard 1 – Effective Reasoning

The Clare College curriculum includes courses specifically devoted to critical thinking (CLAR 111) as well as several others that teach this skill as part of the syllabus, e.g., CLAR 101 and 104 to mention but two. The writing component is addressed in many of these classes, e.g., 101, 110, 111 as well as others. Oral skills are developed in CLAR 101, The Intellectual Journey class (101) where sections are capped at a level of fifteen or less.

CLAR 102, Inquiry in the Natural World, introduces the student into the specific mode of inquiry appropriate to the natural sciences. The evaluation team was most impressed with the thought, creativity and care that the science faculty has displayed in developing this course and thinks that it could serve as a model for others. There is a quantitative reasoning course which is required for the major and the mathematics department offers a range of courses at the 100 level from which the different major departments can choose as a requirement for their students.

Clare College has instituted an assessment protocol with rubrics designed to test for four areas of effective reasoning: comprehension, ability to relate passages of texts to others, quality of writing, and aesthetic appreciation.  These rubrics have been applied to randomly selected student test essays drawn from CLAR 101.

Results from CLAR 401 suggest that in terms of learner outcomes, students are achieving nearly satisfactorily in being able to explain an issue from multi-disciplinary perspectives and in citing relevant literature in student papers.  They are doing well on the mechanics of paper production, but they are not doing as well in supporting their positions with outside sources. 

Results of assessment from CLAR 401 were compared with the results from CLAR 101.  While this comparison is not strictly a pre- and post- test of the same cohort, the results of the comparison suggest that students are academically maturing while in Clare College.  The results also suggest these students are maturing taking courses outside Clare.  (Self-Study, pp. 47-48).  Further analysis and coordination of the CLAR 101 and 401 rubrics and results await action by the Clare faculty.

What is most striking about the Clare College approach to liberal education is that each of the designed courses seeks to instill in the student not only, familiarity and careful reading of important texts of the tradition, but an understanding of the many different methodological approaches to the fields of liberal education. This concentration on “ways of knowing” and the continuing and subsequent attempts at integrating these modes of inquiry throughout the core curriculum bespeaks a commitment to enabling St. Bonaventure students to learn how to integrate and adopt new information as well as to develop the ability to formulate different forms of argumentation.

 

Liberal Learning Assessment Standard Two – Broad and Deep Learning

 

The assessment of CLAR 101 also approaches the questions of broad learning by asking students to compare diverse texts drawn from different areas of knowledge.  The CLAR 401 assessment rubric rated final position papers on the ability to “describe an issue from multiple disciplinary perspectives.”  (Self Study, pp. 46-49). 

 

In response to a Faculty Senate resolution proposed by the Academic Standards Committee, Clare College convened in 2001-2002 a committee for each course in the Clare curriculum to specify learner outcomes and suggest ways to identify and measure such outcomes within an assessment process.

 

This resulted in a “The Clare College Collaborative Assessment Project Course Committee Reports” – a plan for each course to engage in assessment.

 

Currently, a draft of goals for Art and Literature assessment is under development.  (Draft of CLAR 109 Assessment).  The results of this effort may be seen in artifacts from Art and Literature 109.  These artifacts, displayed in the campus art center and available to evaluation team members, included multimedia visual journals and exemplify the use of terms of aesthetic and of artistic appreciation. 

Excluding the foreign language component, most of the courses of Clare College explicitly seek to engage the student with not only the great ideas of Western history but do so by explicating the historical and cultural development of such ideas.  This has been observed both in the CLAR 107 course, “The Catholic-Franciscan Heritage” and in the natural science course CLAR 102, “Inquiry in the Natural World.”  The several continuities of historical and cultural development suggest the rich potential in these courses for the further development of the program of assessment thus far undertaken by Clare.

