Disability Resource Center -- A Historical Perspective

The California State University (CSU) Student Service Program began in the early 1970s as a grass roots effort to assist students with disabilities receive support services in college courses. In April of 1977, after four years of debate in Congress and protests in the streets by people with disabilities from coast to coast, the United States Government signed into law the first civil rights bill for people with disabilities: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In 1972, five years before the Rehabilitation Act was signed into law, the California State University System established two pilot programs to serve students with disabilities. San José State University (SJSU) was chosen to be one of the two programs. The history of the DRC is described in a linked report.

The Disability Resource Center (DRC) fosters and promotes access and inclusion across the campus, while acting as a resource to the University, and community at large. The DRC promotes an atmosphere of equal opportunities and reasonable accommodations emphasizing support for students’ individual needs and academic potential while preserving academic integrity. DRC services and accommodations are provided to regularly enrolled matriculated students as well as to international and extend education students. Services and accommodations provided are those that allow students to participate in the full range of campus programs and activities. The following list represents the most commonly requested accommodations and services:

o Academic advising
o ADA compliance and campus accessibility
o Adaptive Technology Center (open lab)
o Adaptive technology training (hardware and software)
o Advocacy
o ALD loans (assistive listening device)
o Committee member: Exceptional Admission Committee
o Comprehensive curriculum support: test accommodations, notetakers, class/lab assistants, alternative media (Braille, e-text, large print, audio)
o Disability management
o Disabled parking permits
o Drop-in advising/counseling
o Faculty and staff consultation to assist with access and recommend accommodations
o Learning disability assessment
o Priority registration
o Real-Time Educational Captioners
o Resources: faculty training, legal consultation as it relates to disability issues(faculty and students), TTY training, resources to the greater community, guest speakers, etc.
o Sign language interpreters

The Disability Resource Center strives to keep current and adhere to our mission statement and goals.

Seven integral comprehensive programs within the DRC support the mission and goals of the Disability Resource Center as well as the learning outcomes for students registered with the DRC. These programs are described below with embedded links to additional information.

1. Learning Disabilities (LD)

The Disability Resource Center strives to provide an array of academically related services for students with learning disabilities. Accommodations for curriculum requirements are determined on a case-by-case basis and provided specifically for coursework in which the learning disability impacts curriculum requirements. More information on student procedures, required documentation, and test procedures are described in the learning disability extended report.

2. Adaptive Technology Center (ATC)

The ATC is currently housed within the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, a joint public/university library. Students referred by DRC counselors receive individual adaptive technology training based on their specific disability needs. Employees registered with the Disabled Employees Program, also receive training in the ATC specific to their disability functional limitations.

Presently, the ATC serves approximately 900 students and 60 employees. Sixty workstations are available in an open lab (post report – ATClab.doc) for student use in a facility ten times larger than the original ATC (approximately 2,800 square feet). The ATC is equipped with state of the art adaptive technology that is regularly refreshed along with Internet access. In recognition to a grant received from IBM that resourced the ATC with 10 IBM computers, modems and Lotus Notes, last October 2004, the training lab was renamed to the ATC IBM Training Lab.

The continued success of the ATC can be attributed to many factors; however it is largely due to the longevity of the professional staff working since the establishment of the grant and their unwavering commitment to progressively educate themselves and receive training on the rapidly changing software applications and hardware improvements. But staffing and budget constraints continue to be on going challenges for the ATC.

3. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program (D&HoH)

In the early 1990s, the average number of registered Deaf and HoH students was 25-35. In the mid to late 1990s, due to the economic boom in Silicon Valley, there was an upward trend of Deaf and HoH students attending SJSU thus increasing the average number of students to 40-60. In 2000 to present date, the number of Deaf and HoH students has declined somewhat, but remained steady, averaging between 25-35 students with approximately four to seven graduating each year during this timeframe. This decline in numbers was not unique to SJSU but throughout the South Bay colleges and universities. There are no specific reasons for the decline of the numbers; however, speculation leads to the high cost of living and housing resulting in the relocation of Deaf & HoH individuals to more affordable areas.

Students receive the service of sign language interpreters or Educational Real Time Captioners in all majors, including Masters Programs. Current majors utilizing sign language interpreters and/or Educational Real Time Captioners include: Deaf Credential Program, Nursing, Social Work, Engineering, Business, Art, Child Development, and Library Science. Other services offered through D&HoH include Assistive Listening Devices and notetaking services.

Technological advances that assist with day-to-day activities may create barriers that had not yet been perceived or addressed; online classes are a prime example of this. With the increasing trend of classes being offered online, new issues for Deaf & HoH students arise. Most online classes have streaming videos which includes audio clips; without captions, students who are Deaf or HoH will not be able to receive information. The same problem occurs with videos being shown in class that are not captioned. Although current videos are mandated to be captioned, many instructors use personal or older videos that are not captioned. Even when new educational videos are ordered, departments may overlook the need to order captioned versions of videos.

The professional staff of the D&HoH Program must continue to be educated regarding technological advances as they relate to matters pertaining to deaf and hard of hearing individuals, and to act as a resource for the academic community. The D&HoH Program must collaborate with campus programs designing and implementing online classes to educate them on the needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The D&HoH Program must educate departments the importance of captioned videos and available resources.

4. Alternative Media Center (AMC)

In 1999, one year prior to the signing of Assembly Bill 422, the DRC had already created the Alternative Media Center (AMC) to provide alternative media for students, staff and faculty with verified disabilities as mandated by this state law.

Because the AMC is regarded as a paradigm alternative media program, the AMC staff was asked to participate in the development of e-text policies, production guidelines and the establishment of an e-text database for the California State University system. This work resulted in the establishment of the CSU Center for Alternative Media (CAM) in July 2004. The AMC is also highly recognized and respected in the community and is regularly contacted by companies/organizations to participate in their research/projects pertaining to alternative media such as: beta testing software for Dolphin Systems Inc., and BookShare.org, an online alt media site.

The services of the AMC are critical to student learning and to student success since AMC provides access to print material for the curriculum. Albeit the numerous challenges faced by the AMC, the AMC must continue to produce alternate format and train the end user in accessing and reading alternate media. Without the services of the AMC, the population of student users would not have independent access to curriculum required print material, this includes syllabi, and class handouts, for research, study and general classroom use. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) requires educational institutions to provide independent access to print material as a primary accommodation if obtainable. For the majority of print material, it is obtainable.

