The Board of Regents Statewide Plan
for Higher Education

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Regents of The University

ROBERT M. BENNETT, Chancellor, B.A., M.S. Tonawanda

ADELAIDE L.SANFORD, Vice Chancellor, B.A., M.A., P.D. Hollis

SAUL B. COHEN, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. New Rochelle

JAMES C. DAWSON, A.A., B.A., M.S., Ph.D. Peru

ANTHONY S. BOTTAR, B.A., J.D. North Syracuse

MERRYL H. TISCH, B.A., M.A. New York

GERALDINE D. CHAPEY, B.A., M.A., Ed.D. Belle Harbor

ARNOLD B. GARDNER, B.A., LL.B. Buffalo

HARRY PHILLIPS, 3rd, B.A., M.S.F.S. Hartsdale

JOSEPH E. BOWMAN, Jr., B.A., M.L.S., M.A., M.Ed., Ed.D Albany

LORRAINE A. CORTÉS-VÁZQUEZ, B.A., M.P.A. Bronx

JAMES R. TALLON, JR., Jr., B.A., M.A. Binghamton

MILTON L. COFIELD, B.S., M.B.A., Ph.D. Rochester

JOHN BRADEMAS, B.A., Ph.D. New York

CAROL BELLAMY,  A.B., J.D., Brooklyn

ROGER B. TILLES, B.A., J.D. Great Neck

 

President of The University and Commissioner of Education
RICHARD P. MILLS

Chief of Staff
Counsel and Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs
KATHY A. AHEARN

Chief Operating Officer
Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Management Services
THERESA E. SAVO

Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Higher Education
and the Office of the Professions
JOHANNA DUNCAN-POITIER

Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Quality Assurance
JOSEPH P. FREY

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The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, services and activities. Portions of this publication can be made available in a variety of formats, including braille, large print or audio tape, upon request. Inquiries concerning this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department's Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 530, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234. Requests for additional copies of this publication may be made by contacting the Publications Sales Desk, Room 309, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234.

Table of Contents

Letter to Governor Pataki
Letter to Colleagues

1. The Mission and Commitment of the Board of Regents
2. Summary
3. New York State
4. Higher Education in New York State
5. Elements of a Highly Effective Higher Education System
6. Structure of the Statewide Plan
7. Priorities for the Higher Education System
1. Maximizing Success for all Higher Education Students
1. High Educational Quality
2. Articulation
3. Affordability
4. Closing Performance Gaps
5. Students with Disabilities
   
2. Smooth Student Transition from PreK - 12 to Higher Education
6. Preparation for College
7. Information and Assistance in Preparing for College
   
3. Meeting New York's Needs through Graduate Programs and through Research
8. Strong Graduate Programs to Meet the State's Needs
9. Creation of New Knowledge through Research
   
4. Qualified Professionals for Every Community throughout the State
10. An Adequate Supply of Qualified Professionals
11. An Adequate Supply of Qualified Teachers, School Leaders, and other School Professionals
    
5. A Balanced and Flexible Regulatory Environment to Support Excellence
12. Encouraging a Highly Effective System
13. Funding a Highly Effective System
    
8. Conclusion

List of Charts

Chart 1 Need-based Undergraduate Grant Aid per Full-Time Equivalent Enrollment, by State: 2003-04 

Chart 2 College Participation Rate for Dependent Undergraduates from Low Income Families by State, 2002-03 

Chart 3 Primary Annual Expenses for Low Income Students Eligible for Maximum Aid Two-Year Public Institutions, New York State 

Chart 4 Primary Annual Expenses for Low Income Students Eligible for Maximum Aid Two-Year Private Institutions, New York State 

Chart 5 Primary Annual Expenses for Low Income Students Eligible for Maximum Aid Four-Year Public Institutions, New York State 

Chart 6 Primary Annual Expenses for Low Income Students Eligible for Maximum Aid Four-Year Private Institutions, New York State 

Chart 7 Full-Time, First Time Students Returning to the Same Institution the Next Fall, NYS (Data from ACT Annual Survey) 

Chart 8 New York State Six-Year Baccalaureate Graduation Rate: Percent of Full-Time, First-Time Program Entrants Completing Degrees 

Chart 9 New York State Associate Degree Graduation Rate: Percent of Full-Time, First-Time Program Entrants Completing Degrees

Chart 10 NYS 6-Year Baccalaureate Graduation Rates by Race/Ethnicity, All Students 

Chart 11 NYS 6-Year Baccalaureate Graduation Rates by Race/Ethnicity, Opportunity Program Students 

Chart 12 Time to Degree: First-Time, Full-Time Students Earning Baccalaureate Degrees, NYS, in 4, 5, or 6 Years, by Ethnicity 

Chart 13 Enrollment of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education, New York State, Fall 1993 - Fall 2003 

Chart 14  NYS Baccalaureate Program Graduation Rates within 6 Years, 1999-2003, by High School Grade Point Average; NYS Associate Program Graduation Rates within 3 Years, 1999-2003, by High School Grade Point Average 