 

 

Liberal Learning Assessment Standard Three – The Inclination to Inquire

This standard is addressed by the very title of the Clare courses, “Inquiry in the Social World,” or “Inquiry in the Natural World,” for example.  However the process of how this is accomplished should be more explicitly addressed in the Clare syllabi.  The course descriptions focus on course content.  However, in discussing course content with the faculty, the team found that there are essay assignments directed toward developing a reflective capacity.  In CLAR 401 a position paper and other assignments are specifically aimed at demonstrating and developing this capacity.  An instructor from CLAR 101, advised the team that her sections of 101 include a specific experiential exercise that demonstrates students’ readiness to bow to authority against their conscience.  CLAR 109, Art and Literature similarly strives to develop this capacity in students.

Evaluators attest that in class visits to CLAR 101, 104 and 111 the students asked fundamental questions about life, human nature, and the good, from different perspectives and challenged one another’s conceptions in the classroom under the direction of the instructors of Clare College.  Clare courses are exemplary in addressing such questions from a variety of perspectives.

Throughout the curriculum courses include group projects and presentations.  For example in CLAR 105 Inquiry in the Social World, evaluators observed a group presentation on the treatment of Native Americans; in CLAR 102 Inquiry in the Natural World, all the lab projects are group, inquiry-based exercises; in CLAR 107 Catholic and Franciscan Intellectual Tradition, a group did a presentation on images of Jesus. There are others the team could cite.

Course grades are distributed from A to F reflecting a range of accomplishment in each of the Clare courses.  This contributes to students’ capacity to acknowledge their abilities and performance skills. 

The discovery of plagiarism in the University Forum course, and our discussion with the VP Student Life and VP Academic Affairs indicates a need for more engaged awareness and active responsibility toward academic honesty at all levels.

Throughout the university, beyond Clare College, there is a strong tradition of service, through various activities of campus ministry (soup kitchen, trips, etc.)  There are opportunities for leadership roles in student government and other student organizations.  Clare courses are campus-based, extending beyond the classroom into the art gallery, but not incorporating applications of core knowledge beyond the campus into the greater community.

Information Literacy: Clare students are required in CLAR 110 and 111 (Composition and Critical Thinking) to receive library instruction from the library faculty and they must engage in projects that culminate in writing a research paper in their freshman year that must employ the resources of the library, search strategies, and evaluation of information sources.

B. Mission

Mission Standard Four

4.1       The explanation of Clare College under the heading of “Degree Requirements” in the 2003-2004 catalog (pp. 73-75) clearly presents the courses within the Clare curriculum.  The presentation of the individual course descriptions is introduced by a straightforward description of the raison d’etre for Clare College.  Included in this description are the aims and the six goals of the curriculum.  Our classroom observations, interviews and experience during the visit attest to the veracity of the description.  

Visits to a number of classes within Clare College confirmed that the content of the courses accurately reflect what is stated in published material in regard to the mission and goals of Clare College courses.

Widespread support exists among the faculty for the goals of Clare College.  Many faculty commented not only that they supported the core curriculum goals but that they were proud of the university as a whole for adopting and realizing the innovative concept of Clare College.

Faculty were extensively involved in the development of the mission and goals for Clare College.  The Faculty Senate approved in October of 1995 a list of “Goals for the Core Curriculum,” (p. 21 Self-Study).  Later, in February of 1996 a refinement of the core curriculum, done by the “Summer Commission,” was approved by the Faculty Senate as the “Core Areas and Objectives” (p. 23 Self Study).  That commission also made recommendations regarding certain areas within the core.  However, no evidence of a plan for the regular review of the program’s mission statement could be found.

“The program’s mission statement or statement of purposes,” is not “readily available to prospective applicants nor to the general public.”  Neither the catalog nor the Clare College promotional brochure, contain the mission statement for Clare College.  They do, however, list “The Goals of Clare College.” (p. 73 2003-2004 Catalog)

Anecdotal evidence surfaced from discussions with two students, one a first-year student and the other a second-year student in which both students commented that the Clare College program was explained to them by the admission office when they visited prior to matriculating.  They both believed that it had been accurately described to them.  The second-year student commented that he thought the experience in Clare College was actually better than what had been described to him.

4.2       There is no plan for the regular review of the Clare College mission statement nor its goals.  Assessment data is becoming available and should serve a formative purpose in program review soon.

