1 Intersession 2006 Professor William Moore SZB 364 CCLP office: SZB 348 471-7545 1:00—4:00 MTWThF I. Title The Administration of Academic Affairs: Planning, Analysis & Assessment II. Course Number EDA f391K III. Prerequisite None IV. Rationale for the Course Academic affairs is central to the operation of a higher education institution. It deals with a variety of activities in the college. These include, but are not limited to, curriculum and degree development, budgeting for the educational programs, student and faculty conduct, institutional planning, the adjudication of conflict, evaluation, tenure, and so on. All of these areas are complex and fraught with problems related to the educational, economic, and professional well being of academic professionals. They also have implication for legislative and judicial activities. It follows, then, that the efficient administration of academic affairs cannot be a random process. Because of the span of control of that office and the nature and diversity of the problems it must accommodate, there must be some specific and systematic approach to handling those problems. Group process, administrative theory, and organizational process are all knowledge and skills that must be employed in the management of academic affairs. So significant are the activities of academic affairs that they are rapidly emerging as a well-defined field of study. As such the trial and error methods, on-the-job training of administrators, and the process of moving through the "academic chairs" are no longer the sole tenable approaches. A well-organized and systematic approach is, therefore, necessary. The focus of the course is to provide the student with a comprehensive and in-depth look at academic affairs in higher education institutions. The course is further designed to investigate the techniques used in carrying out the tasks of academic affairs, how they are used, why, where, for whom, and under what conditions of environment, structure and control.2 V. Objective and Expectations Objectives are statements of intent. In this course they have been developed to provide the student with: (1) content related to the subject; (2) opportunities to practice and simulate conditions which apply the principles and processes described in the content; (3) a project to help demonstrate the role and function of academic affairs in the institution; (4) the trends, problems and prospects in academic affairs. A. Objectives 1. To provide information about some of the ideas related to the organization and control of academic affairs in the community college. 2. To identify the decision-making process utilized to implement the functions for which the office of academic affairs is responsible. 3. To identify the specific tasks traditionally assigned to the area of academic affairs. 4. To demonstrate the distinct differences in the way academic affairs are carried out among the diverse types of higher education. 5. To acquaint the student with the higher education literature directly related to the function of the management of academic affairs. 6. To make sure that the student has an opportunity to see the relationship between the office of academic affairs and other offices, administrators, and faculties. 7. To provide students with the opportunity to see how the office of academic affairs evaluates programs, credentials, and professional standards as it seeks to approve academic rewards. 8. To examine such things as academic misconduct, for example, to determine the process and rationale for resolving such charges against a faculty member, administrator, or student. 9. To understand the process and development of academic policy. B. Expectations After the completion of the course the student is expected to: 1. Understand the role and function of the office of academic affairs. 2. Understand the process of policy formulation related to the academic program.3 3. Be conversant with the literature of higher education generally and the community college in particular. 4. Understand the relationship of the office of academic affairs to the other components of the institutions. 5. Be able to identify the tasks involved in the administration of academic work. 6. Be aware of the trends in higher education generally and community colleges in particular that directly relate to academic affairs. VI. Organization and Format A. Organization of the Course The organization of the course is in the form of comprehensive survey. Three topics will be explored. Each one is designed to examine a fundamental component of academic affairs. Starting with a definition, where necessary, and emphasizing the nature, structure, function and scope of each component and how it is a complement to, and inter-related with, every other part. Finally, each topic will be placed in a total gestalt wherein academic affairs is viewed as a complete higher education entity. B. Format The course will use three instructional formats, namely: lecture/discussion, workshop, and project method. The size and characteristics of the class may mean that one format is preferable to another. The reason for several methodologies is to provide the student with a modality that may enhance his or her role in learning through participation and to make available to the student opportunities for some practice in the development and application of techniques in understanding some of the topics and concepts explored. VII. Clients to be Served Clients. Several groups of clients will be served in the course. They include: Ph.D. and Ed.D students majoring in higher education who will be seeking positions in higher education institutions; students who are majoring in vocational, technical, and adult education who plan careers in two and four year colleges and will seek teaching and administrative positions in those respective areas; students completing degrees in student personnel; in-service persons who want to develop conceptual information and skill regarding higher education administration; students who will seek positions in state organizations which govern and coordinate two and four year colleges and persons who have responsibility for continuing education.4 VIII. Topics Topic 1: Background and Scope of