5. Retention Services Unit (RSU)

The RSU provides a full range of services and accommodations designed to allow access to the curriculum for a diverse population of students with disabilities. Students requesting assistance must be registered with the DRC and present current documentation of their disability from an appropriate diagnosing professional; i.e.: a psychiatrist must diagnosis a psychiatric disorder following DSM IV criteria.

The Retention Services Unit is continually changing to keep up with the changes of the University and the students. Accommodation requests continue to be more complex, requiring increased resources and training for staff to address the progressive demands. In spite of the above, the DRC endeavors to provide high quality accommodations and services so that students with disabilities have every opportunity to participate in the curriculum and demonstrate their knowledge. Accommodations, services, adaptive devices, and equipment loans are essential for student success and learning outcomes. Without the aforementioned, students with disabilities could not accurately demonstrate their knowledge and abilities, which is critical since students with disabilities are graded utilizing the same criteria as students without disabilities.

6 . Retention Services Program

The increasing number of students with disabilities entering post secondary institutions coupled with research citing specific barriers and hurdles for students with disabilities prompted the creation of the Retention Services Program. The new and still evolving program is designed to increase student retention by:

o Creating linkages with faculty working with students with disabilities through promotion of creative teaching and learning tools, adaptive and assistive technology, and universal design techniques;
o Collaborating with campus departments to sponsor programs which create a campus climate that incorporates disabilities into a broader conception of student differences
o Fostering leadership skills among students with disabilities interested in being a part of the Disabled Students Association (DSA). Organizations featuring a student support network foster student development, disability management, and success.

The Retention Services Program employs a three-prong strategy for bolstering student retention.

o Faculty Linkages.
o Campus Program Linkages. (post report – RSPcl.doc)
o Student Linkage--DSA leadership development

In as much the Retention Services Program is a relatively new DRC program, the DRC believes the surveys and focus groups will determine the future direction of the program as the DRC, and its undertakings, increase collaboration with campus partners.

7. Academic Advising Program

The Academic Advising Coordinator in the DRC is the primary person who meets with prospective and continuing SJSU students who have submitted appropriate documentation to register with the department. The primary purpose of the academic component is to assist students with disabilities as they mainstream into the University from either high school or transfer from a community college or other university.

Along with providing disability management to students with disabilities, the DRC promotes employment opportunities for students with disabilities through the Workability IV Program. The Workability IV Program is a cooperative effort between the California Department of Rehabilitation, San José State University, and the business community benefiting students with disabilities at San José State University. Workability IV services are coordinated with SJSU’s Career Center, the Disability Resource Center, Counseling Services, Health Services and other resources on campus. The ultimate goal of the program is for students to attain meaningful employment, develop skills in disability management and career self-sufficiency after graduation.

The DRC is committed to providing every opportunity for students with disabilities to experience and partake in curriculum requirements and programs to the full extent. To this end, the DRC strives to improve, develop and re-invent existing programs and services. The DRC has assessment strategies in place to measure, analyze, critic and evaluate accommodations and services.

Modifications, updates, new program, services and accommodations are determined and based on legal requirements, specific disability requirements, Chancellor and University mandates, and DRC self-evaluation based on performance data. Progress is obviously exciting as well as expensive and challenging. As the DRC acts to continually face these changing times the DRC anticipates the need to reinvent itself over and over again partnering with other campus programs, the faculty and the corporate world. All entities within the campus, including campus faculties and organizational structures, are essential to the operations and services provided by the DRC. The DRC works with, and provides consultation to the campus at large as it relates to University compliance with state and federal laws, University policies and Chancellor’s Office policies governing the University as they relate to disability issues. The DRC continues to seek ways to serve as a resource for the campus and surrounding community. Ensuring access and equal opportunity for students and employees will continue to be the charge of the Disability Resource Center.

Professional and Scholarly Activities

MIS-HP Project
Ad Campaigns Project
Adobe Illustrator Project

HP Mobility Project

Projection Description (Video)

The San Jose State University HP Mobility Project brings together interdisciplinary E-teams of students primarily from the Colleges of Business (Management Information Systems-MIS) and Engineering (Computer Engineering-CmpE) that team up and collaborate with students from the Colleges of the Social and Applied Sciences, and other relevant SJSU departments, to develop prototypes of mobility applications for community-based organizations (CBO). The Project creates a learning environment for students using mobile technologies such as Tablet PCs, PDA's, and Laptops and infuses these technologies into the community-based organizations. This is achieved on two levels. First, faculty and students are loaned devices over the course of a semester to increase their familiarity with the capabilities and potential of the devices. Second, student teams work with a variety of community organizations to develop prototypes of mobile computing applications.

The teams’ major tasks are to ensure these applications meet organizational needs. The teams work closely with the CBO's to identify socially and economically viable innovations by building prototypes of mobile computing applications. The student teams also develop business cases as part of the solutions they build. This generally takes the form of a first draft business plan or grant proposal. Teams have several opportunities to showcase their work and are encouraged to enter their products in SJSU entrepreneurship competitions and outside competitions such as Microsoft’s Imagine Cup and UT Austin’s I2P competition.

Objectives/Goals: This Project provides students with opportunities for accomplishing multiple goals including mobile software development, client-focused development, cross-functional project management, teamwork, enhancement of classroom knowledge through hands-on application of state-of-the-art technology and civic engagement, while making a positive impact on the operations and capacity of local CBO’s. It also aims to break down boundaries across academic disciplines, the University and the community to demonstrate how technology can benefit the social and economic life of our surrounding community. More specifically, the Mobility Project courses employ a combination of E-teams and service-learning pedagogies. There is evidence to suggest that these pedagogies, with their emphasis on practical and relevant application of course concepts, are effective for the students that attend San Jose State. Students from each department take on roles that are aligned with their course goals. That is, MIS students serve primarily as project managers, CmpE students serve as developers, and students from other departments serve as context experts who help the MIS and CmpE students build systems that are relevant to end users. As a result, students apply the learning obtained in the classroom to real world experiences and are able to experience first-hand the relevancy of their coursework.

In line with service-learning pedagogy, the Mobility Project courses also address both academic learning and civic engagement goals. On the one hand, students’ service with the CBO partners teaches them about course goals such as user-centric involvement, cross-functional project management, rapid prototyping, social entrepreneurship, and community health. On the other hand, the same service provides students with a closer look into a specific community issue – e.g. community health – and the solutions available to address it. It is important to note that community partners also benefit greatly from the service of the technology-savvy students, as their skills are quite scarce yet sorely needed by CBO's.