4.3       Neither the Mission Statement nor the six goals of the core curriculum of Clare College include skills. 

Suggestion: While such intended outcomes may be published in the syllabi of particular Clare courses, the clear statement of academic skills should be made explicit among the goals of the core curriculum of Clare College.  (p. 73, 2003-2004 Catalog)

There is no plan for the regular review of Clare College’s educational objectives.  The lack of a standardized syllabus for the Clare courses inhibits the assessment of the effectiveness of the courses within Clare College.  The syllabi reviewed as part of this visit reveal some that publish no intended learning outcomes, nor course objectives.  If a standard syllabus were adopted, such needed information could be routinely called for from the CAP committee work on course goals and objectives.  Assessment must be done vis á vis the stated learning outcomes and goals of individual courses as well as those of the program as a whole.  Data gleaned from such individual course assessment becomes formative as it is used to improve the effectiveness of the courses assessed.

4.4              The mission of Clare College is not to be found in the Clare College promotional material.  Its goals are published in the tri-fold pamphlet, “Clare College at St. Bonaventure University; Preparing Moral Citizens for the Global Community,” but not the mission statement itself.  The mission statement is found in the “Addendum to Clare College Self Study,” p. 17.

 

Mission Standard Five

5.1       The evaluation team was not able to find a statement on academic freedom.  The following is quoted from the Faculty Status and Welfare Handbook:  “Tenure is permanence of appointment and is granted as a further guarantee of academic freedom by the President …” p. 8. 

5.2              Academic freedom of the faculty does not seem to be an issue. It is especially important that such limitations be clearly described in a program’s recruitment and informational materials for students, faculty, and administrative personnel.

 

C.  General Education and Curriculum

Standard Six

An observation: The University went through a severe financial crisis in the past decade and until recently the school was extremely concerned to recruit students to their campus. However, in the past two years the incoming freshman class has exceeded expectations and now the University is studying the possibility of raising the standards for next year’s incoming class. This would both address the issue of raising standards within the University as well as solving any potential housing crunch given the diminishing number of spaces on campus.

The administration and the faculty are equally concerned about the need to create both an academic climate and a recruitment philosophy which would improve the University’s ability to foster a sound liberal education program for its students.

6.1              The University programs meet these standards.

 

6.2              The University regularly reviews admission requirements as the observation above attests to.

 

6.3              The University programs meet this standard.

 

6.4              The program meets this standard.

 

General Education and Curriculum Standard Seven

A minimum of one hundred and twenty credits are required for graduation.  The total number of hours in the Clare College curriculum is forty-eight (p. 72, 2003-2004 Catalog). 

7.1       Catalog information on general education is found in the 2003-2004 Catalog on pp. 19-20, 53, 72-73. 

 

7. 2      The actual policy regarding transfers and equivalencies are made by the particular department chairs of the discipline involved.  The registrar passes the pertinent issues from the transfer student’s transcript with her recommendations regarding course equivalency.  The respective department chair then decides whether to accept, reject or alter the registrar’s recommendation.  While this is the actual modus operandi at SBU, we could find no description of this procedure in any of the literature. When asked if there was an internal procedural memo that guided the registrar in this regard, she said she was unaware of any such written procedure.  (Heather Jackson, SBU registrar, interview in her office on 26 September, 2003)

 

The description of Clare College in the 2003-2004 Catalog, pp. 73-75, includes two statements: “In all degree programs, the University requires students to complete Clare College requirements.”   In the matter of transfer students, this might more accurately describe the actual policy applicable to transfers if it stated:  “In all degree programs, the University requires students to complete Clare College requirements or their equivalents.” With this change, then the later statement, "All incoming students begin their academic careers at St. Bonaventure University through Clare College,” would more accurately describe reality.

 

 

 

General Education and Curriculum Standard Eight

 

The program meets these standards.  The course “Inquiry in the Natural World” and the accompanying lab is a multidisciplinary course that includes methods and concepts of the biological and physical sciences presented in a historical context.  The course is a showcase for the sciences, has been taught by most members of the three science departments, and one member of the School of Education, and has generated a collaboratively written textbook.  All students are required to take a quantitative reasoning course determined by each department; under the mathematics department we find Introduction to Statistics, Pre-Calculus, Math for Elementary Education I and II, Finite Math for Management and Social Sciences, Calculus for Management, Introduction to Mathematical Concepts, and Calculus.