Chart 15 NYS Baccalaureate Program Graduation Rates within 6 Years, 1999-2003, by SAT/ACT Score 

Chart 16 Racial/Ethnic Distribution of 2002-2003 STEP Students 

Chart 17 Master's and Doctoral Degrees, NYS 

Chart 18 HRSA Projected New York FTE Registered Nurse Supply, Demand and Percent Shortage, 2000-2020 

Chart 19 Fiscal Year Newly Licensed by Profession 

Chart 20 Actual Bundy Aid Appropriations and Bundy Aid Entitlement Adjusted 
to 1990 Dollars 


List of Tables

Table 1 Degrees Awarded in New York State, 2002-03 

Table 2 Full-Time Undergraduates Enrolled at New York Four-Year Institutions that Transferred from New York Two-Year Institutions 

Table 3 School Level at which Members of the Public High School Class of 2001 First Received Information at School about Postsecondary Education 

Table 4 Educational Attainment, 2002 Median Earnings, and 2003 Unemployment Rate, Nationwide 

Table 5 Research and Development Expenditures at Doctorate-Granting Institutions, Selected States, 2002 

Table 6 Difficulty of Recruiting Certified Teachers 

Table 7 Selected States Ranked by 2004-2005 Appropriations for Higher Education Per Capita, with Appropriations per $1,000 Personal Income and Total Appropriations 

Table 8 State and Local Public Higher Education Appropriations Per Full-Time Equivalent Students - 2002 

Table 9 SUNY State-Operated Colleges, Revenues per Full-Time Equivalent Student, 1990-01 and 2003-04 

Table 10 CUNY Senior Colleges, Revenues per Full-Time Equivalent Student, 1990-01 and 2003-04 

Appendix B - List of Tables/Chart

Table B1 Projected Total Enrollment Growth by Sector (Not Full-Time Equivalents), 2003-2013 

Table B2 Statewide Projected Percentage Changes in Enrollment, 2003-2013 

Table B3 Projected Percent Change in Enrollment by Regents Region, 2003-2013

Table B4 Proportion of Growth by Region, 2003-2013 

Chart B1 Enrollment Projection Methods and Definition of Terms, Total Enrolled Students by All Types (Not FTE)



1. THE MISSION AND COMMITMENT OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS

   The mission of the Board of Regents and the Education Department is "To raise the knowledge, skill, and opportunity of all the people in New York." With respect to higher education, the Board of Regents is responsible for planning and coordination, evaluating quality, and promoting equity and access. It also charters (incorporates) independent colleges and universities and authorizes proprietary colleges to operate in New York State. It approves major changes in the missions of public, independent, and proprietary colleges and universities through master plan amendments and authorizes out-of-state colleges seeking to offer instruction in New York State.

   On behalf of the Board of Regents, the Department must register every curriculum creditable toward a degree at any degree-granting institution in the State (public, independent, or proprietary) according to the quality standards in the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education before the institution may offer that program. The Department also reviews existing curricula periodically. These reviews are concerned solely with the quality of curricula, not with need or duplication. More than 26,000 programs of study are registered at New York's 268 colleges and universities. The U.S. Secretary of Education recognizes the Board of Regents as a Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agency for degree-granting institutions in New York State voluntarily choosing the Regents as their accreditor.

   On behalf of the Regents, the Department administers State and federal grants and scholarships that promote equity in higher education, increase collaboration between schools and colleges to improve learning, address past under-representation in higher education and the professions, and contribute to the development of a well-educated populace. It certifies teachers and school leaders for the State's public schools and licenses practitioners of 44 learned professions. It also administers the Higher Education Opportunity Program, which serves students at independent institutions, and coordinates policy for the opportunity programs in all sectors, in order to provide services for economically and educationally disadvantaged students to assist them in succeeding in college. The Department administers the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act.

   The Regents are also responsible for the development of the Statewide Plan for Higher Education every eight years, in coordination with New York's higher education community. For the 2004-2012 Statewide Plan for Higher Education, the Regents adopted the following commitment:

   New York State is a world leader in education. Working together in a highly effective higher education system, the State's colleges and universities -- public, independent and proprietary -- will demonstrate even greater leadership during the first decades of the 21st Century to continue to advance the educational and economic needs of the State and its people.

2. SUMMARY

   New York has a highly effective higher education system of public, independent, and proprietary colleges and universities. To coordinate that system, every eight years, the Board of Regents, in collaboration with the higher education community, develops and adopts the Statewide Plan for Higher Education, setting system goals and objectives. The Plan focuses on major issues affecting the role of higher education in the State and its service to the State's residents, workforce, and community. Regents priorities for higher education serve as the foundation for the Plan, which includes the long-range master plans of the State University of New York (SUNY), The City University of New York (CUNY), and New York's independent and proprietary institutions.
   