Focusing on high-level technology solutions, this Project exposes SJSU students to the development of early generations of emerging solutions. For example, in fall 2004, one student team developed a Tablet PC application for collecting information to document community resources that impact health. In spring 2005, this information will be ported to a Geographic Information System to assist Urban Planning students with their work in designing community living spaces that encourage healthy practices.

The Mobility Project courses use prototypes as way of encapsulating problem solutions and as a basis for communication among the diverse team members and client partners who come together to address a given community issue. Prototypes are a concrete realization of a proposed solution to the issue and serve as catalysts for problem solving activities to improve solutions. The prototyping process is accelerated by using advanced developer tools such as Visual Studio.Net and Web Matrix. After learning about the issue and developing requirements, student teams very quickly develop a prototype of an initial solution. The prototype is then shown to context experts – e.g. students from relevant disciplines, community partners – to spark discussion about improvements to the solution. Student teams build several versions of the prototype to refine it. Incentives have been built into the courses to encourage teams to complete first prototypes by mid-semester, thereby allowing time for testing and improvement of the prototype. As a result, students gain full cycle experience from start to finish and are in positions to experience end products, something not usually possible in the typical classroom environment.

The prototypes and experience with working in the community build an engaging activity from which students build in-depth knowledge of a given community issue and its solutions. Based on this knowledge, students are asked to develop an idea for a marketable solution. To spark creativity, students are given tools for conducting research into specific issues and markets and exposed to the business models involved in social entrepreneurship. The students are then asked to use these models as templates for designing businesses around their solutions. MIS students take the lead in developing a business plan or grant proposal to attract resources to fund next steps.

History

The Mobility Project was initially funded in spring 2003 with $220,000 from Hewlett Packard and a matching $50,000 grant from the SJSU Provost's Office. In the spring of 2004, Hewlett Packard provided an extension grant of $120,000. The Program also benefited from a partnership with the SJSU Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) initiative, a program seeded by a grant from the founding EPICS Program at Purdue University.

In 2003-04, it's first year of operation, the Mobility Team guided by the leadership of Dr. Malu Roldan of the MIS Department, had representation from a cross-section of campus entities including Academic Technology and faculty members from Aviation and Technology, Computer Engineering, Finance, and Management Information Systems. The Center for Service Learning joined the initial team in its second year, solidifying the Project's new-found emphasis on Community Based Organizations (CBO's).

First initiated in fall 2003, the design of the collaborative classes evolved over four semesters, building student success by extending the boundaries of the learning environment and providing them with experiences to engage in problem-based learning experiences that coupled themselves with specific learning outcomes. In fall 2003 during its first year of operation, the Grant supported courses in MIS, Computer Engineering and Finance. The cross-disciplinary teams focused on mobile technology applications for ten local for-profit entrepreneurial ventures including such organizations as Hotel Valencia in San Jose’s Santana Row, McGraw-Hill Book Company, and Camera Cinemas. During spring 2004, in an effort to streamline course coordination, the set of closely-linked classes was reduced to include only MIS and Computer Engineering. Finance students were brought in as consultants to teams requesting assistance in building their business plans. This was accomplished through Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship (SVCE) events or courses involving business plan development.

In the second year of the grant, emphasis shifted from working with for-profit ventures to social entrepreneurship projects. This shift was based on research conducted in collaboration with the MIS Department, Child Development and Center for Service Learning which found that service learning is a viable pedagogy for both civic and academic engagement in technical disciplines such as MIS.

Throughout the summer of 2004, Americorps and EPICS representatives assisted the Mobility team in working with CBO partners to generate requirements and prototypes for development efforts in fall 2004. In fall 2004, the Mobility team worked on nine projects for three CBO partners: The Health Trust (THT), InnVision, and the College of Education. The THT Projects included Americorps members who served as context experts, helping the MIS/CmpE teams understand the context for each project and facilitating communication between the team and THT. One student team also paired with a Community Health Class (Heath Science Department) which provided feedback on the students' prototype and used an improved version to map health resources in the Five Wounds/Brookwood Terrace community of San Jose. Other teams built prototype applications to support an Open Air Health Fair, expansion of Meals on Wheels services, case workers in homeless shelters and observation of student teachers by field supervisors.

In spring 2005, student teams will work with second versions of these projects as well as new projects to test mobile device implementations of client services tracking and job literacy lessons at InnVision, services scheduling and tracking for Spartan Catering, and a GIS-based community mapping application for the SJSU Urban Planning Department. Three of the Projects for THT will involve porting of Tablet PC applications onto the Pocket PC's that the organization purchased based on the potential gains observed from the prototypes developed by the student teams in Fall 2004.

Timeline of Project Evolution based on Outcomes

It has been a challenge to successfully implement the HP Mobility Project courses. Although we had early successes with our implementation, we have continually refined the design of our courses and partnerships based on outcomes and observations. The project team has had to work through the complexity of running a multi-disciplinary course that involves many constituents (faculty, staff, students, community partners, funders) and rapidly evolving, early generation technologies. We’ve summarized in the following table a timeline of the project’s evolution over the four semesters of the project, so far. The design changes were prompted by many factors, including: students’ informal comments to professors, end of semester course evaluations, quality of students’ work, an external review, and measurements of learning outcomes.

Outcomes

Outcomes of this Project are many including: increases students’ abilities to work effectively across teams in a problem-solving modality, an important factor in today’s employment world; improves students’ motivation and integration of their classroom learning into the marketplace; exposes students to the latest technology and its utilization within organizations as well as increasing their awareness of civic challenges; expands students’ learning outside their major concentrations of study; instills civic responsibility and awareness in students; leverages opportunities to engage CBO's in the creation of practical, relevant mobile applications that expand and support the distributed, team-based work done at the organizations; builds strong relationships with community partners which support other initiatives including future internships, employment opportunities, advancement efforts etc; and enhances students’ successes both personally and professionally.

More specifically, significant outcomes of the Project’s learning objectives include both academic and civic engagement. Measurements evaluate the students’ ability to work in cross-disciplinary teams and academic learning in terms of student performance gains on course-specific requirements. Traditional grading and survey methods as well as client and community assessments of the products of the student teams’ collaboration are included. Civic engagement using UC Berkeley’s Higher Education Service Learning Surveys (Diaz-Gallegos, 1999) is used as well as assessments evaluating students’ cross-disciplinary team work skills incorporating a 360-degree peer review system, MATES (Turner, 2003).