 

No foreign language is required in Clare College as a whole, but intermediate knowledge, four semesters, of at least one foreign language is required for the BA and BS in the School of Arts and Sciences and students pursuing a BA degree in the School of Journalism/Mass communication.  Students must successfully complete a minimum of a second semester intermediate course or any higher level modern or classical language course. English majors must earn credit in any classical language course at a level of 202 or above, or a higher modern language course, provided that the content of the higher-level modern language course comprises a study of its literature in the original language.  The School of Education requires one full year of a language (p. 76, 2003-2004 Catalog).

 

The study of literature and literary classics is addressed by CLAR 103 and CLAR 109, (p. 74, Catalog).  The political, philosophical and cultural history of Western civilization is found in CLAR 105, (p. 74, Catalog) but the foundations and principles of American society do not appear in active syllabi, though readings from the Declaration of Independence, Federalist papers, and the Constitution appear in the original planning syllabi of Clare.

The Clare College core is a clear and sound program of studies which ensures that the student will be exposed to a careful and thoughtful study of literature and art, theology and philosophy and the historical and political circumstances which have shaped Western civilization.

Since the new Clare College core was proposed in 1995, and then debated and finally introduced and implemented, it has undergone continuous review, both positive and negative, by the faculty and administration. It has also been assessed, both positively and negatively, by the students who have taken this core (see for example, Self Study p. 122).

The appointment of a senior administrative position to oversee the creation and direction of the College is a significant step undertaken very rarely in higher education. There is a devoted group of faculty who are committed to the success of Clare College and who volunteer their time to serve on Steering Committees and work to address or eliminate all of the initial problems which have surfaced since the core was first introduced. Similarly, the various “teams” teaching several Clare courses, e.g., 102 and 401, have met on a regular basis to develop new approaches to problems and concerns as they arise.

It is the opinion of this evaluation team that few campuses have seen as much energy directed towards establishing a first rate liberal arts core, integrated and standardized, as has been accomplished on the St. Bonaventure campus.

8.3              The Catalog doesn’t mention core course transferability nor does the section describing Clare College, but see 7.2, above.

 

General Education and Curriculum Standard Nine

 

9.1       The extent to which Clare College has begun to constructively deal with the thorny question of assessment in the Humanities is to be applauded and those involved congratulated for their efforts.  Consult the Martine Grant Project Reports for 2000-2002, as well as the Clare College Collaborative Assessment Committee Reports Addendum to Self Study, for documentation of Clare College assessment efforts.  See also Liberal Learning Assessment Standards II and II above.

 

9.2       The faculty is responsible for assessment of student achievement.

 

9.3       Clare College has undertaken a comprehensive plan for the assessment of all of its courses.  The results indicate a number of areas for course revisions.  (See Self Study, pp. 27-29.)

9.4       Under the Collaborative Assessment Project, Clare faculty, representing each of the twelve Clare courses, met to discuss the qualifications of instructors, learner outcome expectations, common reading, assignments and several other related issues.  Design and planning of outcome assessment processes for each course, based on learner outcomes, resulted.  (Self Study 3-4; for specific learner outcomes, pp. 52-70)

 

General Education and Curriculum Standard Ten

There is no prerequisite structure in the Clare courses.

 

See comments above under the opening paragraph of Standard Nine.  If the Clare College program is successful, students should be able to demonstrate improved knowledge and skill levels as they progress in the courses.  There is no sequencing within the Clare College whereby higher level of skills or knowledge can be assessed, excepting CLAR 401. 

Due to staffing and fiscal constraints as well as internal programmatic decisions made early in the formation of the Clare core, there is no clearly spelled out sequence of course selection for Clare classes. This lack of a coherent structure needs to be addressed. The evaluation team has been informed that such conversations are now taking place and that these concerns will be addressed.