   The Statewide Plan for Higher Education, 2004 - 2012 includes:

   • description of key demographic indicators for New York State;
   • an overview of higher education in New York State and the role of the Regents in higher education;
   • statements of the Regents mission and commitment and of elements of a highly effective higher education system;

   Regents Priorities for Higher Education

   The core of the Plan are the statements of the needs, problems, societal conditions, and interests of the people of New York to which programs of higher education may most appropriately be addressed, in the form of the 13 Regents Priorities, grouped in five categories. Each priority includes:

   • a description of the priority issue;
   • initiatives or programs proposed by the institutions and sectors, and by the Regents, to be carried out during 2004-2012 to address the priority issue; and
   • indicators of progress on the priorities. The Department will work with the institutions and sectors to identify the measures to be used in studying statewide progress under each indicator. Reviewing indicators may include examining data collected by the State or federal governments, reviewing Department records and records of other public and private agencies, requesting information from institutions, and tracking the implementation of initiatives, or a national student-level system to track postsecondary student programs and completion across institutions and states if enacted by the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Measuring some of the indicators may depend on, or be eased by, the development of a national system.

   Master Plans (Appendix A)

   The Plan concludes with summaries and reviews of the master plans of The City University of New York (CUNY) and the State University of New York (SUNY) and of the consolidated master plans of the independent and proprietary sectors. As required by law, the reviews of the CUNY and SUNY plans conclude with formal Regents actions on the plans, which are incorporated into this Plan to the extent approved by the Regents (and subsequently by the Governor).

   Enrollment Projections (Appendix B)

   Projections of college and university enrollments, by region and sector, through 2012 are based on actual enrollments from 2001-02. Enrollments are projected to grow from 1.112 million in the fall of 2003 to 1.121 million in the fall of 2012.

3. NEW YORK STATE

   New York State had a population of 19.2 million in 2004, according to the Census Bureau's estimate, about 1.3 percent more than reported in the 2000 Census.  The 2000 Census found nearly 60 percent of the population between the ages of 20 and 64; more than 27 percent were below 20. About 32 percent were Non-White. In 2003, the median household income, statewide, was $43,318. Over the 2001-2003 period, 14 percent of New Yorkers lived below the poverty line. Between 1995 and 2000, about 874,000 New Yorkers moved to other states, but more than 720,000 persons came from other countries; overall the population grew by 5.5 percent.

   New York had a $799.2 billion Gross State Product in 2000. In 2003, there were 9,381,000 jobs in New York State.  That year, the population included more than 670,000 practitioners of 38 licensed professions and more than 220,000 persons certified for employment in the public schools. According to Empire State Development, in 2001, nearly 365,000 New Yorkers worked in high technology industries, the third highest number in the nation. New York had the largest number of workers in photonics manufacturing in the nation that year and the second largest number in consumer electronics and in defense electronics. Overall, however, manufacturing employment in the State declined by 38.8 percent between 1983 and 2002, according to the Buffalo Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The loss was similar to, but somewhat greater than, the loss of manufacturing jobs in the Middle Atlantic region overall. However, New York's loss of "low-skill" manufacturing jobs was nearly three times its loss of "high skill" jobs.

   The State Department of Labor estimates that the five fastest growing occupations in the State between 2000 and 2010 are:

   • Computer Support Specialists
   • Computer Software Engineers, Systems Software
   • Network and Computer System Administrators
   • Computer Software Engineers, Applications
   • Medical Assistants (not Physician Assistants)

   The Labor Department's list of occupations projected to have the largest number of annual openings includes Registered Nurses among the top five.

   The 2000 Census found that a majority of New York's residents 25 years of age and older had some postsecondary education; more than one-third had an associate or higher degree; more than 27 percent had a baccalaureate degree; nearly 12 percent held a post-baccalaureate degree. In 2002-03, 143,818 persons earned high school diplomas in New York State. The State Education Department projects the number to peak at 184,931 in 2008-09 (a 28.6 percent growth over six years), then decline to 179,021 in 2011-12 (3.2 percent below the peak but 24.5 percent above 2002-03).

   4. HIGHER EDUCATION IN NEW YORK STATE

   The University of the State of New York. All colleges and universities in New York -- public, non-profit independent, and for-profit proprietary -- are members of The University of the State of New York, an entity established in the New York State Constitution that embraces all education in New York, public and private, from prekindergarten through postdoctoral. The University was created in 1784. It is governed by the Board of Regents of The University of the State of New York, an unpaid lay board of 16 members elected by the Legislature to five-year terms. 

   The higher education portion of The University consists of 268 public, independent, and proprietary degree-granting institutions, 6.5 percent of the nation's 4,121 colleges and universities. The degree-granting institutions comprise two public university systems: the State University of New York with 64 campuses and The City University of New York with 19 colleges, 144 independent (not-for-profit) colleges and universities, and 41 proprietary (for-profit) colleges. In 2003-04, these institutions expended approximately $30 billion in operating expenditures and sponsored research. They ranged in size in the fall of 2004 from New York University, with more than 39,000 students, to the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Graduate School of Molecular Medicine, where three physicians were learning to become biological scientists - and earning Ph.D. degrees - under the tutelage of North Shore's 19 research scientists. In 2004, the University also had more than 7,000 registered public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools; 400 licensed non-degree business, trade, and technical schools (most of them proprietary, for-profit institutions); nearly 7,000 public libraries; 750 museums; and seven public television stations. 