Comparisons of pre- and post-test surveys of self-efficacy demonstrate that Mobility Project students reported gains in their confidence with skills specific to each course (Roldan, 2004; Roldan et al., in press). In addition, a report developed by an outside evaluator based on interviews with students and clients showed that, despite the challenges of the class, students felt that they learned valuable and relevant skills (Kelley, 2004). In fall 2004, anecdotal evidence suggested that students enjoyed the class immensely and displayed heightened levels of engagement. As a result, many of them adjusted their work schedules to accommodate class activities, and several expressed interest in re-taking the course.

An external evaluation of the project conducted for Hewlett Packard in Spring 2004 found that students identified teamwork skills, particularly in cross-functional situations, as the most important lesson learned.

The external evaluator found that community clients appreciated working with the students and the opportunity to learn more about emerging technologies and their applications. Working with the Mobility project enhanced community members’ perception of working with the University. Many expressed an interest in working on similar projects in the future.

Evaluation of team skills using the Member and Team Evaluation – MATES (Turner, 2003) survey yielded significant differences (Table 1) among students’ overall ratings of their team performance over the three semesters of the projects (Fall 2003 to Fall 2004). Additionally, a comparison of student responses to questions from Diaz-Gallegos et al.’s (1999) Higher Education Service-Learning Surveys (Table 2), suggests that the fall ’04 students were more action-oriented (“I think that people should find time to contribute to their community”) in their civic engagement than the fall ’03 students (“It is important that I work toward equal opportunity (e.g., social, political, vocational) for all people”). In spring ’05, pre- and post- test measures of civic engagement have been incorporated to allow for comparisons of gains across the semester rather than a comparison of a one-time assessment at the end of the semester.

Table 1. Results of One-Way ANOVA Analysis of Students’ Self-Ratings of Team Performance

Questions (9 point scale, 1=almost never, 9=almost always)

Table 2. Results of One-Way ANOVA Analysis of Students’ Self Ratings of Civic Engagement

Question (4 point scale, 1=strongly disagree, 4=strongly agree)

ne additional outcome is also apparent. The Project’s strong goal alignment and its proven ability to deliver on its commitments have strengthened the partnerships established with Hewlett Packard and CBO partners thus boosting the sustainability of projects and resources across many semesters. For example, THT is currently in the process of purchasing handheld computers and web hosting services to be used for the deployment of applications built by Mobility Project students and teams. As Elizabeth Sills, THT Director of Community Partnerships states:

Online Resources

References

Diaz-Gallegos, D., Furco, A. & Yamada, H. (1999). The Higher Education Service-Learning Surveys. Retrieved April 4, 2004.

Kelley, L.A,, (2004) “External Evaluation Report: Problem Based Learning Through Mobile Technology.” Submitted to Hewlett Packard Philanthropy.Roldan, M., Osland, A., Solt, M., Dean, B.V., Cannice, M. (in press) “E-teams and Business Plan Competitions as Vehicles for Learning About Entrepreneurship.” Research in Management Education and Development: Educating Managers Through Real World Projects. C. Wankel & R. DeFillippi, eds.

Roldan, M., Strage, A. & David, D. (2004)“A Framework for Assessing Academic Service Learning Across Disciplines” Advances in Service Learning: New Perspectives in Service-Learning Research to Advance the Field, 4 (1).Roldan, M. (2004) Teaching Entrepreneurship Through Civic Engagement Conference paper to be presented at the National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance 9th Annual Meeting, Dynamic Learning: Changing Models for Changing Times. San Diego, March 17-19, 2005.

Turner, M. (2003). Developing MATES. Paper presented at the Celebrating the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, San Jose, CA. April 2003.

Ad Campaigns Project (video)

ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS 129 is the capstone course of the advertising major in the School of Journalism & Mass Communications at San Jose State University. From its modest beginnings in 1948, the course has grown and matured until today it is a significant contributor to student academic development and professional success.

The rubric of advertising with all its abstractions has an innate appeal that draws students to probe its workings. College-age students' cradle of earliest childhood awareness was a lively mosaic of colorful images and a riot of discordant sounds -- advertising beamed to them through the home TV and over the auto radio on their way to the pediatrician. These nascent emotional forces are revived to stimulate their interest in the subject.

The mass communications' art of advertising persuades people to react to its persuasive message content. It's the principle economic component that drives America's unique brand of free enterprise. While it tends to be ubiquitous and excessive, advertising does encourage the offering of choices and options, the challenge of entrepreneurship. It serves to enhance our standard of living, and secure the 1st Amendment of the United States' Constitution by funding the media that manifests the expression of free speech. Advertising can only flourish in a democracy.

The Advertising Campaigns 129 curriculum is directed toward developing skill sets that prepare students to seek productive assignments at the moment they assume a career position. Graduates now populate many of the world's most prominent businesses that include: eBay, Cisco, Google, National Semiconductor, Hewlett Packard, Wells Fargo Bank; leading local, regional, and national advertising agencies.

Considerable attention is placed on the acquisition of primary and secondary consumer research gathering techniques. In addition, attention is given by faculty to honing students' heuristic skills when conducting empirical research. Students are encouraged to be aware of the world around them, and look at the edges of life. Question what they see. Look for trends. Change.

Students entering the Advertising Campaigns 129 course are expected to be conscious of what they can do to benefit the community and society in general. They are asked to, "make a difference." Their chosen field of endeavor, advertising, is a powerful force that can work for good as well as evil. This admonishment has lead to student teams contributing to the communications' needs of Goodwill Industries, Narconon Drug Rehabilitation, and Hope Services founded to help emotionally and physically disadvantaged people.

Advertising is a communications-based practice. It is expected to help people make well-informed decisions as to how best to make use of their scare resources --their money-- in order to sustain an acceptable standard of living. This utopian belief doesn't always achieve reality, as advertising is wont to over promise. However, students are taught to understand and follow ethical practices that contribute positively to the human mission.

Culminating Experience

Each semester students are given a “client” for whom they develop an advertising campaign. Selection of the client can come about in several ways: Because this program is well known in the San Francisco Bay Area, often the client will contact the School of Journalism & Mass Communications at the University, and ask if we would like to develop an advertising campaign for them. This has occurred many times over the years. San Mateo County Transit Authority, and the Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau are examples. Or, the professor heading up this program will solicit clients through his or her contacts. Marie Callender, Oak Tree Mazda, Silicon Valley Ballet, and Narconon are “clients” that were sought out by a professor.