Suggestion: The evaluation committee suggests wherever and whenever possible that the vast majority of Clare courses be taken in the first two years of study, that certain courses most needed by first year students, e.g., CLAR 101, 110 and 111 be taken in the first year and that where appropriate other courses be renumbered in the 200 and 300 level sequence thereby identifying them as upper division core requirements. Certainly this should be done for CLAR 107, The Catholic and Franciscan Intellectual Tradition, which can and should only be taken after the student has completed CLAR 106, Foundational Religious Texts of the Western World.

10.1     Clare College has been under continuous evaluation for the last seven years.  Such continuous evaluation includes not only formative processes in the creation of Clare, but a Middle States Periodic Review Report, the Clare College Collaborative Assessment Committee Reports, a Middle States self-study designed for the Middle States review of 2005, this AALE Self-study and evaluation and team review.  This is unquestionably the most reviewed program in the entire university.

By contrast, the School of Arts and Science has articulated a mission statement and a series of goals and objectives.  Individual departments have articulated their outcomes and assessment measures to be used, however, no formal reviews with these instruments have been undertaken.  The career center alumnae survey has assessed at very general levels, the satisfaction of alumnae with their St. Bonaventure experience, as well as rough measures of correspondence between majors and fields of entry.

There is no protocol defining roles of the faculty, administration, or governing board in program review.  There are administrative structures which will assume review procedures when undertaken.

10.2     As part of Middle States Periodic Review, 1998, major programs set out a well-developed set of goals.  The assessment of these goals is the next step, now that five years or more has gone by. 

10.3     The BA, BS, and BA in Journalism meet this standard.

10.4     The Faculty Senate determines number of course credit hours required for degrees.  University policy determines acceptable grade point averages and allowable time frames for degree completion.

10.5     The majors meet this standard.  St. Bonaventure’s Arts and Sciences and Journalism majors meet standards 10.4 and 10.5.

10.6     The program meets this requirement.

 

General Education and Curriculum Standard Eleven

11.1     The program has a clearly stated and well-documented writing component as evidenced by the common syllabus for CLAR 110 and 111, the supporting materials including texts, and supplementary materials. Visits to classes revealed a well organized and carefully constructed approach to writing, which emphasizes all of the currently accepted standards for the teaching of writing, including pre-writing, rough draft writing, revision processes, peer review, and faculty-student conferencing. This program seems to be one of the most clearly thought out, and successfully implemented and developed of all of the Clare components.

11.2     In CLAR 110 Composition and Critical Thinking (I), there is a well-designed, embedded, diagnostic test and an exit writing test, implemented this year.   This pattern is repeated in CLAR 111 (II). 

D. Teaching and Educational Resources

Teaching and Educational Resources Standard Twelve

The teaching resources for Clare College are stretched thin and need to be augmented. There is a chronic shortage of interested and committed faculty willing to teach these liberal arts courses, which are sometimes seen only as “Gen ed” courses.  As such, these courses do not demand the same amount of respect and concern, let alone care and diligence, as do major and upper division sequence courses. This is true of faculty in all of the colleges. This is also reflected in the perception of some Liberal Arts and Science faculty that Clare should not have a separate organization and administration apart from the College of Arts and Sciences.  Further exacerbating this problem is the fact that there is a lack of a qualified pool of “adjunct faculty” in the surrounding area, who could be hired to teach in Clare. Another contribution to this problem is that the Dean of Clare must draw his faculty from the current faculty by negotiating “release time” to have those faculty be relieved from their own departmental duties so as to teach in Clare.

Suggestion: This evaluation suggests that consideration be given to increasing the budget of Clare College so that additional new faculty lines be added to Clare College with the specific intent of addressing and relieving this problem of insufficient staffing for Clare College.

This suggestion should not be seen as an either/or or zero-sum game decision to advance Clare College interests to the detriment of other departments in Arts and Sciences or other Colleges within the University.  Rather, in the best interests of the University, a solid core curriculum will contribute to the advancement of all interested parties within the University.

12.1          Clare College meets this criterion as do the various departments which meet the qualifications for their courses and majors.