   New York's 268 colleges and universities operate at 326 main and branch campuses and nearly 1,900 other locations (including many of the State's high schools). In the fall of 2004, they had a total headcount enrollment of 1,128,847 students, including 906,022 undergraduates, 192,450 graduates, and 30,375 first-professional degree students. This Plan projects that 1,155,606 students will enroll in 2013 (on the basis of 2001-02 enrollment), if no changes occur in economic conditions, student aid funding, institutional fiscal resources, admissions policies, cultural, socioeconomic, or other factors. 

   In 2002-03, New York colleges and universities awarded 225,522 degrees:

   Table 1 Degrees Awarded in New York State, 2002-03
   Associate	54,359
   Baccalaureate	102,532
   Master's	56,451
   First Professional	8,582
   Doctoral	3,598
   Total	225,522
   Source: NYSED, Research and Information Systems, 2004

   5. ELEMENTS OF A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

   Consistent with their missions, all higher education institutions in New York State:

   • avidly pursue knowledge related to their missions, through research where appropriate, and share that knowledge with other institutions and individuals wishing to learn;
   • give students the ability, through quality education, to develop ethical, intellectual, and social values; effectively contribute to society and the workplace; and engage in lifelong learning;
   • admit all qualified applicants within the institution's resource capability to offer them a quality education, provide adequate financial assistance to help increase access and affordability for those applicants, and assist them to succeed in their studies;
   • cooperate with other higher education institutions, individually and in consortia and networks, in sharing resources for an efficient and cost-effective system, and to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort by students in their progress toward degrees;
   • collaborate with elementary and secondary schools to assist, where possible, in preparing pupils to enter and succeed in higher education and, if teacher education is their mission, to prepare quality teachers to meet the State's need for certified teachers;
   • collaborate with government and community organizations to identify those pressing and emerging societal needs that can be addressed by higher education, and devise effective ways to address those needs;
   • collaborate with the licensed professions and the people they serve to identify related needs that can be addressed by higher education, through new research initiatives or preparation of professionals with new knowledge and skills, and to devise effective ways to address those needs;
   • collaborate with businesses and other organizations to identify issues that higher education can address through new research initiatives or preparation of a workforce with new knowledge and skills, and to devise effective ways to address those needs individually and in networks, thus advancing development of intellectual capital, the economy, and related needs of New York;
   • provide New Yorkers with opportunities to learn using technological resources, quality distance education and other means; and
   • seek excellence through ongoing self-study and study of the environment in which they operate for the purpose of continual improvement.

   6. STRUCTURE OF THE STATEWIDE PLAN

   The Regents priorities for New York's higher education system for 2004-2012 are directed at making the system even more effective at meeting the needs of New Yorkers. These 13 priorities are organized under five categories, as follows:

   1. Maximizing Success for all Higher Education Students
    
   1. High Educational Quality
   2. Articulation
   3. Affordability
   4. Closing Performance Gaps
   5. Students with Disabilities
      
   2. Smooth Student Transition from PreK-12 to Higher Education
    
   6. Preparation for College
   7. Information and Assistance in Preparing for College
      
   3. Meeting New York's Needs through Graduate Programs and through Research
   8. Strong Graduate Programs to Meet the State's Needs
   9. Creation of New Knowledge through Research
      
   4. Qualified Professionals for Every Community throughout the State
   10. An Adequate Supply of Qualified Professionals
   11. An Adequate Supply of Qualified Teachers, School Leaders, and other School Professionals
       
   5. A Balanced and Flexible Regulatory Environment to Support Excellence
   12. Encouraging a Highly Effective System
   13. Funding a Highly Effective System

   Within each of the five categories, the 13 priorities are discussed separately, in the following order:

   • Statement of the issue: a description of the issue and what   critical factors to be addressed.
   • Sector Initiatives from Master Plans: a description of what each of the sectors advanced to help attain the Regents Priorities for Higher Education.
   • The City University of New York
   • Independent Colleges and Universities
   • Proprietary Colleges
   • State University of New York
   • Regents Initiatives: activities that the Department will undertake to help attain the Regents Priorities.
   • Indicators of Progress: indicators that will help policymakers see the progress being made to attain the Regents Priorities.

For example:

Regents Priority: Preparation for College
Possible Initiatives:
CUNY		College Now
SUNY		GEAR UP
SED		Liberty Partnership
SED		STEP Program
SED		Urban Initiative
SED		Transition Services

Possible Indicators of Progress:

• change over time in New York high school pupils' scores on standardized tests (e.g., ACT; SAT).
• change over time in the number of pupils passing Regents exams with 65 or greater.
• college participation rates for young adults measured as the percent of 18 to 24 year olds enrolled in college (compared to other states and the U.S.).

Each sector's initiatives depend on the mission of institutions, specific emphases within sector master plans, and/or the role of the sector in implementing a particular Priority. 