For the fall 2005 semester, students enrolled in the Advertising Campaigns 129 class will have as a “client” a new start-up pizza restaurant that expects to develop a chain of locations. For the above-listed businesses, and all others, we charge a fee. It has ranged from $3,000 to $10,000 depending on the magnitude of the case. These funds are banked for use by faculty to make trips to seminars and meetings related to their particular discipline, and for upgrading teaching materials.

When the client is selected, the professor meets with its representatives on several occasions to gather information, and establish objectives set forth by the client. The professor writes the case, and gets approval from the client. This has often proven to be a very time consuming process with changes and rewrites resulting from the client and professor reaching a balance between business expectations, and the academic mission. Students will use this case as the basis for developing their campaigns. They are divided into teams or “agencies” by random selection.

Each team proceeds to develop its campaign by meeting with the professor twice a week during class hours to make updated reports and hold critique sessions. During these times, the professor evaluates student work as it progresses, but does not attempt to direct them toward what could be “his campaign.” Each team produces a “plan book” as part of the course requirement. The book is usually made up of 32 pages saddle-stitched in a 9” x 12” vertical format. The books are given to judges, who have been interviewed and selected by the professor. Judges receive the books ten days in advance of the formal presentation date. Toward the end of the semester, students rehearse their campaigns before the professor with the aim of polishing up their oral presentations, which are given before the judges; usually four judges are selected from the business community. The judges choose one “agency” as the winner. The professor strives to replicate, as close as possible, the “real world” experience of an advertising agency competing for business.

While the competitive element is important, and can add to general knowledge, greater emphasis is placed on the core values of the course: Conducting research to identify the target market segments, writing the plan book’s content, creating the words and pictures of advertisements, selecting the media as the pathways of communication, budgeting and scheduling, and most important discovering how to work as a team toward common objectives.

Competition can fuel the zeal for learning. This innate drive surely represents the special brand of the American character that has perpetuated our unequaled freedom of choice, and given the world the airplane, computer, cure for polio; and introduced, world-wide, models for food preparation, clothing, shelter, entertainment, health, medical advances, and farming. Evidence of this USA competitive spirit is manifested in the pursuit of the “Blue Cow” award given the winning student “agency.”

Students work feverishly over a three-month period, in class, evenings, and on weekends in hopes of winning a parchment certificate with their name on it, and the right to have their “agency’s” name engraved in a brass plate mounted on a wooden base that holds a plastic replica of a cow painted blue. The cow cost $6.50. Its value…priceless! On occasion, graduates who have won the award return to campus and boast that they have their award prominently displayed in their executive offices! The “Blue Cow” was introduced by the professor to stimulate enthusiasm for the competition after years of conducting this program without offering a prize to the “agency” chosen as the winner.

The “Blue Cow” genesis is said to be the result of an advertising professional overhearing a motorist describing a drive on highway 280 behind Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Apparently the driver was cruising along and looked over at the green-carpeted hills dotted with grazing cows. In among them was a blue cow. He took a second look, and, yes, one of those cows was a bright marlin blue. Everyone he encountered for sometime thereafter was told the story of seeing the blue cow. From hearing the motorist’s tale, the advertising person sensed the similarity between the blue cow incident and the objective of advertising. Advertising strives to set apart a product or service from its competition; rise above the clutter of business messages; bestow a unique description or claim that will build strong brand awareness; generate an energy that propels the idea along the brainwaves of the masses, who will repeat and repeat a product’s story much like that of the one about the blue cow! “Seeing a blue cow in a pasture is memorable. So is a good advertising idea,” says the teacher!

The fall classes create campaigns for businesses or services that are solicited by the professor, or for “clients” who contact the School of Journalism & Mass Communications. In the spring semesters, students participate in the National Student Advertising Competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation. In past years under this program, students have created campaigns for Toyota, Burger King, Bank of America, New York Times, Saturn, Pizza Hut, Nestles, the U.S. Army and more. SJSU won the competition in 1977 and 1984, and numerous regional titles in the past twenty-eight years.

In the process of forming teams called, “agencies” and developing marketing communications’ campaigns, students learn skills that can ultimately serve the interests of American consumers by making shoppers better informed through the presentation of effective product and service messages. Today the accelerated pace of life that has been stimulated by technology makes the effective availability of product and service information even more critical in aiding people to sustain their chosen lifestyles. The advent of the Internet that spawned businesses such as Yahoo! Google, and eBay is graphic evidence of the public’s demand for immediate information in all their endeavors. The New York Times reported in its May 23, 2005 edition, “technological innovations are changing how consumers view their messages.”

The Internet has changed the speed and depth of message delivery. As educators, we in the SJSU School of Journalism & Mass Communications are sensing that the encroachment of technology is requiring us to modify our teaching practices. Students, who spend most of their hours outside the classroom, are in step with the speed of today’s message delivery. This condition is calling us to get in step, if we expect to be effective classroom communicators when delivering our learning messages. Students’ discoveries made through the studies required of this program are enlightening, and such contribute to theirunderstanding of the social, business, and political forces that could shape their lives now and in the future.

Undergraduates enrolled in Advertising Campaigns 129 travel along "learning pathways" in search of data necessary to produce a campaign. This pursuit broadens their knowledge of the importance of subjects associated with home-life cultures, science, art, medicine, raising children, philosophical beliefs, sports, travel, governmental policies, business practices, fashion trends, food and dining habits, foreign relations and more. In claiming such a range of knowledge through association with this course can be a bit of an exaggeration, for it is understood that students are expected to enter the Advertising Campaigns 129 course as reasonably well-rounded, mature adults. It is the cap course for senior students in their fourth, or more, year of college. Most of who are over 21.They should have completed their GE requirements, and most of their electives, and minor courses. English, social studies, language, history, and science should be completed. Therefore, the primary mission of Advertising Campaigns 129 is to prepare students for entry into their chosen field of marketing communications. Our job, if you will, is to get students ready to go to work

In addition to the goals mentioned above, the following list of student learning outcomes is more general and designed to shape the skills expected of a professional practicing in the field of communications.

1. Improved sense of the social, business, and political forces that could shape their lives now and in the future.
2. Appreciation of the value of learning acquired through the process of becoming a graduate of San Jose State University.
3. Stimulated curiosities, aroused critical thinking, practice of effective sequencing techniques to develop the orderly dissemination of information; and application of the rule-of-reason to sharpen judgment when engaged in executing meaningful assignments.
4. Enhanced written and verbal skills through report writing and evaluation, and stand-up oral presentations.
5. Appreciation for the diversity of the "American culture" by studying a rainbow of topics and the people influenced by them.