12.2          There are student evaluations every semester of teachers teaching within the Clare program.  The program employs regular procedures of monitoring of teaching effectiveness; however, the committee notes that teaching effectiveness is only accurately determined through the assessment of learning outcomes.  See 4.3 above.

 

12.3          There appears to be no regular procedure for recruitment of faculty for Clare College.  Faculty teaching Clare courses are “borrowed” from their departments in the College of Arts and Sciences

12.4     The program meets this standard.

 

Teaching and Educational Resources Standard Thirteen

13.1          Commendation:  The committee commends Clare College for maintaining a class size of 14 students in its introductory course, the Intellectual Journey, CLAR 101.  The evaluation committee believes that the Clare program meets appropriate class size standards in other courses as well. 

 

13.2    The program meets this standard.

 

Teaching and Educational Resources Standard Fourteen

Regular faculty members, including senior ones, teach the Clare courses, as well as introductory courses in the major.  Clare faculty advise undecided students, while declared students have departmental advisors.

14.1          The evaluation team knows of no policy of regular review and assessment of advising policies or activities and suggests Clare College sponsor informational session for training of student advisors on the Clare curriculum.

 

14.2          Academic tutoring, counseling, and disabilities services are located in the Teaching and Learning Center.

 

Teaching and Educational Resources Standard Fifteen

15.1     The Library has fashioned a well-integrated information literacy program with Clare College faculty. Following up on the brief introduction to the Library which occurs in University 101, CLAR 110 and 111 (almost all sections) introduce their students to the resources of the library.

CLAR 110 teaches students how to use search engines, develop expert strategies for both Internet and research databases, how to assess and evaluate information  gleaned from these sources and use the online Library catalog.

CLAR 111 develops in depth use of library databases, teaches the student how to cite information and is specifically geared to the research paper required in CLAR  111.

15.2          The library was visited by the site visit team and the chief librarian interviewed.  No issues of inadequacy of resources or performance were broached in discussions.

Part II.  Program Standards

Institutional and Program Finance

1.                  There are serious and pressing issues facing Clare College, its governance and its well-being. The Dean of Clare College has a mandate to supervise and administer a series of course offerings, but has at his call neither the financial resources nor a continuing faculty which he can count on to teach these necessary core courses. A Faculty Senate resolution stipulates that 3/4 of all sections be staffed by “tenure track” faculty.  Clare College consistently falls short of that standard with 2/3 tenure track faculty sections.  However, if we compare the number of full-time faculty, tenure track and non-tenure track, to adjuncts covering sections, the rate is 3/4.  Further cooperative agreements need to be articulated between Clare College and individual departments. Just as important, there are lines of agreement and cooperation which need to be more fully outlined involving the lines of authority and jurisdiction between the Clare College Dean and the Dean of Arts and Sciences. This latter relationship is most crucial seeing how it is the latter’s faculty who are most often called on to teach in Clare.

2.         See the application packet.

3.         Deloite and Touche are the certified independent auditors.  See the St. Bonaventure Financial Statement.

4.                  See 3 above.

 

International Students

5.         There is a full-time international student advisor who contacts students from the point of acceptance to the University and guides them through the pre-departure and arrival process.  An international student handbook is mailed to students at the overseas addresses and an on-site orientation is held for them before the start of classes. 

 

Student Athletics

St. Bonaventure has recently suffered the resignation of the President, Director of Athletics, Head Basketball Coach, and Assistant Basketball Coach because the concerned individuals had sustained the admission and attendance of an academically unqualified student athlete.  A board member brought this situation to light, the president resigned within two days, the institution made a public record of these mistakes and resignations, and the institution has turned over the remainder of the investigation to the NCAA.   The institution has hired a new acting president from the ranks of Franciscan friars, has filled the position of Interim Senior Vice President for the Franciscan Charism, to ensure the values of the institution are upheld, and a University committee, chaired by a member of the Board of Trustees, is conducting a nationwide search for a new athletic director and will make a recommendation to the University President.  

5.       