7. PRIORITIES FOR THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

1. Maximizing Success for all Higher Education Students

Undergraduate education helps assure academic, civic, and cultural success. It is the  door to opportunity for effective participation in and contribution to society and prepares students to succeed in postgraduate study. New York has a highly effective higher education system in which institutions give students the ability to develop ethical, intellectual, and social values; contribute to society; succeed in the workplace; and engage in lifelong learning. Within the context of diverse institutional missions and individual aspirations and talents, New York's higher education community helps all students to attain the knowledge, skills, and ethical grounding to contribute to society and succeed in the workplace in responsible ways. 

All students will attain progressively advanced levels of knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge effectively to problems in the field of study and to new areas of study. Students will learn from experts, printed and electronic documents, collaboration with peers, and their own observations and reasoning. They will learn independently, integrating and synthesizing different aspects of knowledge, extending and creating knowledge, thinking critically, and engaging in reflective self-critical thought. They will listen, speak, and write clearly and effectively. They will develop global consciousness and an adaptability to changing environments and conditions. They will become self-directed, life-long learners capable of self-renewal. 

Institutions of higher education are communities of disciplined learning and reflection in which competent professionals actively and cooperatively engage in creating, providing, and improving educational offerings and services to achieve high quality outcomes. This relates to the element of a highly effective system that calls on institutions to seek excellence through ongoing self-study. 

Accreditation is an important process for ensuring high standards of educational quality. The U.S. Secretary of Education recognizes the Regents as a Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agency for degree-granting institutions in New York State. Twenty colleges and universities have voluntarily applied for and received accreditation by the Regents. Overall, the accreditation process has helped those institutions to focus on elements essential to high quality education and achievement. As a result of reviews conducted since 2001, a number of the accredited institutions took steps to strengthen their academic programs, faculty, student support services, library resources and student learning. The Regents expect that their institutional accreditation standards and procedures will continue to be a significant element in reviewing the quality of education and related services available to students.

Looking into the future, distance learning has the potential to address this priority as well as other Regents priorities. It has the capability to:

• provide access to virtually anyone in this State;
• enable residents to pursue educational opportunities within their family and workforce obligations;
• provide specialized study and training to professionals and communities where experts are not readily available; and
• assist licensed professionals to fulfill mandatory continuing education and competency requirements to better serve the public.

The Department does not regulate the mode of delivery of individual courses offered by colleges and universities. An institution may offer up to one-half of a program of study by distance education methods before triggering the need for approval. Consequently, the Inventory of Registered Programs identifies only 477 of the 26,656 registered programs of study as ones in which half or more of the coursework is offered by distance education methods. 

To give greater flexibility to institutions with significant capability to offer distance education, several years ago the Department developed an Institutional Capability Review approach. In cooperation with experts in distance higher education, Principles and Operational Criteria for Good Practice in Distance Education were developed. Institutions were invited to apply voluntarily for assessment by expert peer reviewers of their capability to plan, deliver, and evaluate distance education programs. Institutions found to meet the criteria for good practice are eligible to use a streamlined procedure for registering existing classroom programs in a distance education format. (Programs with significant clinical elements are not included.) At this time, 20 of New York's 268 colleges and universities have undergone Institutional Capability Reviews successfully. 

The Department convened a review committee from the four higher education sectors to review its policies and procedures in the area of distance education and to make recommendations about them. The committee reviewed the Department's Principles of Good Practice for Distance Higher Education and the criteria and procedures for the review of distance education capability and programs, and their interactive effectiveness. It has identified strengths and weaknesses and improvements to the principles, criteria, and procedures. Over the next several years, the Department will continue to monitor distance learning programs in the State, offer technical assistance when needed and identify best practices that can be shared with all of the State's colleges and universities. 

The following describes planning elements that the four sectors of higher education - The City University of New York, the independent colleges and universities, the proprietary colleges, and the State University of New York - the Board of Regents and the Department will undertake to support the priority of High Educational Quality.