Recent Clients/Projects

Fall 2004 semester found the Advertising Campaign 129 course selecting an introspective assignment. The case students studied was written by their professor, and appropriately named, "San Jose State University... looking inward." Four student teams were assigned nine research cells-- active students, faculty, staff and campus management, athletic staff, alumni, neighboring universities, local high schools, city and county government officials, and print and electronic media. From the primary and secondary research collected, students analyzed and interpreted the findings. Each team created a comprehensive plan book, and made an oral presentation before a panel of five highly qualified judges.

The case was a study to determine the values and benefits of San Jose State University; record how the past and present history of the University has affected the attitudes and actions of students, alums, faculty and staff; measure the perceptions of SJSU students and faculty at neighboring high schools, community colleges, and universities; and evaluate the influence the University has had on the cultural and economic fabrics of the Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley community.

The objectives of the campaign, “SJSU…Looking Inward” were to:

1. Improve understanding and personal relationships between SJSU students, faculty, staff, and alumni; neighboring academic institutions; businesses and services; city and county governments; and the Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley community.
2. Build student esprit
3. Strengthen alumni ties
4. Heighten University political and social influences
5. Enhance the value of undergraduate and graduate degrees
6. Win added enthusiasm and team play from faculty and staff
7. Improve the competitive position for graduates entering the marketplace
8. Determine effective ways to communicate with the SJSU student body
9. Motivate students to react to opportunities that will benefit them and the University
10. Create effective fund-raising programs.

The client for the spring 05 semester was Yahoo! Both sections of Advertising Campaigns 129 were assigned the case. The conventional class was divided into three teams, and competed on May 20, 2005 for the “Blue Cow” award with presentations given in the Martin Luther King library, at 4th and San Fernando streets, San Jose, CA. The competitive team participated in the American Advertising Federations” National Student Advertising Competition, placing second in the northern California regionals. As is the rule, they were excluded from competing for the “Blue Cow” award.

Graduates of the School's advertising major sequence have gained career prominence through their work on national brands and services that range from Oral B, Marie Callender products, Milk Advisory Board's "Got Milk" campaign, the "Pet Rock" trend gift craze of the 1970's, Yahoo!, communications advisor to the United Nation's Global Housing Foundation, and many more notable career achievements.

It is documented from records of previous case studies that this popular course is a valuable community resource, and has contributed to the development and success of San Jose State University students for over five decades.

Prepared by: George C. Coakley, Professor of Advertising
School of Journalism & Mass Communications
San Jose State University.

Animation/Illustration Program

Program Overview (video)

Mission: The Animation/Illustration Program is beginning its ninth year of operation, and continues to provide an outstanding education to aspiring animators and illustrators at an affordable rate. Industry professionals and peer educators rank the program at San José State among the best in the nation. We compete favorably with private art colleges whose tuition rates (up to ten times more than San José State fees) are out of reach for most of our area population. Many of our students are underrepresented minorities actively recruited through an outreach program with Mt. Pleasant High School in San José and DeAnza Community College in Cupertino. Because of the generosity of local corporations, the dedication of our faculty, and the work-ethic of our students, for the past nine years, San Jose State animators and illustrators have benefited from the classes, equipment, and enrichment opportunities usually available only at private institutions. As a result, our graduates have competed favorably for prestigious positions in the entertainment industry, where the recruitment effort has been international.

Quality of Instructional Program: Most graduates of the program are hired in the animation and illustrations fields, securing employment at firms such as Electronic Arts, Industrial Light and Magic, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Warner Brothers Feature Animation, Sony, Film Roman, PIXAR, DreamWorks, PDI, Namco, Mondo Media, Wild Brain, etc. San José State graduates have contributed to live-action films, animated films, television, and game development. Their credits include; Treasure Planet, Osmosis Jones, The Iron Giant, Toy Story II, Shreck II, Madagascar, The Emperor’s New Groove, Pearl Harbor, Terminator 3, Men in Black II, Dreamcatcher, A.I., The Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Simpsons, etc.

In the past San José State students have successfully competed for much sought after internships at Electronic Arts, DreamWorks, Film Roman, and Industrial Light and Magic. In 2002, SJSU student Debbie Bruce was the recipient of the Women in Animation annual scholarship award. A short film created by two of our students was honored with two international awards and accepted into five animation festivals. Another film, just completed, that includes work by six of our students, has been accepted into more than 20 animation festivals. A team of students from San José State competed successfully to enter the Kalamazoo International Animation Festival's Student Animation Challenge in May 2003 and won the top prize--$4000 in scholarship awards. Our students continue to excel at the New York Society of Illustrator’s Student Scholarship Exhibition, the nation’s premier showcase for emerging talent. Typically more than 6000 students compete for approximately 130 spaces in the show and 24 scholarship awards. In 2004 two SJSU students will be included in the exhibition and one will be awarded a $1000 scholarship.

In 2004 Walt Disney Feature Animation invited San Jose State to participate in a select internship. Six candidates were identified from an international pool for a six-month internship. The San Jose State candidate, Lawrence Gong, successfully completed the internship and was hired as a full-time Disney employee. In 2005 DreamWorks Animation sent three of their top artists to San Jose State for a nine-week class in storyboarding, character design, and 3-D animation. Hallmark Cards also sent two artists out for a week-long intensive workshop on character design. In May 2005, thanks to the support of corporate partners DreamWorks, Electronic Arts, Adobe Systems, and Hewlett Packard, SJSU Animation Illustration opened a new 3-D animation laboratory. Also in May, students Cole Higgins and Hee Young Sun accepted a $3000 award at the Alice Short Film Festival for a collaborative student film. In June, student Meghan Kelly was honored at New York's Guggenheim Museum of Art, representing a team of her colleagues who were finalists in the international Adobe Student Design Competition.

Faculty: Faculty members in the Animation/Illustration Program are all involved professionally and working on a national and/or international level.

Students: Demand for the major is growing. Currently, approximately 150 students are enrolled in the major pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degree. Hundreds of additional students are fulfilling their prerequisites to qualify for the degree program. In the 2003/2004 academic year sixty-seven students applied to the program. Given the incredible opportunities made available through this program, the students' engagement and success is made very clear through their club website and illustration gallery. Further evidence of students' mastery of skills obtained through their studies is found in Student Placement Outcomes, as of Spring, 2005:

Societal Need: Graduates with professional training in animation and illustration are highly sought after for jobs in the expanding entertainment industry, which encompasses both traditional markets such as print, television, and film as well as developing markets including Internet content, visual effects, and interactive entertainment. Because of advances in broadband technology, the International Data Corporation has predicted that Internet use will double every year through 2007. Since we began our program in 1997, Internet hosts have increased from 240,000 to 1,301,000. Cable and Satellite has similarly enhanced opportunities in television broadcasting. PricewaterhouseCoopers Entertainment & Media Practice projects that the U.S. television distribution market will reach $97.6 billion in 2007, expanding at a 5% compound annual rate. In 2003, the burgeoning interactive entertainment industry recorded more than 7 billion dollars in sales.