 

Student Complaints

7.         Student complaints regarding Clare College are kept on file by the Dean of Clare College.  Both the Dean and the VPAA separately hold occasional meetings with students.  Any complaints that surface during these meetings regarding Clare College are shared between them and filed in the Dean’s office.  In preparation for the site visit, the Dean asked the Student Government to convene a group to discuss the program with the team of teachers from Clare College.

While procedures for student complaints are published by the University (Student Handbook, pp. 46, 51) and while complaints are heard and filed, there was no published invitation for students to contact AALE directly with complaints.  We suggest that such an invitation, contingent upon accreditation, along with the address, e-mail address and telephone number for AALE be published on the Clare College website.

 

Student Records and Privacy

8.         Clare College complies with this standard.

9.         St. Bonaventure is covered by and publishes the student rights under the FERPA act. 

Facilities

10.              The Clare program has been provided all classroom and support facilities provided to the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Journalism.  Of particular note are the facilities provided to the administration of Clare College.  These include a seminar room which is used for faculty meetings, occasional student seminars, and viewing by students of video-taped University Forum lectures and class materials.

 

11.              See above.

 

12.              The periodic re-accreditation self studies and reports to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education satisfy this standard.  Furthermore, both the School of Education and the School of Business have accreditation and self-studies for NCATE and AACSB respectively.  The latter accreditation preparations include review of the role of Clare College in the academic development of students in the schools of Business and Education.

 

Branch Campuses, Off-Campus Teaching Sites, Distance Education Programs

13.       University maintains, through the Franciscan order, an off-campus retreat site, Mt. Irenaeus.  Through campus ministry, students are frequently invited to participate in the activities on that site.  The Clare College holds an annual review of the program with students selected, independently from Clare, by the campus ministry.  There, the accomplishments and deficiencies of the program, as seen from student eyes, are discussed with the Dean of Clare.  There is also a suburban Buffalo facility where regularly scheduled, but non-Clare, classes are held.

 

14.       In regards to Clare College, not-applicable.  See immediately above.

Index of Documents Consulted and Referred to in Site Team Evaluation Report

for St. Bonaventure University

 

 

Application for Program Accreditation. St. Bonaventure University.  Clare College Program.

 

Clare College at St. Bonaventure University.  “Preparing Moral Citizens for the Global Community.”  [Flier.]

 

[Clare College. St. Bonaventure University.]  [Collected Syllabi of the Clare College Curriculum.]

 

Clare College.  St. Bonaventure University.  Program-Self Study Report.  Ed. Michael Chiariello, Dean, Clare College. September 2003.

 

__________________________________.   ______________________.  Addendum.  Outcomes and Assessment Practices for Major Programs. 

 

[Clare College. St. Bonaventure University.]  [Randomly Selected and Assessed Essays from Clare 101.]

 

[Clare College.  St. Bonaventure University.]  [Randomly Selected and Assessed Essays form Clare 401.]

 

1999 Periodic Review Report to Middle States.  http://web.sbu.edu/friedsam/murphy.

 

Scott Lee.  Institutional Profile of St. Bonaventure University’s General Education Requirements.  June, 2001.

 

St. Bonaventure University.  Annual Financial Report: Fiscal Year Ended May 31, 2002.  [Prepared by Deloite and Touche.]

 

St. Bonaventure University.  “Blueprint for Progress: Expectations and Aspirations.” [Flier.]

 

St. Bonaventure University.  Faculty Status and Welfare Handbook.  Amended and approved, 2002.

 

St. Bonaventure University.  Student Handbook, 2002-2004.

 

St. Bonaventure University.  Undergraduate Catalog, 2003-2004.

 

St. Bonaventure University.  The Career Center.  Employment/Education Report: The Class of 2002

 

St. Bonaventure University.  Clare College.  Martine Grants: Project Reports for 2000, 2001, and 2002.

 

St. Bonaventure University.  Faculty.  General Faculty Meeting.  A Proposal for Renewing the St. Bonaventure University Core Curriculum.  September 21, 1995.

 

St. Bonaventure University.  Faculty Senate.  “Background and Guidelines for Implementing the Core Area Sequence Component of the Clare College Curriculum.”