Sector Initiatives in Response to Priority for High Educational Quality

The City University of New York

• Ensure and enhance the quality of undergraduate and graduate programs as well as post-doctoral training and adult and continuing education.  
  • Provide community college students with significant additional full-time faculty, strengthened programs, and enhanced support services.
  • The University's Coordinated Undergraduate Education Initiative will consolidate those university projects that have been developed over the past several years to provide students with opportunities to maximize their success in college.
  • Build a solid infrastructure to support ongoing review and development of sound general education programs to provide a quality general education experience to students.
  • Through a U.S. History Initiative, assure that all undergraduates are offered the opportunity to study American history with the best faculty.
  • The Honors College will continue to strive to provide the best aspects of a small liberal arts college.
  • Each college will undergo an accreditation process for its teacher education programs.
• Continue to build the libraries' collections in print, digital, and other formats to support the teaching and research programs of the University. Create and explore opportunities to collaborate on the purchase of electronic databases. Develop an interlibrary lending capability within CUNY to leverage investment in print collections. Promote information literacy as an institutional-wide issue and develop tools to assess the information literacy capabilities of our students.  
• The performance management process adopted in 2000 has been a key force in the transformation of leadership at CUNY. It ensures that the Trustees' long-term vision for the University forms the scaffolding for annual planning at each of the colleges, and that CUNY and college executives are held accountable for results. Accountability is achieved by measuring colleges' annual progress towards key performance targets - many tied directly to student outcomes - and rewarding performance by presidents and their leadership teams commensurate with those results. Over the next four years, the University will continue to monitor three broad sets of objectives: raising academic quality, improving student success, and enhancing financial and management effectiveness.  
• Adopt a performance-based method to monitor program success.
  • Data from the Pathway to Teaching study and other studies will be used to examine program success.
  • A survey of graduating students to determine their future educational and career plans to prepare students for a competitive market place.
• CUNY will continue towards its goal of assuring that full-time faculty offer 70 percent of courses.  
• CUNY has constructed a database of student information that the colleges can access electronically to track their progress on many of the indicators related to the academic performance of students. Over the next four years, these data structures will be expanded with three goals in mind:
  • Deliver data that guide faculty and administrators at the colleges in their efforts to design and deliver improved services for students;
  • Organize information to support the assessment of learning and administrative services at the colleges; and
  • Organize information to allow the central administration and the colleges to more fully measure progress toward the University's objectives and to guide policy. 
• Improve the quality of support services (e.g., career services, health services, and day care centers) and recreational activities to students.  

• The CUNY Proficiency Examination

  The CUNY Proficiency Examination (CPE) is designed to assure that CUNY students have developed, by the time they are ready to leave lower-division study, the academic writing, reading, and critical thinking skills consistent with the receipt of an associate degree and to begin upper-division study. Since the first administration of the exam in the fall of 2001, 78,571 students had taken it by the end of the spring 2004 term. Of that number, 88.7 percent passed the exam, including 77.6 percent on their first attempt, an additional 9.3 percent on their second attempt, and a further 1.7 percent after three or more attempts. CUNY states that institution of the CPE has resulted in active discussions on and across colleges on general education and Writing Across the Curriculum and is proving to be an overall incentive to curricular reform at the colleges.

Independent Colleges and Universities

• The independent sector will continue to direct the educational process to focus on a learning environment by building on the inherent strengths of an individual college or university and recognizing its unique mission. These strengths are evident in numerous ways: One hundred thirty-two independent college and university faculty members and alumni have won Nobel prizes; New York State is a leading destination for first-time freshmen; 14 independent colleges and universities are recognized among the U.S. News and World Report Best National Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges, more than any other state; and independent colleges and universities attract more than $1 billion in National Institutes of Health funding each year.  
• The average faculty-to-student ratio in the independent sector is 1:12.  
• The independent sector will continue to integrate appropriate technology into the curriculum to improve student learning.  
• The independent sector will continue to use a variety of assessment strategies involving college leaders and faculty to inform and help guide continuous improvement of student learning.  
• Assessment as implemented at independent colleges and universities is a dynamic process. It includes a variety of assessment strategies, including tracking the progress of cohorts of students, collecting examples of student performance, and using the same instrument semester after semester.  
• As implemented at independent colleges and universities, the point of assessment is not to gather data and return "results"; it is a process that starts with the questions of decision makers and involves college leaders and faculty in gathering and interpreting data. It informs and helps guide continuous improvement.  
• Independent colleges define their constituencies as both the students they serve and the people of New York as a whole. Individual colleges' assessment practices involve students and residents of the State to gain feedback on how well the college is meeting the public perception of its mission and sharing its knowledge and expertise.  
• At independent universities and colleges, faculty play a central role in gathering and interpreting data.

Proprietary Colleges

• The tools nearly universally used within the sector for pursuing ever-increasing institutional quality include ongoing and frequent review of academic programs, ongoing evaluation of institutional effectiveness, ongoing planning, keeping abreast of changing knowledge and technology through the use of outside advisory groups as well as faculty and management personnel, and constant attention to faculty quality through such devices as faculty teaching portfolios, professional development activities, and tuition reimbursement plans.  
• Student-related initiatives reported by proprietary colleges include:
  • arranging internships
  • offering a wide range of student services
  • creating on-line offerings
  • aggressive student advisement