Because the entertainment industry is a lucrative, growing field, the job market is competitive and as a result of globalization, the competition is worldwide. In a profession where nepotism has been traditional, our challenge is to enable SJSU students to compete favorably for top jobs against graduates of select private schools and applicants with personal industry connections. In order to accomplish this, SJSU Animation/Illustration has instituted several unique programs. In 1998, the program coordinators formed the linkages with Mt. Pleasant High School in San Jose and DeAnza College in Cupertino to synchronize their curriculum in animation so that local students could begin learning the basic principles of animation at the high school level, advance those studies at the community college level, and prepare a competitive portfolio through a professionally mentored program at the University. Mt. Pleasant was chosen as a partner because of its unique "school-to-career" program that trains students in traditional and digital animation. DeAnza College in Cupertino was selected as the community college partner due to its highly regarded animation training program located within its Creative Arts Division.

Connection to the Industry

The curriculum in the Animation/Illustration Program combines both traditional and non-traditional educational strategies. Rigorous drawing classes and intensive study of color theory and perspective are required of all our students. In addition, classes have weekly access to top industry professionals through an innovative and completely unique distance-learning component. Every Tuesday and on alternate Thursdays, students participate in a live, fully interactive closed circuit television transmission with top artists and animators from various studios including Warner Bros., Walt Disney Feature Animation, PIXAR and DreamWorks. In addition to the San José State group, students from three schools in the Los Angeles area and two schools from Birmingham, Alabama join the fully interactive classroom. Artists and executives at Warner Bros., DreamWorks, PIXAR and Disney have mentored our program, providing us information on contemporary industry standards as well as critical analysis on student animation and portfolios. Instructors encourage attendance at student-sponsored drawing classes two nights a week, accompany students to animation lectures and competitions, and volunteer their time during winter and spring break to teach extra classes and to conduct studio tours in major cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and London.

Student Placement Outcomes, as of Spring, 2005:

Feature Film/Television/Games/noteworthy Illustration and Design Positions

Motion Pictures

Faculty engagement in Animation/Illustration Industry

Professor Alice Carter’s illustration clients have included LucasFilm Ltd., Rolling Stone magazine, the New York Times, and CBS Television. Her work has been exhibited at the New York Society of Illustrators, in the Communication Arts Art Annual, and the Print Regional Design Annual. She has won Best of Show Honors from the AR Show USA: 100 Best Annual Reports, the Hatch Awards of the Boston Ad Club, Simpson Printed Paper, and the Western Art Directors West Coast Show. Professor Carter is also a writer whose recent publications include, The Art of National Geographic: One Hundred Years of Illustration (National geographic Society 1999), The Red Rose Girls: An Uncommon Story of Art and Love (Abrams 2000), Thomas Eakins (Abrams 2001), and "Cecilia Beaux: A Modern Painter in the Gilded Age" (Rizzoli 2005).

Professor Courtney Granner’s work has appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, New York Times, the Washington Post, Business Week, United Airlines, American Airlines, Reader's Digest, and the New Yorker. He has won awards from the Communications Arts Art Annual, the Print Regional Design Annual, the New York Society of Illustrators, the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators, and the San Francisco Society of Illustrators. His work has been represented in shows around the country including exhibitions at the Museum of American Illustration in New York, The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge Massachusetts, and the Delaware Museum of Art.

Professor John Clapp is a freelance illustrator, who has worked for a variety of advertising, editorial, medical, and corporate clients and for every major American publisher. His work has been included in several annuals of the Society of Illustrators. Since 1998, he has worked almost exclusively writing and illustrating children's books. He has illustrated books written by Bruce Coville, Liz Rosenberg, Julius Lester, and Newberry Award Winner, Robin McKinley. His second book, Right Here on This Spot, from Houghton Mifflin Co. was called, "[A]...lyrical homage to humankind's relationship to the land" by Publishers Weekly, and "[An] impressive picture book" by Kirkus. Mr. Clapp’s latest book, Shining, was published in 2004.

Lecturers Barron Storey, Thomas Holt, Cameron Chun, Jeff Sangalli, Liz Briggs, Dave Gustlin, Sheldon Borenstein, and David Chai are all active professionals who have distinguished themselves in illustration and animation.

Student Success and Development Programs Summary and Analysis

In Fall, 2004, a call went to all divisions and units of SJSU for information on programs intended to promote student success and development. Programs responded to a common template that emphasized:

Primary activities
Goals for student success and/or learning
Internal (campus) measures of effectiveness
External measures of effectiveness

Compilation and analysis of effectiveness data
Use of effectiveness data in program enhancement
Other information related to program effectiveness

Some academic departments responded with information directly relevant to learning objectives within individual academic department curricula and to the measurements of student attainment of such objectives. This material has been amalgamated into discussions of student learning in the major, and is discussed elsewhere in this review.

(As of Feb 17) thirty-two programs provided information on their goals and their measures of effectiveness. Twenty-one are in Academic Affairs, ten in Student Affairs, and one (Orientation) is shared between the two. These are: (LINK - We are moving data from the spreadsheet template to individual sheets, which are far easier to comprehend, and we will thus have a specific LINK to the original data submitted by each program, rather than to their place in the spreadsheet. A “click” on any of the following will then take the reader to that program’s full report, running from 3 to 9 pages.)