State University of New York

• Since 1998, Mission Review (SUNY's ongoing academic strategic planning process) has included all SUNY institutions, both individually and as part of geographic regions and campus type groups. With its second cycle launched in February 2004, Mission Review attempts to:  
  • ensure the highest level of academic quality across SUNY;
  • focus on the fundamental aspects of campus missions;
  • encourage campuses to think strategically about their roles within SUNY, New York State, and the nation;
  • enhance campus distinctiveness and differentiation;
  • enhance the reputation of each campus relative to regional and national peers;
  • increase opportunities for and support of inter-campus cooperation; and
  • identify goals and benchmarks to monitor success.  
• During Mission Review II (2005-2010), campuses will be encouraged to focus on their strengths and sharpen and build on institutional differentiation in setting academic program direction, including development of new programs, revision of existing programs, and elimination of outdated programs. At the same time, the SUNY program review policies and procedures, focusing on mission, market, and quality, will continue to provide ways to monitor and prevent unwarranted duplication of programs and to maintain each campus' distinctive academic mission. Changes to the SUNY graduate program proposal review process, including new guidelines, are planned for introduction in 2004-05.  
• As part of Mission Review II, each campus will develop an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SUNY System Administration. The MOUs will identify how each campus will implement many of the elements described in the SUNY master plan and, where appropriate, identify performance targets.  
• Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes Mission Review has emphasized the importance of comprehensive assessment in enhancing academic quality. In Mission Review II, campuses will describe how they use the results of campus-based assessment (of the major and general education) to improve program quality, teaching effectiveness, and student learning, and share their plans going forward.  
• SUNY plans to continue to increase the number of programs that are nationally recognized and, where appropriate, ensure that programs are nationally accredited.  
• While campuses update curricula to meet changing demographics, Mission Review II will include focused discussion of campus academic plans and priorities for addressing the State's aging population, consistent with SUNY's participation in Project 2015 (a Gubernatorial initiative to meet the needs of an aging New York). In particular, SUNY will explore plans for relevant new and/or expanded programs and to use technology-mediated learning, including online learning.  
• Academic Technology Academic Technology. The SUNY Learning Network (SLN) has experienced dramatic growth, with SLN course enrollments increasing from 119 in 1995-96 to roughly 70,000 in 2003-04. Since its inception, more than 2,000 SUNY professors have developed and taught online courses through SLN. SUNY will continue to strengthen technology-based learning environments, including online course delivery, through the SUNY Learning Network, as well as ensure that faculty have access to a full range of tools to continue to integrate technology in teaching and learning; particularly through its newly enhanced platform, CourseSpace. SUNY will also work to promote the potential that online learning holds for inter-campus academic collaboration in developing degrees and programs, in teaching, and in research, which it is just beginning to explore. SUNY seeks to identify where System Administration's role can most add value and quality and support campus efforts without unnecessarily duplicating infrastructure. A shared commitment to academic technology is a key component of each institution's Memorandum of Understanding. Mission Review II will explore future plans and goals to be described in those MOUs. 
• Libraries By 2005, all campuses will be operating a common electronic library management system as part of the University's SUNYConnect initiative. This effort gives every student and faculty member on every campus full access to SUNY's entire holdings (over 18 million volumes). In Mission Review II, SUNY will explore opportunities to enhance library resources further and to generate additional long-term cost savings through such mechanisms as unified subscriptions to electronic databases and regional storage facilities. SUNY has also been instrumental in the establishment of the New York State Higher Education Initiative (NYSHEI), a membership organization of New York academic institutions and their libraries. Among its primary goals is to leverage members' considerable individual investments in academic libraries for the benefit of all through collaborative action and resource development, cooperative acquisition of materials, shared programs, and coordinated services. Full NYSHEI membership currently exceeds 125, including all SUNY and CUNY libraries and the New York State Library.  
• Plans for Ensuring Technology Infrastructure Supports Academic Quality During Mission Review II, SUNY will give added attention to plans to ensure robust technology infrastructure and explore opportunities to expand collaborative activity.
• Plans for Ensuring that Facilities Support Academic Quality Mission Review II will emphasize both short- and long-term plans to ensure that SUNY's facilities support academic quality and enhance prospects for favorable student experiences. SUNY will seek consistency between academic plans and priorities and facilities planning. In addition to academic, clinical, and residential facilities, plans will be discussed to develop and equip research facilities essential to attracting federal funding; as these areas are explored, implications will emerge for SUNY policy and procedures that put the University in the strongest position possible to attract competitive funding.  
• Plans for Administrative Structure and Resource Support to Ensure Academic Quality Mission Review II will seek to ensure that timely and accurate institutional data are available to support decision-making at both the campus and system level.  
• New Programs of Study. The plan identifies 311 programs of study tentatively planned for introduction, 2004 - 2008, by 50 State-operated campuses and community colleges.

Regents Initiatives in Response to Priority for High Educational Quality

Institutional Accreditation
During the period of the Plan, the Regents will continue to use institutional accreditation, for colleges and universities voluntarily seeking accreditation, to assess and strengthen their education and services. We will also be working with our partners to pursue the resources necessary to carry out this important responsibility. In doing so:

• By 2005, the Department will complete a multi-year program, required by the U.S. Department of Education, to assess, in cooperation with the institutions accredited by the Board of Regents, other New York colleges and universities, and other interested parties, the adequacy of the Regents institutional accreditation standards to evaluate the quality of the education provided by accredited institutions. At that time, the Regents will determine whether to make any revisions to those standards. The Department will then begin a second multi-year assessment of the adequacy of the institutional accreditation standards.  
• In 2006-07, the Department will submit to the U.S. Department of Education an application for renewal of the Secretary of Education's recognition of the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education as a Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agency.  
• By 2012, the Department will have made accreditation visits by teams of peer reviewers to all institutions accredited by the Regents as of 2003 as well as visits to five additional applicants.  We will also be working with our partners to pursue the resources necessary to carry out this important responsibility. In doing so:

New Century Libraries 
NOVEL, New York's Online Virtual Electronic Library, gives New Yorkers statewide access to information online, including thousands of full text journals. NOVEL is freely available to all New York libraries, including academic and research libraries. It gives all of New York's students and faculty, from the smallest college to the largest university, access to scholarly publications. Faculty and students enjoy access to this reservoir of information free of charge via their campus library. NOVEL is supported temporarily by federal grant money, but the New Century Libraries legislative initiative would provide $14 million annually to continue and expand it. 

Core Academic Collections for Higher Education (CACHE).  
New York's students and faculty need access to a basic core collection of Information Age research materials. New Century Libraries would invest $15.1 million annually to increase access to the State's academic, special and research libraries. This core collection of research materials will be accessible to students in colleges and universities across the state through NOVEL. CACHE will provide expanded opportunities for grants and matching funds for programs like the New York State Higher Education Initiative, Reference and Research Library Resources Systems, and others that support collaborative purchasing of collections and cooperative resource-sharing among the State's college and university libraries, and that promote the use of emerging technologies at reduced costs. It will enable college and university libraries statewide to improve, update, and strengthen existing collections and technology. 

Digital Television provides an opportunity to enhance learning services, increase accessibility to underserved audiences and persons with disabilities, and provide professional development through New York's public broadcasting stations. The stations are developing a statewide educational channel called the Empire Channel. One promising initiative, made possible by a $2.5 million grant from the Oishei Foundation, is the WNED Lifelong Learning Partnership to develop a digital learning channel and online learning services. Once WNED transitions to digital television, it will be able to "multi-cast" and give local residents up to four public television programs at the same time. It will dedicate a channel to expand lifelong learning offerings, emphasizing the needs of teachers, families, children, and working adults. Partners include Buffalo-area higher education institutions, local school districts and BOCES, the public libraries and other cultural institutions, and other community or public agencies.

Good Practices in Distance Education  
The Department has gathered examples of good practice in distance education from colleges and universities that have undergone Institutional Capability Reviews. The examples fall into the areas of:

• organizational commitment;
• learning design;
• learner support;
• outcomes and assessment; and
• program evaluation.

The examples can be found on the Department's Web site at http://web1.nysed.gov/ocue/distance/examples.html. The Regents will continue to urge institutions to review these examples for possible use in their own distance education initiatives.

Full-Time Faculty  
One of the quality standards in §52.2 of the Commissioner's Regulations is "To foster and maintain continuity and stability in academic programs and policies, there shall be in the institution a sufficient number of faculty members who serve full-time at the institution." The Regents recognize that determinations of a "sufficient number" must be made institution-by-institution and take into account the institution's mission as well as the number and mix of programs it offers and the nature and size of its student body. Nevertheless, the Regents are concerned that the proportion of faculty, statewide, who are full-time has dropped from 52.1 percent in 1995-96 to 44.2 percent in 2003. The CUNY Master Plan's goal is that 70 percent of courses be taught by full-time faculty. At the hearings on the Tentative Statewide Plan, several speakers endorsed that goal as well as a goal of having 70 percent of SUNY's faculty be full-time. 

The Regents endorse an increase in the number of full-time faculty, statewide, and support CUNY's effort to have 70 percent of all coursework taught by full-time faculty.

Other Initiatives to Assure High Educational Quality. The Regents endorse additional efforts that enhance undergraduate education and encourage institutions to consider their adoption, including:

• Information literacy efforts to assure that students understand how to conduct research and to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.

• Writing Across the Curriculum and similar programs to enhance students' academic literacy and skill at writing college-level prose.

Institutional Support for Student Retention and Degree Completion  
See Regents Priority A.4.

Promoting the Infusion of Technology into Teacher Preparation Programs  
See Regents Priority D(11).

Academic Review  
The Regents encourage all institutions of higher education to periodically conduct academic program reviews to remove outdated programs with a focus on institutional mission, market and quality. The SUNY Mission Review II is a model academic review process.

Indicators of Progress: High Educational Quality

• Institutional self-assessment of progress and achievement on its master plan.
• Change over time in the persistence of first-time students to the next fall.
• Graduation rates for all matriculated entering students (not just first-time, full-time students).
• Pass rates on required examinations for professional licensure or teacher certification.
• For occupational programs at institutions receiving federal Perkins Act funding and other institutions agreeing to provide that information, change in the rate of placement of graduates in jobs in, or closely related to, the field of study, or in further education, within six months of graduation.
• Findings in final reports of Regents institutional accreditation and similar Department visits to colleges and universities (including Institutional Capability Reviews).
• Findings of polls and surveys commissioned by other organizations of employers, students, other groups, and the general public regarding the knowledge and skills needed by, and their satisfaction with, college graduates at different degree levels.
• Ongoing review of CUNY's College Proficiency Examination (CPE) results and SUNY's sector-based General Education Assessment Review (GEAR) results.