Academic Technology
Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP)
Biology (Department) 4 (orientation course)
Business (College): computer labs and presentation equipment
Business (College): Advisement and Tutorial Program (BSAC)
Career Planning and Placement
Counseling
Disability Resource Center (DRC)
Education (College): Credential Services
Engineering (College) - Minority Engineering Program (MEP)
Engineering (College) - Engr 8 (orientation course - MEP)
Engineering (College) - Engr 10 (orientation course - all)
Engineering (College) - Global Technology Initiatives
Engineering (College) - Hewlett-Packard Scholars Program
Forensics (Communication Studies Dept), Speech and Debate Program
Housing (University Housing Services)
International Programs and Services
Inter-Residence Hall Association
Learning Assistance Resource Center (LARC)
Library: Online Information Literacy Tutorials
Mediation Center (Ombudsman)
MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center
Metropolitan University Scholars’ Experience (MUSE)
Orientation
Peer Mentor Program (MUSE component)
Philosophy (Department) and Logic Lab
Professional Development
Science (College) 2 (orientation course)
Student Health Center

Study Abroad and International Exchange Programs
Workability IV Program

Summary and Analysis of Program Response

The request for information tried to make clear the distinction between “use” data (e.g., numbers of students served) and data on effectiveness in achieving specific student success and/or learning goals. Not surprisingly many respondents provided such program data as utilization figures, compliance with legal or disciplinary accreditation requirements, or student satisfaction with services. In interpreting data, we found it important to make a distinction between measures of program effectiveness and measures of educational effectiveness, although that distinction is not always unambiguous. A student who reports satisfaction with service at Counseling, for instance, may in fact have been encouraged to continue in higher education by the counselor, and thus what might be tallied as a program measure could in fact also be an educational effectiveness measure. Likewise, a student who self-describes improvement in an academic skill as a result of a program intervention such as tutoring is affirming effectiveness of a program in delivering a service, but may in fact also validly be reporting improvement in that skill, an educational effectiveness measure. We “drew the lines” as thoughtfully as we could.

KEY TO EFFECTIVENESS MEASURES

The table contains two effectiveness summaries, one for Programmatic Effectiveness, the other for Educational Effectiveness. The following simple scale was adopted:

N = Evidence of no, or minimal, or only projected collection/use of effectiveness data
S = Evidence of some collection/use of effectiveness data
I = Evidence of intense and multiple collection/use of effectiveness data P = Used only for programmatic effectiveness, this symbol shows evidence that the program collects, analyzes and/or makes use of data required by a professional or accrediting organization, or by legal requirement (especially in the case of the Disability Resource Center). In some instances a program appears to go beyond the Professional requirement by gathering and using additional program data, and when this occurs the program is assigned two ratings for programmatic effectiveness in a given category, e.g., P/S or P/I.

Raw data from individual programs were not examined. Programs were taken at their word with respect to the kinds of data collected. Primarily for purposes of encouragement the scores assigned in the summary table are liberal and inclusive. Programs that have historically been asked to collect only utilization data are increasingly being asked to tie their services directly to the academic success of students. We believe that as programs make (in some cases fledgling) efforts towards evidence-based assessment they should be encouraged to continue this progress as much as possible, rather than flagged for weaknesses.

FINDINGS

The following generalizations can be drawn from the summary charts and the program responses.

Target Populations and Major Activities. All programs specify target populations and describe major program activities.

Goals
Program Goals: Almost all respondents have program goals such as utilization and satisfaction, cooperation with other programs, responsiveness to legal requirements, and satisfaction of funding or professional agency requirements.

Educational Goals: Some programs list generic effectiveness measures such as improved GPA, retention, graduation, or specific enhanced skills. Only very few programs have tried to quantify educational goals, or stated the goals in a context of improvement by comparison to a known reference point. As is true throughout assessment, precision goal specification is the absolutely critical first step towards effectiveness, so this absence of precise goals is an important campus wake-up call.

Measures of Effectiveness (Internal and External combined)
Program Effectiveness. Almost all programs, both in Academic and Student Affairs, collect at least basic information on program performance, such as utilization data and survey-based satisfaction data. Where relevant, programs collect program effectiveness measures required by law or by professional or funding agencies. Programs vary markedly in the intensity with which they pursue a range of possible program effectiveness measures. External measures were usually found only in association with funding or professional agencies, and occasionally by evaluation of an external program advisory board.

Educational Effectiveness. Very few programs in either Academic or Student Affairs take substantial internal or external measures of educational effectiveness. Programs within Academic Affairs are somewhat more likely than those in Student Affairs to say that they make at least some attempt to evaluate their success in reaching learning or success goals by taking outcome measures of student performance such as GPA or retention or skill enhancement. We found one or two programs that indicated they actually tried to tie educational effectiveness measures to a priori measurable goals).

Within the rubrics of professional and funding agency requirements there are often opportunities and sometimes encouragement for a program to collect educational effectiveness data as well as program data. This is analogous to assessment in the major, where the pressures of external agencies to tie student data to specific learning goals, rather than to satisfaction, has been an important spur to advances in the use of assessment in higher education. As the assessment culture slowly suffuses higher education, we expect to see more and more student support programs establishing measurable educational goals.

Data Compilations and Analyses. Formal, publicly available data compilations and analyses are the exception. Such data as exist are primarily internal to program personnel, except where mandated by external funders or professional agencies. Many programs refer to annual or other periodic reports, sometimes publicly available, but these are almost always reports of program goal achievement rather than reports of educational goal attainment. We found almost no program that identified a systematically compiled data record of its educational effectiveness.

Procedures for Use of Data. Procedures for using programmatic effectiveness data for program change were common. However, procedures that relied upon educational effectiveness in program improvement are still very much in a nascent stage - not surprisingly, given that few educational effectiveness measures are taken. Most programs make some use of anecdotal and self-report data, rather than measurable educational effectiveness data. Few formal protocols or regularly scheduled “data analysis meetings” exist. A number still make no use at all of educational success measurements.

POTENTIAL MODEL PROGRAMS

With respect to Educational Effectiveness, we feel that the following programs are the most fully developed at this point in terms of goals, data collected, data presentation, and use of data matched against goals in program improvement. We suggest that other programs consult with them as appropriate:

Academic Technology (Laptop project)
Communication Studies Lab
University Housing Services
Library: Online Information Literacy Tutorials
Professional Development (Extended and International Education)

With respect to Program Effectiveness, any program that has an I ranking in a category of interest might be consulted.

CONCLUSIONS

There have been no prior efforts to collect systematic information about the educational effectiveness of programs that support student success and development as a whole. Thus, this summary is a welcome first learning step for the campus. At the least all programs have been alerted to the growing importance of student outcome data, tied to measurable goals, in program evaluation - a new level of self-awareness for program directors and staff. The compilation of program information will likely become a part of the SJSU Portfolio, and it is anticipated that responsibility will be assigned for synoptic monitoring across all such programs, just as assessment in the major is now an integral part of Program Planning.

Several of the programs commented upon their inability to meet student demand, and while budget was often identified as the culprit it is also possible that SJSU’s increasing attention to Enrollment Management in its overall planning might well achieve a better balance between availability of services and the number of students expected to seek such services.